Using first person pronouns in academic writing

One of the greatest myths of academic publishing is that everything has to be written in the passive. No “I”s or “WE”s allowed. Somehow that’s supposed to make things more academic, scientific and objective. It can however, lead to overly convoluted sentence structures and lack of clarity. My preference, ever in the pursuit of good communication is to favour active structures. But is there a rule?

https://www.editage.com/insights/is-it-acceptable-to-use-first-person-pronouns-in-scientific-writing

2 Replies to “Using first person pronouns in academic writing”

  1. It would seem that a most professional site has been developed : one that communicates clearly, crisply and encouragingly. There is only one small comment perhaps to be made. Is “little ” the optimum adjective for the Project?

    Yours addicted to the Passive Voice, (which I agree should be silenced unless absolutely necessary!)

    Charmian

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *