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在本文中，我们特别邀请华乐丝论文编辑／翻译的外籍编辑师Bill Thornton为我们介绍一项非常重要的内容。
精简写作要领
在学术写作中，最重要的是清楚表达观点和报告结果。使用具体的词汇和描述性片语，是其中一种能使论文变得明确清晰的方法。精简文字内容（尽可能以最少的字数来写作论文）则是另一个有效、全面且顺畅的资讯传达方法，从而获得读者、尤其是期刊审阅者的青睐。
英文是世界上词汇量最大的语言，这项特点尤其有利于学术英文写作，因为有成千上万的词汇可供选择，作者可以很精确地表达具体的想法和观点。但也因为英文的词汇量过于庞大，很多作者常误以为在表述的过程中应该尽可能使用大量的词汇。早期的写作教育方式更加剧了这种迷思，因为教师在出作业时通常会规定最少应写满多少字，很多学生，包括以英文为母语的学生，都因此养成了在写作中使用不必要的词汇来填充页面的习惯。对某些作者来说，这个习惯已经根深蒂固，以至于在学术写作时需要用字精简的概念对他们来说有悖常理。然而，这样啰嗦的写作习惯只会造成内容不够简洁，学习精简地写作并实践于学术写作上方能带来莫大的效益。
精简写作的第一步是先找出累赘和多余的片语。比方说，像「there are」和「there have been」这类片语在口语表达中虽很常见，但若用在正式写作中却会使句子变得意思含糊或累赘。比较以下两个句子：
  • There are seven physicians in our department.
  • Seven physicians are in our department.
第二个句子虽然只比第一句少了一个词，整体却顺畅很多。读者不需要先看完一个笼统的日常片语才能读到关键词seven physicians，如果能以关键词作为句子开头便能增加清晰度和可读性。通常，我们可以透过删除一个或以上的赘词来缩短句子的长度。比如以下的例子：
  • There are nine doctoral students who have committed themselves to attending the writing seminar next summer.
透过减少不必要的片语和使用较少的词，我们可以达到保留原意、同时缩短句子的效果：
  • Nine doctoral students will attend the writing seminar next summer.
改写后的句子比原来少了六个字，缩短了三分之一。第一个句子中，students who have committed themselves to attending 可以改写为students who are committed to attending，甚至可以进一步缩短为仅包含三个字的片语students will attend，意思与原先的版本完全一样。请注意，反身代名词（如：themselves）经常被视为赘词，如非必要，最好避免在学术写作中使用。请看另一个例子：
  • The seminar will be conducted over a period of two weeks every day at twelve noon.
可以改写为以下这个更精简的句子：
  • The two-week seminar will begin every day at noon.
改写后的句子少了七个字，短了将近一半。虽然在某些情况下，will be conducted 当中的每一个字都是必要的，但在这个例子中却并非如此，因为句子的焦点是writing seminar 的时间，而不是它被conducted 的事实，这项事实已被隐含在内。写作中必须时刻牢记句子的意图，这样才能找出多余的词和片语并将它们删除。此外，在有具体的时间单位时，使用period 或twelve noon 这样的词都是多余、且明显重复的，可以直接写出明确的时间，如：12:00 PM。
许多英文学习和写作相关的书籍或网站都有列出常用、但多余的片语，在此提醒各大家应特别注意避免滥用片语，如：close proximity、revert back和surrounded on all sides。要写出篇幅短但内容扎实的文章，必须了解该如何以精简的方式写出这些片语，前面所列举的片语便可分别改为proximity、revert ?和surrounded，并且学会判断哪些there are 和there is 是不必要的。
English Version
Expressing ideas and reporting results clearly is paramount in academic writing. Using specific words and descriptive phrases is one approach to writing clearly. Being concise (i.e., using as few words as possible) is another effective way to convey information both comprehensibly and smoothly, thereby gaining favor from readers and, specifically, journal reviewers.
English has the widest vocabulary of any language in the world. This is of great benefit to academic writing, because the availability of hundreds of thousands of words enables expressing highly specific thoughts and ideas. Knowledge of this wide vocabulary, though, often makes writers of English believe that they should use as many words as possible when expressing themselves. This problem is exacerbated by the early stages of writing education, when teachers typically impose minimum word counts when assigning writing tasks. Many students, even native English speakers, develop a habit of unnecessarily filling pages with words when completing academic assignments. This habit becomes so ingrained in some people that the idea of writing for conciseness in an academic context seems counterintuitive. Nevertheless, learning the benefits of concise writing and applying them in practice can help reduce the nasty habit of writing verbosely.
Targeting wordy and unnecessary phrases is the first step toward writing concisely. Phrases such as “there are” and “there have been” are common in speech, but using them in formal writing can result in a vague or wordy statement. In comparing “There are seven physicians in our department” with “Seven physicians are in our department,” the latter statement is shorter by only one word, but it flows more freely because the reader does not have to wade through a general, everyday phrase before arriving at the first vital words, “seven physicians.” Beginning a statement with vital words enhances both clarity and readability. Often, however, more than one word can be omitted to ensure that statements are free of the deadweight of unnecessary verbiage. Consider the following example:
  • There are nine doctoral students who have committed themselves to attending the writing seminar next summer.
By targeting unnecessary phrases and using fewer words, a writer can shorten this sentence without changing the meaning:
  • Nine doctoral students will attend the writing seminar next summer.
The revised statement contains six fewer words than does the original sentence, a 38% difference. The wording “students who have committed themselves to attending” could be revised to “students who are committed to attending;” however, taking an additional step in revision yields the three-word phrase “students will attend,” with the meaning of all three versions being precisely the same. (Note that reflexive pronouns such as “themselves” are often used superfluously. Avoid using them in academic writing unless necessary.) Consider another example:
  • The seminar will be conducted over a period of two weeks every day at twelve noon.
This sentence can also be more concise:
  • The two-week seminar will begin every day at noon.
The revised sentence in this example is shorter by seven words, a 44% improvement. Although all of the words in the phrase “will be conducted” might be necessary in some contexts, in this instance, the phrase is nonessential because the focus of the statement involves the temporal aspects of the writing seminar, rather than its being “conducted,” which is clearly implied. (Always remember the purpose of a statement when expressing it; doing so facilitates pruning the deadwood of unnecessary words and phrases.) Furthermore, using the word “period” in the context of a specifically quantified unit of time is often redundant, and “twelve noon” is an obvious redundancy that could be revised to the more technical “12:00 PM.”
Many books and Web sites focusing on English learning and writing offer lists of wordy phrases that are commonly used but should be avoided, such as “close proximity,” “revert back,” and “surrounded on all sides.” Becoming familiar with such phrases and their optimal revisions (e.g., “proximity,” “revert,” and “surrounded”), in addition to recognizing when “there are” or “there is” is unnecessary, is essential for writing concisely.
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