Use this handout to check whether your writing is easy to follow at the sentence, paragraph, and whole-paper level. Cohesion helps your ideas connect clearly from sentence to sentence; coherence helps the whole paper feel organized, focused, and purposeful.
What is cohesion and coherence?
Cohesion and coherence are qualities that help readers follow your writing. Cohesion happens when words, phrases, sentences, and paragraphs connect clearly. Coherence happens when the whole paper feels organized, focused, and logical. Together, they help your paper communicate one clear message.
Cohesion and coherence usually improve through revision. As you revise, think about what your readers already know, what they need next, and how each part of your paper helps communicate your main message.
Sentence-level tips
- Repeat key terms, concepts, or phrases on purpose. This creates a thread that helps readers follow your main idea across sentences and paragraphs.
- Use synonyms when you want variety but make sure the connection to the original idea is still clear. If a synonym might confuse readers, repeat the key term instead.
- Use parallel sentence structure when you want related ideas to feel connected. Repeating a similar sentence pattern can make difficult concepts easier to follow and can emphasize important information.
Paragraph-level tips
- Start with information your reader already knows, then introduce new information. This order helps readers use familiar context to understand new ideas.
- Give each paragraph one main focus. A clear topic sentence can show readers what the paragraph is about and how it connects to the larger paper. A topic sentence for your paragraph can help your reader understand how the different elements of the paragraph (like supporting details or evidence) come together to support the main point.
- Use transitions between ideas, paragraphs, or sections to show relationships such as contrast, cause and effect, sequence, or emphasis, to make connections between information clear for your reader.
Document-level tips
- Try using a forecast-expand-summarize structure for the whole paper and, in longer papers, for major sections. This pattern helps readers know where the paper is going, understand the details as they appear, and remember the main point before moving on.
Forecasting tells readers what to expect. At the beginning of a paper or section, briefly explain the main topic, the information that will appear, and the new ideas or concepts readers will encounter. This preview helps readers understand how the parts of the paper fit together.
Expanding means developing the forecasted idea in depth. Focus each paragraph on a clear point, use evidence or details to support that point, and explain how the information connects back to the paper’s main purpose.
Summarizing helps readers pause and understand what they should take away. Before moving to a new topic or section, briefly restate the main point you just developed. In a conclusion, summarize the paper’s main ideas or contributions so readers can see the larger significance of what they have read.