Simple rules for concise scientific writing

One of the most common editorial refrains, regardless of discipline, is “this needs to be tighter.” It typically means too many words and ideas are jumbled together and the underlying point is obscure. The writing is not concise. But, improving conciseness is difficult because the problem is caused by a host of factors that are easily overlooked, especially by early career researchers. Here, I describe what it means to write concisely and outline 10 rules, with examples, to help scientists tighten their prose.