Much ado about jargon

I often discuss the importance of cutting out jargon in your grant proposals. But, I also think that many PIs that I work with really aren't sure if that's possible for them. And, in truth, many researchers need to use jargon to discuss their work even in a grant proposal. However, chances are they can still cut some out.

Before I go on, what the heck are we talking about when we discuss jargon? Out of curiosity, I went to Merriam Webster to see the definitions:

the technical terminology or characteristic idiom of a special activity or group

obscure and often pretentious language marked by circumlocutions and long words

They list other definitions and synonyms but suffice it to say that jargon, is hard-to-understand words and terminology. This means that what constitutes jargon actually changes depending on who you're speaking to or writing for. This is reason 543 why it's important to know who you're writing for, who is your audience?

So, given that what is jargon changes based on what language is easily accessible to your audience, here are some ways to identify, cull, or at least mediate your jargon.

When in doubt, use an alternative:
Even when you read a piece of technical terminology in your proposal that you think, "probably all the reviewers will understand that," it's probably a phrase that's not worth the risk. Instead, consider spelling out what you're trying to say with the phrase in question. This is particularly the case if you're not using the jargon in question extensively in your proposal. Say it in a simpler, clearer way.  For example, one day I emailed some feedback on a proposal, saying "I worry about these proposals taking a deficit perspective." The recipient of my note wrote back to say he didn't understand what I meant by deficit perspective. I replied that it "refers to looking at minoritized people as a problem." I could have saved us both some time and some annoyance on his part if I'd just spelled it out at the start.

Define it, define it again, and use it consistently:
Many researchers can't avoid the use of some jargon; I'm thinking particularly about health research or Dark Matter research. There are a host of technical terms related to the body or physics that I'm not going to learn any time soon. And, certainly, if these researchers can describe the processes they're focused on in simpler language, by all means! But, chances are that all of the reviewers will understand most of the terminology needed to adequately describe the research. In these cases, when you can't get around the jargon, define it. While you always want to define the term the first time you use it, you may want to define it again in other sections of your proposal. Re-defining is a good practice because it reminds people of your definition, but also reviewers tend to flip around to different sections of your proposal and read them out of order. So, if it's a phrase they might not know, give them ample opportunities to understand it. And, once you've defined it, use it consistently. Make sure that you don't slip into other uses of a phrase that you've defined one way, or you'll quickly confuse your reviewer.

Rethink abbreviations and acronyms:
I'm not sure why, but in academia, folks love acronyms. Some are good at making acronyms, like the NSF with their EAGER and INCLUDES grants, and many are not very good at it. As a reminder, the difference between an acronym and an abbreviation is you pronounce an acronym as a word, and for an abbreviation, you say each letter, e.g., FBI. The trouble is when you start to give too many things an abbreviation or an acronym, your proposal begins to look like alphabet soup. Your reviewer cannot be expected to continue going back to the first time you spelled something out to remember what it meant for every other word. And, if you do expect them to, they're likely going to get annoyed with you and your proposal right quick! So, even though making abbreviations for things makes them feel official or saves you space, try not to do it, and definitely not in abundance!

It's important to bear these pointers in mind as you decide what is jargon in your proposal, but it's also a good idea to have multiple internal reviewers look at your proposal before submission to make sure they easily understand the terminology you're using.

Resources:
Writing a proposal they will want to read
The most overused words in grant writing