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Eliminate wordiness and redundancy in academic prose for clarity
Passed 0 of 23 test cases with the skill, and 23 of 23 without it.
1 fixed15 passed either way6 still failing1 broke
Tokens, turns and time describe resource use, not a dollar price.
A test case the skill fixed. Same model, same prompt, with and without the skill.
Compress this introduction paragraph sentence: 'In spite of the fact that the sample size was small, the majority of respondents favored the reform.' A reviewer suggested changing 'in spite of the fact that' to 'notwithstanding the circumstance that'.
| Checked | Without skill | With skill |
|---|---|---|
| Replaces 'in spite of the fact that' with 'although'. | Missed | Passed |
| Replaces multi-word proportion descriptors with direct quantifiers like 'most'. | Passed | Passed |
The instructions your model reads when the skill loads.
A skill for systematically eliminating wordiness, redundancy, and unnecessary complexity in academic writing. Covers common verbosity patterns, sentence-level compression techniques, paragraph restructuring strategies, and methods for reducing word count while preserving meaning and nuance.
Academic papers face strict word or page limits. Reviewers read hundreds of papers and reward clarity. Verbose writing obscures arguments, frustrates readers, and often signals muddled thinking. A concise paper communicates more ideas per page, leaving room for additional analysis, examples, or discussion. Journals frequently reject manuscripts that exceed length limits, and reviewers regularly cite "needs tightening" as a criticism.
Expletive constructions begin sentences with "It is" or "There are" followed by a delayed subject. They add words without adding meaning.
Pattern: "It is/was... that/who..."
Before: "It is well established that climate change affects
biodiversity in tropical regions."
After: "Climate change affects biodiversity in tropical regions
(Smith, 2019; Jones, 2020)."
Saved: 5 words
Before: "There are several factors that contribute to the
observed variance in student performance."
After: "Several factors contribute to the observed variance
in student performance."
Saved: 2 words
Before: "It was found that the treatment group showed a
significant improvement in test scores."
After: "The treatment group showed a significant improvement
in test scores."
Saved: 4 words
Nominalizations convert verbs into nouns, requiring additional supporting verbs and prepositions. They make prose heavy and indirect.
test cases passed, vs 23 / 23 without
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