Beyond using more words than necessary (ACEing Academia #10), it’s not unusual for researchers to fall into the trap of sesquipedalianism. What is sesquipedalianism you ask? It’s using long (and often obscure) words in speech or writing. The literal definition combines “sesqui” (one and a half) and “ped” (foot) to

In high school, we would be penalised if we went more than 10% over or under the word limit given for a writing assignment. A similar rule was in place when I went to university. As a student, the word limit is seen as a target to aim for because

I think there tends to be a preconception in academia that complex ideas can only be communicated with complex language. That just isn’t the case. However, being able to explain complex ideas simply and succinctly often takes more time and thought to get right. Throw in the Curse of Knowledge,

The ACE in ACEingAcademia? It stands for Avoiding Common Errors. In the case of this current series, specifically errors in communication that can negatively impact the competitiveness of a grant proposal. The next tip might seem like a small thing, but it affects the clarity of a proposal (or paper).