![]() This is why you would now find the usage “In this study, we investigated…” very common. In fact, multidisciplinary SCI-indexed journals like Nature and specialist journals like the American Journal of Botany, in their instructions for authors, state that the active voice is preferred. That is the reason why many authorities are going against this traditional notion and encouraging the use of the active voice, with the view that academic papers should be easy to read and understand. Using the active voice definitely makes the sentence less wordy, more readable, and easier to understand, doesn’t it? Passive: An increase in hardness was demonstrated by all the brittle materials under dynamic indentations compared to measurements under static hardness.Īctive: All the brittle materials demonstrated increased hardness under dynamic indentations compared to measurements under static hardness. However, passive constructions can make the text more wordy and difficult to understand, especially when used in long sentences. ![]() Passive: In this study, a finite element model was used to numerically analyze the thermal responses of WEDM wire electrodes. If you compare the two examples below, you will see that the passive voice sounds impersonal and therefore, more formal than the active.Īctive: In this study, we numerically analyzed the thermal responses of WEDM wire electrodes using a finite element model. Traditionally, this tone was considered favorable for scientific writing and authors were advised to strictly avoid using the active voice, especially the use of first-person references, such as “I”, “we”, “my” and “our”, in their academic research papers. The passive voice lends an impersonal tone to the writing which was perceived to be more objective and formal. ![]() Until recently, it was the norm to use passive construction in scientific writing. In this construction, the phrase “by the authors” can be omitted, which means that the reader already knows or does not need to know who the doer is only the action is important. On the other hand, in the passive voice, the action being performed is emphasized, and the doer may be omitted.Įxample: Experiments were conducted on planetary gear trains (by the authors). Here, the doer (in this case “the authors”) seems important. The active voice refers to a sentence format that emphasizes the doer of an action.Įxample: The authors conducted experiments on planetary gear trains. All sentences in English are either in the active voice or in the passive voice. So, which is preferable, the active or the passive voice?īefore we get to that, let’s understand the difference between these two kinds of construction. So, what should authors do? Should they depart from tradition and stop using the passive voice completely? Would using the active voice lend that scholarly tone to the article? Such questions keep bothering researchers when they write their papers. ![]() Traditionally, the passive voice was used in scientific writing, but in recent times, there has been a shift from this trend, with journals and editors increasingly showing a preference for the active voice. While some writers argue against the use of passive voice in academic writing, others claim it should be used liberally. The usage of active versus passive voice is often a source of confusion in scientific writing.
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