Comparing the Writing Styles of Multiple Disciplines: A Large‐Scale Quantitative Analysis

Abstract

ABSTRACTInvestigating the writing styles of different disciplines is crucial for comprehending the scientific language in scholarly communication. This study examines the variations in scientific writing styles across disciplines using a large‐scale analysis on 14 million abstracts from the Microsoft Academic Graph database. Writing styles are quantified in four aspects: symbolic, lexical, syntactic, and readability. The t‐tests were employed to explore potential trends in the evolution of writing style and investigate linguistic differences across disciplines. Results indicate an overall trend towards increasing complexity and informativeness in writing, with significant changes observed in Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, and Psychology. Disparities of linguistic features in writing styles were observed across disciplines. The findings shed light on the distinct language use in scholarly communication across disciplines.