Research writing in the sciences and humanities: The readability issue

Abstract

Academic writing has generally been regarded as being difficult to read. While this is a common sentiment about science writing, recent research has suggested that it is true of humanities writing as well. However, comparative studies involving both genres are few. This study addressed this gap by comparing the readability of 2,000 research articles from the major sub-fields in the sciences and humanities. Nine readability formulas were used, and a normed average of the readability scores was computed for ease of comparison. The results revealed that the readability of science and humanities articles was in the 12-14 grade-level range. The humanities articles were found to be generally less readable than the science articles. The least readable sub-fields were history and chemistry, and the most readable sub-fields were classics and technology. This study offers a guide to the norms in the subfields of each discipline. Given that research articles are intended for a specific target audience, further discussion is needed as to whether the readability scores reflect a grade level that is considered appropriate.