Timeline for Novel-like writing style often sacrifices clarity and accessibility, is it ok to use it in scientific texts?
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
22 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Sep 23, 2015 at 18:47 | history | tweeted | twitter.com/#!/StackAcademia/status/646757887474335744 | ||
| Sep 22, 2015 at 20:26 | answer | added | noumenal | timeline score: 1 | |
| Sep 22, 2015 at 5:21 | comment | added | dtldarek | @ff524 Thank you for your edits. As for clarity and accesibility, there are acclaimed writers who send me to the dictionary even once per page or two. As I am not a native speaker, I was wondering if my English is just that bad (I know I lack a lot with regard to grammar). I found some tools to asses my vocabulary and it came out that according to these tests I am way above average even for native speakers. I am not sure if that is true, but assuming only average level, texts by these authors are hard to a lot of people. Recently my coauthors complained in a similar way, hence the question. | |
| Sep 22, 2015 at 4:57 | comment | added | Aleksandr Blekh | Briefly speaking, the "right balance" (aka optimal writing style) heavily depends on a mixture of factors, including, but not limited to, scientific discipline, area(s) of research, type of publication, target audience, topic as well as the author's goals for the publication (the latter is, obviously, tied to the type of publication). | |
| Sep 22, 2015 at 4:38 | comment | added | ff524 | I have edited the title to remove the references to humor and instead used the version of your question as you phrased it in a comment above. However, it's not clear to me that the specific techniques you mention in the body of the post actually need to sacrifice clarity and accessibility (unless you use them badly). | |
| Sep 22, 2015 at 4:36 | history | edited | ff524 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
edited title
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| Sep 22, 2015 at 4:29 | history | reopened | ff524 | ||
| Sep 22, 2015 at 4:29 | comment | added | ff524 | I have removed the part that is duplicate (the title and paragraph that refers to jokes/humor) and will reopen. | |
| Sep 22, 2015 at 4:26 | history | edited | ff524 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 12 characters in body; edited tags; edited title
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| Sep 21, 2015 at 14:15 | history | closed |
410 gone Nobody Davidmh yo' gman |
Duplicate of Should academic papers necessarily carry a sober tone?, How much of humor in a formal academic writing is considered as disrespect? [duplicate] | |
| Sep 21, 2015 at 13:54 | comment | added | Davidmh | @dtldarek I'd say SEW is too simple, cuts the flow of the argument. English Wikipedia would be more fitting; or even better, other articles in your field. | |
| Sep 21, 2015 at 13:44 | answer | added | Ulysses | timeline score: 2 | |
| Sep 21, 2015 at 13:42 | comment | added | dtldarek | @Davidmh Yes, but the problem is more complex, for example, should I use only basic structures to make the text even simpler (compare with Simple English Wikipedia)? | |
| Sep 21, 2015 at 13:36 | history | edited | dtldarek | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
added 150 characters in body
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| Sep 21, 2015 at 13:25 | answer | added | xLeitix | timeline score: 8 | |
| Sep 21, 2015 at 13:19 | comment | added | Davidmh | A scientific text has to be clear and unambiguous to anyone fluent in English. Do whatever you must to achieve that goal. | |
| Sep 21, 2015 at 13:03 | comment | added | Massimo Ortolano | A remark, en passant: there are textbooks which are wonderfully written and are a joy to read, even though they are dead serious (I wish I could write like them!). Seriousness is not a synonym of boring, and humorous does not necessarily imply enjoyability. Besides, you cannot force authors to be humorous if it is not in their chords, you would obtain the opposite effect. | |
| Sep 21, 2015 at 12:42 | comment | added | dtldarek | @EnergyNumbers Perhaps you are referring to this question (which I suppose also seems opinion-based to you), but it asks about humor, while I ask about writing style. Let me rephrase my question: novel-like writing style often sacrifices clarity and accessibility, is it ok to use it in scientific texts? | |
| Sep 21, 2015 at 12:39 | review | Close votes | |||
| Sep 21, 2015 at 14:15 | |||||
| Sep 21, 2015 at 12:22 | comment | added | 410 gone | It's not really clear what your specific question is; it's very broad as written; it seems to be soliciting opinions, and it's probably a duplicate. | |
| Sep 21, 2015 at 11:51 | comment | added | Massimo Ortolano | Related: How much of humor in a formal academic writing is considered as disrespect?. | |
| Sep 21, 2015 at 11:36 | history | asked | dtldarek | CC BY-SA 3.0 |