To write plainly and concisely, choose on instead of the roundabout phrase on the basis of. Other possibilities include according to and based on.
- Employees are appointed on (not on the basis of) merit.
- The Board released draft guidelines based on (not on the basis of) the committee’s recommendations.
However, note that the past participle based must modify a noun. If there is no noun to which it can attach, you must use on the basis of or an alternative.
- Incorrect: Based on these findings, we adopted a new marketing approach.
- Correct: On the basis of these findings, we developed a new marketing approach.
- Correct: We developed a new marketing approach based on these findings.
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