Cautious language
Academics use cautious language when making statements that could be challenged or where the truth may be more complicated. This is also called hedging.
Examples
Adverb
- Her death was almost certainly preventable.
- Approximately 5,000 schools are still closed in Sindh.
- Food security frequently takes precedence over obesity in these countries.
- Bail hearings nearly always occur within twenty-four hours of the initial booking.
- Stress often causes people’s eating habits to change.
- Poor neighbourhoods in Chicago, primarily on the city’s South and West sides, have limited access to a pharmacy.
- The odd tubular structures were probably formed by crystal growth, not tiny burrowing creatures.
- All wars are somewhat similar when you consider the element of human tragedy.
- Flu typically consists of fever, headache, tiredness and respiratory symptoms that resolve within 7 days.
- When homicides occur, though, they usually are at the hands of someone the victim knows.
Prepositional phrase
- However, in most cases the proportion of variance explained by genetic risk scores prediction R-squared remains substantially lower than the trait heritability.
- Their development depends to some extent on the neighbourhoods in which children grow up.
Adjective
- Rents are likely to rise when the vacancy rate falls.
- One possible explanation is that the work has been done based on assumptions about how raindrops and snowflakes start and grow.
- A new study has found it is highly probable that climate change is amplifying the north-south water runoff contrast in Europe.
- Changing GP opening hours is unlikely to ease the rising burden of A&E visits.
Quantifier
- We found relict-only sites on almost all landform types.
- In Indonesia, many patients are diagnosed with breast and cervical cancers at a very late stage.
- Importantly, most reports showed complete or partial remission rates higher than 80 percent.
Verb + that or + noun phrase
- Current evidence indicates that tiotropium demonstrates significant additional benefits.
- Our research suggests that beliefs about race take a long time to develop.
- Our new study indicates a link between the Wnt pathway and autophagy.
Verb + infinitive
- Each of these policies appears to promote better resource allocation.
- Diet is believed to play a role in cancer risk.
- But moral principles seem to be playing an important role in the explanation of official behavior.
- The new generation of asset lockups tends to involve intangible assets.
Modal verb
- Dyslexia could be the result of eye spots that confuse the brain.
- Adolescent drinking may cause liver problems later in life.
- Instructional tools that address these cognitive variables should result in improved learning by the student.