Long Sentences in Academic and Professional Writing: How to Improve Clarity

In academic and professional writing, long sentences can hide your main ideas. When sentences are too long, readers may struggle to follow arguments and understand complex concepts. Writing clearly does not mean simplifying your ideas—it means presenting dense ideas in a way that readers can easily grasp.

Here are four strategies to make long sentences in academic and professional writing clearer, without losing meaning or depth.

1. Show the Main Idea First

Every sentence should have a clear subject–verb–object. When the main idea is buried under extra details, readers can lose track.

Too long / word salad:

In studies of 19th-century Finnish literature, which examine epic poems, folk tales, and historical chronicles and which also consider the influence of neighboring Swedish and Russian cultures on narrative forms, understanding how cultural identity, social norms, and historical memory appear in the texts can be difficult.

Clearer (one sentence, S-V-O focused on texts):

Nineteenth-century Finnish literature, including epic poems, folk tales, and historical chronicles, reveals cultural identity, social norms, and historical memory while showing the influence of neighboring Swedish and Russian cultures on narrative forms.

2. Split Long Sentences that Try to Say Too Much

Long sentences that express multiple ideas can overwhelm readers. Breaking them into two or more sentences helps readers follow each idea.

Too long / word salad:

In studies of 18th- and 19th-century European literature, which analyze novels, plays, and philosophical texts, and also take into account the influence of French, German, and Italian intellectual movements on literary forms, the role of national identity, social norms, and cultural memory is often explored, showing complex interactions between text, history, and society.

Clearer (split for readability):

Studies of 18th- and 19th-century European literature examine novels, plays, and philosophical texts, and consider the influence of French, German, and Italian intellectual movements on literary forms. These studies explore national identity, social norms, and cultural memory, showing how text, history, and society interact.

3. Keep Modifiers Close

Modifiers add detail, but placing them far from the words they describe can make sentences harder to read.

Too long:

Historians, in a series of recently published articles examining 18th-century Latin American political debates, have argued about the tensions between local and imperial authorities.

Clearer:

In a series of recent articles, historians have examined 18th-century Latin American political debates and discussed tensions between local and imperial authorities.

4. Edit Long Sentences for Flow

Even grammatically correct sentences can feel dense. You can improve readability by splitting sentences, reordering clauses, or removing unnecessary words.

Too long / word salad:

Analyses of 19th-century Lisbon neighborhoods, which examine the effects of urbanization, industrialization, and migration, while also considering changing gender roles, class tensions, and family structures and drawing on archival records, newspapers, and personal diaries, attempt to show how social, cultural, and economic factors intersected to shape everyday life.

Clearer (split into two sentences):

Analyses of 19th-century Lisbon neighborhoods examine the effects of urbanization, industrialization, and migration, as well as changing gender roles, class tensions, and family structures. Archival records, newspapers, and personal diaries show how these social, cultural, and economic factors intersected to shape everyday life.

Tip: Reading sentences aloud highlights where they drag and shows where splitting or reordering improves clarity.

Final Thoughts

Long sentences can make it hard to follow arguments or understand dense academic and professional ideas, but writers can fix them. Make the main idea clear, split overloaded sentences, place details carefully, and edit for flow.

Paying attention to where sentences become too long improves writing clarity, helping readers follow complex ideas, understand dense concepts, and stay focused on your argument. Applying these strategies ensures that even complicated research is easy to read, interpret, and share with others.