Style Tips

The following advice was written by the-then Psychologist editor, Dr Maryon Tysoe. It should be read in conjunction with the guide to Society style.

The Psychologist is an exciting publication to write for; it is the place where writers can present information and ideas to thousands of other psychologists who would not otherwise come across them. It is the only forum where everyone in the Society can address everyone else. As such, it has a crucial part to play in providing a sense of interconnection - and of collective identity - for what is now a wide and extremely diverse group.

Writing for The Psychologist is unlike most kinds of writing that psychologists do. Obviously, we need excellent and substantive content, as required by any academic or professional publication. But we also need this content to be communicated in high-quality, clear, non-technical, lively and accessible prose.

Writing is a craft. These guidelines are designed to help you write for us, whatever the nature of the item - from a full-length article to a news piece. (But for simplicity, the word 'article' will be used throughout.) They should be read in conjunction with the 'Submissions Information' page of The Psychologist.

Some of you who receive this guide will find you know all this already. Others will know parts of it but, perhaps more used to writing for different audiences, may be less conscious of some of the issues mentioned here. Still others may be students, and so relatively new to the writing business. The guidelines are based on: first, the principles of good writing and effective communication; and second, the most common errors and infelicities that - in my experience as Editor - appear in contributors' work.

The audience is the key

The readership of The Psychologist is more than 30,000 and rising. The most vital point to remember, when writing every single sentence, is that most of these readers will be non-specialist in the topic of any individual article. Our readers vary enormously in age, knowledge, experience and arena of work - and some (e.g. journalists, politicians, interested outsiders) have no psychological training at all.

Assume your audience has no knowledge of your topic

Avoid technical terms: For our audience, it is crucial to write in non-technical language. Steer clear of technical terms and jargon wherever possible. Any such terms that you feel you must use need to be defined in a few words (perhaps in brackets) at the first time of using.

It can be hard to identify technical terms, as they are part of the language you use as a matter of course. The simplest method is to imagine that you are talking to an intelligent friend who knows nothing of your subject area - would he or she understand what you are saying?

Technical terms include words that have another meaning when used in common Parlance. For instance, ordinary words such as 'representation' and 'function' can also be used in highly specialised ways - if that is happening, then their meaning in your context needs to be explained.

It is also very important to spell out acronyms. Don't assume that everyone will be familiar with the organisations, tests, etc. that you are talking about; it can be irritating for the reader to have to stop to work out what an acronym stands for. If you are going to refer to it again, put the acronym in brackets after you write it in full the first time; thereafter use only the acronym.

Explain things clearly: Don't think you are insulting your audience by doing this - you're not. Given the diversity of our readers, your topic will be a closed book to many people. Or for some, it might prompt only dim memories of undergraduate lectures an unknown number of years ago - possibly incorrect and certainly outdated!

Therefore, as you write, keep your audience constantly in mind and ask yourself: 'Am I writing in such a way that they'll understand?'

Clarification not simplification: Articles for The Psychologist are expected to convey substantive, accurate and up-to-date information clearly. However, people often fear that clarifying their writing will mean simplifying the content and lowering standards. This is not so.

Clear writing requires clear thinking about what you wish to express; it means increasing accessibility, not decreasing complexity.

Engage the readers' interest

You cannot assume that our readers will be automatically drawn to your topic. It is the writer's job to think about what might interest them - and then to make them interested.

Therefore, as you write, keep your audience constantly in mind and ask yourself: 'Am I writing in such a way as to keep them interested?'

It's vital to pay particular attention to your first paragraph. If you don't 'hook' readers with that, showing the fascination and importance of what you have to say, they simply won't bother to read on. Very flat, general or trite introductions won't lure readers in; those that are powerful and to the point - or intriguing - will.

Don't let the article trail off at the end either - finish on a strong point.

If you want to write for people who are already engaged by and knowledgeable about your subject area, or if the topic is narrow or technical, then The Psychologist is probably not the right outlet for your work. An academic journal or a subsystem newsletter would be more suitable.

Writing style

Avoid overlong sentences: Overlong sentences tend to be very boring and confusing to read. Remember that the readership is not a captive audience - if they have to read a passage again to make sense of it, or they find it too dull, you've lost them.

Overlong sentences are those that: a) have unnecessarily complex structures, containing more than one or two subordinate clauses or b) simply run on so long that the reader can't (metaphorically) draw breath.

Nearly all overlong sentences can be cut in two. For instance:

At its simplest, a comma can often be changed to a full stop: e.g. '..., but ...' can become '.... But ...'. '... and ...' can be cut at the word 'and' and the subject of the first sentence repeated at the beginning of the second sentence. So 'However, X recommends ... and suggests ...' can become 'However, X recommends ... . She suggests ...'.

Sometimes, of course, more complex rewriting will be necessary to split an overlong sentence. One idea per sentence is a useful guide.

If you really can't see how to divide the sentence, then use punctuation - commas, dashes, semicolons, colons - to separate the elements of the sentence and give the reader a moment to breathe. (As just demonstrated.) Punctuation can be used to great effect to improve sentence flow, rhythm and clarity.

Obviously, don't go to the opposite extreme and write only very short sentences - that will seem too staccato. A mixture of sentence lengths is the most pleasant to read.

Avoid overlong paragraphs: A paragraph of apparently modest length when stretched the width of an A4 page looks like an airport runway when squeezed into the width of a column. This makes text look dull and off-putting.

For articles set in three columns (e.g. full-length articles), two to four sentences are usually the most to constitute a reasonable-looking paragraph on the page. For items set in four columns (e.g. news items), sometimes only one or two sentences will make a paragraph before the 'runway' effect appears.

Avoid ambiguous referents: Be sure the referent is always clear. In particular, try not to start paragraphs with, for example, 'This', 'Their' or 'It', as what you are referring to will probably be ambiguous. It's usually better to spell it out - e.g. 'This age difference shows ...'.

Avoid verbosity and use direct language: Sometimes, sentences can read very heavily because they are packed with unnecessary words. Such verbiage can easily be cut and rewritten without affecting the meaning.

For example:

Instead of: 'Evidence was offered by the current study pertaining to ...' Try: 'We found evidence of ...'
Instead of: 'It is noticeable that major investment has been made for the provision and development of ..., however ...' Try: 'Despite major investment in providing and developing ...'
Instead of: 'research within the area of social psychology' Try: 'research in social psychology' Instead of: 'the attention of infants' Try: 'infants' attention'
Instead of: 'If one makes a comparison between ...' Try: 'Comparing ...'
Instead of: 'The recognition of ...' Try: 'Recognising ...'
Instead of: 'The model has been described as combining ...' Try: 'The model combines ...'

Don't weigh your prose down with unnecessarily long words or convoluted phrases when shorter ones convey the same meaning. Be straightforward, and use clear, direct language. So: not 'endeavour to ascertain' but 'try to find out'; not 'in consequence of' but 'because'.

Similarly, it's better to keep away from over-formal language. For example, consider using 'on' rather than 'upon', 'on' or 'about' rather than 'concerning', 'in' rather than 'within', 'people' or 'individuals' rather than 'persons', 'using' rather than 'utilising'.

Watch out for ambiguities. For instance, 'professional software users' could mean 'people who use software in their profession' or 'people who are software users of a professional standard' or 'users of professional software'.

Don't repeat yourself: If your article is about, say, children's cognitive skills, that phrase does not need to be constantly repeated; and avoid using any phrase that appears only a sentence or two earlier.

It's also important not to use the same (noticeable) word too often, e.g. 'suggested' or 'assessed' - find synonyms for variety. Repeat words near each other only as a deliberate rhetorical device.

If you use a particularly vivid word - for instance, 'striking' - don't do so again too soon; again, find a synonym.

Lastly, don't reiterate points. Otherwise, you risk boring the reader and wasting limited space.

Use the active voice: Using the active voice wherever possible is a key ingredient of good, engaging writing.

The active voice means simply 'subject-verb-object'. So, for example, when referring to your own work, rather than the passive 'It was predicted that ...', use the active 'We predicted that ...'. Instead of 'A conference will be organised by the university next year', write 'The university will organise a conference next year'.

Of course, passive sentences will sometimes be necessary (e.g. if you deliberately want to keep the subject of the sentence vague) - but it's important to use them sparingly and only with good reason.

Use concrete examples and illustrations: Using concrete examples and illustrations of abstract points is really helpful when writing for a non-specialist audience. This has two benefits - it helps to clarify those points and brings the topic alive. Abstract and abstruse writing is not suitable for this type of audience.

For example:

instead of just 'emotional difficulties', be specific and add, say, 'such as depression, anxiety and anger'
instead of just 'dysfunctional cognitions', give specific examples of what those thoughts might be
instead of just 'we recognise inconsistency in ourselves', elaborate it with, e.g., 'we know we can be calm and moody'
instead of just 'X determines an individual's reaction to Y', follow it with a concrete example (fictional if preferred) to show how this works
instead of just 'problems in relating to others', add concrete illustrations (can be fictional) of how a person with such problems might behave.

Being specific and concrete will enliven your writing, and engage the reader. Vivid quotes and phrases can help too.

Some small points of The Psychologist's house style

Writers should use the first person ('I' or 'we'), not the third person ('the author(s)'), when referring to their own work.
The use of capital letters should be minimised - e.g. 'educational psychology' not 'Educational Psychology'. Unnecessary capitals in a sentence look odd, even childish, to the non-specialist reader.
The British Psychological Society is normally referred to as 'the Society', and never as 'the BPS'. Use 'participants' or 'respondents' - or a more precise descriptor, e.g. undergraduates or managers - rather than 'subjects'.
'%' in text should be spelled out 'per cent'.
Numbers: write numbers one to nine as words (except percentages) and 10 upwards as figures (except at the beginning of a sentence). For more details on numbers, see the Society's style guide.
We ask for references to be kept to a reasonable minimum. We prefer no more than 35 at the absolute maximum; normally, we would expect far fewer than this. To keep references down and not break up the text too much, it's best to give only one (or two at the most) for each point needing a reference.
We use the American Psychological Association reference style.
Page numbers of quotes should always be given immediately after the quote.
Suggesting headings and, as appropriate, (very short) subheadings is most helpful. However, the editorial team may need to make changes for reasons of space and layout.
For news items, conference reports, 'Research in brief', 'Students' and 'Media watch', we need the first name as well as surname of all individuals mentioned, plus their affiliation or institution. Check that these are accurate and spelled correctly.
In articles, criticism of particular individuals can creep in. Debating issues is naturally fine, but please avoid negative personal comments.

And finally ...

Please don't write 'In this paper' - use 'article'. 'Paper' implies that the writer's mind is still on a traditional, specialist audience, not the broad-church readership of The Psychologist. This brings us full circle...

Style Tips
How Policy and Protocols Style Tips Book Reviews Student Writer Competition	The following advice was written by the-then Psychologist editor, Dr Maryon Tysoe. It should be read in conjunction with the guide to Society style. The Psychologist is an exciting publication to write for; it is the place where writers can present information and ideas to thousands of other psychologists who would not otherwise come across them. It is the only forum where everyone in the Society can address everyone else. As such, it has a crucial part to play in providing a sense of interconnection - and of collective identity - for what is now a wide and extremely diverse group. Writing for The Psychologist is unlike most kinds of writing that psychologists do. Obviously, we need excellent and substantive content, as required by any academic or professional publication. But we also need this content to be communicated in high-quality, clear, non-technical, lively and accessible prose. Writing is a craft. These guidelines are designed to help you write for us, whatever the nature of the item - from a full-length article to a news piece. (But for simplicity, the word 'article' will be used throughout.) They should be read in conjunction with the 'Submissions Information' page of The Psychologist. Some of you who receive this guide will find you know all this already. Others will know parts of it but, perhaps more used to writing for different audiences, may be less conscious of some of the issues mentioned here. Still others may be students, and so relatively new to the writing business. The guidelines are based on: first, the principles of good writing and effective communication; and second, the most common errors and infelicities that - in my experience as Editor - appear in contributors' work. The audience is the key The readership of The Psychologist is more than 30,000 and rising. The most vital point to remember, when writing every single sentence, is that most of these readers will be non-specialist in the topic of any individual article. Our readers vary enormously in age, knowledge, experience and arena of work - and some (e.g. journalists, politicians, interested outsiders) have no psychological training at all. Assume your audience has no knowledge of your topic Avoid technical terms: For our audience, it is crucial to write in non-technical language. Steer clear of technical terms and jargon wherever possible. Any such terms that you feel you must use need to be defined in a few words (perhaps in brackets) at the first time of using. It can be hard to identify technical terms, as they are part of the language you use as a matter of course. The simplest method is to imagine that you are talking to an intelligent friend who knows nothing of your subject area - would he or she understand what you are saying? Technical terms include words that have another meaning when used in common Parlance. For instance, ordinary words such as 'representation' and 'function' can also be used in highly specialised ways - if that is happening, then their meaning in your context needs to be explained. It is also very important to spell out acronyms. Don't assume that everyone will be familiar with the organisations, tests, etc. that you are talking about; it can be irritating for the reader to have to stop to work out what an acronym stands for. If you are going to refer to it again, put the acronym in brackets after you write it in full the first time; thereafter use only the acronym. Explain things clearly: Don't think you are insulting your audience by doing this - you're not. Given the diversity of our readers, your topic will be a closed book to many people. Or for some, it might prompt only dim memories of undergraduate lectures an unknown number of years ago - possibly incorrect and certainly outdated! Therefore, as you write, keep your audience constantly in mind and ask yourself: 'Am I writing in such a way that they'll understand?' Clarification not simplification: Articles for The Psychologist are expected to convey substantive, accurate and up-to-date information clearly. However, people often fear that clarifying their writing will mean simplifying the content and lowering standards. This is not so. Clear writing requires clear thinking about what you wish to express; it means increasing accessibility, not decreasing complexity. Engage the readers' interest You cannot assume that our readers will be automatically drawn to your topic. It is the writer's job to think about what might interest them - and then to make them interested. Therefore, as you write, keep your audience constantly in mind and ask yourself: 'Am I writing in such a way as to keep them interested?' It's vital to pay particular attention to your first paragraph. If you don't 'hook' readers with that, showing the fascination and importance of what you have to say, they simply won't bother to read on. Very flat, general or trite introductions won't lure readers in; those that are powerful and to the point - or intriguing - will. Don't let the article trail off at the end either - finish on a strong point. If you want to write for people who are already engaged by and knowledgeable about your subject area, or if the topic is narrow or technical, then The Psychologist is probably not the right outlet for your work. An academic journal or a subsystem newsletter would be more suitable. Writing style Avoid overlong sentences: Overlong sentences tend to be very boring and confusing to read. Remember that the readership is not a captive audience - if they have to read a passage again to make sense of it, or they find it too dull, you've lost them. Overlong sentences are those that: a) have unnecessarily complex structures, containing more than one or two subordinate clauses or b) simply run on so long that the reader can't (metaphorically) draw breath. Nearly all overlong sentences can be cut in two. For instance: At its simplest, a comma can often be changed to a full stop: e.g. '..., but ...' can become '.... But ...'. '... and ...' can be cut at the word 'and' and the subject of the first sentence repeated at the beginning of the second sentence. So 'However, X recommends ... and suggests ...' can become 'However, X recommends ... . She suggests ...'. Sometimes, of course, more complex rewriting will be necessary to split an overlong sentence. One idea per sentence is a useful guide. If you really can't see how to divide the sentence, then use punctuation - commas, dashes, semicolons, colons - to separate the elements of the sentence and give the reader a moment to breathe. (As just demonstrated.) Punctuation can be used to great effect to improve sentence flow, rhythm and clarity. Obviously, don't go to the opposite extreme and write only very short sentences - that will seem too staccato. A mixture of sentence lengths is the most pleasant to read. Avoid overlong paragraphs: A paragraph of apparently modest length when stretched the width of an A4 page looks like an airport runway when squeezed into the width of a column. This makes text look dull and off-putting. For articles set in three columns (e.g. full-length articles), two to four sentences are usually the most to constitute a reasonable-looking paragraph on the page. For items set in four columns (e.g. news items), sometimes only one or two sentences will make a paragraph before the 'runway' effect appears. Avoid ambiguous referents: Be sure the referent is always clear. In particular, try not to start paragraphs with, for example, 'This', 'Their' or 'It', as what you are referring to will probably be ambiguous. It's usually better to spell it out - e.g. 'This age difference shows ...'. Avoid verbosity and use direct language: Sometimes, sentences can read very heavily because they are packed with unnecessary words. Such verbiage can easily be cut and rewritten without affecting the meaning. For example: Instead of: 'Evidence was offered by the current study pertaining to ...' Try: 'We found evidence of ...' Instead of: 'It is noticeable that major investment has been made for the provision and development of ..., however ...' Try: 'Despite major investment in providing and developing ...' Instead of: 'research within the area of social psychology' Try: 'research in social psychology' Instead of: 'the attention of infants' Try: 'infants' attention' Instead of: 'If one makes a comparison between ...' Try: 'Comparing ...' Instead of: 'The recognition of ...' Try: 'Recognising ...' Instead of: 'The model has been described as combining ...' Try: 'The model combines ...' Don't weigh your prose down with unnecessarily long words or convoluted phrases when shorter ones convey the same meaning. Be straightforward, and use clear, direct language. So: not 'endeavour to ascertain' but 'try to find out'; not 'in consequence of' but 'because'. Similarly, it's better to keep away from over-formal language. For example, consider using 'on' rather than 'upon', 'on' or 'about' rather than 'concerning', 'in' rather than 'within', 'people' or 'individuals' rather than 'persons', 'using' rather than 'utilising'. Watch out for ambiguities. For instance, 'professional software users' could mean 'people who use software in their profession' or 'people who are software users of a professional standard' or 'users of professional software'. Don't repeat yourself: If your article is about, say, children's cognitive skills, that phrase does not need to be constantly repeated; and avoid using any phrase that appears only a sentence or two earlier. It's also important not to use the same (noticeable) word too often, e.g. 'suggested' or 'assessed' - find synonyms for variety. Repeat words near each other only as a deliberate rhetorical device. If you use a particularly vivid word - for instance, 'striking' - don't do so again too soon; again, find a synonym. Lastly, don't reiterate points. Otherwise, you risk boring the reader and wasting limited space. Use the active voice: Using the active voice wherever possible is a key ingredient of good, engaging writing. The active voice means simply 'subject-verb-object'. So, for example, when referring to your own work, rather than the passive 'It was predicted that ...', use the active 'We predicted that ...'. Instead of 'A conference will be organised by the university next year', write 'The university will organise a conference next year'. Of course, passive sentences will sometimes be necessary (e.g. if you deliberately want to keep the subject of the sentence vague) - but it's important to use them sparingly and only with good reason. Use concrete examples and illustrations: Using concrete examples and illustrations of abstract points is really helpful when writing for a non-specialist audience. This has two benefits - it helps to clarify those points and brings the topic alive. Abstract and abstruse writing is not suitable for this type of audience. For example: instead of just 'emotional difficulties', be specific and add, say, 'such as depression, anxiety and anger' instead of just 'dysfunctional cognitions', give specific examples of what those thoughts might be instead of just 'we recognise inconsistency in ourselves', elaborate it with, e.g., 'we know we can be calm and moody' instead of just 'X determines an individual's reaction to Y', follow it with a concrete example (fictional if preferred) to show how this works instead of just 'problems in relating to others', add concrete illustrations (can be fictional) of how a person with such problems might behave. Being specific and concrete will enliven your writing, and engage the reader. Vivid quotes and phrases can help too. Some small points of The Psychologist's house style Writers should use the first person ('I' or 'we'), not the third person ('the author(s)'), when referring to their own work. The use of capital letters should be minimised - e.g. 'educational psychology' not 'Educational Psychology'. Unnecessary capitals in a sentence look odd, even childish, to the non-specialist reader. The British Psychological Society is normally referred to as 'the Society', and never as 'the BPS'. Use 'participants' or 'respondents' - or a more precise descriptor, e.g. undergraduates or managers - rather than 'subjects'. '%' in text should be spelled out 'per cent'. Numbers: write numbers one to nine as words (except percentages) and 10 upwards as figures (except at the beginning of a sentence). For more details on numbers, see the Society's style guide. We ask for references to be kept to a reasonable minimum. We prefer no more than 35 at the absolute maximum; normally, we would expect far fewer than this. To keep references down and not break up the text too much, it's best to give only one (or two at the most) for each point needing a reference. We use the American Psychological Association reference style. Page numbers of quotes should always be given immediately after the quote. Suggesting headings and, as appropriate, (very short) subheadings is most helpful. However, the editorial team may need to make changes for reasons of space and layout. For news items, conference reports, 'Research in brief', 'Students' and 'Media watch', we need the first name as well as surname of all individuals mentioned, plus their affiliation or institution. Check that these are accurate and spelled correctly. In articles, criticism of particular individuals can creep in. Debating issues is naturally fine, but please avoid negative personal comments. And finally ... Please don't write 'In this paper' - use 'article'. 'Paper' implies that the writer's mind is still on a traditional, specialist audience, not the broad-church readership of The Psychologist. This brings us full circle...



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