Word for deletion in manuscript editing series#

If you explain a concept that most of your intended readership already understands, delete it. If a sentence restates the sentence that precedes it, delete it. The next step is finding the excesses in your manuscript proofreading. So you now feel a healthy detachment from your text? Great. If not, the original text will still be waiting for you. Try erasing anything that is not critical to your argument and see if your ideas still hold water. When in doubt, make your deletions using the “track changes” feature in Microsoft Word. So, the first step to meeting your word count limits is simple: let it go. You can probably rearrange and reduce your text without detracting from your main ideas. In this case, it is important to first remember that academic articles are not carved in stone. Sometimes texts are simply much too long. However, larger word count reductions demand input from authors to determine what is critical and what can be left out.” Let it go Academic editors can typically reduce most texts by up to 10% using these types of approaches with relative ease. Combine adjacent sentences that share a common sentence subject, or turn one of the two sentences into a subordinate clause of the other sentence. Reduce any sections of text that provide lengthy protocols or explanations by citing references that have previously provided these descriptions. If your text is just barely over the word count limit, the easiest approach is to revise your text carefully. Much like a fighter who sweats and starves himself to make his weight class before a big match, your text will be lean and mean by the time you have achieved a substantial word reduction. Here are a few tips to help you find the courage - and discretion - to use the backspace. That may sound like an oversimplification, but the delete key is about to become your best friend. The answer to overlong texts may be right in front of you: the delete key. Your best friend for academic editing: the delete keyįear not. And if you sent out your text for translation, unexpected, exceeded word counts can be an especially big nuisance. This is an especially common issue with abstract editing, journal editing and conference submissions. And you have only a week to make all the necessary reductions before the semester begins.ĭon’t despair! Manuscripts that need to be shortened for publication are a widespread problem, with plenty of solutions. However, you open the author guidelines for your target journal and discover that your beloved masterpiece exceeds the word count limit.

Word for deletion in manuscript editing series#

At last, you have completed your manuscript! After months of visiting distant archives or meticulously collecting data from a series of difficult experiments, you have finally finished hammering out a draft of your article.