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Enough rope to hang yourself: word limits in Medical Education

2010; Wiley; Volume: 44; Issue: 5 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1111/j.1365-2923.2010.03668.x

1365-2923

Kevin W. Eva,

Clinical Reasoning and Diagnostic Skills

‘The present letter is a very long one, simply because I had no leisure to make it shorter.’ At a time when social media like Facebook and Twitter are encouraging their users to convey information in short, pithy, 140-character-or-less missives, it seems excessive to use even 500 words to write an editorial encouraging conciseness. I would love to simply write: ‘Be brief’ full stop. The fact remains, however, that we need to constantly remind ourselves that, all else being equal, it is much easier to write a long paper than a short one. Using fewer words requires that authors think long and hard about the core messages they wish to express. Every word must be chosen deliberately, every thought linked and articulated in a way that conveys exactly what is meant and nothing more. Good journalists have mastered this activity as they know all too well that if it takes more than a paragraph to capture someone’s attention, that reader will move on and the author’s hope of impact will be forever lost. ‘Burying the lead’ (i.e., the most important message) three paragraphs into a newspaper article is considered a cardinal sin. In academic writing, however, we tend to assume that our audience is composed of dedicated individuals who diligently scour every passage for the sake of absorbing knowledge. One need only consider his most recent literature search, however, to realise the ludicrous nature of that perception. Run a search in PubMed. If the title doesn’t capture attention, the abstract won’t be read. If the abstract doesn’t clearly and succinctly convey an important message, the paper will be ignored. If the paper meanders or is full of extraneous details, the key findings and implications will be lost. People are busy. It is our job as authors to convince readers that our thoughts are worth reading and to keep those thoughts concise enough to enable readers to realise their good intentions. Having said that, it is also true that strict word limits perpetuate many of the problems that plague the medical education research field. Strict word limits can threaten the richness of a paper’s conceptual foundations.1 Publishers and editors label salami slicing (i.e. the act of splitting research projects into minimally publishable units) as unethical. In some circumstances it is necessary to conduct multiple studies to truly stake a claim to advancing understanding of the focal problem. Qualitative researchers in particular struggle as the data they must present to assure the reader of the credibility of their findings can alone soak up thousands of words. For all of these reasons Medical Education has decided to eliminate its word limits for research papers. Although this may be the take-home message for many readers, do not misinterpret my waiting until the fourth paragraph of this article to make this announcement as an example of ‘burying the lead’: the elimination of word limits is not the most important point. We still anticipate that most projects can be described in 3000 words or less, as has been the historical norm, but longer papers will be accepted readily if the content warrants the inclusion of more text. The editors of the journal will continue to evaluate submitted manuscripts based, in part, on their length, and reviewers will still be asked to comment explicitly on whether or not the length of the paper is appropriate for the message conveyed.2 Rambling text will still be considered sufficient reason for requiring revisions or for outright rejection as each paper will be held to the standard that it should be as long as it needs to be and no longer. In other words, take as much rope as you need to sell your story and to convince the reader that it is worth investing time in determining how to take advantage of your insights. Be careful, however, not to hang yourself with it. In short, be brief.