# when less is more: the challenges of simple writing Students often have a tendency to unnecessarily complicate their writing and imitate the complex style commonly found in seminal academic work (Luhmann, Hegel, etc). As we begin our PhD journey, we want to appear more scholarly or sophisticated. However, it is a bad habit; simplicity and clarity are highly valued in academic writing. In fact, imitating complexity can often lead to confusion and a lack of understanding among readers. One common error in academic writing is making the model and method overly complex. Even experienced authors tend to include unnecessary details, confuse their arguments, and ultimately face rejection of their work. Connelly, Ketchen and Zhou (2023) perfectly articulated the difficulties of straightforward writing and the advantages that authors gain by mastering this skill... This piece is highly recommended for both novice and experienced academics, and it is beneficial to read and incorporate into your own research. > [!info] Abstract: > The presenter's paradox is a phenomenon wherein adding low-value information alongside high-value information reduces the overall effectiveness of communication. This is because receivers tend to evaluate messages using an averaging, rather than additive, approach. In the context of journal submissions, the presenter's paradox arises when authors undermine their papers’ value by adding extra components that fail to maintain the high standard established in the core of the paper. These additions might take the form of excessive control variables, supplementary analyses, hypotheses, words, tables, figures, or citations. We argue that authors should construct journal submissions with the presenter's paradox in mind––because in many cases, less is more. ### Reference: Connelly, B. L., Ketchen, D. J., & Zhou, Y. S. (2023). The Presenter’s Paradox: More Is Not Always Better. _Journal of Management_, _49_(7), 2208-2217. [https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063231155982](https://doi.org/10.1177/01492063231155982)