Advice on Formal Academic & Scientific English & Journal Guidelines

Formal Academic and Scientific English and Journal Guidelines

Practical rules, quick wins and a consistency workflow for publishable prose

Most journals demand “clear, correct, formal English”—and then give just a line or two about language in their instructions for authors. That puts the burden on you to make hundreds of small style choices that collectively signal rigour. This article translates common (and often implicit) expectations into usable rules so you can prepare a manuscript that reads professionally from title page to references.

1) Choose Your Variety: British vs American English

Many journals either specify British (BrE) or American English (AmE) or accept both but forbid mixing within a manuscript. Decide early, then build a simple “style memo” to apply consistently.

2) Tone, Voice and Register

• Formality without fog: prefer plain words (use over utilise), precise verbs and short sentences (≈20 words on average).
• Active vs passive: use the active voice to clarify agency (“We measured conductivity…”) and the passive to emphasise process where appropriate (“Samples were stored at 4 °C”). Mix judiciously; avoid agentless ambiguity.
• No contractions or colloquialisms: write do not, cannot; avoid idioms (“a ballpark figure”).
• Neutral, bias-free phrasing: use person-first or identity-affirming language as appropriate to field norms; avoid unnecessary gendering and value-laden terms.

3) Clarity at Sentence Level

• Avoid noun stacks: replace “cognitive load task performance effect” with “the effect of cognitive load on task performance”.
• Place old → new information: start with what the reader knows, end with the new result.
• Eliminate ambiguity: align pronouns with clear antecedents; prefer specific subjects over “this/these”.
• Parallel structure: for lists and comparisons (e.g., “to test, to estimate, to compare”).

4) Numbers, Symbols and Units (SI First)

• SI units: m, s, kg, L (or l per journal), K, °C. Space between number and unit: 10 m, 25 °C. No plural “s” on units: 5 kg (not 5 kgs).
• Decimal and thousands: AmE often uses 12,345.67; BrE varies by journal (12,345.67 or 12 345.67). Use a non-breaking space or thin space for thousands where required.
• Ranges and minus: use an en-dash (–): 12–24 h; −3.2 (true minus), not hyphen.
• Leading zero: 0.05 not .05 (unless house style says otherwise).
• Stats: report effect sizes and 95% CIs; give exact p-values (p = 0.013; not p = 0.000 → write p < 0.001). Italicise p, M, SD, t, F, etc., if your field expects it.

5) Abbreviations, Acronyms and Latinisms

• Define on first use: “polymerase chain reaction (PCR)” then PCR thereafter. Avoid inventing acronyms for rare terms.
• Limit scatter: too many acronyms reduce readability. Consider a glossary for long lists.
• Latin: use e.g., i.e. with commas in AmE, often without in BrE; avoid etc. in running text—prefer “and so on” or complete lists. Use et al. for people, etc. for things.

6) Capitalisation, Hyphenation and Italics

• Sentence case vs Title Case: follow journal style for headings and references. Many science journals prefer sentence case for article titles in references.
• Hyphens for clarity: hyphenate compound adjectives before nouns when needed (“long-term outcomes”, “well-designed study”) but not after (“outcomes were long term”). Use an en-dash for spans and relationships (dose–response).
• Italics: species names (Escherichia coli), variables in maths (as specified), and some Latin phrases (varies by house style).

7) Section-Specific Guidance

Title and Abstract

• Precision over cleverness: include the object of study, key variable(s) and context/population. Avoid metaphors.
• Abstract: one sentence each for background, objective, method, main numerical/central finding, and implication. Match the journal’s word count and structure (structured vs unstructured).
• Keywords: mix broad field terms with specific methods/populations to improve discoverability.

Introduction

• Motivate the problem succinctly; end with explicit aims/hypotheses in one clear paragraph.
• Avoid literature reviews that wander; prefer curated, recent, relevant sources.

Methods

• Write reproducibly: design, participants, materials/instruments (versions), procedures, analysis plan. Name approvals (IRB/ethics) and registrations (trial IDs, OSF).
• Use past tense; avoid rhetorical flourish; specify software and versions.

Results/Findings

• Report, do not argue (unless combined Results & Discussion). Provide exact numbers; reference self-contained tables/figures; place one quotable “key finding” sentence at the start/end of each subsection.

Discussion

• Interpret results cautiously; relate to aims and prior work; state limitations and realistic implications. Avoid over-claiming and speculative causal language if design does not support it.

Conclusions

• Deliver a concise, evidence-anchored takeaway; avoid introducing new data or literature.

8) Tables, Figures and Captions (Make Them Self-Contained)

• Number by first mention: Table 1, Figure 1, etc.; reference each in text.
• Captions carry context: what is shown, where/when, sample size, model/statistic, and a single-line takeaway. Define all abbreviations and symbols in footnotes.
• Consistency: same variable names across text and visuals; consistent decimal places; units in headers.
• Accessibility: use patterns/line types in addition to colour; ensure font sizes are legible at journal print size.

9) Citations and References (Language Meets Metadata)

• Follow the journal’s style (APA, Vancouver, Chicago, Harvard, numbered). Maintain sentence case/Title Case exactly as required.
• Check author spellings and diacritics; include DOIs where expected; use approved journal abbreviations only when the style calls for them.
• Match every in-text citation to the reference list and vice versa; disambiguate same-author-same-year with letters (2019a/2019b).

10) Frequent Errors That Trigger Editorial Queries

11) Bias-Free and Precise Language

• Describe, do not label: “participants with diabetes” rather than “diabetics” (unless field conventions differ and the community prefers identity-first phrasing).
• Be specific: “participants aged 18–24 years” beats “young people”.
• Avoid anthropomorphism: “The model estimated,” not “The model understood.”

12) A Mini Style Memo (Create and Share with Co-Authors)

Keep a one-page style sheet for the project. Example entries:

• Variety: British English; serial comma not used; single quotes first.
• Hyphenation: long-term, data-driven, evidence-based; no hyphen after noun.
• Statistics: report β/OR/RR with 95% CI; exact p; italic statistical symbols.
• Numbers: words zero–nine; numerals 10+; always numerals with units and statistics.
• Units: SI; space between number and unit; en-dash for ranges.

13) Consistency Workflow (Final 30-Minute Audit)

1. Language pass: run the spellchecker set to BrE or AmE; search common variety pairs (metre/meter, behaviour/behavior).
2. Numbers/units: enforce spaces, en-dashes, decimal places; confirm degree symbols; check table headers.
3. Acronyms: scan for first uses; ensure definitions; remove redundant acronyms.
4. Visuals: captions self-contained; abbreviations defined; figure/table numbering by first mention.
5. References: case, punctuation, DOIs and author names match journal style; one-to-one with in-text citations.
6. Read aloud: catch long sentences, dangling modifiers and rhythm issues.

14) Examples: From Informal to Journal-Ready

15) Collaborating Across Varieties (Multinational Teams)

• Nominate a “language lead” to enforce the agreed variety and style memo.
• Centralise decisions in a shared document; resolve conflicts early (serial comma, quote style, decimal separators).
• Run a dedicated “language harmonisation” pass after content sign-off and before submission.

Why Our Editing and Proofreading Services?

At Proof-Reading-Service.com we offer the highest quality journal article editing, dissertation proofreading and online proofreading services via our large and extremely dedicated team of academic and scientific professionals. All of our proofreaders are native speakers of English who have earned their own postgraduate degrees, and their areas of specialisation cover a wide range of disciplines, enabling us to help our international clientele improve and perfect manuscripts for successful publication. Many members of our carefully trained manuscript editing and proofreading team work predominantly on articles intended for scholarly journals, applying rigorous journal editing standards to ensure that references and formatting conform to the journal’s instructions for authors and to correct any grammar, spelling, punctuation or typographical errors. This is how we help clients report their research in the clear, accurate ways required to impress acquisitions editors and achieve publication.

Conclusion

Formal academic and scientific English is less about ornament and more about disciplined choices that reduce friction for readers and editors. Decide on British or American English, maintain a consistent micro-style for punctuation, spelling and hyphenation, report numbers and statistics transparently, and keep visuals self-contained. Then run a final, ruthless consistency audit. You will not only meet journal expectations—you will make your scholarship easier to understand, evaluate and cite.