Key terms

Key terms are words or short phrases that identify important ideas

Using key terms throughout a sentence, paragraph or even the entire article helps create continuity and highlight the focus of the manuscript. Most commonly, key terms are used to identify the main concept in the topic sentence.

It is important to repeat the exact same term, instead of replacing it with synonyms or alternative words. This helps readers stay clear on what the key idea is, especially as they might not be familiar with the subject of your article.

However, make sure you don’t start all your sentences with the same word, but create a paragraph that flows well.

When you need to change key term to use a more specific one, link the generic and specific term together in a sentence to introduce the new key term to create continuity.

Download the poster to read examples of links between generic and specific key terms.