Sentence Complexity in Scientific Writing:An Analysis of Abstracts from Transpublika Publications

Abstract

The use of complex sentences is an important feature of scientific writing because it represents logical relationships between ideas more systematically. However, there are still variations in how complex sentence structures are applied in scientific articles. Ineffective use of these structures is believed to affect both the readability and overall quality of publications. Based on this phenomenon, this study aims to analyse the use of complex sentences in scientific articles published online. This study employed a qualitative descriptive approach with quantitative support to analyze syntactic structures in scientific abstracts published by Transpublika Publisher within one-year period (2024). Using purposive sampling, we compiled a corpus of 1,293 sentences from research article abstracts. Each sentence was classified by type (simple, complex, compound, compound-complex) based on clause structure and conjunction usage.  Based on an analysis, this study identifies a distinct syntactic profile in scientific abstracts that balances clarity with complexity. In this case, simple sentences constitute the majority (49.88%), followed by complex sentences (41.39%), while compound (5.18%) and compound-complex sentences (3.55%) appear significantly less frequently. This evidence suggests authors prioritize direct communication of key findings while maintaining the ability to express detailed logical relationships. Thus, the use of complex sentences with connectors such as that, which, and because demonstrates effective academic expression of causal and qualifying relationships.