Is your writing readable?

60–70 counts as plain language. Academic writing typically scores 30–50; below 30 is very dense. Aim higher in the abstract and introduction, where your audience is broadest.

Flesch-Kincaid and Gunning Fog are the most cited for English academic text. For German, use Flesch-Amstad or the Wiener Sachtextformel, which are calibrated to German word lengths.

Each weighs sentence length and word length differently. Read them as a range rather than a single truth — if all of them flag your text, your sentences are probably too long.

Indirectly, yes: clear writing is easier to follow, and reviewers reward it. Long-sentence, jargon-dense sections are where examiners most often lose the thread.