Sentence: Many problematic issues can be gleaned from the limited research on consumer debt ITSELF.
Edited Sentence: Many problematic issues can be gleaned from the limited research on consumer debt.
Explanation: At times, scholarly writers incorporate conversational words into their writing; the use of “itself” is one example. The word is intended to reiterate and emphasize. Though its use can be extremely effective when speaking, using it in writing often creates redundancy.
In sample sentence above, the use of the word is not incorrect. Yet, it does not add any clarification to the idea in the sentence. Additionally, it is not needed to emphasize the importance of a concept or reiterate the value of consumer debt.
Therefore, the word is deleted. Notice that the edited sentence flows and reads better with the remove of the word “itself.” When editing your academic documents, be sure to eliminate conversation words and phrases, such as the one above.
Until next week, Happy Writing!!!
Dr. V Writing Coach-Editor-Speaker Author of I'm Not a Writer...I am Just in Graduate School (order your copy at https://www.amazon.com/Not-Writer-Just-Graduate-School/dp/1533392919)
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