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The effect of writing style on success in grant applications

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  • van den Besselaar, Peter
  • Mom, Charlie

Abstract

Why are some research grant applications selected for funding while others are not? In this paper we investigate whether the writing style of grant applications influences the evaluation scores and the decisions by selection panels. A linguistic analysis of the grant proposal abstract, the project description and the CV of the applicant does reveal several characteristics of the texts that have a positive effect on the score the grant applications receive, and through that on the probability to be selected for funding. The explained variance is moderate, suggesting grant proposal reviewers base their decisions not only on the scientific content of the grant application, but also on the form in which it is presented.

Suggested Citation

  • van den Besselaar, Peter & Mom, Charlie, 2022. "The effect of writing style on success in grant applications," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(1).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:infome:v:16:y:2022:i:1:s1751157722000098
    DOI: 10.1016/j.joi.2022.101257
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Meike Olbrecht & Lutz Bornmann, 2010. "Panel peer review of grant applications: what do we know from research in social psychology on judgment and decision-making in groups?," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 19(4), pages 293-304, October.
    2. Hengel, E., 2017. "Publishing while Female. Are women held to higher standards? Evidence from peer review," Cambridge Working Papers in Economics 1753, Faculty of Economics, University of Cambridge.
    3. Lu, Chao & Bu, Yi & Dong, Xianlei & Wang, Jie & Ding, Ying & Larivière, Vincent & Sugimoto, Cassidy R. & Paul, Logan & Zhang, Chengzhi, 2019. "Analyzing linguistic complexity and scientific impact," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 13(3), pages 817-829.
    4. Chao Lu & Yi Bu & Jie Wang & Ying Ding & Vetle Torvik & Matthew Schnaars & Chengzhi Zhang, 2019. "Examining scientific writing styles from the perspective of linguistic complexity," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 70(5), pages 462-475, May.
    5. Kevin W. Boyack & Caleb Smith & Richard Klavans, 2018. "Toward predicting research proposal success," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 114(2), pages 449-461, February.
    6. Pleun van Arensbergen & Inge van der Weijden & Peter van den Besselaar, 2014. "The selection of talent as a group process. A literature review on the social dynamics of decision making in grant panels," Research Evaluation, Oxford University Press, vol. 23(4), pages 298-311.
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    Cited by:

    1. Li, Heyang & Wu, Meijun & Wang, Yougui & Zeng, An, 2022. "Bibliographic coupling networks reveal the advantage of diversification in scientific projects," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3).
    2. Andrijana Perković Paloš & Antonija Mijatović & Ivan Buljan & Daniel Garcia-Costa & Elena Álvarez-García & Francisco Grimaldo & Ana Marušić, 2023. "Linguistic and semantic characteristics of articles and peer review reports in Social Sciences and Medical and Health Sciences: analysis of articles published in Open Research Central," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(8), pages 4707-4729, August.
    3. Song, Ningyuan & Chen, Kejun & Zhao, Yuehua, 2023. "Understanding writing styles of scientific papers in the IS-LS domain: Evidence from abstracts over the past three decades," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(1).

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