31 PRS Proofreading and Editing Service PhD Experts • All Academic Areas • Fast Turnaround • High Quality rendered similar results. Paragraph writing is far from an exact science, of course, but strictly speaking the first sentence should introduce the idea, the following sentences should develop it in any number of ways and the last sentence should bring the paragraph to an effective close, ideally in a way that guides your reader on to the next paragraph. Paragraphs that are too long can be problematic as well, particularly because they tend to merge and develop a number of ideas instead of separating them for clarity and therefore can lack logical interconnection or coherence. Long paragraphs are often associated with complex thought and interrelated ideas, which is exactly what one wants to see in an academic or scientific article, but paragraphs that run on too long and become jumbled can obscure the ideas presented and lose the attention of readers, who do not know your material as well as you do. By breaking long paragraphs into shorter paragraphs, you provide your readers with visual and intellectual breaks that offer them the chance to assimilate the idea(s) you’ve just discussed before moving on the next, and you also make it easier for them to find material again when needed. Finally, you create a more effective structure for the complex ideas you’re discussing, which can improve and clarify the information you’re sharing and thus the progression of your overall argument. Organising your paper into effective paragraphs will only be successful, however, if the transitions between your paragraphs are smooth and clear. If you are shifting to a different topic or focussing on a different study as you begin a new paragraph, you need to make that absolutely clear by explaining the transition. Use specific discourse markers indicating a change of topic, a comparison or contrast, or a focus on a different study or text or PARt II: PRePARIng, PResentIng And PolIsHIng YoUR woRk