{"id":11655,"date":"2018-01-30T08:39:46","date_gmt":"2018-01-30T16:39:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.www.grantcentral.com\/?p=11655"},"modified":"2023-01-05T15:55:27","modified_gmt":"2023-01-05T23:55:27","slug":"owning-your-authentic-scientific-voice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.grantcentral.com\/owning-your-authentic-scientific-voice\/","title":{"rendered":"Owning your authentic scientific voice"},"content":{"rendered":"

[et_pb_section admin_label=”section”]
\n\t\t\t[et_pb_row admin_label=”row”]
\n\t\t\t\t[et_pb_column type=”4_4″][et_pb_text admin_label=”Text”]Owning your authoritative scientific \u201cvoice\u201d is critical for ensuring that reviewers see you as a knowledgeable, credible expert prepared to undertake the work proposed in the application. When providing background information and describing the findings of other investigators, many applicants use informal, conversational phrases and sentence structure that inadvertently undercut their \u201cvoices,\u201d and coincidentally, waste precious space. Consider the following sentence (emphasis added):<\/p>\n

It has long been appreciated that<\/em><\/span> inadequate maternal nutrition leading to a compromised pregnancy increases calf mortality rate by 10% at or near birth, while an additional 20% of calves die prior to weaning (Corah et al., 1975).<\/p>\n

Introductory clauses such as \u201cIt has long been appreciated that\u201d or \u201cIt is well known that\u201d are unnecessary here, and subtly suggest that the author of the proposal is just re-stating the obvious. If a fact is truly well-established, and you are providing a citation, this type of phrase can be left out. Instead, by excluding the introductory clause and simply including the reference(s), the statement becomes more declarative, and gives you more authority as a speaker and investigator:<\/p>\n

Inadequate maternal nutrition leading to a compromised pregnancy increases calf mortality rate by 10% at or near birth, while an additional 20% of calves die prior to weaning (Corah et al., 1975).<\/p>\n

Similarly, general, introductory phrases referring to \u201cVarious authors,\u201d \u201cMany investigators,\u201d or \u201cResearchers in the field of X\u201d weaken the power of your words and risk giving the paragraph the feel of a section in a student paper or dissertation where you are simply reporting the work of others. For example, instead of saying (emphasis added):<\/p>\n

Natural resource scholars emphasize that<\/span><\/em> acknowledging the poly-centricity of land governance can promote more responsive resource management.<\/p>\n

consider<\/p>\n

Acknowledging the poly-centricity of land governance can promote more responsive resource management (references).<\/p>\n

On a rhetorical and stylistic level, these subtle shifts towards\u00a0an enhanced authoritative tone are particularly important for early\u00a0career investigators and those branching into new areas of research. Additionally, on a more practical level, when used over and over again in the course of a proposal, these empty introductory clauses can end up stealing space needed for\u00a0meaningful detail. This becomes even more apparent when you consider how naturally wordy we can be. For example:<\/p>\n

Over the past 15 years, many authors in the field of cyberinfrastructure have demonstrated that _____________ (Hernandez & Wong, 2002; Borrero, Troy, Schmidt, and Partil, 2012; Archer, Rosenfeld, and Katz, 2017)<\/p>\n

Here, the introductory clause not only risks diminishing the applicant\u2019s \u201cvoice\u201d and uses up an entire line in Arial 11 font, it is\u00a0almost certainly unnecessary given that the \u201cmany authors\u201d and 15-year time span are both already evident within the parenthetical citation.<\/p>\n

Finally, the use of these empty introductory clauses often involves anthropomorphizing, i.e., the attribution of human characteristics or behavior to non-human objects or entities, which should also be avoided in grant applications. While we have commented on the issue of anthropomorphism in a previous Dangerous Words to Avoid blog<\/a>, it is worth reiterating here, particularly in the context of reporting what others have identified, determined, or demonstrated. For example:<\/p>\n

Numerous studies looking at phenomenon of X have suggested that \u2026
\nAn extensive body of literature on X has examined the role that X plays in \u2026.<\/p>\n

In the first case, studies can\u2019t look at a phenomenon or suggest things; however, researchers, investigators, or authors can. Similarly, in the second instance, a corpus of literature does not, and cannot actively examine things, but scholars or teams can. The literature just contains or reflects what those people found and then reported.<\/p>\n

In conclusion, when discussing or presenting the\u00a0results of researchers who have come before you, synthesize, state, and cite, without superfluous clauses that unintentionally detract from your \u201cvoice\u201d or assign agency to non-human entities. Careful attention to word choice can help ensure that you maintain a knowledgeable, confident, convincing persona on paper and maximize the allotted space in a grant proposal by using a succinct writing style.[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column]
\n\t\t\t[\/et_pb_row]
\n\t\t[\/et_pb_section]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Owning your authoritative scientific \u201cvoice\u201d is critical for ensuring that reviewers see you as a knowledgeable, credible expert prepared to undertake the work proposed in the application. When providing background information and describing the findings of other investigators, many applicants use…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"Owning your authoritative scientific \u201cvoice\u201d is critical for ensuring that reviewers see you as a knowledgeable, credible expert prepared to undertake the work proposed in the application. When providing background information and describing the findings of other investigators, many applicants use informal, conversational phrases and sentence structure that inadvertently undercut their \u201cvoices,\u201d and coincidentally, waste precious space. Consider the following sentence (emphasis added):\r\n

It has long been appreciated that<\/em><\/span> inadequate maternal nutrition leading to a compromised pregnancy increases calf mortality rate by 10% at or near birth, while an additional 20% of calves die prior to weaning (Corah et al., 1975).<\/p>\r\nIntroductory clauses such as \u201cIt has long been appreciated that\u201d or \u201cIt is well known that\u201d are unnecessary here, and subtly suggest that the author of the proposal is just re-stating the obvious. If a fact is truly well-established, and you are providing a citation, this type of phrase can be left out. Instead, by excluding the introductory clause and simply including the reference(s), the statement becomes more declarative, and gives you more authority as a speaker and investigator:\r\n

Inadequate maternal nutrition leading to a compromised pregnancy increases calf mortality rate by 10% at or near birth, while an additional 20% of calves die prior to weaning (Corah et al., 1975).<\/p>\r\nSimilarly, general, introductory phrases referring to \u201cVarious authors,\u201d \u201cMany investigators,\u201d or \u201cResearchers in the field of X\u201d weaken the power of your words and risk giving the paragraph the feel of a section in a student paper or dissertation where you are simply reporting the work of others. For example, instead of saying (emphasis added):\r\n

Natural resource scholars emphasize that<\/span><\/em> acknowledging the poly-centricity of land governance can promote more responsive resource management.<\/p>\r\nconsider\r\n

Acknowledging the poly-centricity of land governance can promote more responsive resource management (references).<\/p>\r\nOn a rhetorical and stylistic level, these subtle shifts towards\u00a0an enhanced authoritative tone are particularly important for early\u00a0career investigators and those branching into new areas of research. Additionally, on a more practical level, when used over and over again in the course of a proposal, these empty introductory clauses can end up stealing space needed for\u00a0meaningful detail. This becomes even more apparent when you consider how naturally wordy we can be. For example:\r\n

Over the past 15 years, many authors in the field of cyberinfrastructure have demonstrated that _____________ (Hernandez & Wong, 2002; Borrero, Troy, Schmidt, and Partil, 2012; Archer, Rosenfeld, and Katz, 2017)<\/p>\r\nHere, the introductory clause not only risks diminishing the applicant\u2019s \u201cvoice\u201d and uses up an entire line in Arial 11 font, it is\u00a0almost certainly unnecessary given that the \u201cmany authors\u201d and 15-year time span are both already evident within the parenthetical citation.\r\n\r\nFinally, the use of these empty introductory clauses often involves anthropomorphizing, i.e., the attribution of human characteristics or behavior to non-human objects or entities, which should also be avoided in grant applications. While we have commented on the issue of anthropomorphism in a previous Dangerous Words to Avoid blog<\/a>, it is worth reiterating here, particularly in the context of reporting what others have identified, determined, or demonstrated. For example:\r\n

Numerous studies looking at phenomenon of X have suggested that \u2026\r\nAn extensive body of literature on X has examined the role that X plays in \u2026.<\/p>\r\nIn the first case, studies can\u2019t look at a phenomenon or suggest things; however, researchers, investigators, or authors can. Similarly, in the second instance, a corpus of literature does not, and cannot actively examine things, but scholars or teams can. The literature just contains or reflects what those people found and then reported.\r\n\r\nIn conclusion, when discussing or presenting the\u00a0results of researchers who have come before you, synthesize, state, and cite, without superfluous clauses that unintentionally detract from your \u201cvoice\u201d or assign agency to non-human entities. Careful attention to word choice can help ensure that you maintain a knowledgeable, confident, convincing persona on paper and maximize the allotted space in a grant proposal by using a succinct writing style.","_et_gb_content_width":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[21,31,41],"tags":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nOwning your authentic scientific voice -<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"When writing a grant proposal, own your authentic scientific voice without excess unnecessary language added that weakens the power of your words.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.grantcentral.com\/owning-your-authentic-scientific-voice\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" 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