Common Writing errors at SWS

Referent ambiguity

 

Referent ambiguity

Referents across paragraphs

A reader is typically trying to absorb a lot of new information, but the ability to absorb new information is constrained by the small size of working memory. In order to make room for new material, the reader has to constantly "forget" information that was just read. Most readers interpret a paragraph break as the signal that a new point is being made, and previous information can be forgotten. Thus, you should not assume that contextual information will be remembered between paragraphs. As a result, references between paragraphs may be difficult for your reader to follow. In Zobel's book "Writing for Computer Science" he gives two somewhat simplistic examples:
If a paragraph discusses a fast sorting algorithm, the next paragraph should not begin "This algorithm" but rather "The fast sorting algorithm"; if one paragraph refers to Harvey, the next should not refer to "his" but rather to "Harvey's".
It's hard to make these kinds of recommendations without seeing a sentence within the context of the paper, but the examples should give you the basic idea. References that cross a paragraph boundary need to be more precise than those that do not.

Referents at the beginning of a sentence

When prounouns like "it" or "this" are used as the subject of a sentence, nine times out of ten the pronoun's referent is ambiguous. A good rule of thumb: do not use "it" as the subject of your sentence unless the pronoun refers to the last entity mentioned in the last sentence. If this property does not hold, you are likely to confuse your reader. Sentences that start with "This" can almost always be made clearer by saying "This [noun]", for example "This algorithm", "This hypothesis", or "This question". If you cannot identify an appropriate noun, then it's very likely that the sentence without the noun will confuse your reader.

Referents within a sentence

To be added...