❓ Text Reducer: Why Use It?
Academic writing is all about instructions and discipline in their observance. Each genre within its framework always has a standard structure and volume.
Sometimes, the result exceeds the required word count, and you have to shorten it. But as most students postpone their homework to the last, they have no time to work on its shortening. Thus, they end up deleting some paragraphs and ruin the logic. It also happens that a section or chapter takes a disproportionate share of text.
Our text reducer is designed especially for such situations.
All you need to do is:
- Preset the desired number of sentences in the final version;
- Let the tool do all the nasty job for you.
Besides, you can use the same software as a summary generator.
🧮 How Long Should Academic Papers Be?
Before describing what can be deleted without thinking, consider the ultimate purpose. Below, you’ll find the main genres of academic papers and their estimated length.
High School Essay
The standard length of a high school essay is 300 to 1000 words. The suggested word count is not just about the size – it is a complexity barometer. The length sets the boundaries for your argument. For instance, a short 300-word essay needs a focused topic and a brief list of ideas. A more extended variant would allow for a broader approach and a more complicated argumentation.
Distribute the words in a 1000-word essay according to the following scheme:
- Introduction – 100-200 words;
- Main body – 700-800 words;
- Each paragraph in a 5-paragraph essay – about 250 words;
- Conclusion – 100-200 words.
Research Paper
Graduate and undergraduate study levels will require you to prepare term papers and academic reports. A standard research paper can take about 5000-6000 words. Still, the exact length and the availability of specific sections (see below) depend on the discipline and teacher’s requirements.
- Title page (50-100 words): include the title, author’s name, and affiliation.
- Abstract (up to 250 words but usually much shorter than that): overview the research project.
- Introduction (about 500 words): explain why the topic is worth studying and identify the unresolved issues. Include a thesis statement (1 or two sentences) presenting your research intentions and hypotheses.
- Methodology (500 to 1000 words): present the methods you have employed to perform the research.
- Findings (as much as necessary to present the results but within the required word count)
- Discussion (up to 1000 words): point out the implications of the findings and suggest the directions for future research.
- Bibliography (usually limited by the number of items, not by the word count).
- Tables and figures (their length does not count in the overall sum).
Book Review
A book review is typically between 1000 and 1500 words but depends on the purpose and format. There’s a world of difference between a review of a fictional and a scientific book. But in both cases, the aim is to help the reader form an initial impression of the work. For a more detailed word count explanation, address this structure:
- Introduction (150 words);
- Author’s qualifications (100 words);
- Presentation of the sources (applicable to a scientific book: 200 words);
- Critique (unlimited but within the maximum word count);
- Conclusion (150 words).
Thesis/Dissertation
A Master’s thesis is up to 40,000 words, and a Ph.D. dissertation is about 80,000 words. But their components are relatively the same. Here’s an example of word count distribution for a thesis or dissertation.
- Introduction (5% of the total): you can slightly extend it to 10%.
- Literature review (5-10% of the paper): if you incorporate this section into the introduction chapter, increase the word count accordingly.
- Methods (20% of the total).
- Results (50% of the text): you can increase or decrease the methods and results sections in proportion to each other.
- Discussion (15% of the total).
The remaining sections (bibliography and appendices) don’t count for the overall paper length.
✂️ How to Reduce a Text: Best Tips
Reduction of your final word count is always an unpleasant thing to do:
- There is a hazard of losing the essence of your writing.
- You might delete something that makes the text unique and beautiful.
- Deleting every word means you wrote them in vain (and wasted your time).
Check the following assignment details before spotting the things your text could do without. Thus, does the overall paper length comprise:
- The list of references;
- The footnotes;
- The abstract.
If they do count and your writing is still too long to be submitted, here’s how you can resolve the issue.
Tip #1: Shorten the introduction and conclusion
The introduction and conclusion are essential but not the principal parts of an academic paper. Their function is to summarize, not repeat what will or has been said in the main body.
Look through the introduction for any details covered later on and delete them.
Read the conclusion, making sure there are no “new” ideas you haven’t discussed before.
Tip #2: Delete the Chapter-Linking Passages
Many people have a habit of writing a mini-summary at the end of each section and “reminding” them about it in the next one. This practice is redundant and wastes your time and word count.
Make the closing paragraphs as short as possible. The readers remember what they’ve just read, so a brief recall of the critical points will suffice to make your argument clear.
Tip #3: Make the Style More Straightforward
A research paper or essay is not a literary contest work. It is about conveying your ideas and substantiating them. The person reviewing your text most likely won’t read into it but quickly scan it through. Your purpose is to put your thoughts on paper with the minimum words. This is how you can do this without prejudice to the contents.
Look for Redundancies
This category includes:
- Sequences of synonyms (“The text is unnecessary and redundant”);
- Unnecessary epithets (“a good example”: would you include a bad one in your writing? “A difficult dilemma”: are there easy dilemmas?);
- Frequently repeated adverbs (“even,” “just,” “so,” and “too” rank among student’s favorites);
- Explanatory phrases (“bring to an end” equals “finish”);
- Self-repeating passages.
Don’t be afraid to lose some nuances for the benefit of brevity. Besides, if you delete words from a sentence, and it remains relatively the same, those words are redundant.
Simplify the Sentences
Feel free to split all the complex sentences united with “and” or “but.” First, you’ll get rid of some useless words. Second, the readability of your text will only benefit from it.
Get Rid of Prepositions
The English language allows you to express many things in multiple ways. You can equally say “a school of Fine Arts” and “Fine Arts school.” It will become much easier to read when your text is unloaded from prepositions.
You Can Do without Auxiliary Verbs
Although they make your writing more “polite,” you’ll be surprised how much space they take. Your paper will look great without all those “might” and “could.” Just write what you mean without tentativeness.
Tip #4: Apply a Text Minimizer Tool
Under time pressure, you won’t be able to dedicate yourself to refining the already completed text. Try using our sentence reducer for hard-to-read passages. If you need to shorten the entire paper online, this text reducer is at your service free of charge.
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