Hyped up? A look at promotional language inscientific and medical writing
John Zepernick, MS
ThinkSCIENCE, Inc. | Writing
Note: Here at ThinkSCIENCE, we are very aware of the problems that can occur when
researchers use subjective, promotional language (known as “hype”) inappropriately intheir writing. Recently, an interesting research article was published by Neil Millar andcolleagues about the increasing use of hype in the abstracts of grant applications forbiomedical research. The article shines light on this issue in a way that is interesting
both for linguists and for authors. We were fortunate to have the chance to discuss theissue of hype with Professor Millar himself. In this latest featured article, alongsidesome specific advice offered by Professor Millar, I give some practical writing tips forauthors to avoid inappropriate hype in their writing.

When you think of scientificand medical writing, whatwords come to mind?
Perhaps, “objective,”“informative,”“dispassionate,” “clinical,” or“neutral”? But what words
did you use when writing
your latest grant applicationor paper? Did you describe
your research as “novel,” “important,” or even “groundbreaking”?
Although we might like to think that data and evidence speak for themselves, in thereal world, topics in science and medicine are communicated by researchers who
must compete for funding, citations, and limited space in journals and atconferences. As such, researchers face various pressures that may lead them toadopt writing strategies that put their research in a more favorable light and makethe message convincing. This is called “spin.”
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One particular type of spin is hype, which isdefined as “hyperbolic and/or subjective
language…to glamorize, promote, orexaggerate aspects of research” by Professor
Neil Millar of the University of Tsukuba inIbaraki, Japan. I’ve provided an example ofhype in the text box.

Plain language: “Researchers
collect data to examine ahypothesis.”
Hype: “World-leading researchers
collect new data to examine agroundbreaking hypothesis.”

Professor Millar studies applied linguistics, including the evolution of language inbiomedicine. He recently published an article in JAMA Network Open about trends
in the use of hype in successful grant applications for biomedical research. He andhis coauthors found an increasing trend in the use of hype in successful grantapplications for biomedical research over the period 1985-2020, with the largest
increases occurring for terms related to importance (e.g., significant, key, andcrucial) and novelty (e.g., first, novel, innovative). In addition, he previously reported
on the use of hype in randomized controlled trials, categorizing hype into varioustypes and finding that it was used most frequently in the Discussion section and asa means to aggrandize the methodology.

Why should authors care about hype?
First, a little hype is not necessarily a bad thing. During my discussion withProfessor Millar, he noted that grant applications are “inherently promotional innature,” so it’s only natural that some promotional language is used that isaspirational or intended to persuade. However, too much hype can have negative
impacts. For example, overuse in grant applications could undermine funding
mechanisms if salesmanship wins out over sound, robust science. In addition, hecautioned that the promotional language used in a grant application can “trickledown” into research papers and elsewhere if the text is recycled. This can have theunintended consequence of undermining the fidelity of research reporting invarious ways, for example, by overstating the implications of results or obscuring
the exact meaning through the use of empty buzzwords.
Avoiding hype can be challenging for all authors, whether English is their firstlanguage or not. From his interviews with authors, Professor Millar noted that someof them used elements of hype that they had read in other researchers’ papers orthat was recommended to them by reviewers, journal editors, or language editors.
In light of these difficulties, one point I took away from our conversation is thatauthors need to be aware of the many various hype words that can be used andcheck for them in their own writing. They can then decide whether to keep, delete,
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or replace them with more neutral language that best fits the type of document
being written and the level of expectation or evidence being described.
At the end of this featured article, I have included a table with some examples ofcommon hype words and phrases that you should think carefully about using inyour writing. It’s also worth noting that context is important, and many of the terms
listed can serve as hype or as plain language depending on how they are used. Inmy discussion with Professor Millar, he pointed out the example of “first,” which
can be a discourse marker, an appropriate indicator of something new, or hypedepending on the context in which it is used.
Professor Millar remarked, “Putting yourself outside of yourself and looking in
objectively is not easy.” When I asked him for some advice for authors, he said that
he hoped they would be aware of the issue of hype and strive to “get the balanceright” by avoiding overuse of hype.
Based on my discussion with Professor Millar and the ThinkSCIENCE team’s
experience of working with scientific and academic authors for many years, here
are some points to keep in mind about hype.

Considerations about using hype in scientific writing
1.

Be mindful of text recycling and document type
Although it may be tempting to reuse (i.e., copy) some text froma grant application, revise the wording as needed to make itsuitable for a research paper or report by removing unnecessary
hype.

2. Strive for balance and moderation
It’s not always feasible to avoid some hype words, but use themin moderation and try to strike the right balance between
objectivity and presenting your research plan or results toofavorably.
3. Be careful with buzzwords
Despite sounding important, buzz words can convey little or noinformation, so avoid using them or make sure they clear convey
meaning in your paper. For example, “cutting edge” and“transformative.”

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4. Look out for redundancies
Don’t add hype words that are redundant with other text. For
example, a “novel invention” could simply be “invention” because
all inventions are inherently novel.
Hype Adjectives by Semantic Category
Importancecompelling, critical, crucial, essential, foundational,
fundamental, imperative, important, indispensable, invaluable,
key, major, paramount, pivotal, significant, strategic, timely,
ultimate, urgent, and vital

Noveltycreative, emerging, first, groundbreaking, innovative, latest,novel, revolutionary, unique, unparalleled, and unprecedented

Rigor

accurate, advanced, careful, cohesive, detailed, nuanced,
powerful, quality, reproducible, rigorous, robust, scientific,
sophisticated, strong, and systematic

Scale

ample, biggest, broad, comprehensive, considerable, deeper,
diverse, enormous, expansive, extensive, fastest, greatest,
huge, immediate, immense, interdisciplinary, international,
interprofessional, largest, massive, multidisciplinary, myriad,
overwhelming, substantial, top, transdisciplinary, tremendous,
and vast

Utilityaccessible, actionable, deployable, durable, easy, effective,
efficacious, efficient, generalizable, ideal, impactful, intuitive,
meaningful, productive, ready, relevant, rich, safer, scalable,
seamless, sustainable, synergistic, tailored, tangible,
transformative, and user-friendly

Qualityambitious, collegial, dedicated, exceptional, experienced,
intellectual, longstanding, motivated, premier, prestigious,
promising, qualified, renowned, senior, skilled, stellar,
successful, talented, and vibrant

Attitudeattractive, confident, exciting, incredible, interesting, intriguing,
notable, outstanding, remarkable, and surprisingProblemalarming, daunting, desperate, devastating, dire, dismal,elusive, stark, unanswered, and unmet

Adapted from Millar et al. JAMA Netw Open. 2022;5(8):e2228676 under the CC-BY license

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Closing remarks
I hope that this article introducing hype has been informative and will be helpfulwhen you write your next grant application or research paper. I would like to thankProfessor Neil Millar for graciously taking the time to talk with me about hisresearch and offer his advice.
If you have questions or concerns about using hype in your writing, then ourspecialist editors will be happy to answer your questions about this.
Read the article online for the most recent version

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