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Jargon to Avoid in Scientific and Technical Writing
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Jargon to Avoid in Scientific and Technical Writing

The following is a list of words, expressions and jargon to avoid in scientific and technical writing. The original list was posted on EST-L on the Internet with permission from the author by students of Roy Bowers, Center for Biological Research, La Paz, Mexico and posted on the Web (http://www.cibnor.conacyt.mx/est/day.html). The list was transcribed from Robert A. Day's outstanding books on technical writing:

Day, Robert A. "How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper". I.S.I Press, Philadelphia, Penn. 1979
Day, Robert A. "Scientific English: A Guide for Scientists and Other Professionals". Oryx Press, Phoenix, Arizona. 1992. (now in its 2nd edition)

Additions added to the original list come from:

Day, Robert A. "How To Write & Publish a Scientific Paper: 5th Edition". 3rd ed. Oryx Press, Phoenix, AZ, 1988. (now in its 5th edition)
Redish, Janice C.; Felker, Daniel B.; Pickering, Frances; Charrow, Veda R.; and Holland, V. Melissa "Guidelines for Document Designers a Product of the Document Design Project Funded by the National Institute of Education". American Institutes for Research, Washington, D.C. 1981.
Style guidelines from Cynthia Lockley, IBM Corporation, and others.

Also see the Complete List of Banished Words issued on 1 January each year since 1975 by Lake Superior State University (LSSU); Michigan's smallest public university with an enrollment of 3,000 students. See http://www.lssu.edu/banished/ for the story behind the list.

Avoid	Use instead
a considerable amount of	much
a considerable number of	many
a great number of times	often
a majority of	most
a number of	some
a small number of	a few
absolutely essential	essential
accompany	go with
accounted for by the fact that	because
adjacent to	near
afford an opportunity	let
along the lines of	like
an example of this fact that	for example
an order of magnitude faster	10 times faster
apparent	clear
approximately	about
are of the same opinion	agree
as a consequence of	because
as a matter of fact	in fact (or leave out)
as a means of	to
as is the case	as happens
as of this date	today
as to	about (or leave out)
as to whether	whether
at a rapid rate	rapidly
at an early date	soon
at an earlier date	previously
at some future time	later
at the conclusion of	after
at the present time	now
at this point in time	now
based on the fact that	because
be advised that	(leave out)
by means of	by, with
capability	ability
causal factor	cause
caveat	warning
completely full	full
component	part
consensus of opinion	consensus
considerable amount of	much
deem	think
definitely proved	proved
despite the fact that	although
due to the fact that	because
during the course of	during, while
during the time that	while
echelons	levels
elucidate	explain
employ	use
enclosed herewith	enclosed
encounter	meet
end result	result
endeavor	try
entirely eliminate	eliminate
equivalent	equal
eventuate	happen
evidenced	showed
fabricate	make
facilitate	ease, help
fatal outcome	death
fewer in number	fewer
finalize	end
first of all	first
following	after
for a period of	for
for the purpose of	for
for the reason that	because
from the point of view	for
from the time that	since
future plans	plans
give an account of	describe
give consideration to	consider
give rise to	cause
has been engaged in a study of	has studied
has the capability of	can
have the appearance of	look like
having regard to	about
impact (v.)	affect
important essentials	essentials
in a number of cases	some
in a position to	can, may
in a satisfactory manner	satisfactorily
in a timely manner	promptly
in a very real sense	in a sense (or leave out)
in almost all instances	nearly always
in case	if
in close proximity to	close, near
in connection with	about, concerning
in lieu of	instead of
in many cases	often
in my opinion it is not an unjustifiable assumption that	I think
in order to	to
in reference to	about
in relation to	about, towards, toward
in respect to	about
in some cases	sometimes
in spite of the fact that	although
in terms of	about
in the absence of	without
in the amount of	for
in the event that	if
in the first place	first
in the matter of	about
in the not-too-distant future	soon
in the possession of	has, have
in the range of	about
in the vicinity of	about
in view of the fact that	because
inasmuch as	because
inception	start
incline to the view	think
incumbent upon	must
initiate	begin, start
is defined as	is
it goes without saying that I	I
it has been reported by Smith	Smith reported
it has long been known that	(I haven't bothered to look up the reference)
it is apparent that	apparently
it is believed that	I think
it is clear that	clearly
it is clear that much additional work will be required before a complete understanding	(I don't understand it)
it is doubtful that	possibly
it is evident that A produced B	A produced B
it is generally believed	many think
it is my understanding that	I understand that
it is of interest to note that	(leave out)
it is often the case that	often
it is recommended that	we recommend
it is worth pointing out in this context that	note that
it may be that	I think
it may, however, be noted that	but
it should be noted that	note that (or leave out)
it was observed in the course of these experiments that	we observed
join together	join
lacked the ability to	could not
large in size	large
let me make one thing perfectly clear	(a snow job is coming)
liase with	coordinate with
majority of	most
make preparations for	prepare
make reference to	refer to
methodology	method
militate against	prohibit
month of	(leave out)
more or less	about
needless to say	(leave out, and consider leaving out whatever follows it)
new initiatives	initiatives
not later than	by
of great theoretical and practical importance	useful
of long standing	old
of the opinion that	think that
on account of	because
on a daily basis	daily
on behalf of	for
on no occasion	never
on the basis of	by
on the grounds that	because
on the order of	about
on the other hand	although, however, otherwise
on the part of	by, among, for
on the subject of	about
optimum	best
our attention has been called to the fact that	(we belatedly discovered)
owing to the fact that	because
parameters	limits
penultimate	next to the last
perform	do
permit	let
place a major emphasis on	stress
pooled together	pooled
practicable	practical
presents a picture similar to	resembles
prior to	before
prioritize	rank
protein determinations were performed	proteins were determined
provided that	if
pursuant to	about
quantity	measure
quite	(leave out)
quite a large quantity of	much
quite unique	unique
rather interesting	interesting
re	about
red in color	red
referred to as	called
reference	about
regarding	about
relating to the subject matter of	about
relative to	about
remuneration	pay, payment
rendered completely inoperative	broken
respecting	about
resultant effect	result
root cause	cause
serious crisis	crisis
shortfall	shortage
smaller in size	smaller
so as to	to
subject matter	subject
subsequent to	after
sufficient	enough
take into consideration	consider
terminate	end
the great majority of	most
the opinion is advanced that	I think
the predominant number	most
the question as to whether	whether
there is a reason to believe	I think
this result would seem to indicate	this result indicates
through the use of	by, with
ultimate	last
utilize	use
was the opinion that	believed
ways and means	ways, means (not both)
we wish to thank	we thank
whether or not	whether
with a view to	to
with reference to	about (or leave out)
with regard to	about
with respect to	about, except
with the possible exception of	except
with the result that	so that
within the ballpark of	about

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Communication

Jargon to Avoid in Scientific and Technical Writing

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