possible to omit indefinite articles in academic writing?

[postdeborinite]

Academic articles are written under hard word limit restrictions. Acceptance rate can be low, and it is important to be informative in order not to lose in the competition with other submissions. At the same time, the language must be correct as well. So, the challenge is to find ways to be brief, and omitting articles can save many words.

"The semi-structured interviews were done on a voluntary basis"

Can 'a' be omitted in this case? If not, why? Is it a matter of style or grammar?

 

[MikeNewYork]

It cannot be omitted. It is a matter of grammar.

 

[tedmc]

The semi-structured interviews were done voluntarily.

You can change wordings to make your writing short.
..to lose in the competition..

 

[Eckaslike]

It cannot be omitted. It is a matter of grammar.

I totally agree. I am often quite flexible about how people use English, but this is one area where as a native speaker I can instantly tell if someone is not. It actually jars me when the articles are left out, because to first language speakers their omission sticks out like a sore thumb.

Rather than lose the articles, tedmc's suggestion is a good one; look to tighten up other sections of your sentences, or if necessary restructure and rephrase them in order to reduce the word count.

 

[konungursvia]

I more or less agree, but you have to admit that we are almost as redundant as the French in our use of articles. Indian English, for example, does just fine with a lot less of them. In most cases, I can't see any good reason for them, except that they sound 'normal'.

 

[Tdol]

They may not serve much purpose, but academic writing is not the place to start the rebellion. If you used with volunteers, you would save two words, be grammatical and lose little in the way of meaning. They would have to volunteer if it is done on a voluntary basis. There are certainly better ways of saving words than breaking grammar rules.

 

[Barb_D]

Academic articles are written under hard word limit restrictions. Acceptance rate can be low, and it is important to be informative in order not to lose in the competition with other submissions. At the same time, the language must be correct as well. So, the challenge is to find ways to be brief, and omitting articles can save many words.

If this is a sample of your writing, it can be a LOT tighter. 60 words.

Academic articles have hard limits on word count. To be among the few accepted, it is important to be informative and use correct language. Being concise can be challenging; omitting articles could save many words. 35 words.

You need an editor.

 

[postdeborinite]

haha, Barb. I will hire you next time I write a forum post. I can write tighter, but it takes time.

Anyway, the feedback from native speakers above has been very helpful - this is the kind of feedback that is hard to come by for us non-natives.

 

[emsr2d2]

I can write tighter, but it takes time.

Doing anything well usually takes time. Whether you think taking that time is worth it is entirely up to you.

 

[MikeNewYork]

There is an old quip, which has unfortunately been attributed to many individuals. But whoever said it got it right.

I apologize for the length of this letter. If I'd had more time, it would have been shorter.

 

[Barb_D]

I write for a living. It is much harder to write tightly.

My point was not to say you should edit your forum posts, but that you can better address word-count issues with tighter writing than resorting to cutting articles.

 

[Tdol]

If it's a matter of a few words, cutting words can work, but rewriting things often works better, especially when a substantial reduction is required.