Totally agree. The reason is simple: you can't count on the goodwill of your audience, you have to write in a defensive manner expecting an adversarial audience

Totally agree. The reason is simple: you can't count on the goodwill of your audience, you have to write in a defensive manner expecting an adversarial audience (at least the reviewers, probably the people you have in mind when you write your paper; but possibly beyond). See this: http://chronicle.com/article/Why-Academics-Writing-Stinks/148989 http://chronicle.com/article/Why-Academics-Writing-Stinks/14...