can you use we in a research paper

Is It Okay to Use "We" In a Research Paper? Here's What You Need to Know

Explore "we" in research papers: guidelines, alternatives, and considerations for effective academic writing.

Jun 25, 2024

When embarking on the journey of academic writing, particularly in research papers, one of the first questions that often arises is about pronoun usage. Specifically, many writers grapple with the question: Is it okay to use "we" in a research paper?

This seemingly simple grammatical choice carries significant weight in academic circles. Using pronouns, especially first-person pronouns like "we," can influence the tone, clarity, and perceived objectivity of your work. It's a topic that has sparked debates among scholars, with opinions evolving and varying across different disciplines.

The importance of pronoun usage in academic writing cannot be overstated, especially in contexts like thesis and scientific writing. It affects how your research is perceived, how you position yourself as an author, and how you engage with your readers using the first person or third person.

The choice between using "we," maintaining a more impersonal tone, or opting for alternatives can impact the overall effectiveness of your communication.

In this blog post, we'll explore the nuances of using "we" in research papers, examining both traditional and modern perspectives. We'll delve into the pros and cons, provide guidelines for appropriate usage, and offer alternatives to help you confidently navigate writing academic papers.

Traditional Stance on Using "We" in Research Papers

 historical preference for third-person perspective.

Academic writing traditionally favored a third-person perspective, especially in scientific fields. This preference emerged in the late 19th century as part of a push for objectivity in scientific communication. The goal was to present research as unbiased facts and observations.

Key aspects:

• Emphasis on passive voice versus active voice when choosing to use the first person or third person in writing a research paper.
• The use of impersonal constructions and passive voice can help avoid personal pronouns.
• Third-person references to authors

Reasons for avoiding first-person pronouns

Arguments against using "we" in research papers:

• Perceived lack of objectivity
• Ambiguity in meaning
• Concerns about formality
• Shift of focus from research to researchers
• Adherence to established conventions
• Avoid presumption in single-authored papers when you decide to use first-person pronouns or not. when you decide to use first-person pronouns or not.

This approach shaped academic writing for decades and still influences some disciplines, especially in the context of writing a research paper. However, attitudes toward pronoun usage have begun to change in recent years.

Changing Perspectives in Academic Writing

Shift towards more personal and engaging academic prose.

Recent years have seen a move towards more accessible academic writing. This shift aims to:

• Increase readability
• Engage readers more effectively by incorporating second-person narrative techniques.
• Acknowledge the researcher's role in the work
• Promote transparency in research processes

Key changes:

• More direct language
• Increased use of active voice can make your academic papers more engaging.
• Greater acceptance of narrative elements

Acceptance of first-person pronouns in some disciplines

Some fields now allow or encourage the use of "we" and other first-person pronouns. This varies by:

• Discipline: More common in humanities and social sciences
• Journal: Some publications explicitly permit or prefer first-person usage
• Type of paper: Often more accepted in qualitative research or opinion pieces

Reasons for acceptance:

• Clarity in describing methods and decisions
• Ownership of ideas and findings is crucial when writing a research paper.
• Improved reader engagement in scientific writing
• Recognition of researcher subjectivity in some fields

However, acceptance is not universal. Many disciplines and publications still prefer traditional, impersonal styles.

When It's Appropriate to Use "We" in Research Papers

Collaborative research with multiple authors

• Natural fit for papers with multiple contributors
• Accurately reflects joint effort and shared responsibility
• Examples: "We conducted experiments..." or "We conclude that..."

Describing methodology or procedures

• Clarifies who performed specific actions, helping to avoid personal pronouns that might otherwise confuse the audience.
• Adds transparency to the research process, particularly when first-person pronouns are used effectively.
• Example: "We collected data using..."

Presenting arguments or hypotheses

• Demonstrates ownership of ideas
• Can make complex concepts more accessible in a research report.
• Example: "We argue that..." or "We hypothesize..."

Discipline-specific conventions

• Usage varies widely between fields
• More common in Social sciences, Humanities, and Some STEM fields (e.g., computer science)
• Less common in Hard sciences, Medical research
• Always check journal guidelines and field norms, particularly regarding the use of the first person or third person.

Key point: Use "we" judiciously, balancing clarity and convention.

When to Avoid Using "We" in Research Papers

Single-authored papers

• Can seem odd or presumptuous
• Alternatives: Use "I" if appropriate, Use passive voice, and Refer to yourself as " the researcher " or "the author"

Presenting factual information or literature reviews

• Facts stand independently of the author
• Keep the focus on the information, not the presenter, when writing a research paper.
• Examples: "Previous studies have shown..." instead of "We know from previous studies..."  "The data indicate..." instead of "We see in the data..."

When trying to maintain an objective tone

• Some topics in research reports require a more detached approach.
• Avoid "we" when: Reporting widely accepted facts, Describing established theories, Presenting controversial findings
• Use impersonal constructions:  "It was observed that...", "The results suggest..."

Please remember: Always prioritize clarity and follow your field's conventions.

Alternatives to Using "We"

Passive voice.

• Shifts focus to the action or result
• Examples: "The experiment was conducted..." (instead of "We experimented...")  "It was observed that..." (instead of "We observed that...")
• Use personal pronouns sparingly to avoid overly complex sentences.

Third-person perspective

• Refers to the research or study itself
• Examples: "This study examines..." (instead of "We examine...") "The results indicate..." (instead of "We found...")
• Can create a more objective tone

 Using "the researcher(s)" or "the author(s)"

• Useful for single- authored papers
• Maintains formality while acknowledging human involvement
• Examples: "The researchers collected data..." (instead of "We collected data...")  "The author argues..." (instead of "We argue...")
• Can become repetitive if overused in writing research papers.

Tips for using alternatives:

• Vary sentence structure to maintain reader interest
• Ensure clarity is not sacrificed for formality
• Choose the most appropriate alternative based on context
• Consider journal guidelines and field conventions when writing a research paper.

Remember: The goal is clear, effective communication of your research, whether you use first person or third person.

Tips for Effective Academic Writing

Consistency in pronoun usage.

• Choose a style and stick to it throughout
• Avoid mixing "we" with impersonal constructions
• Exceptions:  Different sections may require different approaches, Clearly mark any intentional shifts in perspective

Balancing formality with clarity and engagement

• Prioritize clear communication
• Use simple, direct language where possible when writing research papers, and try to use the term that best fits the context.
• Engage readers without sacrificing academic rigor
• Techniques:  Use active voice judiciously, Vary sentence structure, Incorporate relevant examples or analogies

Seeking feedback from peers or mentors

• Share drafts with colleagues in your field to improve your research report.
• Ask for specific feedback on writing style
• Consider perspectives from Senior researchers , Peers at similar career stages, Potential target audience members, and how they prefer the use of the first person or third person in research.
• Be open to constructive criticism

Additional tips:

• Read widely in your field to understand style norms when writing research papers.
• Practice different writing styles to find your voice
• Revise and edit multiple times
• Use style guides relevant to your discipline
• Consider the reader's perspective while writing

Remember: Effective academic writing communicates complex ideas while meeting field-specific expectations.

Recap of key points

• The use of "we" in research papers is evolving
• Appropriateness depends on Discipline, Journal guidelines, Research type, Personal preference
• Alternatives include passive voice and third-person perspective, while the increased use of passive voice can sometimes create ambiguity.
• Consider audience, field norms, and clarity when choosing a style
• Consistency and balance in the use of first person or third person are crucial.

Encouragement to make informed choices in academic writing

• Understand the context of your work
• Stay informed about current trends in your field
• Prioritize clear communication of your research
• Be confident in your choices, but remain flexible
• Remember: No universal rule fits all situations, Effective writing adapts to its purpose and audience
• Continually refine your writing skills, including the appropriate use of personal pronouns in APA format.

Final thoughts:

• Writing style impacts how your research is received
• Make deliberate choices to enhance your paper's impact by using appropriate personal pronouns.
• Balance tradition with evolving norms in academic writing
• Your unique voice can contribute to advancing your field, particularly in writing a research paper.

Ultimately, choose a style that best serves your research and readers while adhering to relevant guidelines of scientific writing and thesis format. It may also be acceptable to use first-person pronouns where appropriate.

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Can You Use First-Person Pronouns (I/we) in a Research Paper?

Research writers frequently wonder whether the first person can be used in academic and scientific writing. In truth, for generations, we’ve been discouraged from using “I” and “we” in academic writing simply due to old habits. That’s right—there’s no reason why you can’t use these words! In fact, the academic community used first-person pronouns until the 1920s, when the third person and passive-voice constructions (that is, “boring” writing) were adopted–prominently expressed, for example, in Strunk and White’s classic writing manual “Elements of Style” first published in 1918, that advised writers to place themselves “in the background” and not draw attention to themselves.

In recent decades, however, changing attitudes about the first person in academic writing has led to a paradigm shift, and we have, however, we’ve shifted back to producing active and engaging prose that incorporates the first person.

Can You Use “I” in a Research Paper?

However, “I” and “we” still have some generally accepted pronoun rules writers should follow. For example, the first person is more likely used in the abstract , Introduction section , Discussion section , and Conclusion section of an academic paper while the third person and passive constructions are found in the Methods section and Results section .

In this article, we discuss when you should avoid personal pronouns and when they may enhance your writing.

It’s Okay to Use First-Person Pronouns to:

• clarify meaning by eliminating passive voice constructions;
• establish authority and credibility (e.g., assert ethos, the Aristotelian rhetorical term referring to the personal character);
• express interest in a subject matter (typically found in rapid correspondence);
• establish personal connections with readers, particularly regarding anecdotal or hypothetical situations (common in philosophy, religion, and similar fields, particularly to explore how certain concepts might impact personal life. Additionally, artistic disciplines may also encourage personal perspectives more than other subjects);
• to emphasize or distinguish your perspective while discussing existing literature; and
• to create a conversational tone (rare in academic writing).

The First Person Should Be Avoided When:

• doing so would remove objectivity and give the impression that results or observations are unique to your perspective;
• you wish to maintain an objective tone that would suggest your study minimized biases as best as possible; and
• expressing your thoughts generally (phrases like “I think” are unnecessary because any statement that isn’t cited should be yours).

Usage Examples

The following examples compare the impact of using and avoiding first-person pronouns.

Example 1 (First Person Preferred):

To understand the effects of global warming on coastal regions,  changes in sea levels, storm surge occurrences and precipitation amounts  were examined .

[Note: When a long phrase acts as the subject of a passive-voice construction, the sentence becomes difficult to digest. Additionally, since the author(s) conducted the research, it would be clearer to specifically mention them when discussing the focus of a project.]

We examined  changes in sea levels, storm surge occurrences, and precipitation amounts to understand how global warming impacts coastal regions.

[Note: When describing the focus of a research project, authors often replace “we” with phrases such as “this study” or “this paper.” “We,” however, is acceptable in this context, including for scientific disciplines. In fact, papers published the vast majority of scientific journals these days use “we” to establish an active voice.   Be careful when using “this study” or “this paper” with verbs that clearly couldn’t have performed the action.   For example, “we attempt to demonstrate” works, but “the study attempts to demonstrate” does not; the study is not a person.]

Example 2 (First Person Discouraged):

From the various data points  we have received ,  we observed  that higher frequencies of runoffs from heavy rainfall have occurred in coastal regions where temperatures have increased by at least 0.9°C.

[Note: Introducing personal pronouns when discussing results raises questions regarding the reproducibility of a study. However, mathematics fields generally tolerate phrases such as “in X example, we see…”]

Coastal regions  with temperature increases averaging more than 0.9°C  experienced  higher frequencies of runoffs from heavy rainfall.

[Note: We removed the passive voice and maintained objectivity and assertiveness by specifically identifying the cause-and-effect elements as the actor and recipient of the main action verb. Additionally, in this version, the results appear independent of any person’s perspective.] 

Example 3 (First Person Preferred):

In contrast to the study by Jones et al. (2001), which suggests that milk consumption is safe for adults, the Miller study (2005) revealed the potential hazards of ingesting milk.  The authors confirm  this latter finding.

[Note: “Authors” in the last sentence above is unclear. Does the term refer to Jones et al., Miller, or the authors of the current paper?]

In contrast to the study by Jones et al. (2001), which suggests that milk consumption is safe for adults, the Miller study (2005) revealed the potential hazards of ingesting milk.  We confirm  this latter finding.

[Note: By using “we,” this sentence clarifies the actor and emphasizes the significance of the recent findings reported in this paper. Indeed, “I” and “we” are acceptable in most scientific fields to compare an author’s works with other researchers’ publications. The APA encourages using personal pronouns for this context. The social sciences broaden this scope to allow discussion of personal perspectives, irrespective of comparisons to other literature.]

Other Tips about Using Personal Pronouns

• Avoid starting a sentence with personal pronouns. The beginning of a sentence is a noticeable position that draws readers’ attention. Thus, using personal pronouns as the first one or two words of a sentence will draw unnecessary attention to them (unless, of course, that was your intent).
• Be careful how you define “we.” It should only refer to the authors and never the audience unless your intention is to write a conversational piece rather than a scholarly document! After all, the readers were not involved in analyzing or formulating the conclusions presented in your paper (although, we note that the point of your paper is to persuade readers to reach the same conclusions you did). While this is not a hard-and-fast rule, if you do want to use “we” to refer to a larger class of people, clearly define the term “we” in the sentence. For example, “As researchers, we frequently question…”
• First-person writing is becoming more acceptable under Modern English usage standards; however, the second-person pronoun “you” is still generally unacceptable because it is too casual for academic writing.
• Take all of the above notes with a grain of salt. That is,  double-check your institution or target journal’s author guidelines .  Some organizations may prohibit the use of personal pronouns.
• As an extra tip, before submission, you should always read through the most recent issues of a journal to get a better sense of the editors’ preferred writing styles and conventions.

Wordvice Resources

For more general advice on how to use active and passive voice in research papers, on how to paraphrase , or for a list of useful phrases for academic writing , head over to the Wordvice Academic Resources pages . And for more professional proofreading services , visit our Academic Editing and P aper Editing Services pages.

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• Writing Tips

Can You Use I or We in a Research Paper?

4-minute read

• 11th July 2023

Writing in the first person, or using I and we pronouns, has traditionally been frowned upon in academic writing . But despite this long-standing norm, writing in the first person isn’t actually prohibited. In fact, it’s becoming more acceptable – even in research papers.

 If you’re wondering whether you can use I (or we ) in your research paper, you should check with your institution first and foremost. Many schools have rules regarding first-person use. If it’s up to you, though, we still recommend some guidelines. Check out our tips below!

When Is It Most Acceptable to Write in the First Person?

Certain sections of your paper are more conducive to writing in the first person. Typically, the first person makes sense in the abstract, introduction, discussion, and conclusion sections. You should still limit your use of I and we , though, or your essay may start to sound like a personal narrative .

 Using first-person pronouns is most useful and acceptable in the following circumstances.

When doing so removes the passive voice and adds flow

Sometimes, writers have to bend over backward just to avoid using the first person, often producing clunky sentences and a lot of passive voice constructions. The first person can remedy this. For example: 

Both sentences are fine, but the second one flows better and is easier to read.

When doing so differentiates between your research and other literature

When discussing literature from other researchers and authors, you might be comparing it with your own findings or hypotheses . Using the first person can help clarify that you are engaging in such a comparison. For example: 

 In the first sentence, using “the author” to avoid the first person creates ambiguity. The second sentence prevents misinterpretation.

When doing so allows you to express your interest in the subject

In some instances, you may need to provide background for why you’re researching your topic. This information may include your personal interest in or experience with the subject, both of which are easier to express using first-person pronouns. For example:

Expressing personal experiences and viewpoints isn’t always a good idea in research papers. When it’s appropriate to do so, though, just make sure you don’t overuse the first person.

When to Avoid Writing in the First Person

It’s usually a good idea to stick to the third person in the methods and results sections of your research paper. Additionally, be careful not to use the first person when:

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●  It makes your findings seem like personal observations rather than factual results.

●  It removes objectivity and implies that the writing may be biased .

●  It appears in phrases such as I think or I believe , which can weaken your writing.

Keeping Your Writing Formal and Objective

Using the first person while maintaining a formal tone can be tricky, but keeping a few tips in mind can help you strike a balance. The important thing is to make sure the tone isn’t too conversational.

 To achieve this, avoid referring to the readers, such as with the second-person you . Use we and us only when referring to yourself and the other authors/researchers involved in the paper, not the audience.

It’s becoming more acceptable in the academic world to use first-person pronouns such as we and I in research papers. But make sure you check with your instructor or institution first because they may have strict rules regarding this practice.

 If you do decide to use the first person, make sure you do so effectively by following the tips we’ve laid out in this guide. And once you’ve written a draft, send us a copy! Our expert proofreaders and editors will be happy to check your grammar, spelling, word choice, references, tone, and more. Submit a 500-word sample today!

Is it ever acceptable to use I or we in a research paper?

In some instances, using first-person pronouns can help you to establish credibility, add clarity, and make the writing easier to read.

How can I avoid using I in my writing?

Writing in the passive voice can help you to avoid using the first person.

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We Vs. They: Using the First & Third Person in Research Papers

Writing in the first , second , or third person is referred to as the author’s point of view . When we write, our tendency is to personalize the text by writing in the first person . That is, we use pronouns such as “I” and “we”. This is acceptable when writing personal information, a journal, or a book. However, it is not common in academic writing.

Some writers find the use of first , second , or third person point of view a bit confusing while writing research papers. Since second person is avoided while writing in academic or scientific papers, the main confusion remains within first or third person.

In the following sections, we will discuss the usage and examples of the first , second , and third person point of view.

First Person Pronouns

The first person point of view simply means that we use the pronouns that refer to ourselves in the text. These are as follows:

Can we use I or We In the Scientific Paper?

Using these, we present the information based on what “we” found. In science and mathematics, this point of view is rarely used. It is often considered to be somewhat self-serving and arrogant . It is important to remember that when writing your research results, the focus of the communication is the research and not the persons who conducted the research. When you want to persuade the reader, it is best to avoid personal pronouns in academic writing even when it is personal opinion from the authors of the study. In addition to sounding somewhat arrogant, the strength of your findings might be underestimated.

For example:

Based on my results, I concluded that A and B did not equal to C.

In this example, the entire meaning of the research could be misconstrued. The results discussed are not those of the author ; they are generated from the experiment. To refer to the results in this context is incorrect and should be avoided. To make it more appropriate, the above sentence can be revised as follows:

Based on the results of the assay, A and B did not equal to C.

Second Person Pronouns

The second person point of view uses pronouns that refer to the reader. These are as follows:

This point of view is usually used in the context of providing instructions or advice , such as in “how to” manuals or recipe books. The reason behind using the second person is to engage the reader.

You will want to buy a turkey that is large enough to feed your extended family. Before cooking it, you must wash it first thoroughly with cold water.

Although this is a good technique for giving instructions, it is not appropriate in academic or scientific writing.

Third Person Pronouns

The third person point of view uses both proper nouns, such as a person’s name, and pronouns that refer to individuals or groups (e.g., doctors, researchers) but not directly to the reader. The ones that refer to individuals are as follows:

• Hers (possessive form)
• His (possessive form)
• Its (possessive form)
• One’s (possessive form)

The third person point of view that refers to groups include the following:

• Their (possessive form)
• Theirs (plural possessive form)

Everyone at the convention was interested in what Dr. Johnson presented. The instructors decided that the students should help pay for lab supplies. The researchers determined that there was not enough sample material to conduct the assay.

The third person point of view is generally used in scientific papers but, at times, the format can be difficult. We use indefinite pronouns to refer back to the subject but must avoid using masculine or feminine terminology. For example:

A researcher must ensure that he has enough material for his experiment. The nurse must ensure that she has a large enough blood sample for her assay.

Many authors attempt to resolve this issue by using “he or she” or “him or her,” but this gets cumbersome and too many of these can distract the reader. For example:

A researcher must ensure that he or she has enough material for his or her experiment. The nurse must ensure that he or she has a large enough blood sample for his or her assay.

These issues can easily be resolved by making the subjects plural as follows:

Researchers must ensure that they have enough material for their experiment. Nurses must ensure that they have large enough blood samples for their assay.

Exceptions to the Rules

As mentioned earlier, the third person is generally used in scientific writing, but the rules are not quite as stringent anymore. It is now acceptable to use both the first and third person pronouns  in some contexts, but this is still under controversy.  

In a February 2011 blog on Eloquent Science , Professor David M. Schultz presented several opinions on whether the author viewpoints differed. However, there appeared to be no consensus. Some believed that the old rules should stand to avoid subjectivity, while others believed that if the facts were valid, it didn’t matter which point of view was used.

First or Third Person: What Do The Journals Say

In general, it is acceptable in to use the first person point of view in abstracts, introductions, discussions, and conclusions, in some journals. Even then, avoid using “I” in these sections. Instead, use “we” to refer to the group of researchers that were part of the study. The third person point of view is used for writing methods and results sections. Consistency is the key and switching from one point of view to another within sections of a manuscript can be distracting and is discouraged. It is best to always check your author guidelines for that particular journal. Once that is done, make sure your manuscript is free from the above-mentioned or any other grammatical error.

You are the only researcher involved in your thesis project. You want to avoid using the first person point of view throughout, but there are no other researchers on the project so the pronoun “we” would not be appropriate. What do you do and why? Please let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.

I am writing the history of an engineering company for which I worked. How do I relate a significant incident that involved me?

Hi Roger, Thank you for your question. If you are narrating the history for the company that you worked at, you would have to refer to it from an employee’s perspective (third person). If you are writing the history as an account of your experiences with the company (including the significant incident), you could refer to yourself as ”I” or ”My.” (first person) You could go through other articles related to language and grammar on Enago Academy’s website https://enago.com/academy/ to help you with your document drafting. Did you get a chance to install our free Mobile App? https://www.enago.com/academy/mobile-app/ . Make sure you subscribe to our weekly newsletter: https://www.enago.com/academy/subscribe-now/ .

Good day , i am writing a research paper and m y setting is a company . is it ethical to put the name of the company in the research paper . i the management has allowed me to conduct my research in thir company .

thanks docarlene diaz

Generally authors do not mention the names of the organization separately within the research paper. The name of the educational institution the researcher or the PhD student is working in needs to be mentioned along with the name in the list of authors. However, if the research has been carried out in a company, it might not be mandatory to mention the name after the name in the list of authors. You can check with the author guidelines of your target journal and if needed confirm with the editor of the journal. Also check with the mangement of the company whether they want the name of the company to be mentioned in the research paper.

Finishing up my dissertation the information is clear and concise.

How to write the right first person pronoun if there is a single researcher? Thanks

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Literature Review

Pronouns In a Research Paper - Can You Use "We" In A Research Paper

Can you use "we" in a research paper? This guide breaks down pronoun rules to help you write with clarity and authority.

Sep 2, 2024

Imagine you're knee-deep in a literature search, combing through academic journals to find relevant articles for your research paper. As you read through the findings, you realize there is a lot of overlap with your work. This prompts you to write a summary of the article, noting how the authors' findings relate to your research. As you begin to write, can I use we in a research paper? After all, the authors and I have something in common, and we would help clarify my point. You're not alone if you need clarification on using we in academic writing. This blog will clarify when such usage is acceptable. You will also discover how Otio's AI research assistant can help you write better papers faster with efficient literature search .

Otio's AI research and writing partner can help you achieve your academic goals by streamlining your literature search and improving the quality of your writing.

Table of Contents

What is a research paper, structure of a research paper, can you use "we" in a research paper, can you use pronouns in a research paper, 15 best ai tools for efficient research paper writing, 10 tips to write outclass research papers, supercharge your researching ability with otio — try otio for free today.

A research paper is an expanded essay that presents your interpretation, evaluation, or argument. When writing an essay, you use everything you know and have thought about a subject. 

When you write a research paper , you build upon what you know about the subject and deliberately attempt to discover what experts know. A research paper involves surveying a field of knowledge to find the best possible information. If you know how to approach that survey, it can be orderly and focused.

Title Page: What’s in a Name? 

The title page is the research paper's opening act. It features the paper's title and author details, including a running head and the author's institutional affiliation.

In some cases, the title page will include an Author Note that lists any funding sources and acknowledges individuals who assisted with the project. The Author's Note is typically placed toward the bottom of the title page.

Abstract: One Paragraph to Rule Them All

The abstract is a one-paragraph summary of the entire study. Typically, it is 250 words or less (and in many cases, it is much shorter than that), but it provides an overview of the study.

Introduction: Setting the Stage for Your Research

The introduction is the first major section of the paper . It commonly describes the topic under investigation and summarizes or discusses relevant prior research. 

The introduction then identifies unresolved issues that the current research will address. It provides an overview of the research, described in greater detail in the following sections.

Methods: How the Research Was Conducted

The methods section details how the research was performed. It typically describes the participants/subjects involved, the study design, the materials used, and the study procedure. 

If there were multiple experiments, each experiment may require a separate methods section. A rule of thumb is that the methods section should be sufficiently detailed for another researcher to duplicate your research. 

Results: What Did You Find?

The results section describes the data collected and the results of any statistical tests performed. A description of the analysis procedure used may also preface it. If there were multiple experiments, each experiment may require a separate results section.

Discussion: What Do the Results Mean?

The discussion is the final major section of the paper. It commonly summarizes the study's results, describes how those results address the topic under investigation and the issues the research was designed to address, and may expand upon the implications of those findings. Limitations and directions for future research are also commonly addressed. 

References: Where to Go for More Information

The references section is an alphabetized list of the sources cited in the paper (by the last name of the first author of each source). Each reference should follow specific APA guidelines regarding:

Author names

Article titles

Journal titles

Journal volume numbers

Page numbers

Book publishers

Publisher locations

Tables and Figures: Graphs and Data 

Tables and figures may be included depending on the type of research being performed (however, in some cases, neither). In APA style , each table and figure are placed on a separate page, and all tables and figures are included after the references. 

Tables are included first, followed by figures. Tables and figures may be embedded in the text for some journals and undergraduate research papers (such as the B.S. or honors thesis).

Appendix: Supplementary Information

In some cases, additional information that is not critical to understanding the research paper, such as a list of experiment stimuli, details of a secondary analysis, or programming code, is provided. This is often placed in an appendix.

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In academic writing , the research should take center stage—not the individuals who conducted it. For this reason, it is often best to avoid personal pronouns like "I" and "we."

This is especially true regarding a research paper's results and methods sections. Instead of writing, we found that A and B did not equal C, which is more appropriate to write; the results indicated that A and B did not equal C. The latter example removes any implications that the results are subjective or based on the researchers' opinions.

The short answer is yes, you can use pronouns in a research paper, but it depends on the context and the style guide you follow. Here’s a quote by Michael Alley, a well-known author and professor of engineering communication: 

Using first-person pronouns in scientific writing has become increasingly acceptable, allowing for a more direct and clear communication of the researcher's role in the study. To maintain professionalism and consistency, following the target journal's guidelines or style guide is essential.

First-Person Pronouns (e.g., "I," "we") 

APA Style: The APA (American Psychological Association) style allows for using first-person pronouns, especially when discussing your:

Opinions 

For example, We experimented with what was acceptable. MLA Style: The MLA (Modern Language Association) style is generally more flexible and may allow the use of first-person pronouns, depending on the paper's context. Chicago Style: Similar to MLA, Chicago style does not prohibit using first-person pronouns but advises their use in moderation. Scientific Writing: In scientific writing, first-person pronouns are increasingly accepted, particularly in the methods section ("We measured the temperature..."), though some journals may prefer a more passive voice. 

Second-Person Pronouns (e.g., "you"): Avoid in Formal Writing

Second-person pronouns are generally avoided in formal research papers because they make the writing seem informal or directive. 

Third-Person Pronouns (e.g., "he," "she," "they"): Use Appropriately 

Third-person pronouns often refer to other researchers, subjects in a study, or theoretical perspectives. Using they as a gender-neutral singular pronoun is increasingly accepted in academic writing. 

1. Otio: Your AI Research Collaborator*

Today, knowledge workers, researchers, and students suffer from content overload and are left to deal with it using fragmented, complex, and manual tooling. Too many settle for stitching together complicated bookmarking, read-it-later, and note-taking apps to get through their workflows. Now that anyone can create content with a button, this problem will only worsen. 

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Collect: A wide range of data sources, from bookmarks, tweets, and extensive books to YouTube videos. 

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Create: Draft outputs using the sources you've collected.

Otio helps you go from the reading list to the first draft faster. Along with this, Otio also helps you write research papers/essays faster. Here are our top features loved by researchers: AI-generated notes on all bookmarks (Youtube videos, PDFs, articles, etc.), Otio enables you to chat with individual links or entire knowledge bases, just like you chat with ChatGPT, as well as AI-assisted writing. 

Let Otio be your AI research and writing partner — try Otio for free today!

2. Bit AI: The Documentation Tool for Teams 

Bit AI is an AI program designed to help teams collaborate on documents, wikis, and knowledge bases. It goes beyond just text and images, allowing users to create interactive documents containing:

Cloud files

It works much like Google Drive, allowing for real-time collaboration on documents. Multiple people can work on documents simultaneously and chat with one another within the interface: 

Built-In AI Writing Assistant: AI Genius is the perfect tool for generating documents, wikis, and other information based on a text prompt. 

Multiple Use Cases: Bit AI's document development features are great for researchers and marketers, product management, startups, and human resources. 

Collaboration Tools: Bit.ai allows multiple users to collaborate simultaneously on documents, notes, wikis, and other content in real-time. 

Wide Range of Integrations: Bit AI integrates with many third-party tools, including YouTube, Google Sheets, Figma, and GitHub.  

Limited Customizations: Bit AI would be better if it had text formatting or options to customize the appearance of documents, such as matching company branding. 

3. Semantic Scholar: An AI Research Tool for the Sciences 

Semantic Scholar is one of the top AI research tools widely used by computer science, biomedical science, and neuroscience students. It uses natural language processing to analyze academic papers and find relevant literature.  

It refines search results for greater efficiency and relevance. Based on user feedback, it continuously improves the tool and provides a personalized user experience.

The summary has accuracy issues and AI-generated citations. It only gives you access to the full text of some papers. 

4. Scite: Smart Citations for Academic Research 

Scite is one of the most popular AI-powered academic research tools that improve academic research in one go. Its own natural language processing and machine learning help users do better research on scholarly articles and analyze citations. 

Scite allows researchers like you to assess the dependability of references in any particular context. It helps in evaluating the quality and impact of the research. It also provides better visualizations and metrics to understand the citation landscape of a particular paper or a topic. If you have missed out on using this tool, try it today. 

Smart Citations: Scite analyzes how an article is referenced in other research. It can tell if the citing article supports, contradicts, or mentions the original article.

Citation Context: Scite shows you how different sections of an article are cited in other research, helping you understand how the original research is being used and interpreted by other researchers. 

Citation Reports: This tool generates reports that show citation patterns and trends, helping users identify articles and authors in a related field. 

Large Dataset: Scite was training on more than 187 million articles, books, preprints, and other datasets, making it a solid choice for researchers.  

Not All Articles Cited Are Accessible: Although Scite offers full-text access for most articles cited, some publishers have not. 

6. Google Scholar: The Academic Search Engine 

Google Scholar is a beacon for academic research, offering a straightforward platform akin to its browser counterpart. It’s a treasure trove of:

Recent articles

Research papers

Scholarly literature

Simplifying the quest for up-to-date information with easy-to-identify tags for quick access.  

Use natural language searching to find academic and literature topics. Allow your search for gray literature for systematic reviews. 

The content you find will not be reviewed thoroughly, and there are concerns about source credibility. You need to show significant literature topics. 

7. PDFGear Copilot: An AI Assistant for PDF Research 

PDFgear Copilot is an AI-powered assistant that extracts and summarizes information in PDF documents. It utilizes OpenAI’s ChatGPT language model to help users locate important information in documents while conducting research. It lets you chat with a document, ask questions about its contents, and easily summarize entire PDFs.  

Interact With PDFs: Summarize, analyze, and interact with PDF content through natural language processing. 

ChatGPT Integration: Find key information and get answers using built-in ChatGPT functionality. 

Streamline PDF Workflows: Complete tasks, such as converting, printing, and saving PDFs with natural language processing. 

Support for Multiple Languages: PDFgear Copilot supports over 100 languages, making it accessible to many users.  

No Dark Mode: PDFgear cannot switch to dark mode, potentially alienating those who prefer it. 

8. Consensus: An AI Research Tool for Science

Consensus is an AI research tool that gathers information from published material and peer-reviewed articles. It is helpful for those who want to understand scientific subjects thoroughly. 

It helps users understand scientific subjects thoroughly by scanning for trustworthy and accurate research articles. This tool is handy for students and researchers in STEM and business fields.  

Natural language processing analyzes data and verifies the source. It can also generate a summary of research queries and help obtain information for the early research stage. 

It is favored only for STEM and business, not the humanities and fine arts. It is not suitable for rigorous and reproducible research. 

9. Trinka: An AI Grammar Checker for Academic Writing

It is one of the most commonly used AI tools for scholars and students. It helps with grammar and language correction for academic and technical writing. It has 3000+ grammar checks and tone and style enhancements, which help scholars write better theses and projects without errors. 

Trinka helps you document scientific findings and allows you to have a more technical tone and style without any difficulty. Trinka is the most promising tool for academic research purposes, as it helps you better document research papers and white papers.  

Save time in checking grammar while doing academic writing. Let you check grammar, correct spelling, and offer context suggestions based on your writing style.

The tool's response time could be faster, hindering quick feedback. It may also be challenging to understand the technical jargon. 

10. Connected Papers: A Visual Tool for Research 

Connected Papers is an innovative research tool that helps scientists and scholars efficiently explore relevant literature by providing a visual, similarity-based mapping of related academic papers. It uses circles to represent different papers. The size of the circle corresponds to the frequency of citations by other researchers. 

Papers that closely resemble the original paper you provided are positioned closer together and connected by lines. The thickness of the line indicates the strength of the relationship between the documents. By following the connections between papers, you can use Connected Papers to explore new research areas within your field.  

Similarity Graphs: Connected Papers produces a visual graph displaying related papers. Unlike a traditional citation tree, it emphasizes semantic similarity, meaning papers with shared citations and references are more connected.

Prior and Derivative Works: Connected Papers identifies influential prior works that have shaped the current research landscape. It can reveal derivative works that build upon the original paper’s ideas. 

Multi-Origin Graphs: You can enter multiple papers as a starting point so that CP can create a combined graph highlighting their relationships. 

Save Papers and Graphs: Save papers and graphs to revisit and explore topics further.

Limited Citation View: Unlike citation trees, Connected Papers doesn’t directly show how papers cite each other. 

11. Mendeley: A PDF Organizer for Academic Research 

Mendeley is a user-friendly AI tool for organizing, sharing, and citing your research papers properly in one place. It helps you easily organize your PDFs, create better bibliographies, and annotate documents. 

This tool enables researchers to collaborate on projects and discover relevant articles based on their interests. Mendeley’s powerful features and integration into academic workflows make it a practical tool. It helps streamline your management and enhance collaboration within the scholarly community.  

Offer citation styles for journals and boost citation efficiency. Organize and share references for collaborative research.

Do not make PDF annotations as expected. Users commonly face server downtime and syncing errors. 

12. Litmaps: A Comprehensive Literature Mapping Tool 

Litmaps is a literature mapping tool that helps researchers discover new and relevant research papers, visualize the relationships between papers, and share their research. It works by using connectedness theory, which allows researchers to quickly scan Litmap’s network of academic papers around the documents they know, discovering vital related papers they may not know about. Litmaps can also generate reading lists and notify users when relevant new papers are published, making it easier to stay up-to-date on the latest research.  

Search Academic Papers: Litmaps allows you to search a vast database of over 260 million academic papers to find relevant articles. 

Mind Mapping: Litmaps lets you visualize your research by creating a map of interconnected articles and annotating them for better understanding. 

Explore Research From Various Angles: Dynamic Exploration allows users to explore research from different angles by rearranging how papers are positioned on the map.

Collaboration Features: The platform allows you to share your research maps with colleagues, students, or advisors to facilitate collaboration.  

Limited Free Plan: Some features, like unlimited searches, are only available on paid plans. 

13. Scholarcy: An AI Summarizer for Academic Research 

Scholarly is an AI tool that improves academic research by automating the process of reading, summarizing, and extracting information. It can help you recognize:’

Tables and references from articles 

Grasp the main concepts 

This tool has citation extraction features that allow users to organize and cite the sources used in the research. It also provides the literature review process, which enables you to save valuable time and effort.  

Summarize the topics of research papers to save time and effort. Offer links to the cited resources to access the research material.  

The essay summary may need to be more precise, which may result in plagiarism. The AI-generated summary will only cover some of the critical points of the research paper. 

14. Jenni: An AI Writing Assistant for Academic Writing

The next AI tool for research on our list is Jenni. It’s an AI-powered writing assistant designed to help students and researchers with academic writing tasks. 

It uses machine learning and natural language processing (NLP) to provide content suggestions, writing feedback, and research assistance. It’s beneficial for writing essays, research papers, literature reviews, and more. Jenni can also help with citations and references and check for plagiarism.  

AskJenni: Use an AI research assistant that can help answer research questions and provide document-related clarifications. 

Citation and Reference Assistance: Jenni can properly format citations and references in styles like APA, MLA, and Chicago. 

AI Commands: Jenni can perform tasks like paraphrasing, rewriting, and simplifying existing text. 

AI Autocompletion: Jenni can suggest and complete sentences to help you write faster.  

Limited Content Types: Compared to other AI writing tools like Copy.ai and Jasper, Jenni.ai offers only a limited number of content types, such as blogs, essays, emails, and free-flow writing. 

15. Knewton: An AI Tool for Personalized Learning 

Using artificial intelligence and machine learning algorithms, Knewton allows users to deliver personalized educational content. You can tailor the tool for the educational content according to individual needs and learning styles. 

This is a one-stop and easy-to-use tool in the academic learning phase. Knewton also allows users to analyze students:

Performance data

Progress 

By leveraging AI's benefits, Knewton seeks to improve engagement, making it one of the best online learning platforms.  

Provide you with a personalized learning experience with the help of adaptive learning. Offer student interaction to keep cheating at bay by offering different questions to each student.  

The problems in the tool are generic and need to align with the curriculum. Offer feedback and flexible assessment options that impact students’ learning.

1. Create a Plan to Write Research Papers Efficiently

Before tackling a research paper, create a detailed plan . Starting with a list of tasks, develop a timeline for completing each. For example, you allocate two weeks for reading and organizing your research, one week for writing an outline, and three weeks for drafting and revising your paper. 

2. Determine the Audience and Clarify Your Writing

Understanding your audience is a crucial part of writing a research paper. Consider the:

Expectations

Assumptions

Existing knowledge 

Of your readers. Aim to write for an audience with less background knowledge than your target readers. This approach helps improve clarity, making it easier for your target audience to understand your work. 

3. Analyze the Style of Sample Articles and Emulate Their Structure

Every academic publication has its unique writing style . Before you begin writing, analyze the style of articles in your target publication and emulate that style. 

Pay particular attention to the organization of the articles, as this will help you structure your paper. Ensure that all ideas are properly cited based on your disciplinary norms. 

4. Write Your Method Section Clearly and Concisely

The methodology section of research papers can vary widely in structure and content based on the discipline and audience. Regardless of the subject, it’s important to be clear and concise. 

Simply tell readers what you did. Keep your discussions of various alternative methods to a minimum and avoid excessive detail. 

5. Keep It Direct and Simple

Research writing doesn’t have to be convoluted and confusing. It shouldn’t be. Avoid clichés and re-examine any uses of discipline-specific jargon that might be unclear to your reader. 

Strive for clear, straightforward sentences. The simplest form is best. Recognize that revision will be necessary. 

6. Create an Outline to Organize Your Paper

Before writing your research paper, create an outline to organize your thoughts. Decide which of your findings are important and place them in your outline. Be prepared to relegate some of your findings to the appendices for clarity. 

7. Presenting Your Data

One of the most challenging aspects of writing a research paper can be the presentation of statistics. Remember that tables should speak for themselves. Readers should not have to dig through the main text to make sense of them. 

8. Get a Second (or Third) Set of Eyes on Your Writing

Sharing your writing with peers can help you improve your research paper. Ask readers of various levels to review your work. Their input can prove illuminating. The Writing Centre is a great place to receive support. 

9. Copy Edit Your Research Paper

Always proofread a hard copy of your writing. Work with a partner and read your prose out loud, punctuation if possible. 

10. Understand That Writing Research Papers Takes Time and Practice

Research writing is a skill that takes time and practice to develop. Be patient and allow ample time to complete your next research paper.

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Otio enables users to gather information from various sources, including bookmarks, tweets, extensive books, YouTube videos, and more. By consolidating these sources in one centralized location, Otio streamlines the research process and saves users valuable time.

Extract Key Insights and Takeaways Effortlessly

With Otio's advanced AI capabilities, users can effortlessly extract key takeaways and generate detailed notes from their collected sources. These AI-generated notes give users a wealth of information, allowing for more efficient research and writing.

Chat with Individual Links and Knowledge Bases

Otio introduces a novel way to interact with your research sources. Users can engage in a chat-like dialogue with individual links or entire knowledge bases, much like conversing with ChatGPT. This feature enhances collaboration and streamlines the research process, making it easier to navigate extensive information.

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Otio's AI-assisted writing capabilities empower users to draft outputs rapidly using their collected sources. By leveraging AI technology, Otio helps users transition from reading lists to first drafts seamlessly, enabling faster and more efficient writing processes.

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Otio serves as a valuable partner for writing research papers and essays. Its top features, including AI-generated notes on all bookmarks, chat capabilities, and AI-assisted writing, make it easier for users to craft high-quality written works in less time.

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Use of Pronouns in Academic Writing

Published by Alvin Nicolas at August 17th, 2021 , Revised On August 24, 2023

Pronouns are words that make reference to both specific and nonspecific things and people. They are used in place of nouns.

First-person pronouns (I, We) are rarely used in academic writing. They are primarily used in a reflective piece, such as a reflective essay or personal statement. You should avoid using second-person pronouns such as “you” and “yours”. The use of third-person pronouns (He, She, They) is allowed, but it is still recommended to consider gender bias when using them in academic writing.

The antecedent of a pronoun is the noun that the pronoun represents. In English, you will see the antecedent appear both before and after the pronoun, even though it is usually mentioned in the text before the pronoun. The students could not complete the work on time because they procrastinated for too long. Before he devoured a big burger, Michael looked a bit nervous.

The Antecedent of a Pronoun

Make sure the antecedent is evident and explicit whenever you use a pronoun in a sentence. You may want to replace the pronoun with the noun to eliminate any vagueness.

• After the production and the car’s mechanical inspection were complete, it was delivered to the owner.

In the above sentence, it is unclear what the pronoun “it” is referring to.

• After the production and the car’s mechanical inspection was complete, the car was delivered to the owner.

Use of First Person Pronouns (I, We) in Academic Writing

The use of first-person pronouns, such as “I” and “We”, is a widely debated topic in academic writing.

While some style guides, such as ‘APA” and “Harvard”, encourage first-person pronouns when describing the author’s actions, many other style guides discourage their use in academic writing to keep the attention to the information presented within rather than who describes it.

Similarly, you will find some leniency towards the use of first-person pronouns in some academic disciplines, while others strictly prohibit using them to maintain an impartial and neutral tone.

It will be fair to say that first-person pronouns are increasingly regular in many forms of academic writing.  If ever in doubt whether or not you should use first-person pronouns in your essay or assignment, speak with your tutor to be entirely sure.

Avoid overusing first-person pronouns in academic papers regardless of the style guide used. It is recommended to use them only where required for improving the clarity of the text.

If you are writing about a situation involving only yourself or if you are the sole author of the paper, then use the singular pronouns (I, my). Use plural pronouns (We, They, Our) when there are coauthors to work.

Avoiding First Person Pronouns

You can avoid first-person pronouns by employing any of the following three methods.

There are advantages and disadvantages of each of these three strategies. For example, passive voice introduces dangling modifiers, which can make your text unclear and ambiguous. Therefore, it would be best to keep first-person pronouns in the text if you can use them.

In some forms of academic writing, such as a personal statement and reflective essay, it is completely acceptable to use first-person pronouns.

The Problem with the Editorial We

Avoid using the first person plural to refer to people in academic text, known as the “editorial we”. The use of the “editorial we” is quite common in newspapers when the author speaks on behalf of the people to express a shared experience or view.

Refrain from using broad generalizations in academic text. You have to be crystal clear and very specific about who you are making reference to. Use nouns in place of pronouns where possible.

• When we tested the data, we found that the hypothesis to be incorrect.
• When the researchers tested the data, they found the hypothesis to be incorrect.
• As we started to work on the project, we realized how complex the requirements were.
• As the students started to work on the project, they realized how complex the requirements were.

If you are talking on behalf of a specific group you belong to, then the use of “we” is acceptable.

• It is essential to be aware of our own
• It is essential for essayists to be aware of their own weaknesses.
• Essayists need to be aware of their own

Use of Second Person Pronouns (You) in Academic Writing

It is strictly prohibited to use the second-person pronoun “you” to address the audience in any form of academic writing. You can rephrase the sentence or introduce the impersonal pronoun “one” to avoid second-person pronouns in the text.

• To achieve the highest academic grade, you must avoid procrastination.
• To achieve the highest academic grade, one must avoid procrastination.
• As you can notice in below Table 2.1, all participants selected the first option.
• As shown in below Table 2.1, all participants selected the first option.

Use of Third Person Pronouns (He, She, They) in Academic Writing

Third-person pronouns in the English language are usually gendered (She/Her, He/Him). Educational institutes worldwide are increasingly advocating for gender-neutral language, so you should avoid using third-person pronouns in academic text.

In the older academic text, you will see gender-based nouns (Fishermen, Traitor) and pronouns (him, her, he, she) being commonly used. However, this style of writing is outdated and warned against in the present times.

You may also see some authors using both masculine and feminine pronouns, such as “he” or “she”, in the same text, but this generally results in unclear and inappropriate sentences.

Considering using gender-neutral pronouns, such as “they”, ‘there”, “them” for unknown people and undetermined people. The use of “they” in academic writing is highly encouraged. Many style guides, including Harvard, MLA, and APA, now endorse gender natural pronouns in academic writing.

On the other hand, you can also choose to avoid using pronouns altogether by either revising the sentence structure or pluralizing the sentence’s subject.

• When a student is asked to write an essay, he can take a specific position on the topic.
• When a student is asked to write an essay, they can take a specific position on the topic.
• When students are asked to write an essay, they are expected to take a specific position on the topic.
• Students are expected to take a specific position on the essay topic.
• The writer submitted his work for approval
• The writer submitted their work for approval.
• The writers submitted their work for approval.
• The writers’ work was submitted for approval.

Make sure it is clear who you are referring to with the singular “they” pronoun. You may want to rewrite the sentence or name the subject directly if the pronoun makes the sentence ambiguous.

For example, in the following example, you can see it is unclear who the plural pronoun “they” is referring to. To avoid confusion, the subject is named directly, and the context approves that “their paper” addresses the writer.

• If the writer doesn’t complete the client’s paper in time, they will be frustrated.
• The client will be frustrated if the writer doesn’t complete their paper in due time.

If you need to make reference to a specific person, it would be better to address them using self-identified pronouns. For example, in the following sentence, you can see that each person is referred to using a different possessive pronoun.

The students described their experience with different academic projects: Mike talked about his essay, James talked about their poster presentation, and Sara talked about her dissertation paper.

Ensure Consistency Throughout the Text

Avoid switching back and forth between first-person pronouns (I, We, Our) and third-person pronouns (The writers, the students) in a single piece. It is vitally important to maintain consistency throughout the text.

For example, The writers completed the work in due time, and our content quality is well above the standard expected. We completed the work in due time, and our content quality is well above the standard expected. The writers completed the work in due time, and the content quality is well above the standard expected.“

How to Use Demonstrative Pronouns (This, That, Those, These) in Academic Writing

Make sure it is clear who you are referring to when using demonstrative pronouns. Consider placing a descriptive word or phrase after the demonstrative pronouns to give more clarity to the sentence.

For example, The political relationship between Israel and Arab states has continued to worsen over the last few decades, contrary to the expectations of enthusiasts in the regional political sphere. This shows that a lot more needs to be done to tackle this.            The political relationship between Israel and Arab states has continued to worsen over the last few decades, contrary to the expectations of enthusiasts in the regional political sphere. This situation shows that a lot more needs to be done to tackle this issue.

Frequently Asked Questions

What are the 8 types of pronouns.

The 8 types of pronouns are:

• Personal: Refers to specific persons.
• Demonstrative: Points to specific things.
• Interrogative: Used for questioning.
• Possessive: Shows ownership.
• Reflexive: Reflects the subject.
• Reciprocal: Indicates mutual action.
• Relative: Introduces relative clauses.
• Indefinite: Refers vaguely or generally.

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First-Person Pronouns

Use first-person pronouns in APA Style to describe your work as well as your personal reactions.

• If you are writing a paper by yourself, use the pronoun “I” to refer to yourself.
• If you are writing a paper with coauthors, use the pronoun “we” to refer yourself and your coauthors together.

Referring to yourself in the third person

Do not use the third person to refer to yourself. Writers are often tempted to do this as a way to sound more formal or scholarly; however, it can create ambiguity for readers about whether you or someone else performed an action.

Correct: I explored treatments for social anxiety.

Incorrect: The author explored treatments for social anxiety.

First-person pronouns are covered in the seventh edition APA Style manuals in the Publication Manual Section 4.16 and the Concise Guide Section 2.16

Editorial “we”

Also avoid the editorial “we” to refer to people in general.

Incorrect: We often worry about what other people think of us.

Instead, specify the meaning of “we”—do you mean other people in general, other people of your age, other students, other psychologists, other nurses, or some other group? The previous sentence can be clarified as follows:

Correct: As young adults, we often worry about what other people think of us. I explored my own experience of social anxiety...

When you use the first person to describe your own actions, readers clearly understand when you are writing about your own work and reactions versus those of other researchers.

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May 22, 2014

“me, me, me”: how to talk about yourself in an apa style paper.

Any sleep-deprived student knows those papers don’t write themselves. A living, breathing, person must produce the words on the page, and in certain contexts, you have to acknowledge that fact in the text itself. Let’s go through several cases of how to write about yourself in an APA Style paper.

General Use of I or We

It is totally acceptable to write in the first person in an APA Style paper. If you did something, say, “I did it”—there’s no reason to hide your own agency by saying “the author [meaning you] did X” or to convolute things by using the passive “X was done [meaning done by you].”  If you’re writing a paper alone, use I as your pronoun. If you have coauthors, use we .

However, avoid using we to refer to broader sets of people—researchers, students, psychologists, Americans, people in general, or even all of humanity—without specifying who you mean (a practice called using the editorial “we” ). This can introduce ambiguity into your writing.

For example, if you are writing about the history of attachment theory, write “Researchers have studied attachment since the 1970s” rather than “We have studied attachment since the 1970s.” The latter may allow the reader to erroneously believe that you have personally studied attachment for the last 40 years (which may be difficult for those dear readers under 40).

If you want to refer to yourself as well as a broader group, specify to whom we refers. Write “As young adults in college, we are tasked with learning to live independent lives” not “We are tasked with learning to live independent lives.” By stating that we refers here to young adults in college, readers understand the context (which could otherwise be any number of groups tasked with the same, such as individuals with developmental disabilities or infants).

Use of I or We in Personal Response or Reaction Papers

A common assignment in psychology classes is the personal response or reaction paper. The specifications of these assignments vary, but what they all have in common is that you are supposed to critique and/or give your personal thoughts about something you have read. This necessitates using the first person. In the professional psychology world, a similar type of paper exists, and it is called a Comment or a Reply.

The excerpt below illustrates how the first person should be used to express personal opinions. Here, South and DeYoung (2013), the authors, respond to papers by Hopwood (2013) and Skodol and Krueger (2013).

Notice how the authors state their opinions and reactions: They use plain, straightforward language. If you are tasked with writing a personal response paper, you can do the same. The authors have also used the pronoun we because there are two of them; if a single author had written this passage, she or he would have used the pronoun I .

It’s less hard than you might think to write about yourself in APA Style. Own your opinions by using the appropriate pronouns. If you have further questions about this topic, please leave a comment.

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Single author scientific paper, 'we' or 'I'?

I am authoring a single author paper. Usually when referring to oneself in a paper, 'we' is used. In single author papers I found both 'we' and 'I' (e.g., 'here we/I report xyz').

Which one is stylistically better? To me 'we' seems odd when I read a single author paper.

• scientific-publishing

• 5 Already answered here: academia.stackexchange.com/questions/2945/… –  Dan Romik Commented Nov 23, 2016 at 16:58
• I think your question has more to do with the fact that it's a scientific paper than the appropriateness of writing style. –  user6035379 Commented Nov 23, 2016 at 19:17
• @DanRomik thank you for that link, this basically answered my question. –  Dahlai Commented Nov 24, 2016 at 10:28
• What did you use finally? We or I? I think I am encountering the same problem here. –  Lin Cheng Commented Aug 3, 2020 at 21:27
• I followed @DanRomik's and Monical Cellio's suggestions –  Dahlai Commented Aug 5, 2020 at 7:55

5 Answers 5

The convention in scientific writing, at least in the hard sciences, is to avoid "I" even for single-author papers. I suspect (but can't prove) that this is why you see so much passive voice in such papers ("the doohickey was then frobitzed to induce a somethingorother reaction").

According to this well-received answer on Academia , you can view use of "we" as an editorial "we" or "we, as in the author and the readers". The latter approach works better for descriptive writing ("we see the following results...") than reporting ("we did X").

Ultimately you should base your decision on the submission requirements of the institution where you intend to publish the paper. But in general, "I" is uncommon, "we" is used even for single-author papers, and you can use "we" in a way that doesn't have to seem weird.

If it's a single author, use I. I is for singular, and if you are doing the research and all that stuff by yourself, then take credit, unless someone's helped you. If you use "we", then there must be more people other than you doing the research, or someone has been helping you.

Check here for more information.

If you are the only one behind the research and the writing behind the paper, I is a singular term and should therefore should be used instead of we. There is no "we" behind the paper if there was only one person masterminding the project. Although, If this was a formal Scientific paper, It Usually is incorrect to refer to ones self during the script; the point is to present your point, not the fact that you found it(although if you found something completely unique and incredibly interesting, by all means, announce the fact of your hand behind the discovery-outside of the paper.)

I would like to add to this debate (and maybe introduce some updated information) by pointing out that the American Psychological Association (APA) appears to recommend the first-person singular for works authored by a single person.

Furthermore, they problematize the use of third-person constructions (e.g., "The author ...").

https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/grammar/first-person-pronouns

So most scientific papers are written with multiple voices. In the introduction the problem is discussed and the writing will refer to "This Study" or "This experiment" if it must refer to narrative person.

The second part describes the steps taken to get the results which will be discussed further in the paper. As this section is written as a set of instructions, the second person imperative voice is used, often with an implied "you" as the subject of the sentance (you do not write "you" but skip the subject and write the imperative verb.).

The next section is the results which is written in the form of a third person objective voice. In Third Person Objective, the writer should describe only the information that can be observed with the sense. This is often refered to as "Third Person Roving Camera" as most audio-visual media rely on Third Person Objective.

Finally, the conclusion should return to the same voice as the introduction. The conclusion should refer to the conclusion of the experiment and rely soley on the results as the basis of any statements made. The narrator should not speculate but merely states that the result sets do not support a conclusion to any questions or that the question asked is outside of the scope of the experiment or study.

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How To Avoid Using “We,” “You,” And “I” in an Essay

• Posted on October 27, 2022 October 27, 2022

Maintaining a formal voice while writing academic essays and papers is essential to sound objective. 

One of the main rules of academic or formal writing is to avoid first-person pronouns like “we,” “you,” and “I.” These words pull focus away from the topic and shift it to the speaker – the opposite of your goal.

While it may seem difficult at first, some tricks can help you avoid personal language and keep a professional tone.

Let’s learn how to avoid using “we” in an essay.

What Is a Personal Pronoun?

Pronouns are words used to refer to a noun indirectly. Examples include “he,” “his,” “her,” and “hers.” Any time you refer to a noun – whether a person, object, or animal – without using its name, you use a pronoun.

Personal pronouns are a type of pronoun. A personal pronoun is a pronoun you use whenever you directly refer to the subject of the sentence. 

Take the following short paragraph as an example:

“Mr. Smith told the class yesterday to work on our essays. Mr. Smith also said that Mr. Smith lost Mr. Smith’s laptop in the lunchroom.”

The above sentence contains no pronouns at all. There are three places where you would insert a pronoun, but only two where you would put a personal pronoun. See the revised sentence below:

“Mr. Smith told the class yesterday to work on our essays. He also said that he lost his laptop in the lunchroom.”

“He” is a personal pronoun because we are talking directly about Mr. Smith. “His” is not a personal pronoun (it’s a possessive pronoun) because we are not speaking directly about Mr. Smith. Rather, we are talking about Mr. Smith’s laptop.

If later on you talk about Mr. Smith’s laptop, you may say:

“Mr. Smith found it in his car, not the lunchroom!” 

In this case, “it” is a personal pronoun because in this point of view we are making a reference to the laptop directly and not as something owned by Mr. Smith.

Why Avoid Personal Pronouns in Essay Writing

We’re teaching you how to avoid using “I” in writing, but why is this necessary? Academic writing aims to focus on a clear topic, sound objective, and paint the writer as a source of authority. Word choice can significantly impact your success in achieving these goals.

Writing that uses personal pronouns can unintentionally shift the reader’s focus onto the writer, pulling their focus away from the topic at hand.

Personal pronouns may also make your work seem less objective. 

One of the most challenging parts of essay writing is learning which words to avoid and how to avoid them. Fortunately, following a few simple tricks, you can master the English Language and write like a pro in no time.

Alternatives To Using Personal Pronouns

How to not use “I” in a paper? What are the alternatives? There are many ways to avoid the use of personal pronouns in academic writing. By shifting your word choice and sentence structure, you can keep the overall meaning of your sentences while re-shaping your tone.

Utilize Passive Voice

In conventional writing, students are taught to avoid the passive voice as much as possible, but it can be an excellent way to avoid first-person pronouns in academic writing.

You can use the passive voice to avoid using pronouns. Take this sentence, for example:

“ We used 150 ml of HCl for the experiment.”

Instead of using “we” and the active voice, you can use a passive voice without a pronoun. The sentence above becomes:

“150 ml of HCl were used for the experiment.” 

Using the passive voice removes your team from the experiment and makes your work sound more objective.

Take a Third-Person Perspective

Another answer to “how to avoid using ‘we’ in an essay?” is the use of a third-person perspective. Changing the perspective is a good way to take first-person pronouns out of a sentence. A third-person point of view will not use any first-person pronouns because the information is not given from the speaker’s perspective.

A third-person sentence is spoken entirely about the subject where the speaker is outside of the sentence.

Take a look at the sentence below:

“In this article you will learn about formal writing.”

The perspective in that sentence is second person, and it uses the personal pronoun “you.” You can change this sentence to sound more objective by using third-person pronouns:

“In this article the reader will learn about formal writing.”

The use of a third-person point of view makes the second sentence sound more academic and confident. Second-person pronouns, like those used in the first sentence, sound less formal and objective.

Be Specific With Word Choice

You can avoid first-personal pronouns by choosing your words carefully. Often, you may find that you are inserting unnecessary nouns into your work. 

Take the following sentence as an example:

“ My research shows the students did poorly on the test.”

In this case, the first-person pronoun ‘my’ can be entirely cut out from the sentence. It then becomes:

“Research shows the students did poorly on the test.”

The second sentence is more succinct and sounds more authoritative without changing the sentence structure.

You should also make sure to watch out for the improper use of adverbs and nouns. Being careful with your word choice regarding nouns, adverbs, verbs, and adjectives can help mitigate your use of personal pronouns. 

“They bravely started the French revolution in 1789.” 

While this sentence might be fine in a story about the revolution, an essay or academic piece should only focus on the facts. The world ‘bravely’ is a good indicator that you are inserting unnecessary personal pronouns into your work.

We can revise this sentence into:

“The French revolution started in 1789.” 

Avoid adverbs (adjectives that describe verbs), and you will find that you avoid personal pronouns by default.

Closing Thoughts

In academic writing, It is crucial to sound objective and focus on the topic. Using personal pronouns pulls the focus away from the subject and makes writing sound subjective.

Hopefully, this article has helped you learn how to avoid using “we” in an essay.

When working on any formal writing assignment, avoid personal pronouns and informal language as much as possible.

While getting the hang of academic writing, you will likely make some mistakes, so revising is vital. Always double-check for personal pronouns, plagiarism , spelling mistakes, and correctly cited pieces. 

 You can prevent and correct mistakes using a plagiarism checker at any time, completely for free.

Quetext is a platform that helps you with all those tasks. Check out all resources that are available to you today.

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Is it acceptable to use “we” in scientific papers?

Some of us were taught in school that the use of first-person personal pronouns makes scientific writing subjective. But it’s not true. Using we or I in a research paper does not always shift the spotlight away from the research. And writing in the third person or using passive voice does not make a piece of research writing objective. So, if a reviewer or thesis advisor tells you to remove all first-person references from your manuscript, know that it is not incorrect to use I or we in a paper, despite what many people believe.

So, the short answer to the question in the title is yes. It is acceptable to use we in your paper to refer to you and your co-authors. Whether you use first person pronouns or not is a writing style choice.

Of course, if your publisher’s guidelines for authors say “don’t use I or we in your manuscript”, avoid using I or we when there are valid alternatives. When the publication of your paper is at stake, don’t argue with the journal editor on matters of writing style. It’s not worth the candle. The good news is that most peer-reviewed journals allow the use of first-person pronouns.

The authorial we (or I ) in scientific papers is not only acceptable but also effective in some cases—for example, when passive voice may introduce ambiguity . For example, compare these two sentences:

Three analyses were conducted by the researchers.

We conducted three analyses.

In the first sentence, it is not clear who the researchers are. Are they the authors of the study or other researchers? However, there is no ambiguity in the second sentence.

Also, it’s natural to write in the first person about a research you and your co-authors personally conducted. Compare

We found an old manuscript

The authors of this paper found an old manuscript

an old manuscript was found .

Finally, writing in the first person is more persuasive than writing impersonal prose, as Helen Sword says in Stylish Academic Writing :

“When we muzzle the personal voice, we risk subverting our whole purpose as researchers, which is to foster change by communicating new knowledge to our intended audience in the most effective and persuasive way possible.”

If you’re not sure whether you should use we in scientific writing, write in a way you’re comfortable with. But avoid awkward expressions such as to the best knowledge of the authors of this paper or the analysis conducted by the authors of this study . Sometimes there is no better option than using first-person pronouns in academic writing. Finally, if you still have doubts, get other people’s opinion.

Do you need a freelance editor for a scientific paper? Send me a message at [email protected].

About Cristina N.

A freelance editor and writer with a keen interest in science, nature, and communication, I love to craft articles that help and inspire people.

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Aim: help and inspire people to improve their written communications.

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Style Question: Use of "we" vs. "I" vs. passive voice in a dissertation

As I'm not a native speaker and just finishing my dissertation in Computer Science, I wonder what style I should be using. In German (my native tongue) most dissertations, school-books and scientific writing use third person or passive voice to sound 'objective'. I know that passive voice in English should be avoided. In most of my publications I use "we" (e.g. "we can improve the recognition rate by ...").

For the dissertation, as it is my work, should I prefer "I" over "we"? I don't like the idea too much, as it sounds pretentious to me. Currently, I want use first person singular for the contributions section and first person plural for the rest. I try to avoid passive as often as possible. Is this acceptable?

• writing-style
• passive-voice

• 13 It might be worth reflecting a bit more on the premise that you "should" avoid the passive. –  Neil Coffey Commented Feb 20, 2011 at 4:42
• "We can improve the recognition rate..." could be phrased actively with "Our novel algorithm based on this cool heuristic improves the recognition rate." –  Fuhrmanator Commented Feb 27, 2013 at 15:47
• 1 Nothing irks me more when reviewing a student's thesis than seeing it peppered with "we", making it impossible to identify which work a student actually did themself. But people feel obliged to use "we" to avoid "I", which seems perverse. See academia.stackexchange.com/questions/5500/… for opinions specific to academia. –  beldaz Commented Jul 8, 2016 at 23:44
• This is what dissertation supervisors are for. They should lay it out for you. If they don't, pick one ( we, one, I, etc) and stick to it throughout. –  John Lawler Commented Jan 17, 2023 at 2:01

5 Answers 5

You should probably consult a faculty member, or look at papers in your own field, in order to decide anything definitively. These kinds of conventions can vary within fields and subfields, so you should see what your peers do.

In my field, using I in a paper is something to be avoided whenever possible, by using the passive voice, the pronoun one , or by restructuring the sentence so that the author doesn't need to be referenced. We is more common than I , although it is normally restricted to papers with more than one author.

You are right that German generally favors passive voice much more than in English. However, the main place where I have found that passive voice is more accepted in English is in formal academic writing.

• 1 However, if you're on your own and already wrote your paper using we , just add F. D. C. Willard as a co-author. –  Mitja Commented Apr 11, 2017 at 13:59
• Wise advice, Kosmonaut. Ultimately, one would hope (there I go) that supervisors and assessors would not judge the quality of a research or examination paper by whether the reasoning is objective rather than whether the style 'feels' objective. The active/passive issue was an obsession when I was at university 60 years ago. It is a matter of style. All the same, check with the supervisor/assessor and in this follow the system if there is one. –  Tuffy Commented Jan 16, 2023 at 22:32

Most of the responses to such questions are based upon tradition, or what someone else has told them. Just as with much other English usage, this can and has resulted in some weird conventions. I believe people defer to "we" because it is predominant in modern scientific literature, but only because most articles are the joint work of more than one person.

I think much depends upon the context. If something can be said generally, "we" or "one" seem most appropriate: "One can find many instances of dogmatic conventions in the literature". For a multi author paper it is easy to choose "we" when describing the work or opinions of the authors. But in a single author publication (especially a thesis) it seems perverse to use "we" instead of "I", and can lead to confusion over the author's actual contributions.

The one downside is that using "I" can draw attention to the fact that only one person was involved in the work. In many scientific disciplines this is a bit of a red flag: unless the author has a strong reputation, the work of a single person is evidence of insufficient collaboration with other experts.

One uses the word "one" to avoid both the first person and passive voice.

One improves the recognition rate by…

It isn't clear to me whether it is your aim to avoid to the first person or to use it, but in an unpretentious way.

If the former, you can use "the researcher." For the latter, I think "we" sounds better, but you might do well to look at some similar dissertations in your field and follow what you find in those. You could also ask the advice of your dissertation sponsor/adviser.

Many English speakers, especially in North America, do not prefer using the passive style. I do not know why. In my language (I am a native speaker of Arabic) we use less passives. Nevertheless, whether in English or Arabic or any other language, I do not think we should be prescriptive about this structure. Just let's use it when we feel it is appropriate. I am a student of Engineering and I am writing my project soon. I asked many graduates students about the use of passive, and they said it is a must in our field.

I have been told that my writing style is "not good enough". My understanding is that, to write my PhD thesis in Engineering, I should describe my work using a gramatical style such as

I need to start thinking of myself as "we"; as though I had an imaginary friend; or as an independent observer of myself.

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What to use instead of academic 'we' when describing an experiment?

My research is in software engineering, but in a sub-field which is very close to social science. My papers normally contain sentences like "We conducted a study with 56 participants." and "Our previous study showed that [some assumptions are true]" and "We chose to use Cramer's V as the association measure, because [explanation why we thought it is better than other association measures]".

Now that I am close to my Ph.D. thesis, I am writing more texts alone, and the thesis is legally required to be my own work. So "we" is factually wrong. But using "I" feels immodest, and it is certainly unusual. But I don't know how to change my texts to avoid it.

I can't imagine how to apply the advice from that other answer to my case. "One conducted a study with 56 participants"? "The conducted study had 56 participants"? "A study was conducted, with 56 participants"? Unlike describing a mathematical proof, these sentences sound terrible. And how to explain my decision to use Cramer's V, when it is based on personal opinion?

Any advice how to deal with the matter outside of the world of mathematical proofs?

Another example why "I" might be needed. It is not only vanity; in the not-so-exact sciences there is sometimes lots of leeway involved. Say that I code some data. This is a very subjective process, and can be error prone. It is important for the readers to know that a coding was done by a single person, as this is considered less reliable than having somebody else repeat it and discuss any differences, and also because the coder has to take responsibility for any unusual decisions or errors.

There is a more general question on the same topic. But the accepted and highly-upvoted answer is from the point of view of a mathematician, it says that the writing style is best constrained to declarative sentences such as "Since p, it follows that q.".

• publications

• I am almost sure this is duplicate of academia.stackexchange.com/q/2945/546 . The only difference I can tell is that you're working on PhD thesis. Have you talked to your advisor yet? –  Nobody Commented Jan 4, 2014 at 11:07
• 1 @scaaahu it is a dupe, thank you for pointing it out. But the answers there don't help me, as the highly upvoted one assumes that I am making a proof. I can't say "One performed a study with 56 participants", etc. :( Maybe I will think of ways to re-write my question. –  rumtscho Commented Jan 4, 2014 at 11:15
• 4 @scaahu I rewrote it completely, to point out how it differs from the situation to which the answer of the other question applies –  rumtscho Commented Jan 4, 2014 at 11:31
• The study included 56 participants. For each sentence, identify the key verb. You are off track because you have focused on conducted as the key verb. Maybe you can aso avoid mentioning a person if you make the subject the study or the paper. –  Dawn Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 3:13

9 Answers 9

The use of the authorial 'we' is very common in academia even for single-author papers, as argued by many and properly referenced in the other question that you mention.

Personally, I would keep 'we' also for the thesis without bothering. I doubt anyone would misunderstand, but if you wish you can include a quick remark in the introduction: something like Despite the use of the 'authorial we', common in academia, this thesis is the sole work of its author . In many cases you are required to state that you are the only author anyway in some boilerplate forms in the front matter.

This looks much better to my eye than changing every sentence to a contorted passive form. Readability matters.

• Related: math.stackexchange.com/questions/1305775/… –  Pacerier Commented Sep 19, 2015 at 14:22

There are customs and habits that differ between disciplines, between research groups and between individuals. I would endeavour to claim that the trend is away from passive phrased (e.g. "was made" etc.) to active we and I but perhaps also from royal we's and expressions such as "this author" in favour for being to the point using "I". The key, however, lies in how the "I" is used. (in fact, "this author" may even be confused by the author of the latest referenced paper)

If you write a paper you can safely use I whenever you report on things you in particular have done. In methods sections, it concerns the choices of methods you (and nobody else) has made and in the results section it concerns the results you (and nobody else) has obtained and your choice which ones to highlight. In the discussion section you can use "I" whenever you make a point that you stand by, you can use we in parts where you perform a discussion with the reader; we meaning you and the reader. In short, the "I" signals your contributions and puts you (and nobody else) on the spot for criticism. So as I see it "I" is not a way to brag (which seems to scare many), it is exposing the fact that you alone stand for what is written.

I suggest you try to find good (recommended by peers) papers written in different styles and think about the styles with the aim of finding your own comfort zone. It is a matter of style, not right and wrong.

To cap off I want to highlight a couple of books that I personally, being a non-native English speaker, have found very useful:

Glasman-Deal, H., 2012. Science research writing for non-native speakers of English. Imperial College Press, London

Day, R.A. & Sakaduski, N., 2011. Scientific English. A guide for scientists and other professionals. Greenwood, Santa Barbara CA

I'm not sure about the conventions in social science, but the problem seems to be very close to what natural scientists face when writing a methods section, i.e., how an experiment was performed. If you look into the publications, you will see that these sections are almost exclusively written in the passive voice. The idea behind it is to take away the focus from the subject performing the experiment, putting more emphasis on tthe process instead. So you examples would become:

• A study with 56 participants was conducted.
• Cramer's V was chosen as the association measure, because...

"Our previous study" is still fine, when the previous study has several authors.

• Yes, that is, "passive voice" in verbs avoids first-person pronouns altogether. –  paul garrett Commented Jan 4, 2014 at 14:42
• Interestingly there is a parallel debate(?) in screenwriting, whether it is appropriate or proper or not to use "we see [character] suddenly jump back." in action text or screen direction. –  DuckMaestro Commented Feb 8 at 11:05

I am in cognitive psychology and frequently use, "In the present investigation." There are sometimes workarounds you can use to avoid passive voice such as, "56 adults participated in this study."

I want to add two thoughts based on APA style . While the passive voice may help in some circumstances (as demonstrated in other answers), overuse of the passive is sometimes considered bad style. The Publication Manual of the APA (6th) even says on page 77:

Prefer the active voice.

Furthermore, the APA manual contains something about attribution on page 69.

Inappropriately or illogically attributing action in an effort to be objective can be misleading.

Thus, if you did something, it may even be misleading if this information is hidden using some stilted writing. And APA explicitly mentions the usage of I for single-author pieces on page 69:

For clarity, restrict your use of we to refer only to yourself and your coauthors (use I if you are the sole author of the paper).

In summary, I think a good balance of passive and active is considered good style, and the usage of I (where appropriate) is slowly becoming acceptable.

If any co-authors, you need to use we since the readers don't know who the I is.

Use I, as needed for sole author pubs. I like I because it is a strong statement--there is a definite person to hold responsible. Don't use "we" if there are no co-authors (what you got a mouse in your pocket?) If you feel too hesitant about a bold I (or get static) than go to passive voice. But a "we" for a sole article is distracting.

Do not use I when it makes more sense to make the objects of the research, the subject of the sentences. For example NOT "I observed pitching as the stall angle was approached", but "the model started pitching near the listed stall angle, about 35 degrees". The reason is not for modesty but because (a) it is tighter writing and (b) the proper attention is on the model in the wind tunnel--your observation is not the point, here.

I recommend to avoid the passive voice, but some people will recommend it or expect it. Certainly if an editor requires it, just do it, don't argue. "The reactants were combined in a boiling flask..." Note, it does have the benefit of putting the attention on the science, not on you as an actor.

Some math writing uses we because the reader is included as an observer in a derivation, "after completing the square, we see...blabla".

I asked my supervisor directly. She said that she is OK with using "I" in the dissertation, but that it is "uncommon" to use it in articles. As she is always a co-author on our papers, I guess none of her students had to deal with the problem in the context of an article anyway :) And because she did not mention internal reports even though I specifically asked about them, I think that she doesn't care what I use in them.

This is just the opinion of one professor, and the answers here show me that there doesn't seem to be a good convention. So, my take-home message from the whole problem would be: ask your professor, he will probably have a position on it and it is wise for you as a student to follow it.

I'm facing the same problem, though in German language/natural science (conventions may vary somewhat).

The main problem with the passive construction is that it doesn't say at all who did it. Consider:

The algorithm was implemented.

How can the reader be sure it was you as opposed to your colleague giving you his code (particulary, if the corresponding paper is authored by multiple coauthors)? I'm told I cannot expect the reader to look up the source where the author is explicitly stated.

So for some (ver key points where I need to make really sure everyone gets the fact that I actually did work myself that is fairly common (e.g. in other groups in my field) to be done by colleagues, collaboration partners, students or technicians I use "I" even though is so uncommon that I get comments about the use of "I".

Assuming that commonly studies like the one with 56 participants have someone planning it, someone (else) doing the experiments/collecting the data, and someone (yet else) analyzing the data: make sure you properly acknowledge the contributions of your collaborators in the acknowledgements.

You can also use constructions like:

A study with 56 participants was conducted [ref]. This thesis focuses on [whichever part you did]

Otherwise, "This thesis shows that..." or

Throughout this thesis, Cramer's V is used as the association measure, because ...

get you a long way.

• For disciplines where passive voice is used, there's an English grammar convention that tells whether you or somebody else performed the work. You: The algorithm was implemented. Somebody else (or you, in a previous paper): The algorithm has been implemented. And of course, if you reference other people's work properly, this will also answer the question. –  Peter Shor Commented Apr 13, 2016 at 14:51
• @PeterShor: good to know. Not knowing this, I've produced papers for a decade that may be misleading... That being said, I'll try to remember this, but considering how many non-native English speakers publish (and not knowing which native languages have a similar concept of using time to denote contributions) I will not rely on this convention when reading papers. I'm anyways a big fan of a "contributions" paragraph at the end of the paper. –  cbeleites Commented Apr 13, 2016 at 15:42

We in PhD thesis typically mean: I am as an author and you as the reader . It is used in the sense that we together explore the topic . And it is just a kind of writing style to incorporate the reader.

Writing "We conducted a study with 56 participants" or "our previous study" can be considered as a bad writing style. Since it has not the same meaning and could be easily transferred in passive voice.

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Words and Phrases to Avoid in Academic Writing

Published on February 6, 2016 by Sarah Vinz . Revised on September 11, 2023.

When you are writing a dissertation , thesis, or research paper, many words and phrases that are acceptable in conversations or informal writing are considered inappropriate in academic writing .

You should try to avoid expressions that are too informal, unsophisticated, vague, exaggerated, or subjective, as well as those that are generally unnecessary or incorrect.

Bear in mind, however, that these guidelines do not apply to text you are directly quoting from your sources (including interviews ).

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Table of contents

Too informal, too exaggerated, too subjective, generally incorrect, other interesting articles.

Academic writing is generally more formal than the writing we see in non-academic materials (including on websites). It is also more formal than the ways in which we normally speak. The following words and phrases are considered too informal for a dissertation or academic paper.

Informal sentence starts

Some words are acceptable in certain contexts, but become too informal when used at the beginning of a sentence. You can replace these with appropriate  transition words  or simply remove them from the sentence.

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Using vague terms makes your writing imprecise and may cause people to interpret it in different ways. Always try to be as specific as possible.

Academic writing is usually unadorned and direct. Some adverbs of frequency (such as always and never ) and intensifiers (words that create emphasis, such as really ) are often too dramatic. They may also not be accurate – you’re making a significant claim when you say something is perfect or never happens.

These terms do sometimes add value, but try to use them sparingly.

Some words and phrases reveal your own bias. For instance, if you state that something will obviously happen, you are indicating that you think the occurrence is obvious – not stating a fact.

Expressing your opinion is appropriate in certain sections of a dissertation and in particular types of academic texts (such as personal statements and reflective or argumentative essays ). In most cases, though, take care when using words and phrases such as those below – try to let the facts speak for themselves, or emphasize your point with less biased language.

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Certain words and phrases are often used incorrectly, even by native speakers of a language. If you’re exposed to such mistakes often enough, you may start to assume they are correct – but it’s important that you don’t let them creep into your writing.

You should also bear in mind that some of these mistakes relate to things we all frequently mishear (for instance, we often think the speaker is saying would of instead of would have ).

In general, you should also try to avoid using words and phrases that fall into the following categories:

• Jargon (i.e., “insider” terminology that may be difficult for readers from other fields to understand)
• Clichés (i.e., expressions that are heavily overused, such as think outside of the box and at the end of the day )
• Everyday abbreviations (e.g., approx. , ASAP, corona, stats, info )
• Slang (e.g., cops , cool )
• Gender-biased language   (e.g., firemen , mankind )
• Generally unnecessary (e.g., redundant expressions that do not add meaning, such as compete with each other instead of simply compete)

Reflective reports and  personal statements  sometimes have a less formal tone. In these types of writing, you may not have to follow these guidelines as strictly. The preface or acknowledgements of a dissertation also often have a less formal and more personal voice than the rest of the document.

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Is it recommended to use "we" in research papers?

1 expert answer.

Megan H. answered • 03/22/19

Professional, Energetic Writing Teacher with 9 Years of Experience

Generally speaking, it is frowned upon to use any first- or second-person pronouns in academic writing (i.e. I, me, my, myself, you, your, yours, yourself, we, us, our, ourselves). That's because in truly scientific writing, your personal identity should play no role in the validity or framing of your research and reporting.

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