Incoherent Style of Academic Writing

[marshwiggle]

Except "We" didn't combine the chemicals. One of us did. And then maybe another of us did in a similar manner later on. And maybe even once they were combined by a random rotation student who didn't do anything after and is only listed in the acknowledgements.

Along this line, I can see in a social science experiment, it might be helpful to know that "we" interviewed ... (instead of "some grad student", or "an external organization we contracted"...) because it would imply that the interviewer(s) were well aware of all of the required protocols, methodology, etc.

I don't love the passive voice but I kinda can't stand excessive use of We either. When describing a lab protocol I think passive is just fine.

I think of this like my Youtube lab demonstrations. My face isn't in them; at most my hands show up when they are touching equipment. Because anyone going through the same steps should get the same results (as someone mentioned in a previous post).

[ergative]

Except "We" didn't combine the chemicals. One of us did. And then maybe another of us did in a similar manner later on. And maybe even once they were combined by a random rotation student who didn't do anything after and is only listed in the acknowledgements.

Along this line, I can see in a social science experiment, it might be helpful to know that "we" interviewed ... (instead of "some grad student", or "an external organization we contracted"...) because it would imply that the interviewer(s) were well aware of all of the required protocols, methodology, etc.

I don't love the passive voice but I kinda can't stand excessive use of We either. When describing a lab protocol I think passive is just fine.

I think of this like my Youtube lab demonstrations. My face isn't in them; at most my hands show up when they are touching equipment. Because anyone going through the same steps should get the same results (as someone mentioned in a previous post).

Agreed. Passive is fine for lab protocols. Impersonal passive is horrible in constructions like 'it was hypothesized that . . .' or 'it was observed that . . .'

[Caracal]

I still occasionally see "It was hypothesized that. . ." and always want to ask who's hypothesis was this, if not you, the authors'? Is there some mysterious force in the universe that produces hypotheses all on its own?

A remarkably large part of graduate education seems to be persuading students that they should stop searching for that mysterious force and start developing testable hypotheses.

Writing out those hypotheses in clear language is a challenging but tremendously valuable process.

This is so true!
Also persuading them that "it hasn't been studied" is not the same thing as "it should be studied".

All of this! I remember a very formative moment in my PhD studies when my advisor had to explain to me that the answer to 'why did you choose this particular variable as a factor in your experiment?' should not be 'because I've already studied [variable] and like it and know it pretty well.'

Ha, yes I had versions of that in my humanities phd program. It can be true, but you need a cover story...

[Hibush]

A question for forumites who were educated and/or employed in academic circles in non-Anglophone countries, how is the 'coherence', etc., of the academic writing styles in your countries?

In my field, the lingua franca in the early 20th century was German. If you are into long, complicated sentences with delayed gratification (i.e. you have to wait for the end to get the verbs), then you can do no better than German. Some publications even used gothic typefaces to make comprehension even harder. Some of the scientists of that day were really accomplished at long but coherent and ultimately clear sentences. Some were, of course, unintelligible and too enamored with ever fancier obfuscation that the medium allows.

At the same time, Einstein's 1905 papers--while having difficult math--have direct, crystal-clear sentences. He wanted to make sure readers understood what he found, recognizing that it would take quite a conceptual stretch to appreciate how they changed ones view of the physical world.

[apl68]

I've heard it said that when a German historian wrote a three-volume work, the third volume contained the verbs.

[Parasaurolophus]

I've heard it said that when a German historian wrote a three-volume work, the third volume contained the verbs.

Boom, tish! That's lovely!

[Hibush]

I've heard it said that when a German historian wrote a three-volume work, the third volume contained the verbs.

What an accomplishment! One for the history books.

[apl68]

I've heard it said that when a German historian wrote a three-volume work, the third volume contained the verbs.

Boom, tish! That's lovely!

Thank you, I'll be here all night!

No, sorry, actually I'm about to head home.  It's my short day.

On second thought, I'm not sorry at all.

[marshwiggle]

I've heard it said that when a German historian wrote a three-volume work, the third volume contained the verbs.

Boom, tish! That's lovely!

Thank you, I'll be here all night!

No, sorry, actually I'm about to head home.  It's my short day.

On second thought, I'm not sorry at all.

What does this "head home" mean? I seem to have some vague recollection of the term, but its significance is obscure.

[Myword]

I know a colleague who writes very densely, full of abstruse jargon, and he is a writing coach for struggling students.  Ironic.

Seriously, this whole issue depends on your purpose in writing that is not obvious. Writing only for tenure or for jobs, then your writing does not need to be widely understood by your peer colleagues, or does it? Who is reading it?

If you are writing to be read, as I am, then clarity and style is important.
Also, if you are making a significant contribution (most of us aren't), clarity is laudable.
Unfortunately, some of the best thinkers in history were bad writers. Misinterpreted or unread. I worked harder and longer on my novel than my dissertation because style is everything.

[apl68]

What does this "head home" mean? I seem to have some vague recollection of the term, but its significance is obscure.

I've had the great good fortune not to miss a single day at work--the actual, physical location--since the pandemic began.  Even when we were closed to the public, somebody had to be there to answer the phone and do other caretaker stuff.  That was me.  It was eerie working in that empty building.

[Hibush]

Seriously, this whole issue depends on your purpose in writing that is not obvious. Writing only for tenure or for jobs, then your writing does not need to be widely understood by your peer colleagues, or does it? Who is reading it?

Does it need to be written at all?

Come to think of it, all the junk journals we decry here may serve a purpose in the meta-intellectual activity of generating unread verbiage for the purpose of populating unevaluated curricula vita.

[marshwiggle]

What does this "head home" mean? I seem to have some vague recollection of the term, but its significance is obscure.

I've had the great good fortune not to miss a single day at work--the actual, physical location--since the pandemic began.  Even when we were closed to the public, somebody had to be there to answer the phone and do other caretaker stuff.  That was me.  It was eerie working in that empty building.

The other day I was shoveling snow and realized it was a work day and normally I'd have had to get up in the dark to shovel so I could be at work on time. Now, with everything asynchronous, I can run errands, etc. during the day, check messages periodically, and everything just ticks along in the background. It's going to be an adjustment to get back to what was normal for decades.

[kaysixteen]

German and French actually have separate verb tenses and some vocabulary that are really not spoken, just used in more formal types of writing-- German especially is vastly more diglossic than any dialect of English.   But this is not really the same as deliberate lack of clarity/ obfuscation, etc..... it however would not surprise me to realize that many German scholars do that as well.   My German is not awful, and was certainly better when I was in grad school-- classicists have to read it, and read a lot of German scholarship in dissertation studies, but my German is and was not good enough to recognize deliberate incoherence of the sort seen in many Anglophone lit crit-style journals, if I had encountered it....

[Caracal]

What does this "head home" mean? I seem to have some vague recollection of the term, but its significance is obscure.

I've had the great good fortune not to miss a single day at work--the actual, physical location--since the pandemic began.  Even when we were closed to the public, somebody had to be there to answer the phone and do other caretaker stuff.  That was me.  It was eerie working in that empty building.

The other day I was shoveling snow and realized it was a work day and normally I'd have had to get up in the dark to shovel so I could be at work on time. Now, with everything asynchronous, I can run errands, etc. during the day, check messages periodically, and everything just ticks along in the background. It's going to be an adjustment to get back to what was normal for decades.

That's what I dislike. Obviously, the process of going into work is often a pain in the moment, but it creates a structure. Without it, I have all of the stress and anxiety of teaching but it all just happens in my house without all of the external stimulus that gives it context.