research paper use of tone

Capstone Form and Style

Scholarly voice: tone and audience, tone and audience.

The concepts of tone and audience are interwoven with many topics addressed throughout the Scholarly Voice pages. The purpose of this page is to define these concepts as they relate to writing, APA style, and capstone documents.

Basics of Tone

Tone  refers to the attitude a writer conveys toward the subject matter and the reader. The tone of a document can affect how the reader perceives the writer’s intentions. These perceptions, in turn, can influence the reader’s attitude toward the text and the writer. To strike the right tone, writers should be mindful of the purpose and audience for their work when making decisions about word choice,  sentence structure , and specificity of information.

Tone in APA Style

In APA style, the tone (see APA 7, Section 4.7) should reveal a writer’s attitude as interested but neutral and professional. Writers should present information and arguments in an engaging but objective manner and choose courteous and respectful language when providing critical analysis of the work of past researchers.

Discourteous: However, the researchers completely neglected to consider. . .

Neutral: However, the researchers did not address. . .

Discourteous: Jones (2018) missed the point about. . . 

Neutral: Jones (2018) did not mention. . .

In the above examples, the first version appears to reveal assumptions and judgments about the previous researchers’ intentions or abilities. The revised versions present the same criticism but without the subjective and unduly harsh tone.

Tone in Capstone Writing

Capstone writers may have strong feelings or opinions about the problems they are addressing through their research. However, revealing personal attitudes through a subjective tone can make writers appear to take sides (e.g., in defense of the population they seek to help). In the spirit of scientific objectivity and professionalism, capstone writers should rely on compelling evidence and analysis rather than emotional appeals. Readers of APA-style writing expect logical, evidence-based arguments and critical but respectful discussion of previous research, and they may perceive emotionally charged, hyperbolic, or seemingly biased language as less credible. 

Certain words (e.g., unfortunately, clearly, heartbreaking, amazing, etc.) can reveal a subjective attitude and seem to impose the writer’s opinion instead of allowing readers to form their own opinions based on the presented information. Generally, such words can be omitted without taking away from the substance of the sentence. 

Subjective: Unfortunately, researchers have found that many health professionals lack the necessary health literacy awareness, knowledge, and skills.

Objective: Researchers have found that many health professionals lack the necessary health literacy awareness, knowledge, and skills.

Basics of Audience

The fundamental purpose of writing is to communicate ideas to other people—an  audience . To do this effectively, writers should consider questions such as the following before and during the writing process: 

• Who are the intended or likely readers for the document? 
• What do these readers want and/or expect from the writer and from the text?  
• What level of background knowledge do the readers probably have related to the subject matter? 

Answering these questions can help writers see the document from the viewpoint of the prospective audience and decide what to write and how to write it—that is, the content of the text and the form, style, and tone of that content. 

Audience for APA Style

Readers tend to approach a text with certain expectations based on their prior experience with texts in the same genre. Because of the emphasis in APA style on precision and clarity, readers have generally come to expect APA-style research writing to be clear, efficient, and logically organized, and they expect specific, credible information that is reported in a straightforward, unbiased manner. In other words, they expect clarity, objectivity, specificity, economy of expression, and professionalism. To communicate effectively with an APA-minded audience, writers should work to meet these expectations.

Audience for Capstone Writing

A capstone document shares many traits with research articles published in journals. However, because capstone writers are both student and researcher, they need to bear in mind two levels of audience: a smaller immediate audience and a somewhat broader eventual audience. 

Capstone writers’ immediate audience includes their committee, the URR, and the CAO, who evaluate the document and determine whether or when it moves forward in the capstone process. These readers serve in some ways as a trial audience, providing feedback to ensure that the document is ready for the larger audience. However, they have some capstone-specific expectations. For example, because capstone students are in the process of demonstrating their readiness to conduct research independently, faculty expect them to display mastery of certain research concepts or processes with a level of specificity that would be unnecessary in an article published in a journal.

The larger audience, at whom the bulk of the capstone document’s message is aimed, consists of interested researchers and professionals in the student’s field and related fields—in other words, the writer’s professional and academic peers. Capstone writers should keep this audience in mind throughout the writing process. Following the advice of faculty, the program checklist or rubric, and the guidelines in the APA manual will help capstone writers convey their message to these eventual readers.

Summary of Tone and Audience for the Capstone

A capstone document marks a writer’s debut as a member of a community of scholars. The attitude conveyed in this document necessarily reflects the position of a person displaying an understanding of certain research concepts and writing conventions while also contributing something new to the literature. By adopting an objective and professional tone and keeping the audience in mind, a writer can demonstrate awareness of and respect for other members of the scholarly community and ensure that readers are able to focus on the substance of the document.

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Tone, Mood, and Audience 

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When thinking about proper diction, an author should consider three main categories:  tone ,  mood , and  audience .   

Audience  refers to who will be reading the work. Authors tend to write to a particular audience, whether kids, or young adults, or  specialist within a field. The audience can affect the  mood  and  tone  of the writing  because different audiences have different expectations.    Tone  refers to the author’s attitude—how they feel about their subject and their readers. It expresses something of the author’s persona, the aspects of their personality they wish to show to their readers. For example, are they being funny or serious? Are they writing with fondness or with  derision ?    Mood  refers to the overall atmosphere or feeling of a piece of writing. It is often closely related to  tone, because  the author’s attitude influences the overall feeling of a text.  It’s  difficult, for instance, to take a  jovial  tone if the overall mood of the piece ought to be somber, or vice versa.  Wuthering Heights  by Emily Bront ë  would be  far less effective  as a gothic  text if  its  spooky atmosphere  was  interrupted by witty , sarcastic  commentary in the style of Jane Austen .

Take, for example,  this qu ote from  Wuthering Heights :  

Th is passage displays  heightened emotions and dark themes  through the use of  words like “ghost,” “haunt,” a nd “abyss,” among others. Consider how much less effective this p assage would be if the narration sounded like  Pride  and Prejudice :  “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.”    

Using the  appropriate kind  of descriptive words, including  imagery , or vivid language used to paint a mental picture, can convey  mood  and  tone  by helping readers get a  clearer sense of what  they’re  reading about and how the author thinks and feels about the subject, and thus what  they’re  supposed to think and feel.  

Diction can help authors make audiences feel a certain way, like in the example above. Similarly,  different styles  of diction  may  be targeted at different audiences— there’s  a good reason  Wuthering Heights  is aimed at  teenagers and  adults rather than young children, for instance. In addition to the content of the text, the elevated and  somewhat antiquated  diction would make it  very challenging  for younger audiences to understand.  Conversely, a paper aimed at an audience of academic experts would  probably be  expected to use more jargon and complicated diction.

Take, for example, this simplistic description of Pluto’s orbit  from  Astronomy.com’s  Astronomy for Kids educational resource:   

Compare   this language with   the highly techni cal language used in   an   Encyclopedia Britannica article on Pluto :  

These texts, while essentially saying the same thing, are using wildly different language due to the disparity between their intended audiences.  

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Online Guide to Writing and Research

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• Online Guide to Writing

A Word About Style, Voice, and Tone

While reading, have you ever felt as though an author was talking to you inside your head? Perhaps you felt this sensation while reading a social media post, an article, or even a book. Writers achieve the feeling of someone talking to you through style, voice, and tone. Mastering these will help your readers know how to feel about your writing and help you communicate in a way that is unique to you.

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In popular usage, the word “style” means a vague sense of personal style, or personality. Applied to writing, “style” does have this connotation—especially in fiction. However, style in writing has a more formal and unique meaning, too. Applied to writing, “style” is a technical term for word patterns that create a certain effect on readers.

If a piece of writing reflects a consistent choice of patterns, then it feels coherent and harmonious. This coherence and harmony can be quite pleasing for readers, and writers aspire to it. However, writers do not always choose a style. Rather, context, content, and purpose dictate the style a writer should use. 

For example:

Genre will dictate a fiction writer’s style. Specific academic disciplines will dictate style for an academic writer. Both genre and discipline have stylistic conventions that writers take into account when creating a written work. When writing, pay close attention to the genre and discipline in which you are writing.

When writers speak of style in a more personal sense, they often use the word “voice.” When you hear an author talking inside your head, “voice” is what that author sounds like.

Of all the writerly qualities, voice is the most difficult to analyze and describe. Most writers have difficulty expressing what their voice is and how they achieved it, though most will allow their voice developed over time and after much practice. Still, there are qualities that, when identified and practiced, can help you develop your own voice.

Look closely at professional writing, and you may notice a certain rhythm or cadence to it. This rhythm is an element of voice. 

Read a number of works from the same author, and you may notice common word choices, perhaps not the same words, but similar words or word patterns. Word choice (also called “diction”) is an element of voice. 

Punctuation

You may also notice that some authors come across as flamboyant while others come across as blunt or assertive. Still others may come across as always second-guessing themselves, adding qualifications and asides to their statements. An author often achieves these qualities through carefully placed punctuation, another element of voice.

To assert your own personal writing style, practice rhythm and cadence, pay careful attention to word choice and develop an understanding of how punctuation can be used to express ideas.

Even when indulging their own voices, authors must keep in mind context, content, and purpose. To do this, they make adjustments to their voices using “tone.”

Tone is the attitude conveyed by an author’s voice. We use two general distinctions when discussing tone: informal and formal.

An Informal Tone

Ever read something, and your heart swells with pride? Or maybe you get angry, or you get scared. Write informally, and you’ll use emotions - big ones. You’ll use contractions, too. A lot of times, when you write informally, you talk about yourself and use the first-person pronoun (I). Sometimes you talk to the reader and use the second-person pronoun (you). An informal tone sounds conversational and familiar like you do when you talk with a friend.

A Formal Tone

When using a formal tone, authors avoid discussion about themselves. They use the third-person perspective. They do not use contractions, and they emphasize reason and logic. Though an author might appeal to an emotion, the emotional appeal would be subtler and more nuanced. Most of all, however, a formal tone suggests politeness and respect.

Key Takeaways

• When writing, mirror your style after the genre you are writing for. 
• You can develop your own voice in your writing by paying special attention to rhythm, diction, and punctuation.
• Use an informal tone for creative writing, personal narratives, and personal essays.
• Use a formal tone for most essays, research papers, reports, and business writing

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Table of Contents: Online Guide to Writing

Chapter 1: College Writing

How Does College Writing Differ from Workplace Writing?

What Is College Writing?

Why So Much Emphasis on Writing?

Chapter 2: The Writing Process

Doing Exploratory Research

Getting from Notes to Your Draft

Introduction

Prewriting - Techniques to Get Started - Mining Your Intuition

Prewriting: Targeting Your Audience

Prewriting: Techniques to Get Started

Prewriting: Understanding Your Assignment

Rewriting: Being Your Own Critic

Rewriting: Creating a Revision Strategy

Rewriting: Getting Feedback

Rewriting: The Final Draft

Techniques to Get Started - Outlining

Techniques to Get Started - Using Systematic Techniques

Thesis Statement and Controlling Idea

Writing: Getting from Notes to Your Draft - Freewriting

Writing: Getting from Notes to Your Draft - Summarizing Your Ideas

Writing: Outlining What You Will Write

Chapter 3: Thinking Strategies

A Word About Style, Voice, and Tone: Style Through Vocabulary and Diction

Critical Strategies and Writing

Critical Strategies and Writing: Analysis

Critical Strategies and Writing: Evaluation

Critical Strategies and Writing: Persuasion

Critical Strategies and Writing: Synthesis

Developing a Paper Using Strategies

Kinds of Assignments You Will Write

Patterns for Presenting Information

Patterns for Presenting Information: Critiques

Patterns for Presenting Information: Discussing Raw Data

Patterns for Presenting Information: General-to-Specific Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Problem-Cause-Solution Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Specific-to-General Pattern

Patterns for Presenting Information: Summaries and Abstracts

Supporting with Research and Examples

Writing Essay Examinations

Writing Essay Examinations: Make Your Answer Relevant and Complete

Writing Essay Examinations: Organize Thinking Before Writing

Writing Essay Examinations: Read and Understand the Question

Chapter 4: The Research Process

Planning and Writing a Research Paper

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Ask a Research Question

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Cite Sources

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Collect Evidence

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Decide Your Point of View, or Role, for Your Research

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Draw Conclusions

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Find a Topic and Get an Overview

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Manage Your Resources

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Outline

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Survey the Literature

Planning and Writing a Research Paper: Work Your Sources into Your Research Writing

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Human Resources

Research Resources: What Are Research Resources?

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found?

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Electronic Resources

Research Resources: Where Are Research Resources Found? - Print Resources

Structuring the Research Paper: Formal Research Structure

Structuring the Research Paper: Informal Research Structure

The Nature of Research

The Research Assignment: How Should Research Sources Be Evaluated?

The Research Assignment: When Is Research Needed?

The Research Assignment: Why Perform Research?

Chapter 5: Academic Integrity

Academic Integrity

Giving Credit to Sources

Giving Credit to Sources: Copyright Laws

Giving Credit to Sources: Documentation

Giving Credit to Sources: Style Guides

Integrating Sources

Practicing Academic Integrity

Practicing Academic Integrity: Keeping Accurate Records

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Paraphrasing Your Source

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Quoting Your Source

Practicing Academic Integrity: Managing Source Material - Summarizing Your Sources

Types of Documentation

Types of Documentation: Bibliographies and Source Lists

Types of Documentation: Citing World Wide Web Sources

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - APA Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - CSE/CBE Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - Chicago Style

Types of Documentation: In-Text or Parenthetical Citations - MLA Style

Types of Documentation: Note Citations

Chapter 6: Using Library Resources

Finding Library Resources

Chapter 7: Assessing Your Writing

How Is Writing Graded?

How Is Writing Graded?: A General Assessment Tool

The Draft Stage

The Draft Stage: The First Draft

The Draft Stage: The Revision Process and the Final Draft

The Draft Stage: Using Feedback

The Research Stage

Using Assessment to Improve Your Writing

Chapter 8: Other Frequently Assigned Papers

Reviews and Reaction Papers: Article and Book Reviews

Reviews and Reaction Papers: Reaction Papers

Writing Arguments

Writing Arguments: Adapting the Argument Structure

Writing Arguments: Purposes of Argument

Writing Arguments: References to Consult for Writing Arguments

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Anticipate Active Opposition

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Determine Your Organization

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Develop Your Argument

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Introduce Your Argument

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - State Your Thesis or Proposition

Writing Arguments: Steps to Writing an Argument - Write Your Conclusion

Writing Arguments: Types of Argument

Appendix A: Books to Help Improve Your Writing

Dictionaries

General Style Manuals

Researching on the Internet

Special Style Manuals

Writing Handbooks

Appendix B: Collaborative Writing and Peer Reviewing

Collaborative Writing: Assignments to Accompany the Group Project

Collaborative Writing: Informal Progress Report

Collaborative Writing: Issues to Resolve

Collaborative Writing: Methodology

Collaborative Writing: Peer Evaluation

Collaborative Writing: Tasks of Collaborative Writing Group Members

Collaborative Writing: Writing Plan

General Introduction

Peer Reviewing

Appendix C: Developing an Improvement Plan

Working with Your Instructor’s Comments and Grades

Appendix D: Writing Plan and Project Schedule

Devising a Writing Project Plan and Schedule

Reviewing Your Plan with Others

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• College essay

Style and Tone Tips for Your College Essay | Examples

Published on September 21, 2021 by Kirsten Courault . Revised on June 1, 2023.

Unlike an academic essay, the college application essay does not require a formal tone. It gives you a chance to showcase your authentic voice and creative writing abilities. Here are some basic guidelines for using an appropriate style and tone in your college essay.

Table of contents

Strike a balance between casual and formal, write with your authentic voice, maintain a fast pace, use a paraphrasing tool for better style and tone, bend language rules for stylistic reasons, use american english, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions about college application essays.

Use a conversational yet respectful tone, as if speaking with a familiar teacher, mentor, or coach. An academic, formal tone will seem too clinical, while an overly casual tone will seem unprofessional to admissions officers.

Find an appropriate middle ground without pedantic language or slang. For example, contractions are acceptable, but text message abbreviations are not.

Note that “Why this college?” essays , scholarship essays , and diversity essays are usually similarly conversational in tone.

Prevent plagiarism. Run a free check.

Your essay shouldn’t read like a professor, parent, or friend wrote it for you. Use first-person singular “I” statements, appropriate vocabulary for your level, and original expressions.

Prioritize using the first-person singular

Unlike in some other kinds of academic writing, you should write in the first-person singular (e.g., “I,” “me”) in a college application essay to highlight your perspective.

Avoid using “one” for generalizations , since this sounds stilted and unnatural. Use “we” sparingly to avoid projecting your opinions or beliefs onto other people who may not share the same views. In some cases, you can use “we” to talk about a community you know well, such as your family or neighborhood.

The second-person pronoun “you” can be used in some cases. Don’t write the whole essay to an unknown “you,” but if the narrative calls for it, occasionally addressing readers as “you” is generally okay.

Write within your vocabulary range

Creative but careful word choice is essential to enliven your essay. You should embellish basic words, but it shouldn’t read like you used a thesaurus to impress admissions officers.

Use clichés and idioms with discretion

Find a more imaginative way of rewriting overused expressions一unless it’s an intentional stylistic choice.

Write concisely and in the active voice to maintain a quick pace throughout your essay. Only add definitions if they provide necessary explanation.

Write concisely

Opt for a simple, concise way of writing, unless it’s a deliberate stylistic choice to describe a scene. Be intentional with every word, especially since college essays have word limits. However, do vary the length of your sentences to create an interesting flow.

Don’t provide definitions just to sound smart

You should explain terms or concepts that may be unfamiliar to the reader. However, don’t show off with several definitions to impress admissions officers.

Prioritize the active voice to maintain a lively tone

The passive voice can be used when the subject is unimportant or unknown. But in most cases, use the active voice to keep a fast pace throughout your essay.

If it seems hard to find the right tone and voice for your college essay, there are tools that can help.

One of these tools is the paraphrasing tool .

To begin, you can type or copy text you’ve already written into the tool.

After that, select a paraphrasing mode (e.g., fluency for better flowing text) that will rewrite your college essay accordingly.

You can occasionally bend grammatical rules if it adds value to the storytelling process and the essay maintains clarity. This can help your writing stand out from the crowd. However, return to using standard language rules if your stylistic choices would otherwise distract the reader from your overall narrative or could be easily interpreted as unintentional errors.

Sentence fragments

Sentence fragments can convey a quicker pace, a more immediate tone, and intense emotion in your essay. Use them sparingly, as too many fragments can be choppy, confusing, and distracting.

Non-standard capitalization

Usually,  common nouns should not be capitalized . But sometimes capitalization can be an effective tool to insert humor or signify importance.

For international students applying to US colleges, it’s important to remember to use US English rather than UK English .

For example, use double quotation marks rather than single ones, and don’t forget to put punctuation inside the double quotation marks. Also be careful to use American spelling, which can differ by just one or two letters from British spelling.

If you want to know more about academic writing , effective communication , or parts of speech , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Academic writing

• Writing process
• Transition words
• Passive voice
• Paraphrasing

 Communication

• How to end an email
• Ms, mrs, miss
• How to start an email
• I hope this email finds you well
• Hope you are doing well

 Parts of speech

• Personal pronouns
• Conjunctions

College application essays are less formal than other kinds of academic writing . Use a conversational yet respectful tone , as if speaking with a teacher or mentor. Be vulnerable about your feelings, thoughts, and experiences to connect with the reader.

Aim to write in your authentic voice , with a style that sounds natural and genuine. You can be creative with your word choice, but don’t use elaborate vocabulary to impress admissions officers.

Use first-person “I” statements to speak from your perspective . Use appropriate word choices that show off your vocabulary but don’t sound like you used a thesaurus. Avoid using idioms or cliché expressions by rewriting them in a creative, original way.

Write concisely and use the active voice to maintain a quick pace throughout your essay and make sure it’s the right length . Avoid adding definitions unless they provide necessary explanation.

In a college application essay , you can occasionally bend grammatical rules if doing so adds value to the storytelling process and the essay maintains clarity.

However, use standard language rules if your stylistic choices would otherwise distract the reader from your overall narrative or could be easily interpreted as unintentional errors.

A college application essay is less formal than most academic writing . Instead of citing sources formally with in-text citations and a reference list, you can cite them informally in your text.

For example, “In her research paper on genetics, Quinn Roberts explores …”

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20 Academic Tone and Language

Academic language.

Academic language has certain characteristics regardless of the course you are writing for.

• It is formal (see tone ), yet not overly complicated. It is unlike standard conversational language and the hints and tips below will help to elevate your writing style.
• It should be factual and objective; free from personal opinions, bias and value judgments. On rare occasions you may be asked to state your own personal point of view on a particular concept or issue. You should only do so if it is explicitly prescribed. This is the only time first person pronouns (I, my, we, our – see Chapter 5) are permitted.
• Academic writing is always supported by evidence rather than personal opinion, therefore emotional (emotive) or exaggerated (hyperbolic) language are not used.
• Academic language is most often enquiring or analytical in nature, therefore you must be willing to review more than one perspective on a topic and use language that demonstrates the ability to compare and contrast ideas (see signposting below).
• Academic language should be explicit; clear and not vague. Signposting can be used to lead the reader through the text from one section to another or from one idea to the next (see below).
• Passive voice (see chapter 7) can be used to avoid the use of personal pronouns. For example, instead of writing “In this essay I will discuss…”, you can write “This essay will discuss…”

Signposting

Signposting is the use of words and phrases to guide the reader through your written work. There are two types – major and minor.

Major Signposting

Major signposting is used to signal the introduction of key sections or aspects of the work. These might include the aim, purpose, or structure.

In the introduction

• This essay will…
• The aim of this essay is to…
• The major issue being discussed is…
• This essay will define and describe…
• This essay will critically examine…
• This essay will first define…then discuss…before making recommendations for…
• This essay is organised in the following way;

In the conclusion

• To conclude,
• In conclusion,
• To summarise,
• It is evident that

Minor Signposting

Minor signposting are linking words and phrases that make connections for your reader and move them through the text.

• They may be as simple as: First, second, third, next, then, last, lastly, finally
• To offer a counterpoint: However, although, though, yet, alternatively, nevertheless
• To indicate an example: For example, notably, for instance, in this case

These are just a few examples of signposting. For further information and some very useful instances of signposting please follow the link to Queen’s University Belfast [1]

Filetoupload,597684,en.pdf (qub.ac.uk)

Academic Tone

Tone is the general character or attitude of a work and it is highly dependent on word choice and structure. It should match the intended purpose and audience of the text. As noted in the Academic Language section above, the tone should be formal, direct, consistent (polished and error-free), and objective. It should also be factual and not contain personal opinions.

What is the difference between tone and voice?

When learning academic writing skills you may hear “voice” referred to, especially in terms of source integration and maintaining your own “voice” when you write. Note this does not mean maintaining your own opinion. This is something entirely separate. Voice is the unique word choices of the author that reflect the viewpoint they are arguing. Your “voice” is about WHO the reader ‘hears’ when they read your text. Are they ‘hearing’ what you have to say on the topic? Are your claims direct and authoritative ? Or, is your “voice” being drowned out by overuse or overreliance on external sources? This is why it is so important to understand that academic sources should ONLY be used to support what you have to say – your “voice”, NOT opinion – rather than being overused to speak on your behalf. This comes with practise and increased confidence in your own writing and knowing that you have something worth saying. Therefore, do plenty of background reading and research so that you can write from a well-informed position.

Hints and Tips

• First person pronouns (e.g., I, my, me) and second person pronouns (e.g., you, your, yours) (see Chapter 5).
• Contractions: as part of everyday conversational English, contractions have no place in formal academic writing. For example didn’t (did not), can’t (cannot), won’t (will not), it’s (it is – not to be confused with the pronoun its), shouldn’t (should not), and many more. Use the full words.
• Poor connectives: “but”, in particular is a very poor connective. Instead, refer to the signposting examples of however, although, nevertheless, yet, though. Also the overuse of “and”; try alternatives, such as plus, in addition, along with, also, as well as, moreover, together with.
• Avoid colloquial language.
• Avoid hyperbole .
• Avoid emotive language. Even in a persuasive text, appeal to the readers’ minds, not feelings.
• Avoid being verbose .
• Avoid generalizing .
• Avoid statements such as “I think”, “I feel”, or “I believe”; they are clear indicators of personal opinion.
• Do not begin a sentence with “and”, “because”, or digits – e.g., 75% of participants… Always begin a sentence with a word – Seventy-five percent.
• Do not use digits 0-9 as digits; write the whole word – zero, one, two, three. Once you get to double digits you may use the number – 10, 11, 12. The only exception to this rule would be sharing data or statistics, however the previous rule still applies.
• Academic vocabulary (sometimes this is discipline specific, such as technical or medical terms).
• Use tentative or low modal language when something you are writing is not definite or final. For example, could, might, or may, instead of will, definitely, or must.
• Be succinct .
• Include variance of sentence structure (see Chapter 7).
• Use powerful reporting verbs (see Chapter 14).
• Use clever connectives and conjunctions (see Chapter 5).
• Ensure you have excellent spelling, grammar, and punctuation.
• Use accurate referencing, both in-text and the reference list (see Chapter 10).
• Ensure correct use of capital letters for the beginning of each new sentence and for all proper nouns .
• Lastly, use correct subject-verb agreement . For an excellent list of examples of subject-verb agreement, please refer to Purdue Online Writing Lab. [2]

Subject/Verb Agreement // Purdue Writing Lab

• Queen's University Belfast. (n.d.). Signposting. Learning Development Service. https://www.qub.ac.uk/graduate-school/Filestore/Filetoupload,597684,en.pdf#search=signposting ↵
• Purdue University. (2021). Making subjects and verbs argree. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/general_writing/grammar/subject_verb_agreement.html ↵

able to be trusted as being accurate or true; reliable

researched, reliable, written by academics and published by reputable publishers; often, but not always peer reviewed

informal, ordinary, everyday or familiar conversation, rather than formal speech or writing

obvious and intentional exaggeration; extravagant statement or figure of speech not to be taken literally

characterized by or pertaining to emotions; used to produce an emotional response

characterized by the use of many or too many words; wordy

to infer a general principle from particular facts; e.g., my five year old loves chocolate ice cream, therefore all five year olds love chocolate ice cream

concise expressed in few words

a verb used to report or talk about the ideas of others

used to link words or phrases together See 'Language Basics'

refer to a single entity; names of people, places, and things (e.g., cities, monuments, icons, businesses)

refers to the relationship between the subject and the predicate (part of the sentence containing the verb) of the sentence. Subjects and verbs must always agree in two ways: tense and number.

Academic Writing Skills Copyright © 2021 by Patricia Williamson is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Tone in Writing: 42 Examples of Tone For All Types of Writing

by Joe Bunting | 0 comments

What is tone in writing and why does it matter?

Tone is key to all communication. Think of the mother telling her disrespectful child, “Watch your tone, young man.” Or the sarcastic, humorous tone of a comedian performing stand up. Or the awe filled way people speak about their favorite musician, author, or actor. Or the careful, soft tones that people use with each other when they first fall in love.

Tone  is  communication, sometimes more than the words being used themselves.

So then how do you use tone in writing, and how does tone influence the meaning of a writing piece?

In this article, you'll learn everything you need to know about how to use tone in all types of writing, from creative writing to academic and even business writing. You'll learn what tone actually  is  in writing and how it's conveyed. You'll learn the forty-two types of tone in writing, plus even have a chance to test your tone recognition with a practice exercise. 

Ready to become a tone master? Let's get started.

Why You Should Listen To Me?

I've been a professional writer for more than a decade, writing in various different formats and styles. I've written formal nonfiction books, descriptive novels, humorous memoir chapters, and conversational but informative online articles (like this one!).

Which is all to say, I earn a living in part by matching the right tone to each type of writing I work on. I hope you find the tips on tone below useful!

Table of Contents

Definition of Tone in Writing Why Tone Matters in Writing 42 Types of Tone Plus Tone Examples How to Choose the Right Tone for Your Writing Piece Tone Writing Identification Exercise Tone Vs. Voice in Writing The Role of Tone in Different Types of Writing

Tone in Creative Writing Tone in Academic Writing Tone in Business Writing Tone in Online Writing

Conclusion: How to Master Tone Practice Exercise

Definition of Tone in Writing

Examples of tone can be formal, informal, serious, humorous, sarcastic, optimistic, pessimistic, and many more (see below for all forty-two examples)

Why Does Tone Matter in Writing

I once saw a version of Shakespeare's  A Midsummer Night's Dream in which the dialogue had been completely translated into various Indian dialects, including Hindi, Urdu, Bengali, and more. And yet, despite not knowing any of those languages, I was amazed to find that I could follow the story perfectly, infinitely better than the average Shakespeare in the park play.

How could I understand the story so well despite the fact that it was in another language? In part, it was the skill of the actors and their body language. But one of the biggest ways that the actors communicated meaning was one thing.

Their tone of voice.

Tone is one of the most important ways we grasp the meaning of what someone is saying. If someone says, “I love you,” in an angry, sneering way, it doesn't matter what their words are saying, the meaning will be completely changed by their tone.

In the same way, tone is crucial in writing because it significantly influences how readers interpret and react to the text. Here are a few reasons why tone is important:

• Tone conveys feeling. The tone reflects the writer's attitude toward the subject and the audience, helping to shape readers' perceptions and emotional responses.
• Tone can help readers understand the meaning of the text. A well-chosen tone can clarify meaning, making it easier for readers to understand the writer's intent and message.
• Tone is engaging! As humans, we are designed to respond to emotion and feeling! Tone can help to engage or disengage readers. A relatable or compelling tone can draw readers in, while an off-putting tone can push them away.
• Tone sets the mood. Tone can set the mood or atmosphere of a piece of writing, influencing how readers feel as they go through the text.
• Tone persuades. In persuasive writing, tone plays a significant role in influencing how convincing or compelling your arguments are.
• Tone reflects professionalism. In professional or academic contexts, maintaining an appropriate tone is crucial to uphold the writer's authority.

42 Types of Tone in Writing Plus Examples of Tone

Tone is about feeling—the feeling of a writer toward the topic and audience. Which means that nearly any attitude or feeling can be a type of tone, not just the forty-two listed below.

However, you have to start somewhere, so here a list of common tones that can be used in writing, with an example for each type:

• Example : “Upon analysis of the data, it's evident that the proposed hypothesis is substantiated.”
• Example : “Hey folks, today we'll be chatting about the latest trends in tech.”
• Example : “The implications of climate change on our future generations cannot be overstated.”
• Example : “Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything!”
• Example : “Oh great, another diet plan. Just what I needed!”
• Example : “Despite the setbacks, we remain confident in our ability to achieve our goals.”
• Example : “Given the declining economy, it's doubtful if small businesses can survive.”
• Example : “We must act now! Every moment we waste increases the danger.”
• Example : “The experiment concluded with the subject showing a 25% increase in performance.”
• Example : “I've always found the taste of coffee absolutely heavenly.”
• Example : “We owe our success to the ceaseless efforts of our esteemed team.”
• Example : “So much for their ‘revolutionary' product. It's as exciting as watching paint dry.”
• Example : “The film's plot was so predictable it felt like a tiresome déjà vu.”
• Example : “Every setback is a setup for a comeback. Believe in your potential.”
• Example : “A politician making promises? Now there's something new.”
• Example : “We must fight to protect our planet—it's the only home we have.”
• Example : “Whether it rains or shines tomorrow, it makes little difference to me.”
• Example : “As the doors creaked open, a chilling wind swept through the abandoned mansion.”
• Example : “She gazed at the fading photograph, lost in the echoes of a time long past.”
• Example : “The fire station caught on fire—it's almost poetic, isn't it?”
• Example : “I can understand how challenging this period has been for you.”
• Example : “His excuse for being late was as pathetic as it was predictable.”
• Example : “Our feline companion has gone to pursue interests in a different locale” (meaning: the cat ran away).
• Example : “Your report is due by 5 PM tomorrow, no exceptions.”
• Example : “So, you've got a hankering to learn about star constellations—well, you're in the right place!”
• Example : “She tiptoed down the dim hallway, every shadow pulsating with the mysteries of her childhood home.”
• Example : “With the approaching footsteps echoing in his ears, he quickly hid in the dark alcove, heart pounding.”
• Example : “His eyes were a stormy sea, and in their depths, she found an anchor for her love.”
• Example : “In the heart of the mystical forest, nestled between radiant will-o'-the-wisps, was a castle spun from dreams and starlight.”
• Example : “The quantum mechanical model posits that electrons reside in orbitals, probabilistic regions around the nucleus, rather than fixed paths.”
• Example : “When constructing a thesis statement, it's crucial to present a clear, concise argument that your paper will substantiate.”
• Example : “The juxtaposition of light and dark imagery in the novel serves to illustrate the dichotomy between knowledge and ignorance.”
• Example : “Upon deconstructing the narrative, one can discern the recurrent themes of loss and redemption.”
• Example : “One must remember, however, that the epistemological underpinnings of such an argument necessitate a comprehensive understanding of Kantian philosophy.”
• Example : “The ephemeral nature of existence prompts us to contemplate the purpose of our pursuits and the value of our accomplishments.”
• Example : “She left the room.”
• Example : “Global warming is a major issue that needs immediate attention.”
• Example : “Maybe she’ll come tomorrow, I thought, watching the cars pass by, headlights blurring in the rain—oh, to be somewhere else, anywhere, the beach maybe, sand between my toes, the smell of the sea…”
• Example : “In the quiet solitude of the night, I grappled with my fears, my hopes, my dreams—how little I understood myself.”
• Example : “The autumn leaves crunched underfoot, their vibrant hues of scarlet and gold painting a brilliant tapestry against the crisp, cerulean sky.”
• Example : “Looking back on my childhood, I see a time of joy and innocence, a time when the world was a playground of endless possibilities.”
• Example : “Gazing up at the star-studded sky, I was struck by a sense of awe; the universe's vast expanse dwarfed my existence, reducing me to a speck in the cosmic canvas.”
• Example : “His unwavering determination in the face of adversity serves as a shining beacon for us all, inspiring us to strive for our dreams, no matter the obstacles.”

Any others that we forgot? Leave a comment and let us know!

Remember, tone can shift within a piece of writing, and a writer can use more than one tone in a piece depending on their intent and the effect they want to create.

The tones used in storytelling are particularly broad and flexible, as they can shift and evolve according to the plot's developments and the characters' arcs.

​​How do you choose the right tone for your writing piece?

The tone of a piece of writing is significantly determined by its purpose, genre, and audience. Here's how these three factors play a role:

• Purpose: The main goal of your writing guides your tone. If you're trying to persuade someone, you might adopt a passionate, urgent, or even a formal tone, depending on the subject matter. If you're trying to entertain, a humorous, dramatic, or suspenseful tone could be suitable. For educating or informing, an objective, scholarly, or didactic tone may be appropriate.
• Genre: The type of writing also influences the tone. For instance, academic papers often require a formal, objective, or scholarly tone, while a personal blog post might be more informal and conversational. Similarly, a mystery novel would have a suspenseful tone, a romance novel a romantic or passionate tone, and a satirical essay might adopt an ironic or sarcastic tone.
• Audience: Understanding your audience is crucial in setting the right tone. Professional audiences may expect a formal or respectful tone, while a younger audience might appreciate a more conversational or even irreverent tone. Furthermore, if your audience is familiar with the topic, you can use a more specialized or cerebral tone. In contrast, for a general audience, a clear and straightforward tone might be better.

It's also worth mentioning that the tone can shift within a piece of writing. For example, a novel might mostly maintain a dramatic tone, but could have moments of humor or melancholy. Similarly, an academic paper could be mainly objective but might adopt a more urgent tone in the conclusion to emphasize the importance of the research findings.

In conclusion, to choose the right tone for your writing, consider the intent of your piece, the expectations of the genre, and the needs and preferences of your audience. And don't forget, maintaining a consistent tone is key to ensuring your message is received as intended.

How to Identify Tone in Writing

How do you identify the tone in various texts (or even in your own writing)? What are the key indicators that help you figure out what tone a writing piece is?

Identifying the tone in a piece of writing can be done by focusing on a few key elements:

• Word Choice (Diction): The language an author uses can give you strong clues about the tone. For instance, formal language with lots of technical terms suggests a formal or scholarly tone, while casual language with slang or contractions suggests an informal or conversational tone.
• Sentence Structure (Syntax): Longer, complex sentences often indicate a formal, scholarly, or descriptive tone. Shorter, simpler sentences can suggest a more direct, informal, or urgent tone.
• Punctuation: The use of punctuation can also impact tone. Exclamation marks may suggest excitement, urgency, or even anger. Question marks might indicate confusion, curiosity, or sarcasm. Ellipsis (…) can suggest suspense, uncertainty, or thoughtfulness.
• Figurative Language: The use of metaphors, similes, personification, and other literary devices can help set the tone. For instance, an abundance of colorful metaphors and similes could suggest a dramatic, romantic, or fantastical tone.
• Mood: The emotional atmosphere of the text can give clues to the tone. If the text creates a serious, somber mood, the tone is likely serious or melancholic. If the mood is light-hearted or amusing, the tone could be humorous or whimsical.
• Perspective or Point of View: First-person narratives often adopt a subjective, personal, or reflective tone. Third-person narratives can have a range of tones, but they might lean towards being more objective, descriptive, or dramatic.
• Content: The subject matter itself can often indicate the tone. A text about a tragic event is likely to have a serious, melancholic, or respectful tone. A text about a funny incident will probably have a humorous or light-hearted tone.

By carefully analyzing these elements, you can determine the tone of a text. In your own writing, you can use these indicators to check if you're maintaining the desired tone consistently throughout your work.

Tone Writing Exercise: Identify the tone in each of the following sentences

Let’s do a little writing exercise by identifying the tones of the following example sentences.

• “The participants in the study displayed a significant improvement in their cognitive abilities post intervention.”
• “Hey guys, just popping in to share some cool updates from our team!”
• “The consequences of climate change are dire and demand immediate attention from world leaders.”
• “I told my wife she should embrace her mistakes. She gave me a hug.”
• “Despite the challenges we've faced this year, I'm confident that brighter days are just around the corner.”
• “Given the state of the economy, it seems unlikely that we'll see any significant improvements in the near future.”
• “No mountain is too high to climb if you believe in your ability to reach the summit.”
• “As she stepped onto the cobblestone streets of the ancient city, the echoes of its rich history whispered in her ears.”
• “Oh, you're late again? What a surprise.”
• “The methodology of this research hinges upon a quantitative approach, using statistical analysis to derive meaningful insights from the collected data.”

Give them a try. I’ll share the answers at the end!

Tone Versus Voice in Writing

Tone and voice in writing are related but distinct concepts:

Voice is the unique writing style or personality of the writing that makes it distinct to a particular author. It's a combination of the author's syntax, word choice, rhythm, and other stylistic elements.

Voice tends to remain consistent across different works by the same author, much like how people have consistent speaking voices.

For example, the voice in Ernest Hemingway's work is often described as minimalist and straightforward, while the voice in Virginia Woolf's work is more stream-of-consciousness and introspective.

Tone , on the other hand, refers to the attitude or emotional qualities of the writing. It can change based on the subject matter, the intended audience, and the purpose of the writing.

In the same way that someone's tone of voice can change based on what they're talking about or who they're talking to, the tone of a piece of writing can vary. Using the earlier examples, a work by Hemingway might have a serious, intense tone, while a work by Woolf might have a reflective, introspective tone.

So, while an author's voice remains relatively consistent, the tone they use can change based on the context of the writing.

Tone and voice are two elements of writing that are closely related and often work hand in hand to create a writer's unique style. Here's how they can be used together:

• Consistency: A consistent voice gives your writing a distinctive personality, while a consistent tone helps to set the mood or attitude of your piece. Together, they create a uniform feel to your work that can make your writing instantly recognizable to your readers.
• Audience Engagement: Your voice can engage readers on a fundamental level by giving them a sense of who you are or the perspective from which you're writing. Your tone can then enhance this engagement by setting the mood, whether it's serious, humorous, formal, informal, etc., depending on your audience and the purpose of your writing.
• Clarity of Message: Your voice can express your unique perspective and values, while your tone can help convey your message clearly by fitting the context. For example, a serious tone in an academic research paper or a casual, friendly tone in a personal blog post helps your audience understand your purpose and message.
• Emotional Impact: Voice and tone together can create emotional resonance. A distinctive voice can make readers feel connected to you as a writer, while the tone can evoke specific emotions that align with your content. For example, a melancholic tone in a heartfelt narrative can elicit empathy from the reader, enhancing the emotional impact of your story.
• Versatility: While maintaining a consistent overall voice, you can adjust your tone according to the specific piece you're writing. This can show your versatility as a writer. For example, you may have a generally conversational voice but use a serious tone for an important topic and a humorous tone for a lighter topic.

Remember, your unique combination of voice and tone is part of what sets you apart as a writer. It's worth taking the time to explore and develop both.

The Role of Tone in Different Types of Writing

Just as different audiences require different tones of voice, so does your tone change depending on the audience of your writing. 

Tone in Creative Writing

Tone plays a crucial role in creative writing, shaping the reader's experience and influencing their emotional response to the work. Here are some considerations for how to use tone in creative writing:

• Create Atmosphere: Tone is a powerful tool for creating a specific atmosphere or mood in a story. For example, a suspenseful tone can create a sense of tension and anticipation, while a humorous tone can make a story feel light-hearted and entertaining.
• Character Development: The tone of a character's dialogue and thoughts can reveal a lot about their personality and emotional state. A character might speak in a sarcastic tone, revealing a cynical worldview, or their internal narrative might be melancholic, indicating feelings of sadness or regret.
• Plot Development: The tone can shift with the plot, reflecting changes in the story's circumstances. An initially optimistic tone might become increasingly desperate as a situation worsens, or a serious tone could give way to relief and joy when a conflict is resolved.
• Theme Expression: The overall tone of a story can reinforce its themes. For instance, a dark and somber tone could underscore themes of loss and grief, while a hopeful and inspirational tone could enhance themes of resilience and personal growth.
• Reader Engagement: A well-chosen tone can engage the reader's emotions, making them more invested in the story. A dramatic, high-stakes tone can keep readers on the edge of their seats, while a romantic, sentimental tone can make them swoon.
• Style and Voice: The tone is part of the writer's unique voice and style. The way you blend humor and seriousness, or the balance you strike between formal and informal language, can give your work a distinctive feel.

In creative writing, it's important to ensure that your tone is consistent, unless a change in tone is intentional and serves a specific purpose in your story. An inconsistent or shifting tone can be jarring and confusing for the reader. To check your tone, try reading your work aloud, as this can make shifts in tone more evident.

Tone in Academic Writing

In academic writing, the choice of tone is crucial as it helps to establish credibility and convey information in a clear, unambiguous manner. Here are some aspects to consider about tone in academic writing:

• Formal: Academic writing typically uses a formal tone, which means avoiding colloquialisms, slang, and casual language. This helps to maintain a level of professionalism and seriousness that is appropriate for scholarly work. For instance, instead of saying “experts think this is really bad,” a more formal phrasing would be, “scholars have identified significant concerns regarding this matter.”
• Objective: The tone in academic writing should usually be objective, rather than subjective. This means focusing on facts, evidence, and logical arguments rather than personal opinions or emotions. For example, instead of saying “I believe that climate change is a major issue,” an objective statement would be, “Research indicates that climate change poses substantial environmental risks.”
• Precise: Precision is crucial in academic writing, so the tone should be specific and direct. Avoid vague or ambiguous language that might confuse the reader or obscure the meaning of your argument. For example, instead of saying “several studies,” specify the exact number of studies or name the authors if relevant.
• Respectful: Even when critiquing other scholars' work, it's essential to maintain a respectful tone. This means avoiding harsh or judgmental language and focusing on the intellectual content of the argument rather than personal attacks.
• Unbiased: Strive for an unbiased tone by presenting multiple perspectives on the issue at hand, especially when it's a subject of debate in the field. This shows that you have a comprehensive understanding of the topic and that your conclusions are based on a balanced assessment of the evidence.
• Scholarly: A scholarly tone uses discipline-specific terminology and acknowledges existing research on the topic. However, it's also important to explain any complex or specialized terms for the benefit of readers who may not be familiar with them.

By choosing an appropriate tone, you can ensure that your academic writing is professional, credible, and accessible to your intended audience. Remember, the tone can subtly influence how your readers perceive your work and whether they find your arguments convincing.

Tone in Business Writing

In business writing, your tone should be professional, clear, and respectful. Here are some aspects to consider:

• Professional and Formal: Just like in academic writing, business writing typically uses a professional and formal tone. This ensures that the communication is taken seriously and maintains an air of professionalism. However, remember that “formal” doesn't necessarily mean “stiff” or “impersonal”—a little warmth can make your writing more engaging.
• Clear and Direct: Your tone should also be clear and direct. Ambiguity can lead to misunderstanding, which can have negative consequences in a business setting. Make sure your main points are obvious and not hidden in jargon or overly complex sentences.
• Respectful: Respect is crucial in business communication. Even when addressing difficult topics or delivering bad news, keep your tone courteous and considerate. This fosters a positive business relationship and shows that you value the other party.
• Concise: In the business world, time is often at a premium. Therefore, a concise tone—saying what you need to say as briefly as possible—is often appreciated. This is where the minimalist tone can shine.
• Persuasive: In many situations, such as a sales pitch or a negotiation, a persuasive tone is beneficial. This involves making your points convincingly, showing enthusiasm where appropriate, and using language that motivates the reader to act.
• Neutral: In situations where you're sharing information without trying to persuade or express an opinion, a neutral tone is best. For example, when writing a business report or summarizing meeting minutes, stick to the facts without letting personal bias influence your language.

By adapting your tone based on these guidelines and the specific context, you can ensure your business writing is effective and appropriate.

Tone in Online Writing

Online writing can vary greatly depending on the platform and purpose of the content. However, some common considerations for tone include:

• Conversational and Informal: Online readers often prefer a more conversational, informal tone that mimics everyday speech. This can make your writing feel more personal and relatable. Blogs, social media posts, and personal websites often employ this tone.
• Engaging and Enthusiastic: With so much content available online, an engaging and enthusiastic tone can help grab readers' attention and keep them interested. You can express your passion for a topic, ask questions, or use humor to make your writing more lively and engaging.
• Clear and Direct: Just like in business and academic writing, clarity is key in online writing. Whether you're writing a how-to article, a product description, or a blog post, make your points clearly and directly to help your readers understand your message.
• Descriptive and Vivid: Because online writing often involves storytelling or explaining complex ideas, a descriptive tone can be very effective. Use vivid language and sensory details to help readers visualize what you're talking about.
• Authoritative: If you're writing content that's meant to inform or educate, an authoritative tone can help establish your credibility. This involves demonstrating your knowledge and expertise on the topic, citing reliable sources, and presenting your information in a confident, professional manner.
• Optimistic and Inspirational: Particularly for motivational blogs, self-help articles, or other content meant to inspire, an optimistic tone can be very effective. This involves looking at the positive side of things, encouraging readers, and offering hope.

Remember, the best tone for online writing depends heavily on your audience, purpose, and platform. Always keep your readers in mind, and adapt your tone to suit their needs and expectations.

How to Master Tone

Tone isn't as hard as you think.

If you've ever said something with feeling in your voice or with a certain attitude, you know how it works.

And while mastering the word choice, syntax, and other techniques to use tone effectively can be tricky, just by choosing a tone, being aware of tone in your writing, and making a concerted effort to practice it will add depth and style to your writing, heightening both the meaning and your audiences enjoyment.

Remember, we all have tone. You just need to practice  using  it. Happy writing!

What tone do you find yourself using the most in your writing ? Let us know in the comments .

Here are two writing exercises for you to practice tone.

Exercise 1: Identify the Tone

Using the ten identification examples above, write out the tones for each of the examples. Then use this answer guide to check your work.

• Pessimistic
• Inspirational

How many did you get correctly? Let me know in the comments .

Exercise 2: Choose One Tone and Write

Choose one of the tones above, set a timer for fifteen minutes, then free write in that tone. 

When your time's up, post your practice in the Pro Practice Workshop here (and if you’re not a member yet, you can join here ), and share feedback with a few other writers. 

Joe Bunting

Joe Bunting is an author and the leader of The Write Practice community. He is also the author of the new book Crowdsourcing Paris , a real life adventure story set in France. It was a #1 New Release on Amazon. Follow him on Instagram (@jhbunting).

Want best-seller coaching? Book Joe here.

Join over 450,000 readers who are saying YES to practice. You’ll also get a free copy of our eBook 14 Prompts :

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Styles & Tones Used in Research Essays

Differences of Literature & Writing Courses

Writing research essays requires a specific style and tone according to who the audience is and what the subject matter is. Knowing how to accurately use a specific style guide will lend organization and credibility to your essay, whether you are writing it for publication or a college class. Essay styles differ according to subject matter and teacher preference and cannot be used interchangeably.

Formal Tone vs. Casual Tone

The audience and intentions of a research paper decide the tone. If your essay is going to be printed in a scholarly or didactic publication or reviewed by a college professor, a formal and succinct tone is best. Writing for a more leisurely and laid back audience calls for a more casual and conversational tone.

Scientific Research Essays

Scientific research essays are written with brevity, authority, and precision because they usually include statistics, numbers and data. Most scientific papers are written in the American Chemical Society style, which provides guidelines for using numbers, tables, graphs and figures.

Modern Language Association Style

The Modern Language Association style is the most common style used for research essays in college. The MLA style formats how to cite sources of information both in the body of your essay, footnotes, endnotes and at the end in a bibliography.

American Psychological Association Style

The American Psychological Association style is another style commonly used in college research essays, but is seen more in upper-level and graduate level classes and in social science essays. As with the MLA style, it guides writers on how to cite sources of information, but has a different format than the MLA style.

Chicago Manual of Style

The Chicago Manual of Style is primarily used by editors, but can also be used in research essays for documenting sources and for grammatical usage. The CMS style is used for essays in literature, history, the arts and the social sciences.

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Comprehensive Guide: Understanding Tone & Examples

What is tone, types of tone, how to identify tone, why tone matters, examples of tone, common mistakes when interpreting tone, tips for using tone effectively, using tone in different genres.

Imagine you're reading a story. Suddenly, you sense a chill creeping up your spine, or maybe you're grinning ear to ear. What's causing these reactions? Is it the words on the page, or is it something a bit more subtle? The answer lies in 'tone', an often overlooked but significant aspect of writing. Ever wondered what exactly tone is or how it influences your reading experience? Let's break it down and explore the intriguing world of tone in literature.

Before we dive in, let's simplify the definition of tone. In the simplest terms, tone is the attitude or emotion a writer conveys in their work. It's like the secret ingredient that spices up the reading experience, making you feel a certain way — happy, sad, scared, or even excited.

Now that we've got the basic definition of tone, let's look at some key points:

• Tone influences how you interpret a text: It's the writer's tone that guides you in understanding the text's mood. For example, a serious tone might tell you that the situation in the story is intense.
• Tone can vary: Just like your emotions change, the tone in writing can fluctuate too. One moment you might be reading a cheerful dialogue, and the next, the tone could shift to something more somber.
• Tone isn't what you say, but how you say it: Here's an interesting thing about tone — it's not about the words themselves, but how they're put together. The choice of words, sentence structure, and even punctuation can all affect the tone.

In a nutshell, the definition of tone in literature isn't just about what is being said, but how it's being said. It's that extra layer that adds depth and perspective to the written word, enhancing your overall reading experience.

Now that we've got a basic understanding of what tone means, let's explore the different types of tone that can appear in writing.

• Formal Tone: You'll typically find this in academic writing, business correspondence, or professional settings. It's like wearing a suit and tie — it's all about precision, clarity, and respect.
• Informal Tone: This is like the casual Friday of tones. It's more relaxed and personal, often used in conversational writing or personal communication.
• Optimistic Tone: Here, the writer sees the glass as half full. Expect to find cheerful, hopeful and positive vibes in this tone.
• Pessimistic Tone: In contrast to the optimistic tone, this one sees the glass as half empty. It's often more negative, focusing on the downsides or potential failures.
• Humorous Tone: Who doesn't love a good laugh? This tone is all about making you smile, chuckle, or even burst out laughing.
• Serious Tone: The serious tone is all business, no jokes. This tone sets a sober and straightforward mood.

Remember, these are just a few examples. The tone of a piece can be as varied and complex as human emotions themselves. The key is to recognize how these tones can influence a reader's perception and understanding of the text.

Okay. We've covered what tone is and peeked at a few common types. But how do you identify the tone in a piece of writing? Well, it's not as hard as you might think. Here are a few pointers to help you on your way.

• Pay Attention to Word Choice: Think of this as the wardrobe of the writing. The words an author chooses to use can tell you a lot about the tone they're trying to set. Big, fancy words? Probably a formal tone. Simple, everyday language? Likely more informal.
• Check Out the Sentence Structure: Is the author using long, complex sentences? Or are they keeping it short and sweet? The structure of the sentences can give you clues about the tone.
• Look for Punctuation Clues: Punctuation isn't just about being grammatically correct. It can also help set the tone. Lots of exclamation points suggest excitement or urgency. Question marks could mean the author is posing rhetorical questions to get you thinking.
• Consider the Content: If an author is writing about a serious topic, they're probably not going to use a humorous tone. The content of the writing itself can be a big hint about the tone.

Identifying the tone isn't an exact science, and it can sometimes take a bit of detective work. But with practice, you'll become a pro at sniffing out the tone in no time!

So, you've got the definition of tone down, and you're getting the hang of identifying it in different pieces of writing. But why does it matter? Why should you care about tone? Well, let's break it down.

First, tone helps communicate a message more effectively. It's like adding color to a black and white photo—it brings depth and nuance. Imagine reading a suspense novel written in a casual, laid-back tone. Not quite the same thrill, right?

Second, tone helps to build a connection between the writer and the reader. It's a way for the writer to say, "Hey, I'm talking to you. I understand you. I'm on your level." It's like choosing to speak the same language as your reader.

Finally, tone can express the writer's attitude or feelings towards the subject matter. It's a way for writers to show their personality and to make their writing uniquely theirs.

In essence, tone is a powerful tool in a writer's toolbox, and understanding it can help you not only in writing but also in reading and understanding the work of others. So, keep practicing and before you know it, you'll be a tone detective!

Now that we've explored the definition of tone and grasped why it matters, let's dive into some concrete examples. Seeing tone in action can really help clarify things.

Serious Tone: A serious tone is often used in academic or professional writing. For instance, a scientific research paper on climate change would likely adopt a serious tone. It wouldn't include jokes or casual language—it needs to be straight to the point and factual. The serious tone says, "This is important, and we need to pay attention."

Humorous Tone: This is where the writer uses wit, humor, or satire to engage the reader. A great example of a humorous tone is found in the "Diary of a Wimpy Kid" series. The lighthearted and funny tone makes the books entertaining and engaging for kids and adults alike.

Informal Tone: An informal tone is like a friendly chat. Think of a blog post about someone's travel adventures. The tone is relaxed and personal, making you feel like you're sitting down for a coffee with the writer.

Formal Tone: A formal tone is used in more official contexts, such as a legal document or a business proposal. It's polite, respectful, and follows the rules of standard English. It's like wearing a suit to a job interview—you want to make a good impression.

These are just a few examples of tone in writing. There are many others out there, each bringing a unique flavor to the text. Once you start noticing tone, you'll see it everywhere—from the news articles you read to the text messages you send!

Understanding the definition of tone is one thing, but applying it can be a whole different ball game. Here are some common pitfalls to avoid when interpreting tone.

Mistaking Tone for Mood: This is a common mistake. Remember, tone refers to the author's attitude, while mood is about the atmosphere or feeling of the text. Think of it this way: tone is how the author feels, mood is how you, the reader, feel.

Ignoring Context: Context is key when interpreting tone. The same word can have different tones depending on the situation. For instance, the word "fine" can be used with a positive, neutral, or even negative tone, depending on the context. Always consider the bigger picture.

Overthinking: Sometimes, we can get so caught up in analyzing tone that we miss the forest for the trees. If you're reading a fun comic strip, for example, the tone is probably light-hearted and humorous. Don't overcomplicate things.

Not Considering the Audience: The intended audience can greatly influence the tone of a piece. A children's book and an academic journal article on the same topic will have vastly different tones. Always keep the audience in mind.

Interpreting tone is not an exact science, and it can take some practice. But avoiding these common mistakes can help you get a better handle on it. Remember, practice makes perfect!

Now that we've gone through the definition of tone and common mistakes to avoid, let's look at some handy tips to use tone effectively in your writing.

Know Your Audience: This is the golden rule in writing. The tone you choose should be suitable for your audience. If you're writing for children, a playful and simple tone would work well. On the other hand, a formal and serious tone would be more appropriate for a business report.

Stay Consistent: A consistent tone helps set the reader's expectations and enhances understanding. If you start with a humorous tone, stick to it. Sudden shifts in tone can confuse readers and disrupt the flow of your piece.

Choose the Right Words: The words you choose play a big role in setting the tone. For example, using words like "sadly" or "unfortunately" can easily set a melancholic tone. Be mindful of your word choice and how it might influence the tone.

Use Punctuation Wisely: Punctuation marks are not just for grammatical correctness—they can also affect the tone. An exclamation mark can express excitement or urgency, while a question mark can convey curiosity or doubt.

Learning to use tone effectively is a skill that can greatly enhance your writing. Keep these tips in mind, and with some practice, you'll be able to manipulate tone like a pro in no time!

Every genre of writing has its unique tone. Understanding this can help you make your writing more engaging and meaningful. Let's explore how tone works in different genres:

Fiction: In fiction, the author's tone can make you feel like you're part of the story. A suspenseful tone can keep you on the edge of your seat, while a romantic tone can make your heart flutter.

News Articles: In news articles, the tone is usually formal and impartial. The purpose is to convey information accurately and objectively, so there's no room for personal feelings or opinions.

Academic Writing: Academic writing typically has a serious and formal tone. The goal here is to present research findings or theoretical concepts in a clear, precise manner.

Poetry: Poetry is where tone can truly shine. Poets use tone to evoke emotions and paint vivid images in the reader's mind. A nostalgic tone can make you long for the past, while a joyful tone can lift your spirits.

Advertisements: The tone in advertisements is often persuasive and enthusiastic. It's all about convincing you that a product or service is just what you need.

Understanding the typical tone in different genres can help you tailor your writing to fit the style and expectations of each. So, the next time you pick up your pen—or keyboard—think about the tone that would suit your genre best.

If you found this comprehensive guide on understanding tone helpful, then you'll definitely want to explore the workshop ' Connecting To Drawing With Charcoal ' by Molley May. In this workshop, you'll learn how to effectively use charcoal to create stunning drawings while mastering the use of tone. Expand your artistic horizons and take your drawing skills to the next level!

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• USC Libraries
• Research Guides

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper

• Academic Writing Style
• Purpose of Guide
• Design Flaws to Avoid
• Independent and Dependent Variables
• Glossary of Research Terms
• Reading Research Effectively
• Narrowing a Topic Idea
• Broadening a Topic Idea
• Extending the Timeliness of a Topic Idea
• Choosing a Title
• Making an Outline
• Paragraph Development
• Research Process Video Series
• Executive Summary
• The C.A.R.S. Model
• Background Information
• The Research Problem/Question
• Theoretical Framework
• Citation Tracking
• Content Alert Services
• Evaluating Sources
• Primary Sources
• Secondary Sources
• Tiertiary Sources
• Scholarly vs. Popular Publications
• Qualitative Methods
• Quantitative Methods
• Insiderness
• Using Non-Textual Elements
• Limitations of the Study
• Common Grammar Mistakes
• Writing Concisely
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Footnotes or Endnotes?
• Further Readings
• Generative AI and Writing
• USC Libraries Tutorials and Other Guides
• Bibliography

Academic writing refers to a style of expression that researchers use to define the intellectual boundaries of their disciplines and specific areas of expertise. Characteristics of academic writing include a formal tone, use of the third-person rather than first-person perspective (usually), a clear focus on the research problem under investigation, and precise word choice. Like specialist languages adopted in other professions, such as, law or medicine, academic writing is designed to convey agreed meaning about complex ideas or concepts within a community of scholarly experts and practitioners.

Academic Writing. Writing Center. Colorado Technical College; Hartley, James. Academic Writing and Publishing: A Practical Guide . New York: Routledge, 2008; Ezza, El-Sadig Y. and Touria Drid. T eaching Academic Writing as a Discipline-Specific Skill in Higher Education . Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2020.

Importance of Good Academic Writing

The accepted form of academic writing in the social sciences can vary considerable depending on the methodological framework and the intended audience. However, most college-level research papers require careful attention to the following stylistic elements:

I.  The Big Picture Unlike creative or journalistic writing, the overall structure of academic writing is formal and logical. It must be cohesive and possess a logically organized flow of ideas; this means that the various parts are connected to form a unified whole. There should be narrative links between sentences and paragraphs so that the reader is able to follow your argument. The introduction should include a description of how the rest of the paper is organized and all sources are properly cited throughout the paper.

II.  Tone The overall tone refers to the attitude conveyed in a piece of writing. Throughout your paper, it is important that you present the arguments of others fairly and with an appropriate narrative tone. When presenting a position or argument that you disagree with, describe this argument accurately and without loaded or biased language. In academic writing, the author is expected to investigate the research problem from an authoritative point of view. You should, therefore, state the strengths of your arguments confidently, using language that is neutral, not confrontational or dismissive.

III.  Diction Diction refers to the choice of words you use. Awareness of the words you use is important because words that have almost the same denotation [dictionary definition] can have very different connotations [implied meanings]. This is particularly true in academic writing because words and terminology can evolve a nuanced meaning that describes a particular idea, concept, or phenomenon derived from the epistemological culture of that discipline [e.g., the concept of rational choice in political science]. Therefore, use concrete words [not general] that convey a specific meaning. If this cannot be done without confusing the reader, then you need to explain what you mean within the context of how that word or phrase is used within a discipline.

IV.  Language The investigation of research problems in the social sciences is often complex and multi- dimensional . Therefore, it is important that you use unambiguous language. Well-structured paragraphs and clear topic sentences enable a reader to follow your line of thinking without difficulty. Your language should be concise, formal, and express precisely what you want it to mean. Do not use vague expressions that are not specific or precise enough for the reader to derive exact meaning ["they," "we," "people," "the organization," etc.], abbreviations like 'i.e.'  ["in other words"], 'e.g.' ["for example"], or 'a.k.a.' ["also known as"], and the use of unspecific determinate words ["super," "very," "incredible," "huge," etc.].

V.  Punctuation Scholars rely on precise words and language to establish the narrative tone of their work and, therefore, punctuation marks are used very deliberately. For example, exclamation points are rarely used to express a heightened tone because it can come across as unsophisticated or over-excited. Dashes should be limited to the insertion of an explanatory comment in a sentence, while hyphens should be limited to connecting prefixes to words [e.g., multi-disciplinary] or when forming compound phrases [e.g., commander-in-chief]. Finally, understand that semi-colons represent a pause that is longer than a comma, but shorter than a period in a sentence. In general, there are four grammatical uses of semi-colons: when a second clause expands or explains the first clause; to describe a sequence of actions or different aspects of the same topic; placed before clauses which begin with "nevertheless", "therefore", "even so," and "for instance”; and, to mark off a series of phrases or clauses which contain commas. If you are not confident about when to use semi-colons [and most of the time, they are not required for proper punctuation], rewrite using shorter sentences or revise the paragraph.

VI.  Academic Conventions Among the most important rules and principles of academic engagement of a writing is citing sources in the body of your paper and providing a list of references as either footnotes or endnotes. The academic convention of citing sources facilitates processes of intellectual discovery, critical thinking, and applying a deliberate method of navigating through the scholarly landscape by tracking how cited works are propagated by scholars over time . Aside from citing sources, other academic conventions to follow include the appropriate use of headings and subheadings, properly spelling out acronyms when first used in the text, avoiding slang or colloquial language, avoiding emotive language or unsupported declarative statements, avoiding contractions [e.g., isn't], and using first person and second person pronouns only when necessary.

VII.  Evidence-Based Reasoning Assignments often ask you to express your own point of view about the research problem. However, what is valued in academic writing is that statements are based on evidence-based reasoning. This refers to possessing a clear understanding of the pertinent body of knowledge and academic debates that exist within, and often external to, your discipline concerning the topic. You need to support your arguments with evidence from scholarly [i.e., academic or peer-reviewed] sources. It should be an objective stance presented as a logical argument; the quality of the evidence you cite will determine the strength of your argument. The objective is to convince the reader of the validity of your thoughts through a well-documented, coherent, and logically structured piece of writing. This is particularly important when proposing solutions to problems or delineating recommended courses of action.

VIII.  Thesis-Driven Academic writing is “thesis-driven,” meaning that the starting point is a particular perspective, idea, or position applied to the chosen topic of investigation, such as, establishing, proving, or disproving solutions to the questions applied to investigating the research problem. Note that a problem statement without the research questions does not qualify as academic writing because simply identifying the research problem does not establish for the reader how you will contribute to solving the problem, what aspects you believe are most critical, or suggest a method for gathering information or data to better understand the problem.

IX.  Complexity and Higher-Order Thinking Academic writing addresses complex issues that require higher-order thinking skills applied to understanding the research problem [e.g., critical, reflective, logical, and creative thinking as opposed to, for example, descriptive or prescriptive thinking]. Higher-order thinking skills include cognitive processes that are used to comprehend, solve problems, and express concepts or that describe abstract ideas that cannot be easily acted out, pointed to, or shown with images. Think of your writing this way: One of the most important attributes of a good teacher is the ability to explain complexity in a way that is understandable and relatable to the topic being presented during class. This is also one of the main functions of academic writing--examining and explaining the significance of complex ideas as clearly as possible.  As a writer, you must adopt the role of a good teacher by summarizing complex information into a well-organized synthesis of ideas, concepts, and recommendations that contribute to a better understanding of the research problem.

Academic Writing. Writing Center. Colorado Technical College; Hartley, James. Academic Writing and Publishing: A Practical Guide . New York: Routledge, 2008; Murray, Rowena  and Sarah Moore. The Handbook of Academic Writing: A Fresh Approach . New York: Open University Press, 2006; Johnson, Roy. Improve Your Writing Skills . Manchester, UK: Clifton Press, 1995; Nygaard, Lynn P. Writing for Scholars: A Practical Guide to Making Sense and Being Heard . Second edition. Los Angeles, CA: Sage Publications, 2015; Silvia, Paul J. How to Write a Lot: A Practical Guide to Productive Academic Writing . Washington, DC: American Psychological Association, 2007; Style, Diction, Tone, and Voice. Writing Center, Wheaton College; Sword, Helen. Stylish Academic Writing . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012.

Strategies for...

Understanding Academic Writing and Its Jargon

The very definition of research jargon is language specific to a particular community of practitioner-researchers . Therefore, in modern university life, jargon represents the specific language and meaning assigned to words and phrases specific to a discipline or area of study. For example, the idea of being rational may hold the same general meaning in both political science and psychology, but its application to understanding and explaining phenomena within the research domain of a each discipline may have subtle differences based upon how scholars in that discipline apply the concept to the theories and practice of their work.

Given this, it is important that specialist terminology [i.e., jargon] must be used accurately and applied under the appropriate conditions . Subject-specific dictionaries are the best places to confirm the meaning of terms within the context of a specific discipline. These can be found by either searching in the USC Libraries catalog by entering the disciplinary and the word dictionary [e.g., sociology and dictionary] or using a database such as Credo Reference [a curated collection of subject encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, guides from highly regarded publishers] . It is appropriate for you to use specialist language within your field of study, but you should avoid using such language when writing for non-academic or general audiences.

Problems with Opaque Writing

A common criticism of scholars is that they can utilize needlessly complex syntax or overly expansive vocabulary that is impenetrable or not well-defined. When writing, avoid problems associated with opaque writing by keeping in mind the following:

1.   Excessive use of specialized terminology . Yes, it is appropriate for you to use specialist language and a formal style of expression in academic writing, but it does not mean using "big words" just for the sake of doing so. Overuse of complex or obscure words or writing complicated sentence constructions gives readers the impression that your paper is more about style than substance; it leads the reader to question if you really know what you are talking about. Focus on creating clear, concise, and elegant prose that minimizes reliance on specialized terminology.

2.   Inappropriate use of specialized terminology . Because you are dealing with concepts, research, and data within your discipline, you need to use the technical language appropriate to that area of study. However, nothing will undermine the validity of your study quicker than the inappropriate application of a term or concept. Avoid using terms whose meaning you are unsure of--do not just guess or assume! Consult the meaning of terms in specialized, discipline-specific dictionaries by searching the USC Libraries catalog or the Credo Reference database [see above].

Additional Problems to Avoid

In addition to understanding the use of specialized language, there are other aspects of academic writing in the social sciences that you should be aware of. These problems include:

• Personal nouns . Excessive use of personal nouns [e.g., I, me, you, us] may lead the reader to believe the study was overly subjective. These words can be interpreted as being used only to avoid presenting empirical evidence about the research problem. Limit the use of personal nouns to descriptions of things you actually did [e.g., "I interviewed ten teachers about classroom management techniques..."]. Note that personal nouns are generally found in the discussion section of a paper because this is where you as the author/researcher interpret and describe your work.
• Directives . Avoid directives that demand the reader to "do this" or "do that." Directives should be framed as evidence-based recommendations or goals leading to specific outcomes. Note that an exception to this can be found in various forms of action research that involve evidence-based advocacy for social justice or transformative change. Within this area of the social sciences, authors may offer directives for action in a declarative tone of urgency.
• Informal, conversational tone using slang and idioms . Academic writing relies on excellent grammar and precise word structure. Your narrative should not include regional dialects or slang terms because they can be open to interpretation. Your writing should be direct and concise using standard English.
• Wordiness. Focus on being concise, straightforward, and developing a narrative that does not have confusing language . By doing so, you  help eliminate the possibility of the reader misinterpreting the design and purpose of your study.
• Vague expressions (e.g., "they," "we," "people," "the company," "that area," etc.). Being concise in your writing also includes avoiding vague references to persons, places, or things. While proofreading your paper, be sure to look for and edit any vague or imprecise statements that lack context or specificity.
• Numbered lists and bulleted items . The use of bulleted items or lists should be used only if the narrative dictates a need for clarity. For example, it is fine to state, "The four main problems with hedge funds are:" and then list them as 1, 2, 3, 4. However, in academic writing, this must then be followed by detailed explanation and analysis of each item. Given this, the question you should ask yourself while proofreading is: why begin with a list in the first place rather than just starting with systematic analysis of each item arranged in separate paragraphs? Also, be careful using numbers because they can imply a ranked order of priority or importance. If none exists, use bullets and avoid checkmarks or other symbols.
• Descriptive writing . Describing a research problem is an important means of contextualizing a study. In fact, some description or background information may be needed because you can not assume the reader knows the key aspects of the topic. However, the content of your paper should focus on methodology, the analysis and interpretation of findings, and their implications as they apply to the research problem rather than background information and descriptions of tangential issues.
• Personal experience. Drawing upon personal experience [e.g., traveling abroad; caring for someone with Alzheimer's disease] can be an effective way of introducing the research problem or engaging your readers in understanding its significance. Use personal experience only as an example, though, because academic writing relies on evidence-based research. To do otherwise is simply story-telling.

NOTE:   Rules concerning excellent grammar and precise word structure do not apply when quoting someone.  A quote should be inserted in the text of your paper exactly as it was stated. If the quote is especially vague or hard to understand, consider paraphrasing it or using a different quote to convey the same meaning. Consider inserting the term "sic" in brackets after the quoted text to indicate that the quotation has been transcribed exactly as found in the original source, but the source had grammar, spelling, or other errors. The adverb sic informs the reader that the errors are not yours.

Academic Writing. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Academic Writing Style. First-Year Seminar Handbook. Mercer University; Bem, Daryl J. Writing the Empirical Journal Article. Cornell University; College Writing. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Murray, Rowena  and Sarah Moore. The Handbook of Academic Writing: A Fresh Approach . New York: Open University Press, 2006; Johnson, Eileen S. “Action Research.” In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education . Edited by George W. Noblit and Joseph R. Neikirk. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2020); Oppenheimer, Daniel M. "Consequences of Erudite Vernacular Utilized Irrespective of Necessity: Problems with Using Long Words Needlessly." Applied Cognitive Psychology 20 (2006): 139-156; Ezza, El-Sadig Y. and Touria Drid. T eaching Academic Writing as a Discipline-Specific Skill in Higher Education . Hershey, PA: IGI Global, 2020; Pernawan, Ari. Common Flaws in Students' Research Proposals. English Education Department. Yogyakarta State University; Style. College Writing. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Invention: Five Qualities of Good Writing. The Reading/Writing Center. Hunter College; Sword, Helen. Stylish Academic Writing . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012; What Is an Academic Paper? Institute for Writing Rhetoric. Dartmouth College.

Structure and Writing Style

I. Improving Academic Writing

To improve your academic writing skills, you should focus your efforts on three key areas: 1.   Clear Writing . The act of thinking about precedes the process of writing about. Good writers spend sufficient time distilling information and reviewing major points from the literature they have reviewed before creating their work. Writing detailed outlines can help you clearly organize your thoughts. Effective academic writing begins with solid planning, so manage your time carefully. 2.  Excellent Grammar . Needless to say, English grammar can be difficult and complex; even the best scholars take many years before they have a command of the major points of good grammar. Take the time to learn the major and minor points of good grammar. Spend time practicing writing and seek detailed feedback from professors. Take advantage of the Writing Center on campus if you need help. Proper punctuation and good proofreading skills can significantly improve academic writing [see sub-tab for proofreading you paper ].

Refer to these three basic resources to help your grammar and writing skills:

• A good writing reference book, such as, Strunk and White’s book, The Elements of Style or the St. Martin's Handbook ;
• A college-level dictionary, such as, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary ;
• The latest edition of Roget's Thesaurus in Dictionary Form .

3.  Consistent Stylistic Approach . Whether your professor expresses a preference to use MLA, APA or the Chicago Manual of Style or not, choose one style manual and stick to it. Each of these style manuals provide rules on how to write out numbers, references, citations, footnotes, and lists. Consistent adherence to a style of writing helps with the narrative flow of your paper and improves its readability. Note that some disciplines require a particular style [e.g., education uses APA] so as you write more papers within your major, your familiarity with it will improve.

II. Evaluating Quality of Writing

A useful approach for evaluating the quality of your academic writing is to consider the following issues from the perspective of the reader. While proofreading your final draft, critically assess the following elements in your writing.

• It is shaped around one clear research problem, and it explains what that problem is from the outset.
• Your paper tells the reader why the problem is important and why people should know about it.
• You have accurately and thoroughly informed the reader what has already been published about this problem or others related to it and noted important gaps in the research.
• You have provided evidence to support your argument that the reader finds convincing.
• The paper includes a description of how and why particular evidence was collected and analyzed, and why specific theoretical arguments or concepts were used.
• The paper is made up of paragraphs, each containing only one controlling idea.
• You indicate how each section of the paper addresses the research problem.
• You have considered counter-arguments or counter-examples where they are relevant.
• Arguments, evidence, and their significance have been presented in the conclusion.
• Limitations of your research have been explained as evidence of the potential need for further study.
• The narrative flows in a clear, accurate, and well-organized way.

Boscoloa, Pietro, Barbara Arféb, and Mara Quarisaa. “Improving the Quality of Students' Academic Writing: An Intervention Study.” Studies in Higher Education 32 (August 2007): 419-438; Academic Writing. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Academic Writing Style. First-Year Seminar Handbook. Mercer University; Bem, Daryl J. Writing the Empirical Journal Article. Cornell University; Candlin, Christopher. Academic Writing Step-By-Step: A Research-based Approach . Bristol, CT: Equinox Publishing Ltd., 2016; College Writing. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Style . College Writing. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Invention: Five Qualities of Good Writing. The Reading/Writing Center. Hunter College; Sword, Helen. Stylish Academic Writing . Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2012; What Is an Academic Paper? Institute for Writing Rhetoric. Dartmouth College.

Writing Tip

Considering the Passive Voice in Academic Writing

In the English language, we are able to construct sentences in the following way: 1.  "The policies of Congress caused the economic crisis." 2.  "The economic crisis was caused by the policies of Congress."

The decision about which sentence to use is governed by whether you want to focus on “Congress” and what they did, or on “the economic crisis” and what caused it. This choice in focus is achieved with the use of either the active or the passive voice. When you want your readers to focus on the "doer" of an action, you can make the "doer"' the subject of the sentence and use the active form of the verb. When you want readers to focus on the person, place, or thing affected by the action, or the action itself, you can make the effect or the action the subject of the sentence by using the passive form of the verb.

Often in academic writing, scholars don't want to focus on who is doing an action, but on who is receiving or experiencing the consequences of that action. The passive voice is useful in academic writing because it allows writers to highlight the most important participants or events within sentences by placing them at the beginning of the sentence.

Use the passive voice when:

• You want to focus on the person, place, or thing affected by the action, or the action itself;
• It is not important who or what did the action;
• You want to be impersonal or more formal.

Form the passive voice by:

• Turning the object of the active sentence into the subject of the passive sentence.
• Changing the verb to a passive form by adding the appropriate form of the verb "to be" and the past participle of the main verb.

NOTE: Consult with your professor about using the passive voice before submitting your research paper. Some strongly discourage its use!

Active and Passive Voice. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Diefenbach, Paul. Future of Digital Media Syllabus. Drexel University; Passive Voice. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina.  

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Academic Voice

You use the academic voice because your opinion is based on thinking; in your paper you’re revealing your thought process to your reader. Because you’ll be appealing to reason, you want to use the voice of one intellectual talking to another intellectual.

If the subject matter for your academic writing isn’t personal, as in the case of a formal research paper, you would take on a more detached, objective tone. While you may indeed feel strongly about what you’re writing about, you should maintain a professional tone, rather than a friendly or intimate one.

However, it’s important to note that even the most formal academic voice does not need to include convoluted sentence structure or abstract, stilted language, as some believe. As with all writing, you should strive to write with clarity and an active voice that avoids jargon. All readers appreciate a vigorous, lively voice.

Instead of: The utilization of teams as a way of optimizing our capacity to meet and prioritize our goals will impact the productivity of the company.

Write: Teams will execute the goals and enhance the company’s output.

Of course, the decision about whether you use a specialized vocabulary depends entirely on who your audience is and the purpose of the paper.

• Academic Voice. Authored by : OWL Excelsior Writing Lab. Provided by : Excelsior College. Located at : http://owl.excelsior.edu/writing-process/finding-your-voice/finding-your-voice-academic-voice/ . Project : ENG 101. License : CC BY: Attribution

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II. Getting Started

2.3 Purpose, Audience, Tone, and Content

Kathryn Crowther; Lauren Curtright; Nancy Gilbert; Barbara Hall; Tracienne Ravita; Kirk Swenson; and Terri Pantuso

Now that you have determined the assignment parameters , it’s time to begin drafting. While doing so, it is important to remain focused on your topic and thesis in order to guide your reader through the essay. Imagine reading one long block of text with each idea blurring into the next. Even if you are reading a thrilling novel or an interesting news article, you will likely lose interest in what the author has to say very quickly. During the writing process, it is helpful to position yourself as a reader. Ask yourself whether you can focus easily on each point you make. Keep in mind that three main elements shape the content of each essay (see Figure 2.3.1). [1]

• Purpose:   The reason the writer composes the essay.
• Audience:  The individual or group whom the writer intends to address.
• Tone: The attitude the writer conveys about the essay’s subject.

The assignment’s purpose, audience, and tone dictate what each paragraph of the essay covers and how the paragraph supports the main point or thesis.

Identifying Common Academic Purposes

The purpose for a piece of writing identifies the reason you write it by, basically, answering the question “Why?” For example, why write a play? To entertain a packed theater. Why write instructions to the babysitter? To inform him or her of your schedule and rules. Why write a letter to your congressman? To persuade him to address your community’s needs.

In academic settings, the reasons for writing typically fulfill four main purposes:

• to classify
• to synthesize
• to evaluate

A classification shrinks a large amount of information into only the essentials , using your own words; although shorter than the original piece of writing, a classification should still communicate all the key points and key support of the original document without quoting the original text. Keep in mind that classification moves beyond simple summary to be informative .

An analysis , on the other hand, separates complex materials into their different parts and studies how the parts relate to one another. In the sciences, for example, the analysis of simple table salt would require a deconstruction of its parts—the elements sodium (Na) and chloride (Cl). Then, scientists would study how the two elements interact to create the compound NaCl, or sodium chloride: simple table salt.

In an academic analysis , instead of deconstructing compounds, the essay takes apart a primary source (an essay, a book, an article, etc.) point by point. It communicates the main points of the document by examining individual points and identifying how the points relate to one another.

The third type of writing— synthesis —combines two or more items to create an entirely new item. Take, for example, the electronic musical instrument aptly named the synthesizer. It looks like a simple keyboard but displays a dashboard of switches, buttons, and levers. With the flip of a few switches, a musician may combine the distinct sounds of a piano, a flute, or a guitar—or any other combination of instruments—to create a new sound. The purpose of an academic synthesis is to blend individual documents into a new document by considering the main points from one or more pieces of writing and linking the main points together to create a new point, one not replicated in either document.

Finally, an evaluation judges the value of something and determines its worth. Evaluations in everyday life are often not only dictated by set standards but also influenced by opinion and prior knowledge such as a supervisor’s evaluation of an employee in a particular job. Academic evaluations, likewise, communicate your opinion and its justifications about a particular document or a topic of discussion. They are influenced by your reading of the document as well as your prior knowledge and experience with the topic or issue. Evaluations typically require more critical thinking and a combination of classifying , analysis , and synthesis skills.

You will encounter these four purposes not only as you read for your classes but also as you read for work or pleasure and, because reading and writing work together, your writing skills will improve as you read. Remember that the purpose for writing will guide you through each part of your paper, helping you make decisions about content and style .

When reviewing directions for assignments, look for the verbs that ask you to classify, analyze, synthesize, or evaluate. Instructors often use these words to clearly indicate the assignment’s purpose. These words will cue you on how to complete the assignment because you will know its exact purpose.

Identifying the Audience

Imagine you must give a presentation to a group of executives in an office. Weeks before the big day, you spend time creating and rehearsing the presentation. You must make important, careful decisions not only about the content but also about your delivery. Will the presentation require technology to project figures and charts? Should the presentation define important words, or will the executives already know the terms? Should you wear your suit and dress shirt? The answers to these questions will help you develop an appropriate relationship with your audience, making them more receptive to your message.

Now imagine you must explain the same business concepts from your presentation to a group of high school students. Those important questions you previously answered may now require different answers. The figures and charts may be too sophisticated, and the terms will certainly require definitions. You may even reconsider your outfit and sport a more casual look. Because the audience has shifted, your presentation and delivery will shift as well to create a new relationship with the new audience.

In these two situations, the audience —the individuals who will watch and listen to the presentation—plays a role in the development of presentation. As you prepare the presentation, you visualize the audience to anticipate their expectations and reactions. What you imagine affects the information you choose to present and how you will present it. Then, during the presentation, you meet the audience in person and discover immediately how well you perform.

Although the audience for writing assignments—your readers—may not appear in person, they play an equally vital role. Even in everyday writing activities, you identify your readers’ characteristics, interests, and expectations before making decisions about what you write. In fact, thinking about the audience has become so common that you may not even detect the audience-driven decisions. For example, you update your status on a social networking site with the awareness of who will digitally follow the post. If you want to brag about a good grade, you may write the post to please family members. If you want to describe a funny moment, you may write with your friends’ senses of humor in mind. Even at work, you send emails with an awareness of an unintended receiver who could intercept the message.

In other words, being aware of “invisible” readers is a skill you most likely already possess and one you rely on every day. Consider the following paragraphs. Which one would the author send to her parents? Which one would she send to her best friend?

Last Saturday, I volunteered at a local hospital. The visit was fun and rewarding. I even learned how to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation, or CPR. Unfortunately, I think I caught a cold from one of the patients. This week, I will rest in bed and drink plenty of clear fluids. I hope I am well by next Saturday to volunteer again.

OMG! You won’t believe this! My advisor forced me to do my community service hours at this hospital all weekend! We learned CPR but we did it on dummies, not even real peeps. And some kid sneezed on me and got me sick! I was so bored and sniffling all weekend; I hope I don’t have to go back next week. I def do NOT want to miss the basketball tournament!

Most likely, you matched each paragraph to its intended audience with little hesitation. Because each paragraph reveals the author’s relationship with the intended readers, you can identify the audience fairly quickly. When writing your own essays, you must engage with your audience to build an appropriate relationship given your subject.

Imagining your readers during each stage of the writing process will help you make decisions about your writing. Ultimately, the people you visualize will affect what and how you write.

While giving a speech, you may articulate an inspiring or critical message, but if you left your hair a mess and laced up mismatched shoes, your audience might not take you seriously. They may be too distracted by your appearance to listen to your words.

Similarly, grammar and sentence structure serve as the appearance of a piece of writing. Polishing your work using correct grammar will impress your readers and allow them to focus on what you have to say.

Because focusing on your intended audience will enhance your writing, your process, and your finished product, you must consider the specific traits of your audience members. Use your imagination to anticipate the readers’ demographics, education, prior knowledge, and expectations.

Demographics

These measure important data about a group of people such as their age range, their ethnicity, their religious beliefs, or their gender. Certain topics and assignments will require these kinds of considerations about your audience. For other topics and assignments, these measurements may not influence your writing in the end. Regardless, it is important to consider demographics when you begin to think about your purpose for writing.

Education considers the audience’s level of schooling. If audience members have earned a doctorate degree, for example, you may need to elevate your style and use more formal language. Or, if audience members are still in college, you could write in a more relaxed style. An audience member’s major or emphasis may also dictate your writing.

Prior Knowledge

This refers to what the audience already knows about your topic. If your readers have studied certain topics, they may already know some terms and concepts related to the topic. You may decide whether to define terms and explain concepts based on your audience’s prior knowledge. Although you cannot peer inside the brains of your readers to discover their knowledge, you can make reasonable assumptions . For instance, a nursing major would presumably know more about health-related topics than a business major would.

Expectations

These indicate what readers will look for while reading your assignment. Readers may expect consistencies in the assignment’s appearance such as correct grammar and traditional formatting like double-spaced lines and legible font. Readers may also have content-based expectations given the assignment’s purpose and organization. In an essay titled “The Economics of Enlightenment: The Effects of Rising Tuition,” for example, audience members may expect to read about the economic repercussions of college tuition costs.

Selecting an Appropriate Tone

Tone identifies a speaker’s attitude toward a subject or another person. You may pick up a person’s tone of voice fairly easily in conversation. A friend who tells you about her weekend may speak excitedly about a fun skiing trip. An instructor who means business may speak in a low, slow voice to emphasize her serious mood. Or, a coworker who needs to let off some steam after a long meeting may crack a sarcastic joke.

Just as speakers transmit emotion through voice, writers can transmit a range of attitudes and emotions through prose –from excited and humorous to somber and critical. These emotions create connections among the audience, the author, and the subject, ultimately building a relationship between the audience and the text. To stimulate these connections, writers convey their attitudes and feelings with useful devices such as sentence structure, word choice, punctuation, and formal or informal language. Keep in mind that the writer’s attitude should always appropriately match the audience and the purpose.

Read the following paragraph and consider the writer’s tone. How would you describe the writer’s attitude toward wildlife conservation?

“Many species of plants and animals are disappearing right before our eyes. If we don’t act fast, it might be too late to save them. Human activities, including pollution, deforestation, hunting, and overpopulation, are devastating the natural environment. Without our help, many species will not survive long enough for our children to see them in the wild. Take the tiger, for example. Today, tigers occupy just seven percent of their historical range, and many local populations are already extinct. Hunted for their beautiful pelts and other body parts, the tiger population has plummeted from one hundred thousand in 1920 to just a few thousand. Contact your local wildlife conservation society today to find out how you can stop this terrible destruction.”

Choosing Appropriate, Interesting Content

Content refers to all the written substance in a document. After selecting an audience and a purpose, you must choose what information will make it to the page. Content may consist of examples, statistics, facts, anecdotes , testimonies , and observations, but no matter the type, the information must be appropriate and interesting for the audience and purpose. An essay written for third graders that summarizes the legislative process, for example, would have to contain succinct and simple content.

Content is also shaped by tone . When the tone matches the content, the audience will be more engaged, and you will build a stronger relationship with your readers. When applied to that audience of third graders, you would choose simple content that the audience would easily understand, and you would express that content through an enthusiastic tone.

The same considerations apply to all audiences and purposes.

This section contains material from:

Crowther, Kathryn, Lauren Curtright, Nancy Gilbert, Barbara Hall, Tracienne Ravita, and Kirk Swenson. Successful College Composition . 2nd edition. Book 8. Georgia: English Open Textbooks, 2016. http://oer.galileo.usg.edu/english-textbooks/8 . Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License .

• “The Rhetorical Triangle” was derived by Brandi Gomez from an image in: Kathryn Crowther et al., Successful College Composition, 2nd ed. Book 8. (Georgia: English Open Textbooks, 2016), https://oer.galileo.usg.edu/english-textbooks/8/ . Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License . ↵

The bounds, limits, or confines of something.

A statement, usually one sentence, that summarizes an argument that will later be explained, expanded upon, and developed in a longer essay or research paper. In undergraduate writing, a thesis statement is often found in the introductory paragraph of an essay. The plural of thesis is theses .

The essence of something; those things that compose the foundational elements of a thing; the basics.

A brief and concise statement or series of statements that outlines the main point(s) of a longer work. To summarize is to create a brief and concise statement or series of statements that outlines the main point(s) of a longer work.

To give or relay information; explanatory.

The fusion, combination, or integration of two or more ideas or objects that create new ideas or objects.

To copy, duplicate, or reproduce.

To organize or arrange.

The process of critically examining, investigating, or interpreting a specific topic or subject matter in order to come to an original conclusion.

The subject matter; the information contained within a text; the configuration of ideas that make up an argument.

The choices that a writer makes in order to make their argument or express their ideas; putting different elements of writing together in order to present an argument. Style refers to the way an argument is framed, written, and presented.

To interrupt, stop, or prevent someone or something from coming to pass or getting from one place to the other.

Clear or lucid speech; the expression of an idea in a coherent or logical manner; the communication of a concept in a way that is easily understandable to an audience.

The person or group of people who view and analyze the work of a writer, researcher, or other content creator.

Qualities, features, or attributes relating to something, particularly personal characteristics.

Taking something for granted; an expected result; to be predisposed towards a certain outcome.

Consequences; the impact, usually negative, of an action or event.

Writing that is produced in sentence form; the opposite of poetry, verse, or song. Some of the most common types of prose include research papers, essays, articles, novels, and short stories.

A short account or telling of an incident or story, either personal or historical; anecdotal evidence is frequently found in the form of a personal experience rather than objective data or widespread occurrence.

Verbal or written proof from an individual; the statement made by a witness that is understood to be truth. Testimony can be a formal process, such as a testimony made in official court proceedings, or an informal process, such as claiming that a company’s product or service works.

To express an idea in as few words as possible; concise, brief, or to the point.

The feeling or attitude of the writer which can be inferred by the reader, usually conveyed through vocabulary, word choice, and phrasing; associated with emotion.

2.3 Purpose, Audience, Tone, and Content Copyright © 2022 by Kathryn Crowther; Lauren Curtright; Nancy Gilbert; Barbara Hall; Tracienne Ravita; Kirk Swenson; and Terri Pantuso is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

Tone Definition

What is tone? Here’s a quick and simple definition:

The tone of a piece of writing is its general character or attitude, which might be cheerful or depressive, sarcastic or sincere, comical or mournful, praising or critical, and so on. For instance, an editorial in a newspaper that described its subject as "not even having the guts to do the job himself," has a tone that is both informal and critical.

Some additional key details about tone:

• All pieces of writing, even letters and official documents, have a tone. A neutral, official tone is still a tone.
• The tone of a piece of writing may change over the course of a text to produce different effects.
• Tone and mood are not the same. Tone has to do with the attitude of the author or the person speaking, whereas mood is how the work makes the reader feel.
• The author's intentions, emotions, and personal ideas about the theme or subject matter often reveal themselves in the piece's tone.

How to Pronounce Tone

Here's how to pronounce tone:  tohn

Tone Explained

It is always possible to describe the way that a writer uses language. Therefore, every piece of writing has a tone. Even when a writer's aim is to use completely neutral language—as is often the case in scientific papers or investigative journalism—the language still sounds a certain way, whether it's "scientific," "journalistic," "formal," "professional," or even "mechanical." The way a writer makes use of tone can tell you a lot about the writer's attitude or relationship toward their subject matter and what they are trying to say about it, as well as the effect they are trying to create for their reader.

Here's just a partial list of words that are commonly used to talk about tone, with examples of the types of writing they might be used to describe:

• A particularly stirring campaign speech
• The Declaration of Independence
• Maya Angelou's famous poem, "Still I Rise"
• A sappy love poem
• An over-the-top television sermon
• A wordy letter of apology
• A know-it-all at a cocktail party
• The comments section of almost any YouTube video
• A speech made by a boastful or proud character
• A speech at a funeral
• A murder mystery
• A novel about someone's struggles with depression
• An article in the newspaper The Onion
• A work of  parody  like Don Quixote
• A  satire , like many skits on SNL
• A stand-up comedy routine
• A play like Shakespeare's As You Like It
• A TV show like Seinfeld or Friends
• A Dr. Seuss Book
• A wedding speech
• A friendly joke
• An essay you'd write for school
• A dense work of political theory
• An article analyzing a political event
• A letter from the IRS
• A scientific paper
• Instructions on how to assemble furniture

The tone of a piece of writing depends on a confluence of different factors, including:

• The connotation  of the words used: Are they positive or negative? What associations do the words bring to mind?
• The diction , or word choice: Are there lots of thou's and thine's? Does the writer use slang? Are the words long and technical, or short and childish?
• The use of figurative language :  Is there a lot of metaphor, hyperbole, or alliteration? Does the language sound lofty and poetic?
• The mood : How does the language make you feel as the reader? This can reveal a lot about the tone of the piece.

All of these things work together to determine the tone of a piece of writing.

The Difference Between Tone and Mood

The words "tone" and " mood " are often used interchangeably, but the two terms actually have different meanings.

• Tone is the attitude or general character of a piece of writing and is often related to the attitude of the writer or speaker.
• Mood refers specifically to the effect a piece of writing has on the reader .  Mood is how a piece of writing makes you feel. 

While tone and mood are distinct literary devices, they are often closely related. For example, it wouldn't be unusual for a poem with a somber tone to also have a somber mood—i.e., to make the reader feel somber as well. And as we explained above, a journalist who makes a jab at a politician might be conveying how they feel about their subject (using a critical tone) while also trying to influence their readers to feel similarly—i.e., to create a  mood of anger or outrage.

Tone Examples

Since every text has a tone, there are essentially endless examples of tone. The examples below illustrate different types of tone. 

Tone in U.A. Fanthorpe's "Not my Best Side"

The poem "Not my Best Side" by U.A. Fanthorpe has a lighthearted and ironic   tone. The poem concerns the painting  Saint George and the Dragon  by Paolo Uccello, and pokes fun at the way the various characters are portrayed in the painting—the dragon, the maiden, and the knight who is supposedly rescuing her. Fanthorpe creates a contrast between her modern, colloquial way of speaking and the medieval subject matter of her poem. Using colloquial words like "sexy" and phrases like "if you know what I mean," Fanthorpe creates a lighthearted, conversational tone. But this conversational tone also has the effect of imbuing the poem with a tone of  irony  because it is used to describe the unlikely scenario of a maiden falling in love with a dragon.

It's hard for a girl to be sure if She wants to be rescued. I mean, I quite Took to the dragon. It's nice to be Liked, if you know what I mean. He was So nicely physical, with his claws And lovely green skin, and that sexy tail

Tone in Milton's "Lycidas"

The poem "Lycidas" by John Milton has a mournful   tone. The poem was inspired by the untimely death of Milton's friend, who drowned. To express his grief, and set the sorrowful and mournful tone, Milton uses words and phrases with negative  connotations , like, "watery bier" (or "tomb"), "parching wind" and "melodious tear."

For Lycidas is dead, dead ere his prime, Young lycidas, and hath not left his peer. Who would not sing for Lycidas? he knew Himself to sing, and build the lofty rhyme He must not float upon his watery bier Unwept, and welter to the parching wind, Without the meed of some melodious tear.

Tone in Flaubert's  Madame Bovary

In many passages in Gustave Flaubert's  Madame Bovary , Flaubert's own cynicism about romance shines through the third-person narration to imbue the work with a tone of cynicism. Bored by her husband and desperate for a passionate love affair like the sort she reads about in romance novels, Emma Bovary gets involved with a notorious womanizer. Flaubert highlights Emma's foolishness for falling for such an obvious hack, who sees her as no different from any other mistress:

Emma was just like any other mistress; and the charm of novelty, falling down slowly like a dress, exposed only the eternal monotony of passion, always the same forms and the same language. He did not distinguish, this man of such great expertise, the differences of sentiment beneath the sameness of their expression.

Flaubert sets the cynical tone in part by describing, using figurative language , how the charm of novelty, for Madame Bovary's lover, fell down "slowly like a dress," suggesting that what she experiences as romance, her lover experiences only as an extended prelude to sex.

What's the Function of Tone in Literature?

First and foremost, tone clues readers into the essence and the purpose of what they're reading. It wouldn't make sense to use a wordy, poetic tone to write a simple set of directions, just like it wouldn't make sense to use a dry, unfeeling tone when writing a love poem. Rather, writers set the tone of their work to match not only the content of their writing, but also to suit the purpose they intend for it to serve, whether that is to convey information clearly, to make people laugh, to lavish praises on someone, or something else. Additionally, tone can serve the following purposes:

• For example, a biography of Bill Clinton might have a critical tone if the author has critical views of the former president and what he stood for, or it might have an admiring tone if the author was a staunch Clinton supporter.
• If a writer wants their readers to feel upset, he or she might use words with certain connotations to create a gloomy tone.
• Likewise, if a writer wants to create an informal tone, he or she might make use of colloquialisms , slang terms, and everyday language to make the reader feel like their familiar or their equal.

Simply put, establishing the tone of a work is important because it helps writers show readers what the work is trying to accomplish, and what attitude the work takes toward its own subject matter.

Other Helpful Tone Resources

• Wikipedia Page on Tone in Literature : A helpful overview of tone and its usage.
• A Definition of Tone : A definition of tone that includes a short overview of the difference between tone and mood.
• List of Poetic Tones : A handy chart listing a slew of tones commonly found in poetry, and all other types of literature.

• PDFs for all 136 Lit Terms we cover
• Downloads of 1890 LitCharts Lit Guides
• Teacher Editions for every Lit Guide
• Explanations and citation info for 39,793 quotes across 1890 books
• Downloadable (PDF) line-by-line translations of every Shakespeare play
• Colloquialism
• Connotation
• Figurative Language
• End-Stopped Line
• Static Character
• Anachronism
• Climax (Figure of Speech)
• Parallelism
• Red Herring
• Verbal Irony
• Antanaclasis
• Climax (Plot)

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• Published: 06 March 2024

Artificial intelligence and illusions of understanding in scientific research

• Lisa Messeri   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0964-123X 1   na1 &
• M. J. Crockett   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-8800-410X 2 , 3   na1  

Nature volume  627 ,  pages 49–58 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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• Human behaviour
• Interdisciplinary studies
• Research management
• Social anthropology

Scientists are enthusiastically imagining ways in which artificial intelligence (AI) tools might improve research. Why are AI tools so attractive and what are the risks of implementing them across the research pipeline? Here we develop a taxonomy of scientists’ visions for AI, observing that their appeal comes from promises to improve productivity and objectivity by overcoming human shortcomings. But proposed AI solutions can also exploit our cognitive limitations, making us vulnerable to illusions of understanding in which we believe we understand more about the world than we actually do. Such illusions obscure the scientific community’s ability to see the formation of scientific monocultures, in which some types of methods, questions and viewpoints come to dominate alternative approaches, making science less innovative and more vulnerable to errors. The proliferation of AI tools in science risks introducing a phase of scientific enquiry in which we produce more but understand less. By analysing the appeal of these tools, we provide a framework for advancing discussions of responsible knowledge production in the age of AI.

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Acknowledgements

We thank D. S. Bassett, W. J. Brady, S. Helmreich, S. Kapoor, T. Lombrozo, A. Narayanan, M. Salganik and A. J. te Velthuis for comments. We also thank C. Buckner and P. Winter for their feedback and suggestions.

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University Center for Human Values, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, USA

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Messeri, L., Crockett, M.J. Artificial intelligence and illusions of understanding in scientific research. Nature 627 , 49–58 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-024-07146-0

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Doing more, but learning less: the risks of ai in research.

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Artificial intelligence (AI) is widely heralded for its potential to enhance productivity in scientific research. But with that promise come risks that could narrow scientists’ ability to better understand the world, according to a new paper co-authored by a Yale anthropologist.

Some future AI approaches, the authors argue, could constrict the questions researchers ask, the experiments they perform, and the perspectives that come to bear on scientific data and theories.

All told, these factors could leave people vulnerable to “illusions of understanding” in which they believe they comprehend the world better than they do.

The paper published March 7 in Nature .

“ There is a risk that scientists will use AI to produce more while understanding less,” said co-author Lisa Messeri, an anthropologist in Yale’s Faculty of Arts and Sciences. “We’re not arguing that scientists shouldn’t use AI tools, but we’re advocating for a conversation about how scientists will use them and suggesting that we shouldn’t automatically assume that all uses of the technology, or the ubiquitous use of it, will benefit science.”

The paper, co-authored by Princeton cognitive scientist M. J. Crockett, sets a framework for discussing the risks involved in using AI tools throughout the scientific research process, from study design through peer review.

“ We hope this paper offers a vocabulary for talking about AI’s potential epistemic risks,” Messeri said.

Added Crockett: “To understand these risks, scientists can benefit from work in the humanities and qualitative social sciences.”

Messeri and Crockett classified proposed visions of AI spanning the scientific process that are currently creating buzz among researchers into four archetypes:

• In study design, they argue, “AI as Oracle” tools are imagined as being able to objectively and efficiently search, evaluate, and summarize massive scientific literatures, helping researchers to formulate questions in their project’s design stage.
• In data collection, “AI as Surrogate” applications, it is hoped, allow scientists to generate accurate stand-in data points, including as a replacement for human study participants, when data is otherwise too difficult or expensive to obtain.
• In data analysis, “AI as Quant” tools seek to surpass the human intellect’s ability to analyze vast and complex datasets.
• And “AI as Arbiter” applications aim to objectively evaluate scientific studies for merit and replicability, thereby replacing humans in the peer-review process.   

The authors warn against treating AI applications from these four archetypes as trusted partners, rather than simply tools , in the production of scientific knowledge. Doing so, they say, could make scientists susceptible to illusions of understanding, which can crimp their perspectives and convince them that they know more than they do.

The efficiencies and insights that AI tools promise can weaken the production of scientific knowledge by creating “monocultures of knowing,” in which researchers prioritize the questions and methods best suited to AI over other modes of inquiry, Messeri and Crockett state. A scholarly environment of that kind leaves researchers vulnerable to what they call “illusions of exploratory breadth,” where scientists wrongly believe that they are exploring all testable hypotheses, when they are only examining the narrower range of questions that can be tested through AI.

For example, “Surrogate” AI tools that seem to accurately mimic human survey responses could make experiments that require measurements of physical behavior or face-to-face interactions increasingly unpopular because they are slower and more expensive to conduct, Crockett said.

The authors also describe the possibility that AI tools become viewed as more objective and reliable than human scientists, creating a “monoculture of knowers” in which AI systems are treated as a singular, authoritative, and objective knower in place of a diverse scientific community of scientists with varied backgrounds, training, and expertise. A monoculture, they say, invites “illusions of objectivity” where scientists falsely believe that AI tools have no perspective or represent all perspectives when, in truth, they represent the standpoints of the computer scientists who developed and trained them.

“ There is a belief around science that the objective observer is the ideal creator of knowledge about the world,” Messeri said. “But this is a myth. There has never been an objective ‘knower,’ there can never be one, and continuing to pursue this myth only weakens science.”  

There is substantial evidence that human diversity makes science more robust and creative, the authors add.

“ Acknowledging that science is a social practice that benefits from including diverse standpoints will help us realize its full potential,” Crockett said. “Replacing diverse standpoints with AI tools will set back the clock on the progress we’ve made toward including more perspectives in scientific work.”

It is important to remember AI’s social implications, which extend far beyond the laboratories where it is being used in research, Messeri said.

“ We train scientists to think about technical aspects of new technology,” she said. “We don’t train them nearly as well to consider the social aspects, which is vital to future work in this domain.”

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The Diversity of Tone Languages and the Roles of Pitch Variation in Non-tone Languages: Considerations for Tone Perception Research

All languages employ consonants and vowels as discrete contrastive subcomponents of the basic timing units of words (syllables). These two classes of phonemes are used to differentiate between words, whose meanings can be categorically changed by switching even a single vowel or consonant, as in < pat > vs. < cat > or < pet >. They populate the lowest level of the phonological hierarchy, the segmental tier, and both classes are obligatory across spoken languages. But only some languages also make use of lexical tones , contrastive sub-syllabic fundamental frequency (pitch) variations referred to as tonemes (e.g., Jones, 1944 ), which for those languages comprise a third class of phonemic elements. Perceptual researchers often assume tones to be suprasegmental (e.g., So and Best, 2010 , 2011 , 2014 ; Liu et al., 2018 ; Poltrock et al., 2018 ), i.e., to extend across the consonants and vowels of the target syllable. While in a phonetic sense tones extend across the voiced segments of a syllable, however, such observations may not straightforwardly reflect the more abstract phonological properties of tones (e.g., see Wang, 1967 ; Hyman, 2011a , b ). Indeed, several tone phonologists claim that lexical tones function as segments in tone languages (e.g., Lin, 1989 ; Duanmu, 1990 , 1994 ). For the following paragraphs we adopt that phonological view that lexical tones function in tone languages at the segmental level, along with consonants and vowels. However, we return later to consider their phonological status and its relevance for understanding lexical tone perception by native and non-native listeners.

Unlike consonants and vowels, lexical tones are optional 1 . Many languages of Europe, the Americas, Oceania, Africa and even Asia function perfectly well without them. But lexical tones are, nevertheless, a popular option. They are employed in 60–70% of existing languages (Yip, 2002 ), including many Asian, African and indigenous American languages as well as a few European and South Pacific languages (Maddieson, 2013 ). It is important to note, nonetheless, that lexical tone forms and usage vary widely across tone languages (e.g., Hyman, 2011a , 2016 ; Remijsen, 2016 ) 2 . Some include tonemes with temporally-changing pitch trajectories (contour tone languages) while others use only level pitches (register tone languages). Some rely only on pitch specifications for tone contrasts while others have been claimed to also incorporate phonation distinctions 3 . Some have seven or more contrastive tones while others have as few as two. Some apply tone values to all syllables while others restrict tones to accented syllables of specific words (lexical pitch accent 4 ). Some use tones only for stem morphemes while others use tone to mark grammatical or morphological alternations. Tone languages also differ in their degree of reliance on lexical tone distinctions, ranging from extensive, i.e., high functional load, to quite restricted use, i.e., low functional load.

Moreover, languages that lack lexical tones (non-tone languages) are far from devoid of systematic pitch variations. All spoken languages use pitch and contour paralinguistically, e.g., to convey information about emotions and talker gender and age. More importantly for our discussion of lexical tones, all languages also use pitch variation linguistically to mark intonation distinctions at supra-syllabic (metrical) levels of the phonological hierarchy: prosodic word, phonological phrase, intonational phrase, and utterance tiers (the prosodic hierarchy: e.g., Beckman and Pierrehumbert, 1986 ; Nespor and Vogel, 1986 ; Selkirk, 1986 ; Pierrehumbert and Beckman, 1988 ), which are most often examined using the ToBI (Tones and Break Indices) framework and transcription system (see Beckman et al., 2006 ), an approach that has also been applied to lexical tones (e.g., Francis et al., 2008 ). Clearly, then, phonological use of pitch distinctions is familiar to non-tone language speakers, at higher metrical levels of their language.

The crucial difference between tone and non-tone languages is that tone languages use contrastive pitch specifications at every level of the phonological hierarchy, whereas non-tone languages have a gap in contrastive use of pitch at the segmental level. As a result, non-tone language speakers are likely to perceive non-native lexical tones in terms of paralinguistic information and/or as native-language (L1) prosodic distinctions. For example, they may perceive non-native lexical tones as L1 intonational phrase (e.g., Hallé et al., 2004 ) and/or stress contrasts (e.g., So and Best, 2010 , 2011 , 2014 ). Such a discrepancy in phonological tiers between the lexical tones of the non-native stimulus language and the higher prosodic level(s) at which non-tone L1 listeners perceive the pitch variations as distinctive may explain why non-tone L1 adults often err in perceiving, producing and remembering the lexical tones of names and words in a tone language (McGinnis, 1997 ), including even very proficient English-L1 speakers of L2 Mandarin (Wong and Perrachione, 2007 ). In tone word training studies, non-tone L1 listeners learn novel words' consonant-vowel patterns faster and more accurately than their lexical tones (Wong and Perrachione, 2007 ). They also display substantial individual variation in learning, which correlates with variations in their tone discrimination performance in non-lexical tasks (e.g., Wong et al., 2007 ; Chandrasekaran et al., 2010 ). Nonetheless, learning tones in words is more challenging than mere tone discrimination, which is clearly above chance even prior to training (e.g., 78% correct discrimination in a pre-test: Wong and Perrachione, 2007 ) 5 .

Unique insights into how language experience shapes phonological knowledge could be gained from studies of non-native and native tone perception that exploit the diversity of lexical tone systems, and probe how a range of contrast types are perceived in relation to prosodic distinctions at higher tiers of the phonological hierarchy. Most prior studies of lexical tone perception by infants and young children, however, have drawn their target stimuli and native listeners from a small set of Asian languages that have contour tone systems, though there are some exceptions (e.g., Yoruba, an African register tone language: Harrison, 2000 ; Japanese, an Asian pitch accent language: Nazzi et al., 1998 ; Sato et al., 2009 ; Ota et al., 2018 ). The non-native listeners have often been non-tonal L1 speakers naïve to the target tone language, though in a few studies their L1s have been pitch accent languages (e.g., So and Best, 2010 ) or other contour tone languages (e.g., So and Best, 2010 , 2011 , 2014 ; Reid et al., 2015 ). Another potential limitation of much prior research with young children is that often only discrimination has been tested (e.g., Harrison, 2000 ; Mattock and Burnham, 2006 ; Mattock et al., 2008 ; Yeung et al., 2013 ; Liu and Kager, 2014 ; Hay et al., 2015 ; Cheng and Lee, 2018 ). However, more recent studies have extended the investigation to word recognition and learning (Singh and Foong, 2012 ; Singh et al., 2014 ; Hay et al., 2015 ), including a number of papers in this Special Topic volume (e.g., Liu and Kager, 2018 ; Ota et al., 2018 ; Burnham et al., 2019 ; and several other papers discussed below). Other recent advances include studies on the developmental relationship between perception of lexical tones and perception of higher-tier linguistic information such as stress and prosody (Quam and Swingley, 2010 ; Liu and Kager, 2014 ; Singh and Chee, 2016 ; Choi et al., 2017 ; Ma et al., 2017 ) and paralinguistic features such as pitch variations that convey emotions (e.g., Kager, 2018 ).

The six articles I was invited to comment on have each extended that recent progress in our understanding of the early development of native and non-native perception of lexical tones. All expand beyond the issues addressed in most previous research, although five of them maintain the typical focus on Asian contour tone languages, specifically the most-often-studied language, Mandarin, and a second widely-spoken Chinese language, Cantonese. Chen et al. ( 2017 ) found that infants learning Dutch, a non-tone language, discriminated both a difficult Mandarin contour tone contrast (T2-T3) and matched tritone piano melodies at 12 but not 4 months, despite lacking exposure to lexical tones in their environment. The authors interpret these results as evidence that development of pitch contour perception is mediated by domain-general rather than language-tuned mechanisms. In a second paper, however, although both Mandarin-learning and English-learning infants also discriminated another Mandarin tone contrast (T1-T3) better at 12 than at 6 months, the Mandarin infants showed significantly greater improvement, which indicates that language-specific experience does enhance lexical tone discrimination (Tsao, 2017 ). Moreover, in a different categorial discrimination task both 4- and 13-month-old Mandarin-learning infants discriminated the Mandarin T2-T3 contrast (same as in Chen et al., 2017 ), but Mandarin 2-year-olds failed to detect T2-T3 tone mispronunciations of known words (Shi et al., 2017 ). The latter finding mirrors a previously-observed discrepancy between infants' basic discrimination of a consonant contrast as compared to their later poor recognition of that same contrast when it occurs in words (Stager and Werker, 1997 ).

Older children were the participants in the other three articles, two of which examined Cantonese-learning children. In one, 3-year-olds failed to perceive or produce Cantonese tones like adults but, consistent with a classic speech development hypothesis they were more accurate in tone perception than production (Wong et al., 2017 ). In the other, Cantonese 3rd-graders' lexical tone sensitivity was found to correlate with their sensitivity to lexical stress in L2-English words (Choi et al., 2017 ). The remaining article (Ramachers et al., 2017 ) took an important additional step away from the past by using a European pitch accent language, Limburgian, rather than an Asian contour tone language in which tones carry high functional load in the lexicon but no grammatical function. Limburgian's binary level-tone distinction, which is embedded in a complex intonation system, carries a low functional load, but contributes both to lexical items and to a morphological alternation for a few frequent nouns in which falling pitch indicates plurality. No evidence of effects of language experience was found for Limburgian- versus Dutch-learning 2.5- and 4-year-olds' learning of novel Limburgian words with lexical tone: children of both ages were sensitive to tone mispronunciations of the newly-learned words. The authors inferred that the children's lexical representations for the novel items included tone specifications.

This set of papers individually and together advance our knowledge about the development of young children's perception and production of lexical tones, of their phonological representation of tones in words, and of the impact that speaking a native tone language may have on children's perception of lexical stress in a non-tone second language they are learning. Nonetheless, there is still a long way to go in understanding the role of experience in perception and phonological representation of lexical tone contrasts. Ideally, future research should include a wider range of non-Asian languages, including register tone as well as contour tone languages, and wider variations in the functional loads and morpho-grammatical functions of lexical tones across languages. Cross-language comparisons across a wider range of lexical tone systems will be needed to identify where, how and why perceptual assimilation of non-native lexical tones to higher prosodic tiers in the native languages of non-tone L1 listeners may break down. Similarly, use of the full range of lexical tone types and systems will be needed to determine whether, when and how young non-tone language learners may shift from perceiving non-native lexical tones as potential segmental contrasts (like consonants and vowels) to assimilating them as native prosodic patterns, and on the other hand to better understand how and when young learners of tone languages begin to tease apart lexical tones (segmental tier) from not only paralinguistic indexical information (talker identity, gender, emotion etc.) but also linguistic prosodic information in their language.

Understanding the phonological status of lexical tones could provide an important linguistic basis for predicting and interpreting both native and non-native tone perception and early learning. However, it has not yet been resolved whether the lexical tones of tone languages serve suprasegmental or segmental functions, and in the latter case whether they constitute a third class of phonological segments or serve as phonological features of vowels or of consonants. As briefly summarized in the following paragraphs, certain sources of evidence and/or theoretical analyses appear to be consistent with each of these possibilities. Unfortunately, the nature of the evidence differs among them, making it difficult to decide among them. Further research and theoretical analyses will be needed to tease them apart. It is likely that the answer will depend on whether the approach focuses on tone production and phonological processes in lexical tone languages, or whether the approach focuses instead on native or non-native perception. With the former approach the answer may vary depending on what types of tone systems the target languages have, whereas with the latter approach the answer should vary according to whether the listener groups have tone or non-tone L1s.

The question of the suprasegmental vs. segmental status of lexical tones in tone languages has been addressed primarily via phonological analysis of diachronic and synchronic data on tones as produced in a range of languages. In classic generative phonology tones were considered to be segmental in nature (e.g., Chomsky and Halle, 1968 ). Furthermore, as noted earlier, Duanmu ( 1990 , 1994 ) and Lin ( 1989 ) also concluded from the phonological evidence that tones function as segments in tone languages, and of course for their native speakers. Based on cross-language phonological analyses, Hyman also concluded that tones serve segmental functions in tone languages, though he reasoned that in addition, unlike consonants and vowels, tones also can and do serve metrical (suprasegmental) functions. Thus, the concensus from a phonological point of view is that lexical tones function as segments in the languages that employ them contrastively, although they can also serve suprasegmental functions in those languages.

This leads us to the next question: do lexical tones constitute a third class of phonological segments in addition to consonants and vowels in tone languages, or do they instead serve as optional phonological features of vowels or consonants? In the classic generative phonology framework of (Chomsky and Halle, 1968 ), lexical tones were treated as an optional set of vowel features, i.e., not as a separate third class of segments. On the other hand, several lines of phonological evidence suggest that lexical tones may function as consonantal features (rather than as a third segmental class) in tone languages. Firstly, the emergence of lexical tones during the historical evolution of a language (tonogenesis) is much more likely to arise via diachronic changes in laryngeal features of consonants, e.g., through trans-phonologization of voicing contrasts, than from diachronic changes in vowels (see Maddieson, 1984 ; Whalen et al., 1993 ; Ratliff, 2015 ; Remijsen, 2016 ; for ongoing consonant voicing-related tonogenesis in Seoul Korean, see Silva, 2006a , b ). Secondly, some articulatory studies of speech production in tone languages have demonstrated that the laryngeal gesture that produces a lexical tone is coupled with the constriction gesture for the onset consonant of the tone-bearing syllable rather than being coupled with its vowel nucleus (Gao, 2009 ; Mücke et al., 2012 ; Hu, 2016 ). However, a recent articulatory study instead found that certain Mandarin tones differentially shift tongue body position in production of adjacent vowels (Shaw et al., 2016 ), which may be consistent with viewing them as vowel features. Alternatively, the phonological analyses of Duanmu ( 1990 , 1994 ), Lin ( 1989 ) and Hyman ( 2011a , b ) posit that although tones interact with consonants and vowels in various ways, depending on the specific tone language, tones are autonomous. This implies that in their views, tones are a separate, optional third segmental class, distinct from vowels and consonants. Thus, there does not appear to be a clear consensus from phonological and articulatory studies as to whether lexical tones function as a third, separate class of segments, or instead serve as vowel features or consonant features. Nor do neurocognitive studies resolve the issue. Some report a dissociation of tone processing from both consonant and vowel processing (Li et al., 2010 ), while others report partial dissociation of brain activation during tone vs. vowel production (Liu et al., 2006 ), and still others observed similar production difficulties with tones and consonants, but not with vowels, in non-fluent aphasic speakers of Mandarin (Packard, 1986 ).

Can we form a clearer picture based on existing cross-language tone perception studies? On the one hand, many reports on early developmental changes in non-native lexical tone perception appear compatible with the idea that tones are phonologically associated with consonants. For example, English-learning infants have been found to discriminate non-native Mandarin tone contrasts at 6 months but not at 9 months (e.g., Mattock and Burnham, 2006 ), consistent with numerous reports of a developmental decline around 10 months in discrimination of many non-native consonant contrasts and at odds with reports of an earlier decline at 5–6 months for non-native vowel contrasts (e.g., Werker and Tees, 1999 ). On the other hand, findings from a recent eye-tracking study of novel tone-language word learning by native, non-native tone L1 and non-native non-tone L1 adults indicate that tone processing appears to be more tightly time-locked to the vowel than the consonant onset in the words (Poltrock et al., 2018 ).

Further complicating things are other developmental findings suggesting that language-specific changes in consonant perception appear somewhat earlier, by 8 months, in French-learning than English-learning infants (Hoonhorst et al., 2009 ). And language-specific differences may emerge even earlier, by 4 months, in non-native English- and Mandarin-learning, and native Cantonese-learning infants' perceptual preferences for Cantonese tones (Yeung et al., 2013 ), in contrast to the previously reported language-specific decline in discrimination of non-native tones by 9 months (Mattock and Burnham, 2006 ). Yet other studies indicate instead that even 2- to 3-year-old monolingual tone language learners are not yet adultlike in their learning and recognition of spoken words, for which they are more strongly affected by vowel variation than tone variation (Ma et al., 2017 ), and they may not be able to perceptually disentangle the intonational vs. lexical basis for pitch variations until 4–5 years of age (Singh and Chee, 2016 ). In another study of monolingual Mandarin learners, however, 2- to 3-year-olds showed greater sensitivity to lexical tone mispronunciations than vowel or consonant mispronunciations of just-learned novel Mandarin words, whereas 4- to 5-year-olds reversed that pattern, showing greater sensitivity to vowel or consonant mispronunciations than to tone mispronunciations (Singh et al., 2015 ). By comparison, in a study of monolingual English- and monolingual Mandarin-learning children both groups detected either tone or vowel mispronunciations of just-learned novel Mandarin words at 18 months, but only Mandarin-learning children detected the tone mispronunciations at 24 months (Singh et al., 2014 ). In sum, then, existing perceptual investigations also fail to provide a clear answer to the question of whether tones form a separate segmental class or instead serve as features of vowels or consonants.

The challenge for further research is how to design tests of whether young children, or adults for that matter, perceive tones as features of consonants or vowels or as different from both, and of how that pattern may differ for native listeners vs. non-native listeners/learners of different types of tone languages or non-tone languages. Future research will also need to take into account that all languages, whether or not they use lexical tones, employ prosodic pitch distinctions at higher tiers of the phonological hierarchy. This means that speakers of so-called non-tone languages are not lacking entirely in experience with phonological information being conveyed by pitch variations, and can refer to native pitch settings at a higher tier of the prosodic hierarchy when perceiving non-native lexical tones. Conversely, it also means that for speakers or learners of a tone language there is potential for ambiguity or confusion over which phonological tier is being represented by a given tonal pattern. Such confusions could be the root cause of apparent developmental “dips” in tone sensitivity even in children whose native language uses lexical tones.

A key unanswered question for listeners from non-tone L1s is whether and how assimilating tones to native prosodic contrasts may help or hinder learning the lexical tones of words in a tone language. More specifically, it is an open question whether and how cross-tier perceptual influences differ quantitatively and/or qualitatively from perceiving non-native consonant and vowel contrasts with reference to same-tier native contrasts (for an excellent step toward addressing this see Braun and Johnson, 2011 ). These issues need to be carefully considered in any attempt to extend existing theoretical models of non-native and L2 speech perception, such as the Perceptual Assimilation Model (PAM: Best, 1995 ; Best and Tyler, 2007 ) or the Speech Learning Model (SLM: e.g., Flege, 1995 ), to the perception of non-native lexical tones by non-tone L1 listeners. Both models were developed specifically to account for cross-language perception of non-native consonants and vowels with reference to native segments, and can be extended fairly straightforwardly to predicting discrimination and categorization of non-native tones by adult listeners whose L1s are other tone languages, i.e., within the segmental tier. But neither model was designed to address the cross-tier perceptual relationships that are likely to come into play in non-native tone perception by listeners of non-tone L1s. Nonetheless, some studies have begun to examine perceptual assimilation of non-native tones to native intonation distinctions in non-tone listeners (e.g., So and Best, 2010 , 2011 , 2014 ) and the results suggest that such assimilations may be less categorical than are assimilations to another lexical tone system. The most comprehensive understanding of native and non-native tone perception and its development is likely to require studies in which the target stimuli are taken from a wider range of types of tone languages, and the listeners' L1s are representative of a wider range of tone and non-tone languages. There is still much to learn about perception of lexical tones, and how it changes developmentally in both native and non-native listeners.

Author Contributions

The author confirms being the sole contributor of this work and has approved it for publication.

Conflict of Interest Statement

The author declares that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

Many thanks to the two reviewers (Thierry Nazzi) for their thoughtful and constructive feedback and suggestions on the original submission of this Opinion. Appreciation also to Jessica Hay for her assistance and patience throughout the process of revising and resubmitting.

1 While lexical stress and gemination are also optional (non-obligatory) phonological features used for lexical contrast, they both are defined across multiple timing units. Lexical stress is a contrastive relationship realized across two or more syllables, while gemination involves repetition of the same segment across two adjacent morae, either within a syllable or across a syllable/morpheme boundary. Given our focus on lexical tones, we will not discuss them except if/as relevant to perception of tones.

2 In addition, neither phonetic nor phonological notation for tones has been standardized or widely adopted to the same extent as for consonants and vowels (International Phonetic Alphabet [IPA], 2015). There are a number of competing and inconsistently used systems. Chao ( 1930 ) numbers (“letters”) have been adopted most often, primarily but not only for Asian languages. However, even when used, Chao numbers are applied within each language relativistically, making direct comparison between tones of different languages not as straightforward as one might expect. The IPA offers a schizoid choice between tone diacritics on the vowel or pictographic symbols placed next to the syllable; neither are used as widely as Chao numbers. And some researchers instead use idiosyncratic, language-specific tone symbols (e.g., Thai) and/or names that are sometimes but not always English-lexified (e.g., Mandarin rising, falling, dipping, high level ; but Vietnamese s ă ´ c, ngang, ngà, huy ê ` n, h ô i and n ǎ ° ng [or merged hôi - na â ° ng in South Vietnamese]). None of these notation approaches systematically reflects effects of phonetic context and sandhi rules on the phonetic form of tones as they are actually realized in connected speech.

3 As these claims have referred to creaky voice (very widely spaced pitch pulses) and glottalization (temporary lack of pitch pulsing) it is not entirely clear to me that they are necessarily categorically different from pitch specification. For example, perhaps they could indicate very to maximally low pitch.

4 While it remains a matter of debate whether lexical pitch accent is a type of lexical tone, for heuristic purposes, languages that use only pitch accents, such as Japanese, are considered tone languages in this paper. They are assumed to be specified at the segmental tier of the phonological hierarchy in such languages, rather than at the higher timing tiers, as Duanmu and Lin have posited for non-pitch-accent tone languages.

5 Similar findings have been reported for discrimination vs. higher-level perceptual tasks involving non-native lexical stress contrasts (e.g., Skoruppa et al., 2009 , 2013 )

Funding. Preparation of this paper was supported in part by Australian Research Council grant DP130104237.

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AAPL Company

Apple researchers reveal new ai breakthrough for training llms on images and text.

In a new paper published this month, Apple researchers reveal that they have developed new methods for training large language models using both text and visual information. According to Apple’s researchers, this represents a way to obtain state-of-the-art results.

As first spotted by VentureBeat , the idea of the research is to demonstrate “how carefully combining different types of training data and model architectures can lead to state-of-the-art performance on a range of AI benchmarks.”

The paper was published last week and is titled “ MM1: Methods, Analysis & Insights from Multimodal LLM Pre-training .” Apple researchers explain in the paper’s abstract:

In this work, we discuss building performant Multimodal Large Language Models (MLLMs). In particular, we study the importance of various architecture components and data choices. Through careful and comprehensive ablations of the image encoder, the vision language connector, and various pre-training data choices, we identified several crucial design lessons. For example, we demonstrate that for large-scale multimodal pre-training using a careful mix of image-caption, interleaved image-text, and text-only data is crucial for achieving state- of-the-art (SOTA) few-shot results across multiple benchmarks, compared to other published pre-training results.

MM1 is described as a “family of multimodal models” that are state-of-the-art and have “appealing properties such as enhanced in-context learning, and multi-image reasoning, enabling few-shot chain-of-thought prompting.”

The in-context learning capabilities of the MM1 model are particularly impressive:

MM1 can perform in-context predictions thanks to its large-scale multimodal pre-training. This allows MM1 to (a) count objects and follow custom formatting, (b) refer to parts of the images and perform OCR, (c) demonstrate common-sense and word knowledge about everyday objects, and (d) perform basic math functions. Images are from the COCO 2014 validation set.

The researchers conclude that this model family “produces competitive performance on a wide range of benchmarks, while enabling multi-image reasoning and few-shot prompting.”

• Apple AI work continues: Editing photos using text commands
• Apple Keyframer generates AI animation from a still image and text prompt
• iOS 18’s new AI features: Everything we know so far

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This paper is in the following e-collection/theme issue:

Published on 19.3.2024 in Vol 26 (2024)

This is a member publication of National University of Singapore

Clinical Decision Support System Used in Spinal Disorders: Scoping Review

Authors of this article:

Original Paper

• Zheng An Toh 1 , BSCN   ; 
• Bjørnar Berg 2 , PhD   ; 
• Qin Yun Claudia Han 3 , BSCN   ; 
• Hwee Weng Dennis Hey 4, 5 , MBBS, MRCS, MMED, MCI   ; 
• Minna Pikkarainen 6, 7, 8 , PhD   ; 
• Margreth Grotle 2, 9 , PhD   ; 
• Hong-Gu He 10 , MD, PhD  

1 National University Hospital, National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore

2 Centre for Intelligent Musculoskeletal Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway

3 Department of Nursing, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore, Singapore

4 Division of Orthopaedic Surgery, National University Hospital, National University Health System, Singapore, Singapore

5 Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

6 Department of Rehabilitation and Health Technology, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway

7 Martti Ahtisaari Institute, Oulu Business School, Oulu University, Oulu, Finland

8 Department of Product Design, Oslo Metropolitan University, Oslo, Norway

9 Department of Research and Innovation, Division of Clinical Neuroscience, Oslo University Hospital, Oslo, Norway

10 Alice Lee Centre for Nursing Studies, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, Singapore, Singapore

Corresponding Author:

Zheng An Toh, BSCN

National University Hospital

National University Health System

5 Lower Kent Ridge Road

Singapore, 119074

Phone: 65 92289289

Email: [email protected]

Background: Spinal disorders are highly prevalent worldwide with high socioeconomic costs. This cost is associated with the demand for treatment and productivity loss, prompting the exploration of technologies to improve patient outcomes. Clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) are computerized systems that are increasingly used to facilitate safe and efficient health care. Their applications range in depth and can be found across health care specialties.

Objective: This scoping review aims to explore the use of CDSSs in patients with spinal disorders.

Methods: We used the Joanna Briggs Institute methodological guidance for this scoping review and reported according to the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews) statement. Databases, including PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus, ProQuest, and PsycINFO, were searched from inception until October 11, 2022. The included studies examined the use of digitalized CDSSs in patients with spinal disorders.

Results: A total of 4 major CDSS functions were identified from 31 studies: preventing unnecessary imaging (n=8, 26%), aiding diagnosis (n=6, 19%), aiding prognosis (n=11, 35%), and recommending treatment options (n=6, 20%). Most studies used the knowledge-based system. Logistic regression was the most commonly used method, followed by decision tree algorithms. The use of CDSSs to aid in the management of spinal disorders was generally accepted over the threat to physicians’ clinical decision-making autonomy.

Conclusions: Although the effectiveness was frequently evaluated by examining the agreement between the decisions made by the CDSSs and the health care providers, comparing the CDSS recommendations with actual clinical outcomes would be preferable. In addition, future studies on CDSS development should focus on system integration, considering end user’s needs and preferences, and external validation and impact studies to assess effectiveness and generalizability.

Trial Registration: OSF Registries osf.io/dyz3f; https://osf.io/dyz3f

Introduction

Spinal diseases are a group of conditions that affect the spinal column, leading to various symptoms ranging from pain to paralysis. The types of conditions may include spinal stenosis, herniated disc, scoliosis, osteoporosis, and degenerative disc disease, each with a unique etiology [ 1 ]. These conditions can be caused by various factors, such as genetic predisposition; age-related degeneration; trauma; infections; autoimmune and metabolic disorders; and lifestyle choices, including posture, exercise, and weight management [ 2 ]. Low back pain (LBP) is a significant health problem highly associated with spinal disorders [ 2 ], which affected an estimated 7.5% of the world’s population in 2017, with approximately 568.4 million cases reported worldwide in 2019 [ 3 ]. It has prevailed as the leading cause of disability worldwide, contributing to 63.7 million years lived with disability as of 2019, influencing people of working age (from 20 to 65 years) and beyond [ 4 ]. In 2017, the cost of LBP topped the health care spending in the United States, estimated at US $134.5 billion [ 5 ]. Furthermore, LBP leads to wage and productivity losses, reflecting high costs to society [ 6 - 8 ]. Consequently, significant research efforts have been placed on spinal disorders, including technological patient management.

Presently, physicians are encouraged to deploy an evidence-based approach toward diagnosis and treatment by considering the best scientific (ie, matching symptoms and signs with relevant investigations and ensuring that the radiological features are concordant with the observed symptoms and signs) or research evidence and clinical experience while considering patients’ values and preferences [ 9 ]. However, the overwhelming number of scientific publications makes it challenging for physicians to stay updated with the latest evidence. To address this issue, computer-based tools, such as clinical decision support systems (CDSSs), can be used.

CDSSs are computerized tools used in health care to provide personalized treatment recommendations, aid in clinical diagnosis, and predict patient-specific outcomes and prognoses [ 10 ]. These tools significantly enhance disease management in health care by improving diagnostic accuracy through timely information and narrowing down potential conditions [ 10 ]. It ensures that evidence-based treatment recommendations align with current medical guidelines, aiding medication management with alerts for interactions and allergies [ 11 ]. In personalized medicine, CDSSs use genetic data for tailored treatment plans [ 10 ]. They allow the optimization of health care workflows, reduces errors, and improves communication among professionals, thereby enhancing patient outcomes and efficient health care delivery [ 11 ]. The CDSSs can be broadly classified into knowledge-based and non–knowledge-based systems. Knowledge-based CDSSs use rules to match patient data with preset knowledge domains based on up-to-date, evidence-based clinical information, from which the best recommendations can be derived [ 11 ]. In contrast, non–knowledge-based systems use data-driven methods such as artificial intelligence (AI) or machine learning to make predictions or decisions. Although limited by their lack of transparency and auditing capability, non–knowledge-based systems can provide alternative perspectives and highlight potentially overlooked factors [ 10 ]. Recently, newer methods have been developed to interpret some AI findings, offering the possibility of greater acceptance of the non–knowledge-based methodology [ 12 , 13 ].

A systematic review and meta-analysis reported a 10% to 20% decrease in morbidity when CDSSs were used in patient care [ 14 ]. Physicians using CDSSs are more likely to order appropriate treatment or therapy and make fewer medication errors, thereby improving overall patient safety [ 10 , 15 ]. Despite these successes, research regarding the use of CDSSs in spinal disorders is still in its infancy, with much to be explored.

Previous reviews have investigated the diagnostic and predictive performances of AI and machine learning [ 16 - 26 ]. However, no systematic or scoping review on the use of CDSSs in patients with spinal disorders has been identified. Therefore, this scoping review aimed to assess the extent of the literature in which CDSSs were implemented in clinical practice to assist health care professionals in offering personalized and meaningful care for patients with spinal disorders. The following review questions were answered: (1) Which CDSS tools can be identified in the current literature on spinal disorders? (2) What are the different purposes that the CDSS tools serve for spinal disorders? (3) How are these CDSS tools developed and assessed for effectiveness? and (4) What are the user’s perceptions and experiences regarding the use of CDSS tools?

This review was conducted using the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) methodological guidance for scoping review and reported according to the PRISMA-ScR (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews) statement [ 27 , 28 ]. The protocol for this review was registered in the Open Science Framework.

Eligibility Criteria

The following inclusion criteria were used to determine study inclusion: (1) the study examined the CDSS use in patients with spinal disorders affecting the spinal column, cord, nerves, discs, or vertebrae in the cervical, thoracic, lumbar, or sacral regions of the spine and those with back pain, neuropathic pain, numbness, abnormal sensation, or tension caused by spinal issues; (2) all types of CDSS were considered, including integrated or independent systems, with purposes including diagnosis, disease or treatment prognosis, and treatment management of spinal disorders; (3) all participants were considered, with no restrictions placed on their cultural or racial background, geographic location, sex, or clinical management setting (acute or community); and (4) there were no restrictions placed on the study type, design, or source. The studies were excluded if they did not involve human participants, did not use a digitalized solution for ease of accessibility and use, were not applied in a clinical setting, or were reviews.

Search Strategy

Both published and unpublished studies were located through PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus, ProQuest, and PsycINFO databases from inception until October 11, 2022. A limited initial search of PubMed was conducted to identify related articles and gather relevant keywords to develop a complete search strategy. The search strategy ( Multimedia Appendix 1 ) was formed using the main concepts, including clinical decision support system and spinal disorders , combined with Boolean operators of AND and OR . The keywords and index terms were adapted for each database, and the reference lists of the included sources were screened for additional relevant studies. No limitations were placed on the sources’ language or date of publication to ensure that all relevant information on the topic was captured. In addition, sources of unpublished studies or gray literature, such as ClinicalTrials.gov, the International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number Register, the World Health Organization International Clinical Trials Registry Platform, and the Directory of Open Access Journals, were also searched.

Source of Evidence Selection

Potential records were collated and uploaded to EndNote 20 (Clarivate), with duplicates removed [ 29 ]. Two independent reviewers (ZAT and QYCH) screened the titles and abstracts based on the eligibility criteria. The full text of potentially relevant studies was retrieved and further assessed for eligibility by both reviewers. The studies that did not meet the inclusion criteria were recorded and reported in the scoping review. Any disagreements between the 2 reviewers at each stage of the selection process were resolved through discussion or involving an additional reviewer (BB).

Data Extraction and Synthesis

Data were extracted from the studies by 2 independent reviewers (ZAT and QYCH) using a data charting form adapted from the standardized data extraction tool of the JBI [ 27 ]. The extracted data included details about the participants, concept, context, study methods, and key findings relevant to the review questions. Iterative updates to the charting table allowed for the addition of valid unforeseen data [ 27 ]. We organized the research according to the applications examined and summarized the characteristics of each group, including the settings, participants, study designs, performance measures, and overall conclusions.

Study Selection

A total of 26,828 records were identified from PubMed, Embase, Cochrane, CINAHL, Web of Science, Scopus, ProQuest, and PsycINFO databases. Of these, 73 (0.27%) full-text papers were retrieved after screening titles and abstracts and assessed against predetermined eligibility criteria ( Figure 1 ); eventually, 31 (0.16%) studies were included for synthesis in this review, as summarized in Table 1 . The studies were conducted in the United States (13/31, 42%), Australia (4/31, 13%), the Netherlands (3/31, 10%), Switzerland (2/31, 7%), Germany (3/31, 10%), Canada (1/31, 3%), Russia (1/31, 3%), Sweden (1/31, 3%), Ireland (1/31, 3%), South Korea (1/31, 3%), and the United Kingdom (1/31, 3%).

a CDSS: clinical decision support system.

b NEXUS: National Emergency X-Radiography Utilization Study Group.

c Median (IQR).

d CCSR: Canadian Cervical Spine Rule.

e ACP: American College of Physicians.

f APS: American Pain Society.

g NAMCS: National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey.

h ACR: American College of Radiology.

i MRI: magnetic resonance imaging.

j PCP: primary care provider.

k RCT: randomized controlled trial.

l GP: general practitioner.

m One response was missing for age value.

n SCOAP-CERTAIN: Surgical Care and Outcomes Assessment Programme-Comparative Effectiveness Translational Network.

o IDH: intervertebral disc herniations.

p SpS: spinal stenosis.

q DS: degenerative spondylolisthesis.

Study Characteristics

The use of CDSSs in spinal disorders is summarized into 4 major categories based on their primary purpose and application, as presented in Table 1 : of 31 CDSSs, 8 (26%) were for the prevention of unnecessary imaging, 6 (19%) were for diagnostic applications, 11 (35%) were for prognostic applications, and 6 (19%) were for treatment recommendations. Only 5 (16%) of the 31 studies investigated user perceptions and experiences concerning the use of CDSSs [ 31 , 41 , 51 , 56 , 57 ].

CDSSs for Preventing Unnecessary Imaging

Of the 31 CDSS studies reviewed, the implementation and results of the 8 (26%) CDSSs used to determine if radiologic imaging was necessary for patients with lower back pathologies [ 30 , 33 - 35 , 37 ], patients with cervical spine trauma [ 31 , 32 ], and patients in general [ 36 ] are presented in Table 2 . The CDSSs were mainly embedded into the electronic health record system or the computerized physician order entry, apart from the guidelines proposed by Goergen et al [ 31 ], which used a physical report card and independent software. These CDSSs were often implemented in health care settings, such as the emergency departments, where patients with back pain or cervical spine trauma were first seen by the physicians. They functioned as alerts to remind physicians to consider whether spinal imaging is necessary and can take different forms, including hard-stop, soft-stop, and passive alerts. Hard-stop alerts aim to prevent the physician from proceeding with imaging orders that do not meet the guideline requirements. In contrast, soft-stop alerts may allow the physician to continue with the ordered imaging but require them to provide a reason. Passive alerts only require acknowledgment and do not require further user interactions. Although some studies did not specify the type of alert used, the information provided in the studies allowed for inference that all studies used a soft-stop alert, excluding 1 study that used a passive alert function [ 37 ].

b CT: computed tomography.

c MRI: magnetic resonance imaging.

d NEXUS: National Emergency X-Radiography Utilization Study.

e Imaging guidelines given in a form of pocket card and posters, with small group teaching sessions.

f CCSR: Canadian Cervical Spine Rule.

g ACP: American College of Physicians.

h APS: American Pain Society.

i CPOE: Computerized provider order entry.

j LBP: low back pain.

k ACR: American College of Radiology.

l EHR: electronic health record.

m ED: emergency department.

n CDS: clinical decision support.

The included studies reported ≥1 of the following outcomes: change in the frequency of imaging order, change in the frequency of imaging order 1 to 30 days after LBP presentation, and adherence to order guidelines. All studies reported a decrease in imaging ordered on the initial presentation of LBP after the implementation of a CDSS, although the decrease was not clinically relevant in some studies [ 30 , 34 ]. Ip et al [ 33 ] reported a notable increase (22.7%; P =.03) from 2.2% (188/8437) to 2.7% (352/13,008) in the lumbar spine–magnetic resonance imaging (LS-MRI) ordered by outpatient specialists within 30 days of the patient’s primary care visit. This increase may be explained by the fact that the CDSS intervention was implemented in the primary care setting but not in the outpatient setting. However, when considering the total percentage of the LS-MRI orders for LBP visits before and after CDSS implementation, there was a statistically significant decline (12%; P =.002) from 8.9% (753/8437) to 7.8% (1009/13,008) in imaging orders after adjusting for outpatient specialist orders.

Zafar et al [ 37 ] compared the outcomes of different CDSS deliveries for LS-MRI orders [ 37 ]. The CDSS report cards that were generated every 4 to 6 months led to fewer magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) orders (50/1739, 2.9%) for cases compared with immediate CDSS alerts (94/2021, 4.7%).

Furthermore, CDSSs, generally, were reported to improve adherence to imaging guidelines. For example, Hynes et al [ 32 ] reported a 99.2% adherence rate to the established imaging guidelines after CDSS implementation (125 indicated imaging out of 126 total imaging), an increase of 22.5% (76.7 to 99.2%) from preimplementation [ 32 ]. Similarly, Solberg et al [ 36 ] discovered a reduction of 20% in the volume of MRI spine orders and an increase in the appropriateness of MRI spine orders based on health impacts [ 36 ].

Diagnostic CDSS

Of the 31 studies reviewed, 6 (19%) explored diagnostic CDSSs ( Table 3 ) and 3 (10%) examined the accuracy of CDSS compared with expert or gold standard diagnoses [ 38 , 39 , 42 ]. A moderate agreement was found between the CDSS and expert diagnoses for back pain (Cramer V=0.424) [ 38 ]. A higher agreement of 67% (58/86) of the cases between the CDSS and expert diagnosis (Cramer V=0.711) was found for patients with spinal disorders in general [ 39 ]. Another study by Lin et al [ 40 ] found that a CDSS performed a diagnosis comparable to that of experts and correctly recommended 75.82% of diagnoses based on gold-standard criteria [ 40 ]. In a recent study by Kim et al [ 42 ], the CDSS diagnosis demonstrated a 94% agreement with the gold-standard radiographic assessment for scoliosis, with higher agreement reported for patients within the normal and mild postural deformation range [ 42 ].

b Interpretation of Cramer V effect size measurement of association: effect size ≤0.2: weak association, <0.2 effect size ≤6: moderate association, and effect size >0.6: strong association.

Prognostic CDSS

Of the 31 CDSS studies reviewed, 11 (35%) prognostic CDSS studies ( Table 4 ) were knowledge based [ 44 , 45 , 47 - 54 , 59 ], with regression-based predictive algorithms. White-box models were used across all studies; most CDSSs were presented as web-based calculators, whereas others were presented as independent software. Prognostic CDSSs are used for various purposes, most commonly to predict the likelihood of complications, functional outcomes, pain, and quality of life following spinal surgery (8/11, 73%). Other purposes included predicting the outcome of brace treatment for adolescent idiopathic scoliosis (1/11, 9%), the risk of back pain chronicity (1/11, 9%), and treatment outcomes between surgical and nonsurgical options for spinal disorders (1/11, 9%). Regarding rigor, external validation was only available for 3 (27%) CDSS models (FUSE-ML, Surgical Care and Outcomes Assessment Programme-Comparative Effectiveness Translational Network Tool, and STarTBack), and an impact study was only performed for the StarTBack model.

A total of 2 key aspects, namely discrimination and calibration, are often measured to evaluate the performance of a model. Discrimination can be assessed using various measures such as area under the receiver operating characteristics, accuracy, sensitivity, positive predictive values, negative predictive values, R 2 measure or value, or any specific statistic measure, such as Nagelkerke, c-index, mean absolute error, and root mean square error. In contrast, calibration can be evaluated using techniques such as calibration plot, calibration intercept and slope, and the Hosmer-Lemeshow chi-square statistic.

The impact study was the only study that conducted a clinical impact testing follow-up, as reported by Foster et al [ 59 ]. This study developed an innovative web-based calculator that assesses patients’ risk of developing chronic LBP and offers tailored treatment options for each risk stratum. Results from the impact study revealed small but significant improvements ( P =.03) in Roland-Morris disability scores, with a mean difference of 0.71 (95% CI 0.06-1.36) compared with usual care after 6 months of implementation. Furthermore, the group with a higher risk of developing chronic LBP experienced a large and clinically significant improvement. Work absence was also reduced by 50% (4 days instead of 8 days; P =.03), and there was a 30% decrease in prescriptions for sickness certificates (45/368, 12.2% vs 40/554, 7.2% cases; P =.03).

b AUC: area under the curve.

c HLT: Hosmer-Lemeshow Test.

d GA: general anesthesia.

e ODI: Oswestry Disability Index.

f AUROC: area under the receiver operating characteristics.

g SCOAP-CERTAIN: Surgical Care and Outcomes Assessment Programme-Comparative Effectiveness Translational Network.

h ASA: American Society of Anesthesiologists.

i NRS: Numeric Rating Scale.

j PPV: positive predictive value.

k NPV: negative predictive value.

l ED: emergency department.

m CCI: Charlson Comorbidity Index.

n ALIF: anterior lumbar interbody fusion.

o PLIF: posterior lumbar interbody fusion.

p TLIF: transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion.

q EQ-5D: EuroQOL-5D.

r C-index: concordance.

s COMI: Core Outcome Measures Index.

CDSS for Treatment Recommendation

Of the 31 CDSS studies reviewed, studies exploring the use of CDSS for treatment recommendations for spinal disorders were divided into 2 categories based on their focus: 2 (6%) CDSSs for recommendations for spinal surgery [ 55 , 58 ] and 4 (13%) CDSSs for treatment of LBP [ 38 , 41 , 56 , 57 ] ( Table 5 ). All CDSSs were knowledge based, except for 1, which was structured on medical ontology and fuzzy logic principles [ 55 ]. The system inputs required to generate personalized treatment recommendations include symptoms, clinical findings, and instrumental findings.

Byvaltsev and Kalinin [ 55 ] studied using a CDSS to recommend total disc replacement, minimally invasive rigid stabilization, and open rigid stabilization [ 55 ]. The researchers observed lower pain levels and improved functional status 6 months after surgery among those who received treatment recommendations using the CDSS [ 55 ]. Those who underwent minimally invasive rigid stabilization had better outcomes 3 months after surgery [ 55 ]. In the work of Benditz et al [ 38 ], although 49.6% (55/111 cases) of the treatment recommendations made by the CDSS were consistent with those of spinal surgeons, 36% (40/111) were overestimated and 14.4% (16/111) were underestimated [ 38 ]. In contrast, a study by Downie et al [ 56 ] revealed that CDSS recommendations were highly concordant with those made by pharmacists for cases involving self-care (18/20, 90%), medications (25/25, 100%), and referral advice (22/25, 88% [ 56 ]).

b DSS: decision support system.

c ODI: Oswestry Disability Index.

d SLIC: Subaxial Injury Classification.

User’s Perception and Experience

Of the 31 CDSS studies reviewed, 5 (16%) studies examined the user acceptability of CDSS use and gathered feedback for improvement [ 31 , 41 , 56 , 57 ]. User perceptions were mixed, with the most receptive toward CDSS use [ 41 , 56 , 57 ] because it provides evidence-based content to support patient care and empowerment by involving patients in decision-making. Some perceived the use of CDSS as additional work [ 31 ], while others doubted the tool’s accuracy owing to the complexity of LBP [ 41 ]. However, in cases where physicians felt that complex treatment or imaging was not recommended, CDSSs were found helpful in supporting their recommendations and reassuring patients about the decision [ 41 ]. Furthermore, the physicians were more likely to use CDSS if it lightened their workload or improved their efficiency [ 57 ].

Principal Findings

We identified 4 major applications of the CDSS: preventing unnecessary imaging, aiding diagnosis, aiding prognosis, and suggesting treatment options. Only 2 studies used non–knowledge-based algorithms for diagnosis and treatment recommendations, whereas knowledge-based algorithms were the most commonly applied approach. Common input variables included age, gender, height, smoking status, education level, employment status, race or ethnicity, medical comorbidities, preoperative pain and disability, previous spinal surgery, symptom duration, surgical approach and intervention, BMI, American Society of Anesthesiologists score, and surgical diagnosis.

CDSS for Preventing Unnecessary Imaging

MRI detects soft tissue abnormalities [ 60 ], but the increased cost, time, and logistical demands compared with other imaging techniques make its use inconsistent with value-based care for nonspecific indications [ 61 ]. The National Emergency X-Radiography Utilization Study criteria, Canadian Cervical Spine Rule, and American College of Physicians and American Pain Society guidelines were created to direct the diagnosis and treatment of back pain and suspected spinal injury [ 62 , 63 ]. However, adherence to these guidelines is poor owing to defensive medicine , the continued use of unnecessary imaging to avoid missing serious pathologies [ 35 , 64 ].

Integrated CDSSs offer 2 benefits. First, they act as gatekeepers by adding an extra step before imaging is ordered [ 35 ]. Second, they educate or remind physicians of the existing guidelines, reducing the need to memorize multiple protocols [ 35 ]. Most studies have found that using the CDSS decreases the number of imaging tests ordered both at the time of the initial LBP visit and up to 30 days after the visit. However, other studies have not found a significant decrease in imaging orders, suggesting a potential mistrust of the system or a lack of awareness of imaging guidelines [ 34 ]. Furthermore, an insignificant decrease in imaging order may arise from the decision to use computerized tomography or x-ray instead of MRI, which could be more appropriate for some patients [ 30 ].

The use of alert-based CDSS raised concerns about alert fatigue, where repeated alerts may lead to physicians ignoring system prompts. Unnecessary imaging frequency was reduced when CDSS-generated report cards were distributed to physicians every 4 to 6 months compared with real-time alerts [ 37 ]. Furthermore, the ease of use of CDSS can hinder proper imaging if separate software is required, requiring the physician to toggle between the ordering and the CDSS system. In addition, the lack of real-time consequences for ignoring prompts may contribute to the continuation of unnecessary imaging practices.

In general, diagnostic CDSSs operate through questionnaires that generate probable diagnoses. CDSS-generated diagnoses were found to be primarily concordant with expert or gold-standard recommendations, indicating potential feasible use. Despite its ability to provide reliable diagnoses, most studies still recommend using the diagnostic CDSS as an aid instead of a replacement for the expertise and judgment of trained and experienced health care professionals [ 38 , 39 , 43 ]. In addition, patient-provider interactions are essential, and a human connection is a part of building a healing and therapeutic relationship [ 65 ]. Health care providers can assess a patient’s physical and emotional well-being better than a machine, which is only as good as its algorithm. As an aid, diagnostic CDSS could allow a brief initial assessment of the patient’s condition and assist in triaging, allowing patients with critical spinal disorders to receive early attention [ 38 , 39 ].

To ensure generalizability and continued validity of the CDSS, it is crucial that regular updates with the latest evidence-based information be made available to the system [ 40 ]. Meanwhile, given the lack of non–knowledge-based CDSS for spinal diagnostic purposes, AI or machine learning algorithms should be explored. The potential of AI in the field of diagnosis remains to be fully tapped, especially in the areas of computer vision and image recognition. There are promising signs of the increased prominence of diagnostic CDSSs and their ability to produce faster and more accurate findings [ 66 ].

All the included prognostic CDSS studies used white-box models. This model allows for the adaptation and modification of variables to identify areas for optimization to improve the outcomes [ 67 ]. Traditional statistical methods for prognostic modeling use simpler computation methods that allow insight into causal effects [ 67 ]. In contrast, machine learning methods are often referred to as black-box models owing to the computational complexity that allows for fast and accurate predictions but at the cost of transparency. Previous research has shown that machine learning models may perform poorer than traditional statistical methods, suggesting that this tradeoff is not justified [ 68 ]. The poorer performance may have resulted from using low-dimensional data; however, with the increasing availability of high-dimensional data and repositories of large data sets, such as biomarkers and imaging techniques, machine learning could have a competitive advantage over traditional statistics [ 54 ].

The prognostic CDSS systems are currently available as independent programs, as most are in the process of development or testing, and specialized sets of algorithms and flexibility for adjustments are required. Such an implementation could also be intentional to ease access for the users of a different electronic system, reduce the cost of integration, and ensure the confidentiality of data [ 10 ].

The prognostic CDSSs reviewed in our study were fragmented in their methodology, and none were ready for clinical implementation. The emergence of prognostic models employing AI and big data has been on the rise. However, reviews have identified poor standardization and quality of their development [ 69 , 70 ]. Previous reviews found that most prognostic model research ends with model development, with only a small number of studies performing external validation and even fewer conducting impact studies [ 70 ]. This aligns with the findings of our review, in which the included studies were found not to adhere well to standards, limiting the model’s validity, generalizability, and application in real-world clinical settings. Only 2 (6%) of the 31 included studies [ 52 , 54 ] used a reporting guideline, namely the Transparent Reporting of a Multivariable Prediction Model for Individual Prognosis or Diagnosis statement [ 71 ]. Future developments should adhere to the Prognosis Research Strategy prognostic model research framework, which emphasizes model development, external validation, impact testing [ 72 ], and reporting guidelines to ensure standardization and generalizability of the models.

The predictive ability of prognostic models is expected to weaken with time owing to changes in diagnostic and treatment approaches [ 72 ]. Therefore, it may be more beneficial to improve and recalibrate existing models instead of developing new models. In addition, including biomarkers and imagery data may improve model performance, but caution should be taken to address issues such as class imbalances, missing data, and the need for adequate validation [ 54 ]. Although adding more variables to a model can increase its predictive power, it can also make the model less user-friendly. To balance the tradeoff between accuracy and user-friendliness, parsimonious models that include only the most important or highly correlated predictors of the outcome are preferred. Techniques such as recursive feature elimination, principal component analysis, factor analysis, and multidimensional scaling can be used to identify key predictors [ 73 ].

According to Benditz et al [ 38 ], only 49.6% of the treatment recommendations made by the CDSS agreed with those of the physicians [ 38 ]. Although this low level of concordance may be seen as a problem and may affect confidence in the use of the CDSS, it is important to note that concordance is not necessarily the best indicator of performance; instead, testing the clinical effects of treatment options recommended by the CDSS may be a more accurate method to assess its performance.

Suggestions to improve the acceptance and usability of CDSSs include integrating them into the existing workflow and clinical decision-making processes [ 41 ]. This integration eases access to evidence-based information, encouraging use and adherence to the best practice guidelines [ 58 ].

Although the CDSS has been widely accepted for recommending treatment or management of spinal disorders, concerns and suggestions have been raised. The top barrier to CDSS use is interference with physician autonomy [ 57 ]. The physicians may feel threatened by CDSS recommendations and worry that they may eventually diminish their role in the care process [ 74 ], leading to questions about their competence [ 41 ]. In addition, ease of use is a common barrier; some physicians have negative sentiments toward the simplicity of their CDSS [ 56 ]. Furthermore, physicians are unwilling to use CDSS if it increases the time and cost [ 57 ]. Involving clinicians in the development of CDSS can improve system acceptance and adoption by ensuring that it meets the needs and preferences of users.

Strengths and Limitations

This review was conducted rigorously and adhered to established guidelines, including the JBI methodological guidance for scoping reviews and the PRISMA-ScR statement, ensuring transparency and credibility of the review [ 27 , 28 ]. In addition, 2 independent reviewers (ZAT and CQYH) were involved in the complete review process, which reduced potential biases. Furthermore, a systematic search was used to ensure a comprehensive coverage of the available literature.

Owing to the heterogeneous nature of the data included in this review, statistical analysis was not feasible, even among studies with similar objectives. Therefore, a rigorous and transparent scoping review was conducted to elucidate the mechanisms of action, effectiveness, and user acceptance of the CDSS for spinal disorders, with the hope of fostering interdisciplinary understanding and collaboration.

The methodology of this scoping review did not require a formal quality assessment of the included studies, and consequently, such an evaluation was not conducted. We recognize that the quality of the literature incorporated is crucial in shaping the outcomes of this study, thus constituting a limitation to the findings. During the screening process for study inclusion, interrater reliability was not systematically evaluated, representing another acknowledged limitation of this study. However, to address potential inconsistencies in judgment, we actively engaged in discussions and sought the input of a third reviewer (BB) to reach a consensus.

The current implementation of CDSSs for spinal disorders is fragmented and inconsistent, which poses a challenge to comprehending and advancing this field. The lack of a standardized reporting structure in the reviewed studies presents a limitation in quantifying the effectiveness of the CDSS. To better understand the impact of CDSS on health care delivery and optimize its use in clinical practice, further research with standardized reporting methods is needed.

Our recommendation for future work is to focus on assessing the quality of prediction models while adhering to transparent reporting guidelines, such as the Transparent Reporting of Multivariable Prediction Models for Individual Prognosis or Diagnosis—Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses [ 75 ]. Specifically, we suggest systematically evaluating models using validated tools, such as the Checklist for Critical Appraisal and Data Extraction for Systematic Reviews of Prediction Modeling Studies to extract prognostic model studies and the Prediction Model Study Risk of Bias Assessment Tool to assess the quality of these models [ 76 , 77 ]. It is important to prioritize these efforts to ensure that the models are thoroughly evaluated and that their quality is properly assessed before application.

Conclusions

Previous studies assessing CDSS effectiveness typically focused on the concordance between CDSS recommendations and health care providers’ decisions. A more favorable approach involves directly comparing CDSS suggestions with real clinical outcomes. To enhance CDSS development, future research should prioritize seamless system integration, considering end users’ requirements. In addition, investigations into external validation and impact studies are essential for a thorough evaluation of the system’s effectiveness across diverse health care settings. Emphasizing these factors will contribute to a more robust understanding of CDSS performance and its potential for broader implementation in the clinical practice for spinal disorders.

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to express their gratitude to the Research Council of Norway for funding and support throughout the course of this study. The funder played no role in the study design, data collection, analysis and interpretation of data, or writing of this manuscript.

Authors' Contributions

ZAT, BB, MP, MG, and HGH jointly conceived and designed this review. ZAT and QYCH were responsible for data collection, analysis, interpretation, and manuscript drafting. HWDH, MP, and MG provided valuable clinical and methodological insights. BB oversaw data interpretation and critically reviewed and revised the manuscript. HGH supervised the study and critically reviewed and revised the manuscript. All the authors made substantial contributions and approved the content of the manuscript.

Conflicts of Interest

None declared.

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Abbreviations

Edited by G Tsafnat; submitted 28.10.23; peer-reviewed by L Yu, A Montazeri; comments to author 25.01.24; revised version received 29.01.24; accepted 10.02.24; published 19.03.24.

©Zheng An Toh, Bjørnar Berg, Qin Yun Claudia Han, Hwee Weng Dennis Hey, Minna Pikkarainen, Margreth Grotle, Hong-Gu He. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 19.03.2024.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.

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Google might let Apple use Gemini, but Apple still has its own LLM coming

• Apple recently published a research paper on a large language model it has been working on.
• The company calls its AI architecture MM1.
• MM1 could be used to build generative AI tools that would run on-device.

When it comes to AI, we’ve seen plenty of products — like ChatGPT and Gemini — from major players in the tech space including Google, Microsoft, and OpenAI. While those companies have been churning out generative AI solutions left and right, Apple has been fairly quiet on this front. But if you thought Apple may be asleep at the wheel, a recently published research paper suggests otherwise.

Apple quietly submitted a research paper last week related to its work on a multimodal large language model (MLLM) called MM1. Apple doesn’t explain what the meaning behind the name is, but it’s possible it could stand for MultiModal 1.

Being multimodal, MM1 is capable of working with both text and images. Overall, its capabilities and design are similar to the likes of Google’s Gemini or Meta’s open-source LLM Llama 2.

An earlier report from Bloomberg said Apple was interested in incorporating Google’s Gemini AI engine into the iPhone. The two companies are reportedly still in talks to let Apple license Gemini to power some of the generative AI features coming to iOS 18.

While Apple attempts to secure that license, it may be planning to use MM1 for other purposes. According to Wired , the Cupertino firm may be angling to use Gemini as a replacement for conventional Google Search. Meanwhile, a former employee who led AI research at Apple, Ruslan   Salakhutdinov, believes the company may focus on building generative AI tools off of MM1 that run on-device, the outlet says.

Another report from Bloomberg last week mentioned that Apple had acquired Canadian AI startup DarwinAI, which specializes in creating smaller and faster AI systems. This is a key factor for on-device processing and could play right into the role Salakhutdinov is suggesting.

It’s still unknown when Apple could start launching these AI products. However, CEO Tim Cook did say during the company’s annual shareholder meeting that AI is already at work behind the scenes in Apple’s products but there would be more news on explicit AI features later this year.