can you use past tense in a research paper

Using the right tense

In your scientific paper, use verb tenses (past, present, and future) exactly as you would in ordinary writing. Use the past tense to report what happened in the past: what you did, what someone reported, what happened in an experiment, and so on. Use the present tense to express general truths, such as conclusions (drawn by you or by others) and atemporal facts (including information about what the paper does or covers). Reserve the future tense for perspectives: what you will do in the coming months or years. Typically, most of your sentences will be in the past tense, some will be in the present tense, and very few, if any, will be in the future tense.

Work done We collected blood samples from . . . Groves et al. determined the growth rate of . . . Consequently, astronomers decided to rename . . . Work reported Jankowsky reported a similar growth rate . . . In 2009, Chu published an alternative method to . . . Irarrázaval observed the opposite behavior in . . . Observations The mice in Group A developed , on average, twice as much . . . The number of defects increased sharply . . . The conversion rate was close to 95% . . .

Present tense

General truths Microbes in the human gut have a profound influence on . . . The Reynolds number provides a measure of . . . Smoking increases the risk of coronary heart disease . . . Atemporal facts This paper presents the results of . . . Section 3.1 explains the difference between . . . Behbood's 1969 paper provides a framework for . . .

Future tense

Perspectives In a follow-up experiment, we will study the role of . . . The influence of temperature will be the object of future research . . .

Note the difference in scope between a statement in the past tense and the same statement in the present tense: "The temperature increased linearly over time" refers to a specific experiment, whereas "The temperature increases linearly over time" generalizes the experimental observation, suggesting that the temperature always increases linearly over time in such circumstances.

In complex sentences, you may have to combine two different tenses — for example, "In 1905, Albert Einstein postulated that the speed of light is constant . . . . " In this sentence, postulated refers to something that happened in the past (in 1905) and is therefore in the past tense, whereas is expresses a general truth and is in the present tense.

Choosing between active and passive voice

In English, verbs can express an action in one of two voices. The active voice focuses on the agent: "John measured the temperature." (Here, the agent — John — is the grammatical subject of the sentence.) In contrast, the passive voice focuses on the object that is acted upon: "The temperature was measured by John." (Here, the temperature, not John, is the grammatical subject of the sentence.)

To choose between active and passive voice, consider above all what you are discussing (your topic) and place it in the subject position. For example, should you write "The preprocessor sorts the two arrays" or "The two arrays are sorted by the preprocessor"? If you are discussing the preprocessor, the first sentence is the better option. In contrast, if you are discussing the arrays, the second sentence is better. If you are unsure what you are discussing, consider the surrounding sentences: Are they about the preprocessor or the two arrays?

The desire to be objective in scientific writing has led to an overuse of the passive voice, often accompanied by the exclusion of agents: "The temperature was measured " (with the verb at the end of the sentence). Admittedly, the agent is often irrelevant: No matter who measured the temperature, we would expect its value to be the same. However, a systematic preference for the passive voice is by no means optimal, for at least two reasons.

For one, sentences written in the passive voice are often less interesting or more difficult to read than those written in the active voice. A verb in the active voice does not require a person as the agent; an inanimate object is often appropriate. For example, the rather uninteresting sentence "The temperature was measured . . . " may be replaced by the more interesting "The measured temperature of 253°C suggests a secondary reaction in . . . ." In the second sentence, the subject is still temperature (so the focus remains the same), but the verb suggests is in the active voice. Similarly, the hard-to-read sentence "In this section, a discussion of the influence of the recirculating-water temperature on the conversion rate of . . . is presented " (long subject, verb at the end) can be turned into "This section discusses the influence of . . . . " The subject is now section , which is what this sentence is really about, yet the focus on the discussion has been maintained through the active-voice verb discusses .

As a second argument against a systematic preference for the passive voice, readers sometimes need people to be mentioned. A sentence such as "The temperature is believed to be the cause for . . . " is ambiguous. Readers will want to know who believes this — the authors of the paper, or the scientific community as a whole? To clarify the sentence, use the active voice and set the appropriate people as the subject, in either the third or the first person, as in the examples below.

Biologists believe the temperature to be . . . Keustermans et al. (1997) believe the temperature to be . . . The authors believe the temperature to be . . . We believe the temperature to be . . .

Avoiding dangling verb forms

A verb form needs a subject, either expressed or implied. When the verb is in a non-finite form, such as an infinitive ( to do ) or a participle ( doing ), its subject is implied to be the subject of the clause, or sometimes the closest noun phrase. In such cases, construct your sentences carefully to avoid suggesting nonsense. Consider the following two examples.

To dissect its brain, the affected fly was mounted on a . . . After aging for 72 hours at 50°C, we observed a shift in . . .

Here, the first sentence implies that the affected fly dissected its own brain, and the second implies that the authors of the paper needed to age for 72 hours at 50°C in order to observe the shift. To restore the intended meaning while keeping the infinitive to dissect or the participle aging , change the subject of each sentence as appropriate:

To dissect its brain, we mounted the affected fly on a . . . After aging for 72 hours at 50°C, the samples exhibited a shift in . . .

Alternatively, you can change or remove the infinitive or participle to restore the intended meaning:

To have its brain dissected , the affected fly was mounted on a . . . After the samples aged for 72 hours at 50°C, we observed a shift in . . .

In communication, every detail counts. Although your focus should be on conveying your message through an appropriate structure at all levels, you should also save some time to attend to the more mechanical aspects of writing in English, such as using abbreviations, writing numbers, capitalizing words, using hyphens when needed, and punctuating your text correctly.

Using abbreviations

Beware of overusing abbreviations, especially acronyms — such as GNP for gold nanoparticles . Abbreviations help keep a text concise, but they can also render it cryptic. Many acronyms also have several possible extensions ( GNP also stands for gross national product ).

Write acronyms (and only acronyms) in all uppercase ( GNP , not gnp ).

Introduce acronyms systematically the first time they are used in a document. First write the full expression, then provide the acronym in parentheses. In the full expression, and unless the journal to which you submit your paper uses a different convention, capitalize the letters that form the acronym: "we prepared Gold NanoParticles (GNP) by . . . " These capitals help readers quickly recognize what the acronym designates.

• Do not use capitals in the full expression when you are not introducing an acronym: "we prepared gold nanoparticles by… "
• As a more general rule, use first what readers know or can understand best, then put in parentheses what may be new to them. If the acronym is better known than the full expression, as may be the case for techniques such as SEM or projects such as FALCON, consider placing the acronym first: "The FALCON (Fission-Activated Laser Concept) program at…"
• In the rare case that an acronym is commonly known, you might not need to introduce it. One example is DNA in the life sciences. When in doubt, however, introduce the acronym.

In papers, consider the abstract as a stand-alone document. Therefore, if you use an acronym in both the abstract and the corresponding full paper, introduce that acronym twice: the first time you use it in the abstract and the first time you use it in the full paper. However, if you find that you use an acronym only once or twice after introducing it in your abstract, the benefit of it is limited — consider avoiding the acronym and using the full expression each time (unless you think some readers know the acronym better than the full expression).

Writing numbers

In general, write single-digit numbers (zero to nine) in words, as in three hours , and multidigit numbers (10 and above) in numerals, as in 24 hours . This rule has many exceptions, but most of them are reasonably intuitive, as shown hereafter.

Use numerals for numbers from zero to nine

• when using them with abbreviated units ( 3 mV );
• in dates and times ( 3 October , 3 pm );
• to identify figures and other items ( Figure 3 );
• for consistency when these numbers are mixed with larger numbers ( series of 3, 7, and 24 experiments ).

Use words for numbers above 10 if these numbers come at the beginning of a sentence or heading ("Two thousand eight was a challenging year for . . . "). As an alternative, rephrase the sentence to avoid this issue altogether ("The year 2008 was challenging for . . . " ) .

Capitalizing words

Capitals are often overused. In English, use initial capitals

• at beginnings: the start of a sentence, of a heading, etc.;
• for proper nouns, including nouns describing groups (compare physics and the Physics Department );
• for items identified by their number (compare in the next figure and in Figure 2 ), unless the journal to which you submit your paper uses a different convention;
• for specific words: names of days ( Monday ) and months ( April ), adjectives of nationality ( Algerian ), etc.

In contrast, do not use initial capitals for common nouns: Resist the temptation to glorify a concept, technique, or compound with capitals. For example, write finite-element method (not Finite-Element Method ), mass spectrometry (not Mass Spectrometry ), carbon dioxide (not Carbon Dioxide ), and so on, unless you are introducing an acronym (see Mechanics: Using abbreviations ).

Using hyphens

Punctuating text.

Punctuation has many rules in English; here are three that are often a challenge for non-native speakers.

As a rule, insert a comma between the subject of the main clause and whatever comes in front of it, no matter how short, as in "Surprisingly, the temperature did not increase." This comma is not always required, but it often helps and never hurts the meaning of a sentence, so it is good practice.

In series of three or more items, separate items with commas ( red, white, and blue ; yesterday, today, or tomorrow ). Do not use a comma for a series of two items ( black and white ).

In displayed lists, use the same punctuation as you would in normal text (but consider dropping the and ).

The system is fast, flexible, and reliable.

The system is fast, flexible, reliable.

This page appears in the following eBook

Topic rooms within Scientific Communication

Within this Subject (22)

• Communicating as a Scientist (3)
• Papers (4)
• Correspondence (5)
• Presentations (4)
• Conferences (3)
• Classrooms (3)

Other Topic Rooms

• Gene Inheritance and Transmission
• Gene Expression and Regulation
• Nucleic Acid Structure and Function
• Chromosomes and Cytogenetics
• Evolutionary Genetics
• Population and Quantitative Genetics
• Genes and Disease
• Genetics and Society
• Cell Origins and Metabolism
• Proteins and Gene Expression
• Subcellular Compartments
• Cell Communication
• Cell Cycle and Cell Division

© 2014 Nature Education

• Press Room |
• Terms of Use |
• Privacy Notice |

Visual Browse

Present and Past Tenses Used in Research Papers

• First Online: 30 June 2022

Cite this chapter

• Adrian Wallwork 3  

Part of the book series: English for Academic Research ((EAR))

1408 Accesses

Below are some guidelines on the use of the three most common tenses in research papers: present simple , present perfect , past simple . These guidelines are NOT grammatical rules. The guidelines can be broken. They vary depending on the author, the discipline, and the journal.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save.

• Get 10 units per month
• Download Article/Chapter or eBook
• 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
• Cancel anytime
• Available as EPUB and PDF
• Read on any device
• Instant download
• Own it forever
• Compact, lightweight edition
• Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
• Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

English for Academics, Pisa, Italy

Adrian Wallwork

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Wallwork, A. (2022). Present and Past Tenses Used in Research Papers. In: Essential English Grammar and Communication Strategies. English for Academic Research. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95612-7_11

Download citation

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-95612-7_11

Published : 30 June 2022

Publisher Name : Springer, Cham

Print ISBN : 978-3-030-95611-0

Online ISBN : 978-3-030-95612-7

eBook Packages : Education Education (R0)

Share this chapter

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Publish with us

Policies and ethics

• Find a journal
• Track your research

Verb tenses in scientific writing: Which tense should you use?

If you’re fluent in English, using tenses in scientific writing should come naturally to you. You shouldn’t need to flip through a grammar book, ask a freelance editor, or search online for “methods tense” or “literature review tense”.

But verb tenses may start to haunt you if you’re writing an article for a top peer-reviewed journal and you know you have to get every detail right. For example, you may wonder, What tense should be used in methodology sections? Should the introduction or literature review be written in the present tense or past tense?

In this post I’m going to answer these and other questions on verb tenses in scientific writing to make it easier for you to understand which tenses to use in a research paper.

Past or present tense in a cademic writing? It depends.

There’s  no consensus on how authors should be using verb tenses in scientific writing. Here is a summary of the main recommendations of academic writing experts on tenses in scientific writing.

Literature review verb tense

For the literature review, most academic editors recommend using the past simple or present perfect when talking about past research.

Use the past simple to discuss what was done in the past (the authors collected, investigated, analyzed, etc.).

Use present perfect to talk about findings from previous studies that are still valid today (the author has shown, has demonstrated, etc.).

If you don’t want to use the past simple or present perfect tense in literature review sections, your other option is the present simple tense. This is the so-called literary present.

Writing the literature review in the present simple tense helps simulate an ongoing academic conversation , to which you’re contributing (“Author et al. (2021) find…, discuss…, examine… imply…”).

In summary, what tense should the introduction be written in?

• Past simple or present perfect tense for past research
• Present simple for general truths or for the entire literature review section

Verb tenses in the methodology and results sections

For the methodology, almost all academic writing resources agree that the past simple tense is the logical choice. You are discussing what you did (collected data, analyzed them, and derived your results)—and all of that happened in the past.

However, you may also need to use the present simple tense to refer to figures and tables.

In summary, what tense should methods be written in?

For the methodology section, use these tenses:

• the past simple tense to explain your methods
• the present simple tense to refer to figures or tables

What tense should a discussion be written in?

Tenses for the discussion are similar to those for the introduction:

• past simple or present perfect tense when referring to what you did (past research)
• present simple for general truths or for interpretations of your data

Verb tenses in the conclusion section

For the conclusion, you may need to use several tenses. Again, when referring to general truths or implications of your results, use the present simple. When referring to what you did, use the past simple or present perfect tense.

Use the simple past when discussing the research you completed and is no longer continuing. Use the present perfect when discussing an action that started in the past and is still happening now, or an action that happens regularly.

So, for the conclusion, use these tenses:

• present simple for things that are true at the time of writing, the conclusions of your study, and its implications
• past simple or present perfect tense for past work

Knowing how to use verb tenses in scientific writing is better than imitating other authors

In scientific writing, using verb tenses inconsistently or unnecessarily shifting tenses means sloppy writing. A poorly written manuscript submitted to a peer-reviewed journal will come back with a long list of revisions—if it’s accepted for publication. Hiring a freelance editor for research papers can help you polish your writing style and improve the likelihood that your manuscript will be accepted the second time.

If you don’t want to hire a freelance editor, you may need to edit your own research paper . Mastering verb tenses in scientific writing will help you make the right choice for each section of your paper.

Try to resist the temptation to imitate others’ writing style. It’s common for new authors to learn academic writing the same way they learned to speak: by imitation. They peruse some articles published in their target journal to see what verb tenses other authors used and then make the same choices.

However, this is not such a great idea, because not all published articles are examples of good writing. You risk imitating an author that didn’t pay much attention to verb tenses in scientific writing, or whose work was edited by someone with little experience.

How to choose the right verb tenses for a research paper

If emulating others’ writing style comes with the risk of picking up bad habits, how do you choose the right verb tense to use in a scholarly paper?

Unfortunately, style guides, academic writing books, and academic editors give conflicting advice. A solution to this problem is to follow the recommendations of your university’s writing center if you’re writing a PhD thesis or dissertation. If, however, you’re writing a research paper for a journal, follow its guidelines.

Some publishers may let you choose any style guide as long as you’re consistent. In that case, go with the style popular in your academic field (for example, APA Style in social sciences).

Example: Verb tenses in APA Style

If you need to follow the APA Style, it has precise instructions on using verb tenses in research papers:

• Introduction and literature review: To talk about previous studies, use the past simple or present perfect; for findings that continue to be true, use the present simple.
• Methodology and results: To talk about your methods or results, use the past simple or present perfect.
• Conclusions: Write the conclusions of your research and implications of your findings in the present simple.

Here are some examples to help you understand how to use verb tenses in APA:

• Past simple tense to discuss past work:

Author A (2017) showed that varied populations display similar patterns, but Author B demonstrated that patterns vary wildly

• Present perfect to discuss findings from previous studies that are still valid today:

Other researchers have described similar processes in other environments

• Present simple to express general truths, facts, or ideas accepted today:

Most researchers agree that our species appeared in Africa

• Present perfect or past simple tense to describe your methods and results:

We have observed no variation in the economic growth rate, but found it depends on several factors

• Present simple tense to describe the conclusions and implications of your study:

Our results indicate a strong correlation between A and B, but we need further research in this area

Use the right tenses in scientific writing for clarity

The goal of using the right verb tenses in scientific writing is clarity. So, whether you follow your instincts, your advisor’s suggestions, an editor’s recommendations, or a style guide, aim at clarity and logic. A well-written manuscript will have a better chance of being accepted for publication. Also, it won’t require several rounds of revision to improve its language, meaning you save time and can focus on your science.

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

Related posts:

• Write your research paper outline
• Should I edit my own research paper?
• Academic editing tips I wish I knew as a research scientist

Last revised on 23 June 2022

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.

Why your grammar checker can’t make documents perfect

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

Neagu Raluca-Cristina | VAT Registration Number: IT04535070264

© 2015–2024 Neagu Raluca-Cristina

• PROOFREADING
• TERMS OF SERVICE
• PRIVACY POLICY
• TESTIMONIALS

Stack Exchange Network

Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow , the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.

Q&A for work

Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.

Should I use present or past tense when referring to a (scientific) paper? [duplicate]

Possible Duplicate: What (grammatical) tense to use when doing reference in a paper?

In the two examples below, which tense is preferred?

"Smith (2001) noted that ..." or "Smith (2001) notes that ..."

"The paper established ..." or "The paper establishes ..."

If both forms are equally valid, is it customary to use both forms within a text, or should I stick to one form?

• I think if the information presented in the paper has become common knowledge within the target audience, use the past tense. If not, use present tense (i.e. - if it's likely any significant proportion of your audience are unaware of the information, use present tense because they are only now coming to know it through your reference ). –  FumbleFingers Commented Jan 27, 2012 at 18:26

2 Answers 2

MLA style and others recommend using present tense when citing published sources. Their explanation is that "Smith notes that" is a signal phrase , and that signal phrases should have present tense verbs.

The lone exception seems to be APA style , which "dictates that writers use the past or present past tense when citing previous research," i.e. "Smith (2001) noted" or "Smith (2001) has noted."

If you're governed by APA style, follow their guidelines and use past or present past tense. Otherwise, use present tense.

• Maybe (if present tense is not required by a style) you could use past tense in cases like "Already Socrates (399 BC) noted: '"I know that I know nothing'". –  Stephen Commented Jan 27, 2012 at 19:11
• Signal phrase link leads to a deceptive site according to Firefox –  HRSE Commented Sep 20, 2023 at 8:31
• 1 @HRSE Thanks, changed the link to a known good reference. –  Gnawme Commented Sep 20, 2023 at 22:55

" APA style requires authors to use the past tense or present perfect tense when using signal phrases to describe earlier research, for example, Jones (1998) found or Jones (1998) has found ."

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged phrases tenses or ask your own question .

• Featured on Meta
• Bringing clarity to status tag usage on meta sites
• We've made changes to our Terms of Service & Privacy Policy - July 2024
• Announcing a change to the data-dump process

Hot Network Questions

• What is the purpose of toroidal magnetic field in tokamak fusion device?
• QGIS selecting multiple features per each feature, based on attribute value of each feature
• Difference between "backpedal" and "change your tune"
• Why does the definition of a braided monoidal category not mention the braid equation?
• What does it mean to have a truth value of a 'nothing' type instance?
• What is a transition of point man in French?
• What makes a new chain suck other than a worn cassette?
• Is It Possible to Assign Meaningful Amplitudes to Properties in Quantum Mechanics?
• What majority age is taken into consideration when travelling from country to country?
• What's wrong with my app authentication scheme?
• How to cite a book if only its chapters have DOIs?
• Is my encryption format secure?
• Would donations count as revenue from a free software?
• Were there mistakes in converting Dijkstra's Algol-60 compiler to Pascal?
• Using illustrations and comics in dissertations
• Venus’ LIP period starts today, can we save the Venusians?
• Using the higrī date instead of the Gregorian date
• How would a culture living in an extremely vertical environment deal with dead bodies?
• Power line crossing data lines via the ground plane
• Can I use "Member, IEEE" as my affiliation for publishing papers?
• Is “overaction” an Indian English word?
• Giant War-Marbles of Doom: What's the Biggest possible Spherical Vehicle we could Build?
• Did the United States have consent from Texas to cede a piece of land that was part of Texas?
• Unexpected behaviour during implicit conversion in C

Stack Exchange Network

Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow , the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.

Q&A for work

Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.

Past or present tense, when reporting results?

There are several questions about tense use in paper writing. My question is specific to the results section. What tense should it be used when reporting the results of the paper itself?

"Two groups out of three had a higher incidence of..."

"Group A is taller than group B"

I guess both might work but I can't find any good rule to follow.

• writing-style

• I find writing in different tenses in the same paper annoying (not sure why!). I'd go with In our experiment, group A is taller than group B. But then most of my reporting is more mathematical and more likely to be true for all time. –  Peter K. Commented Jan 7, 2022 at 21:37
• Different fields have different standards for writing. In mathematics, the "best" style is is present tense and imperative ("Do this, then do that"), though many mathematicians write in the first person plural and in the present tense ("We do this, then we do that"). I understand that historians tend to use the historical present tense ("The bread lines are long, and many people starve"), while chemists tend to the past tense in the passive voice ("The beaker was agitated"). I would try to determine the writing standards of your field, and conform to those. –  Xander Henderson Commented Jan 10, 2022 at 13:18

5 Answers 5

There is one important difference between

Group A is taller than group B.

Group A was taller than group B.

When you write in the present tense, you claim that your finding is always true, in the sense of an eternal truth. There is nothing wrong with reporting results in the present tense if that is what you want to express. However, if some other paper reports results that contradict your findings such a general statement quickly becomes wrong.

So scientist usually are careful with what they say, and a statement in the past tense, if it reflects your observations, will always be true in the framework of your paper. Conflicting findings cannot possibly invalidate your statement in any way, because you simply reported how it actually was .

So there is basically no rule that you follow when writing in past tense, it is a decision you take about what you want to express.

The results section, as the name itself suggests, 'reports' the findings. Reporting should take place in the past tense in a passive voice. That would be the first sentence you quote.

Additional thoughts: While the past tense clause is difficult to argue against, some may argue that active voice is easier to read and perhaps should be preferred. It may boil down to preference, and you may have your own, as long as you stay consistent within the section/article. Make sure it does not conflict with reporting, see the other answer on that.

• 1 But the finding are facts, and they "should" be true at all time. In my example group A will always be taller than group B, not just at the time of measurement. –  Herman Toothrot Commented Dec 3, 2021 at 18:21
• 2 @HermanToothrot, note that samples only give "evidence". They don't necessarily give the truth, and certainly not truth for all time if humans are involved. –  Buffy Commented Dec 3, 2021 at 18:24
• @HermanToothrot Well, don't forget we are always reporting what we measur ed , very infrequently would you be reporting static truths. –  Azor Ahai -him- Commented Dec 3, 2021 at 18:24
• @Herman Toothrot Are you sure neither group has acromegaly? Even adults change height. –  Terry Loring Commented Dec 3, 2021 at 19:33
• 3 @HermanToothrot If you have a sample of some population, the past tense helps separate your , say, smokers, from smokers in general. "Smokers were 2 meters tall" carries an implied "in this sample"; "Smokers are 2 meters tall" sounds like an inappropriate generalization to everyone who smokes. I guess if you were writing about history you might introduce an ambiguity again, if you could be understood as "smokers in the 19th century", but that's not a circumstance I've come across in my own writing. –  Bryan Krause ♦ Commented Dec 3, 2021 at 19:45

You can use either (so long as it is clear when your findings were made)

Contrary to other answers here, I see nothing wrong with reporting results in the present tense. When you read old newspapers from a century or two ago, and they write in the present tense, you don't take that to mean that the things in them are still true, and you don't consider it an error on the part of the writer if something they assert is no longer true --- "Even with the arrival of the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, the horse and buggy is still the favoured method of transfort for society ladies".

Any sensible reader of an academic paper understands that the assertions made relate to research conducted at that time and that assertions about the state of the world related to the time and place under consideration in the research. In particular, when you refer to groups of research participants, it is understood that you are referring to a particular group of people as they existed at the time of the research. (If this were not true, how would we ever report age data for such groups?)

I disagree with the other answer here asserting that writing in the present tense makes a claim that something is "eternally true". That is simply ridiculous --- people make assertions in the present tense all the time, and they rarely intend these assertions to contain eternal truths. To the contrary, any sensible reader will interpret writing in the present tense as meaning that the relevant facts are asserted to be correct at the time of the research (i.e., usually about a year or two prior to publication).

In terms of which tense is better, that is contextual, and you will need to use your best judgment as to what sounds clearer and more accurate. Either tense should be legitimate so long as it is clear to the reader (often from context) when the findings were made. Unless there is a good reason to the contrary, present tense will usually be interpreted as referring to the time at which the research was conducted. Past tense is a bit trickier --- depending on context, it might be interpreted in this same way, or it might be interpreted as meaning that the asserted fact was true at some time prior to the research being conducted. If you are using past tense, you should be careful to ensure that you are not implicitly suggesting a contemporaneous change in facts occuring at the time of the research --- e.g., saying "Group A was taller than group B" might suggest that they are no longer taller now.

The results of a paper aren't really observations about how the world is: they are the results of measurements made, or analyses done. I think it's more natural to report these in the past tense, because even when you are writing the paper, the analyses were done in the (hopefully recent) past.

For example, you wouldn't really write

Group A is taller than Group B.

You would write something like

The average height in Group A was 3.7cm [2 SD] greater than the average height in Group B.

I want to write "was" here, because it could be replaced with "was found to be" or "was calculated to be". It is not wrong to say "is", but it feels unnatural to me.

There are some situations where "is" feels more natural - when you're really reporting on something out there which doesn't require any new analyses. For example:

In Smith et al.'s data set, every member of Group A is taller than every member of Group B, which is a striking difference.

The data set is fixed in time and eternal; a "was" here would imply that the data set was corrected later. But we'd write

Smith et al. found a statistically significant difference between the heights of Group A and Group B

because they found this difference in the past.

Both are common. The present tense is more lively and it has one other advantage: It allows you to separate what you did from what previous authors have done. "The chemical reactions are divided into three groups, whereas Adam et al. (2021) divided them into two groups."

Unless an event definitely occurred in the past, such as "the comet impacted Jupiter", I always use the present tense: "The results show ...", "The values are calculated with ...". The choice of tense should be uniform; unnecessarily switching between tenses would be confusing.

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for browse other questions tagged writing writing-style ..

• Featured on Meta
• Bringing clarity to status tag usage on meta sites
• We've made changes to our Terms of Service & Privacy Policy - July 2024
• Announcing a change to the data-dump process

Hot Network Questions

• What are these commands in the code?
• What is the purpose of toroidal magnetic field in tokamak fusion device?
• Where exactly was this picture taken?
• MOSFETs keep shorting way below rated current
• Is the oil level here too high that it needs to be drained or can I leave it?
• 90/180 day rule with student resident permit, how strict it is applied
• What's the airplane with the smallest wingspan to fuselage ratio?
• Simple JSON parser in lisp
• Making wobbly 6x4’ table stable
• Series for Riemann zeta function of odd arguments
• Difference between "backpedal" and "change your tune"
• Did the United States have consent from Texas to cede a piece of land that was part of Texas?
• Does H3PO exist?
• Function to find the most common numeric ordered pairings (value, count)
• Duffing Equation:Transition to Chaos
• Guitar amplifier placement for live band
• What is the meaning of "Exit, pursued by a bear"?
• Why does the definition of a braided monoidal category not mention the braid equation?
• How predictable are the voting records of members of the US legislative branch?
• Garage door not closing when sunlight is bright
• Is It Possible to Assign Meaningful Amplitudes to Properties in Quantum Mechanics?
• What is the legal status of the Avengers before Civil War and after Winter Soldier?
• Is a *magnetized* ferrite less ideal as a core?
• Polar coordinate plot incorrectly plotting with PGF Plots

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• HHS Author Manuscripts

A Guide for Writing in the Scientific Forum

Sandra v. kotsis.

1 Section of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Michigan Health System

Kevin C. Chung

2 Section of Plastic Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Michigan Health System

When considering the importance of scientific writing in disseminating new discoveries and ideas, it is quite remarkable that few physicians have received any formal instruction in this essential process.

This paper focuses on the fundamental principles of scientific writing that also include a “style and grace” component.

The art of good scientific writing is to convey scientific materials in a clear and interesting way, while avoiding incomprehensible sentences that only serve to disguise marginal contents within the article.

Conclusions

The goal of this paper is to encourage authors and readers to critically examine the art of scientific writing to overcome the barrier to effective communication.

Scientific writing is often considered a “necessary evil” in order to ascend the academic ladder. After all, the phrase “publish or perish” is still commonly used. Academic promotion, improving knowledge of a subject, establishing professional contacts, disseminating knowledge, 1 and obtaining grant funding are a few reasons why physicians choose to publish.

Physicians may feel the pressure to publish, but scientific writing is a learned process and one in which few academic physicians have received any formal instruction. 2 - 6 Although scientific writing often has a reputation for being dense or unreadable, 7 - 11 we hope to assist physicians to develop a manuscript that is enjoyable to write and read.

Getting Started

We will assume that you have already completed a well-conducted scientific study and are ready to write up your findings for a peer-reviewed scientific journal. If you are new to scientific writing, it is helpful to have a mentor, particularly an experienced writer in your field who can guide you. If you are writing about a research project, you should have formed a hypothesis to your research question before analyzing any of the data. You will want to do a thorough literature search of your topic so that you are familiar with all published work. Writing an outline may seem elementary, but it can be an important tool to organize your thoughts. 12 Think about what journals you may want to publish in and follow their publication guidelines as far as word count and paper structure. Choosing your journal early on will help you to write for the readers of a specific journal. You do not want to “write down to” your readers or include details that have been published previously, such as an established surgical technique. You also want to think about the conclusions of your paper before you begin to write—the “so what?” question. Why is this project novel? What makes it different from other published studies on this topic? Why is it clinically relevant? Table 1 gives a list of “dos” and “don'ts” for scientific manuscript writing.

Dos and Don'ts for Scientific Manuscript Writing

Writing the Abstract

Although the abstract is the first writing component of a scientific manuscript, it should actually be written last. You should check the format of the journal that you are submitting to, but a structured abstract generally has four sections: Background/Purpose, Methods, Results, and Conclusions. After the rest of the paper has been completed, you can select a sentence or two from the appropriate areas (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion) to include in the aforementioned abstract sections. However, the abstract is not the introduction and should not be cut and pasted from the introduction. An abstract that is identical to the introduction in any paper or grant will be summarily rejected because of the perceived lack of effort to construct a thoughtful synthesis of the materials in the paper. You should be concise and state the purpose usually in one sentence. The emphasis should be placed on the methods and results, which should each be written in three to four sentences. The conclusion can typically be written in two sentences—the first summarizes your findings and the second makes a conclusion. 12 Only data contained in the paper should be included in the abstract—it should not contain any new data. Care should be taken in writing the abstract. Many physicians will not read past the abstract if it is not well-written. Similarly, many readers only need to scan through an abstract to determine whether a manuscript is pertinent to their topic of interest.

Writing the Introduction

Before any writing begins, it is important to perform a thorough literature search. You should be familiar with all the recent advances in your field of study as well as important historical references. “Incomplete, inaccurate, or outdated review of the literature” is one of the common reasons for manuscript rejection. 13 - 15 The Introduction should be written in the present tense. 16 You can begin in the first paragraph by mentioning the most important references and stating the research problem. The second paragraph can elaborate on the magnitude of the problem and unresolved issues. The final paragraph describes the rationale for your study and should end with the purpose: a hypothesis of what you are expecting to find. 12 Examples of elements to include in a well-written manuscript are shown in Table 2 . Of course, before you begin writing or even analyzing your data, you should have developed a hypothesis. Your observed results may not match your expected results when you analyze your data, but we will discuss that in the Discussion section.

Examples of Elements to Include in a Well-Written Scientific Manuscript 41

Writing the Materials and Methods

The traditional sequence of a manuscript is Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion, which has been referred to by the acronym IMRAD. Pollock et al. have suggested drafting the manuscript in the sequence MRDAI. 17 The Methods section should be written in enough detail that another researcher would be able to duplicate your study. 12 In fact, the Methods section is most often responsible for outright rejection of a manuscript 18 because the lack of detail is a common problem. 19 This is the section where you want to state everything you did (controlling for biases, validating research tools) to increase the reliability of your results.

The Methods section should be written in the past tense. 16 To avoid any confusion by the readers, you may want to start by describing the type of study you performed: randomized, prospective, retrospective, case-control, etc. If it is a study involving human subjects, you should state that you obtained Institutional Review Board approval and include the subject inclusion and exclusion criteria. Include how and from where subjects were recruited as well as randomization and blinding procedures. Including patient characteristics such as disease stage or severity and comorbid conditions can help the readers to determine whether the findings of the paper are applicable to their patients of interest. 16 It may be helpful to include a diagram of the number of subjects recruited, how many were excluded, losses to follow-up, or withdrew, and your final sample size. Figure 1 shows an example of a similar diagram from a meta-analysis. Details of the sample are included in the Results, but most journals will require that the previously stated information is included in the Methods. Likewise, preliminary experiments or pilot studies can be included in the Methods section if they helped you to arrive at the methods used in your study. 2 If equipment was used, the equipment manufacturer, model, and calibration methods should be included. It may also be helpful to include a timeline that shows how and when different aspects of the study protocol took place. 12 The final paragraph of the Methods section should describe the statistical analysis. You may need assistance writing this paragraph from your statistician, if you did not perform the analysis yourself. You should include the tests used, the p-value that determined statistical significance, and whether an a priori power analysis was conducted to decide your necessary sample size. The power and sample size calculation is often a neglected area of scientific presentation and should always be performed prior to conducting a study.

A study attrition diagram from a meta-analysis showing the number of references retrieved and excluded from review. 42

(Adapted from Margaliot Z, Haase SC, Kotsis SV, et al. A meta-analysis of outcomes of external fixation versus plate osteosynthesis for unstable distal radius fractures. J Hand Surg. 2005;30A:1185-1201 with permission from Elsevier)

Writing the Results

In writing the Results section, it is important to “only state the facts!” The Results section is not a place to include citations or your interpretation of the data. “Make your point with data, not arguments.” 20 The Results section should be written in the past tense. 12 You should begin by describing the study sample demographic data, which can be done in a simple table. The data reported in a table should not be repeated in the text. Furthermore, tables and figures should stand on their own. You should include a title, legend, and labels for the axes. The readers should be able to determine what the table is about by only looking at it and not having to read any text. Any percentages should include raw numbers so that the readers are not misled by a large percentage (such as 25%) that only came from 1/4 subjects.

It should be noted that the word “significance” only be used to describe statistical significance. You should avoid using significant as a synonym for importance. General phrases such as “showed a trend toward” when results are not statistically significant often tend to signal a poor study design and should be avoided. 2 Also, the word “data” is plural. Thus, it is correct to state, “Our data are…” rather than “Our data is…”

Writing the Discussion

You should begin writing the Discussion by discussing the major findings and relating them to your hypothesis. Did you reject your null hypothesis with your findings or were you unable to reject it? Although being unable to reject your null hypothesis (for example, seeing no significant change between your treatment groups) may seem like a “crash and burn” situation, you can still publish your paper. It has been stated that “Manuscripts describing studies with negative findings are especially tough to get accepted by medical journals, with publication rates generally less than one-third that of manuscripts describing studies with positive findings.” 21 You should describe whether you conducted an a priori power analysis to determine your necessary sample size in order to avoid a beta error (concluding that there is no difference between treatment groups when there is in fact a difference). Chung et al. found that 82% of negative studies in a major hand surgery journal had inadequate statistical power (probability to detect a true difference, if a difference is present) to support their conclusions. 22

Previous studies have shown that physicians, particularly those with no formal education in epidemiology and biostatistics have a limited ability to interpret study results. 23 - 25 However, more than 58% of medical residents use statistical information in the published literature in forming opinions or when making medical decisions. 26 Thus, it is important in the Discussion to spell out the meaning of your statistical findings without appearing condescending to your readers. When describing your study, past tense should be used, but present tense should be used for established knowledge from other investigators. 16

In addition to the meaning of your data, you want to discuss the importance. You should compare and contrast your results to those found in the literature. Care should be taken not to criticize other published work. Similar findings will strengthen your results, but you should still point out how your study differs from previous similar studies. When explaining the study results, it is important to consider all possible explanations rather than just those that fit your preconceived biases. However, you should avoid coming to conclusions that are not supported by your data. Some of the most common criticisms of the Discussion section by editors' and reviewers' involve “coming to erroneous or unsupported conclusions, drawing conclusions disproportionate to the results, uncritically accepting statistical results, and interpreting the findings in a manner not concordant with data reported.” 18 Unless you are absolutely sure that it is true, you should avoid statements such as, “This is the first study to demonstrate…” After all, there are few studies that change the course of scientific progress, but some authors are overly enthusiastic in advertising their study as a seminal contribution. 19 It is also important to discuss the clinical relevance of your findings and how patients or physicians may benefit from them. 27

In the Discussion section, it is essential to address the limitations and strengths of your study. We have stated them in this order rather than as strengths and limitations because it is nice to leave the readers on a good note when he/she finishes reading your paper. Thus, acknowledge your study's limitations first. One limitation may include a lack of generalizability, which often happens when trying to obtain a homogeneous sample. You may use your study's limitations to make suggestions for future research. If not, you should still include suggestions for further research, usually in your concluding section. This last paragraph or last few sentences can also be used to propose ideas for changes to medical practice. 27

Remembering Style and Grace

Throughout the writing and editing process, it is important to remember the style and grace that is needed in writing any good manuscript. First of all, do not make the readers and reviewers work unnecessarily! When reading through your paper, try to keep the reviewers in mind. When a question is left unanswered or is not answered until the Discussion, the readers can get frustrated and give up on your paper entirely. Make it easy on them by explaining early on (usually in the Methods) why you did what you did—whether it was by choice or not. On a similar note, consistently use the same word to describe the same thing in order to provide continuity and avoid confusion. 28 Of course, it is also helpful to have someone else read your manuscript—a colleague and maybe even a layperson. A different set of eyes and a different perspective can point out areas that need clarity.

A few grammatical considerations will assist your readers. Use transitions for flow. “Transitions let the reader know how each sentence relates to the story and how parts of sentences are related.” 28 You should also limit the use of passive language. Although scientists tend to use it because they think that it is objective and do not want to indicate who is conducting a certain action, 28 it becomes quite boring to continually read, “The sutures were removed…” and “The data were analyzed…”

Other grammatical points include writing with precision. Instead of saying that you observed a change, say that you measured an increase or a decrease. 28 Along this point, you should avoid wordiness and using long or unfamiliar words when a commonly used shorter one will convey the same message. 28 Words such as marked, revealed, and demonstrated are overused and have lost their intended meaning. 29 Although it is common for writers, especially inexperienced ones, to try to use “flowery” language, it is best to remember that “less is more.” You can delete unnecessary adjectives and adverbs such as fundamentally, very, and great. You should also examine your writing for wordy phrases such as, “It is often the case that…” 28 or “In our opinion…” If it is not your opinion, it should have a citation attached to it. The words while and since have primary temporal definitions, but while is often used as a synonym for although or whereas and since is commonly used instead of because. 28 Be mindful of these subtleties that can slow down your readers and cause them to misinterpret what you are trying to say.

Well-written paragraphs usually start with making a point in the first sentence and then developing that point throughout the paragraph. Focusing on a single major point in each paragraph allows the readers to follow the author's train of thought. 28

Grantsmanship

Although the focus of this paper has been how to write a scientific manuscript, we have decided to include a section on grant writing. After you have successfully written and published a few papers, you may hope to get funding to conduct your own research and compete in a different arena. An in-depth article on grant writing was written by Chung and Shauver, 30 but we will touch on the basics. In manuscript writing, you have already conducted the research whereas in grant writing, you have probably conducted preliminary research but want to obtain funding to study questions by expanding on that preliminary research. Of course, style and grace are also important in grant writing. The general formats of manuscripts and grants are similar. In manuscripts you have an Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. Likewise, in a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-formatted grant, you have Specific Aims and Research Strategy (incorporating the Significance, Innovation, Approach, and Preliminary Studies/Progress Report). 31 The Introduction corresponds to the Specific Aims where the goals and hypotheses are presented. The research question is the most important section of the grant. 32 , 33 The impact (one of the new NIH review criteria) of your proposed research on the research field should be spelled out for the reviewers in the Specific Aims. The Methods section corresponds to the Approach section. New NIH page limitations have reduced the overall size of the grant, encouraging researchers to be less detail-oriented in describing their methods. The Results section corresponds to the Preliminary Studies/Progress Report. Although a grant does not have a Discussion section per se, your “so what?” question is extremely important to answer the significance of your proposal. The Innovation section should describe whether your proposal introduces novel concepts, approaches, or methodologies. 34

New NIH review criteria consist of an overall impact score that reflects reviewers' “…assessment of the likelihood for the project to exert a sustained, powerful influence on the research field(s) involved…” 34 The five core review criteria remain the same as before, but have been prioritized as Significance, Investigators, Innovation, Approach, and Environment. 34 Guidelines published by the NIH regarding how to prepare for grant writing are similar to manuscript writing, including finding a mentor, preparing an outline, and soliciting feedback from colleagues. 35 As described previously for manuscripts, it is best to make the grant reviewers' lives easy. One way this can be done is by separating each of the review criteria into identifiable sections. You can also get a feel for the questions reviewers might ask, depending on their research interests, by identifying the review committee that your proposal will be directed to and seeing who on that committee will most likely review your proposal. Although you should search the literature to obtain background and see if similar studies have been conducted, you should also search the NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tool (RePORT) to see if similar studies have been funded. 36

General Reminders

There are a few other general reminders to keep in mind. Follow the journal guidelines as far as formatting, line numbering, word limits, figures, and citations. This will save you the time and hassle of having the editor send the paper back to you before it can be sent out for review. Aesthetics is another item to keep in mind. Before submitting (especially when submitting online), preview your paper to be sure that you do not have a heading at the end of a page without text underneath it. If you have large blocks of text, it might be a good idea to add one or more subheadings. Make sure that your font is the same throughout and that you have not overused italics. Some reviewers do not like to see italics because the overuse of italics may signal to the reviewers that the authors consider the materials presented to be too complex for the reviewers to understand. Spell out abbreviations the first time you use them but do not try to avoid word count limitations by bombarding the readers with multiple abbreviations. Non-universal abbreviations force the readers to remember their meanings and substitute the full phrase each time they appear. 29 An abbreviation should be used often enough in the paper, preferably more than 10 times, so that the readers do not forget the meaning. 37

Of course, proofread, proofread, proofread, and use spell check! As previously mentioned, allow someone else to proofread, too. You should also look through your final manuscript and notice your citations. Are you continually citing the same author? If so, this can show bias. Make sure that you are citing a wide range of authors and not reiterating someone else's ideas.

If you have conducted a randomized, controlled clinical trial, you should follow the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) statement. 38 The CONSORT statement requires authors of a randomized, controlled clinical trial to fill out a checklist of the key information that should be included. 16 Figure 2 has a general manuscript checklist of items to include.

Manuscript checklist. 16 (Reprinted with permission from The Annals of Pharmacotherapy, copyright 2001, Harvey Whitney Books Company.)

Although you should be optimistic, you should also remember that there is a chance that your manuscript will be rejected by the journal you initially submit to. The acceptance rate of clinical research-based manuscripts submitted to major biomedical journals is 30-40%. 39 The acceptance rates for journals such as New England Journal of Medicine and JAMA is less than 10%. 16 Even if your manuscript is not accepted, the comments by the reviewers will most likely help you to identify your weaknesses and improve your paper. If your manuscript is accepted with revisions (major or minor) then congratulations! However, you may still have plenty of work to do. In revising, draft a response letter with each reviewer's comments typed out and how you have addressed them. Also state where in the paper the revision can be found (i.e. Methods section, paragraph 2, line 2). Remember to be polite; if you are choosing not to make a suggested revision, you should give a reason for doing so. Although it is not necessary to do every suggested edit, your manuscript will not be looked upon kindly if you choose to make a rebuttal for all or the majority of suggestions.

Although scientific writing can be a long and tedious process, your writing ability will continuously improve. Remember that, “Only the researcher who is competent in the art of written communication can play an active and effective role in contributing to science.” 40

Acknowledgments

Supported in part by a Midcareer Investigator Award in Patient-Oriented Research (K24 AR053120) from the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (to Dr. Kevin C. Chung).

Financial Disclosure: None of the authors has a financial interest in any of the products, devices, or drugs mentioned in this manuscript.

This is a PDF file of an unedited manuscript that has been accepted for publication. As a service to our customers we are providing this early version of the manuscript. The manuscript will undergo copyediting, typesetting, and review of the resulting proof before it is published in its final citable form. Please note that during the production process errors may be discovered which could affect the content, and all legal disclaimers that apply to the journal pertain.

• Universiti Teknologi Malaysia

What tenses should be used in the research paper and thesis? The most concern part is the literature review.

Most recent answer.

Popular answers (1)

Top contributors to discussions in this field

• PlanaltoResearch

• University of Mosul

• Sylhet Agricultural University

• University of the Andes (Venezuela)

• University Sultan Moulay Slimane

Get help with your research

Join ResearchGate to ask questions, get input, and advance your work.

All Answers (14)

Similar questions and discussions

• Asked 24 October 2017

• Asked 14 December 2016

• From 1 to 1.80 represents (strongly disagree).
• From 1.81 until 2.60 represents (do not agree).
• From 2.61 until 3.40 represents (true to some extent).
• From 3:41 until 4:20 represents (agree).
• From 4:21 until 5:00 represents (strongly agree).
•  mean score from 0.01 to 1.00 is (strongly disagree);
•  to 2.00 is (disagree);
• from 2.01 until 3.00 is (neutral);
• 3.01 until 4:00 is (agree);
• mean score from 4.01 until 5.00 is (strongly agree)
• Asked 28 June 2023

• Asked 2 April 2023

• Asked 13 August 2021

• Asked 18 May 2016

• Asked 2 September 2016

• Asked 6 July 2023

• Asked 12 June 2023

Related Publications

• Recruit researchers
• Join for free
• Login Email Tip: Most researchers use their institutional email address as their ResearchGate login Password Forgot password? Keep me logged in Log in or Continue with Google Welcome back! Please log in. Email · Hint Tip: Most researchers use their institutional email address as their ResearchGate login Password Forgot password? Keep me logged in Log in or Continue with Google No account? Sign up

Stack Exchange Network

Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow , the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.

Q&A for work

Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.

Which tense to use in an academic paper when referring to past research?

I am writing a paper in mathematics.

Stone theorems have a long history. B [B78] proved the stone theorem for the B model. C and D [CD14] not only prove a stone theorem for the cake process in random environment, but also have a nice overview of existing results.

(here B, C and D are some names, and 'stone theorem' and 'the cake process' also represent something else, but it is not important for the structure)

Question: is it ok to use a past tense in the first sentence which refers to 1978, but use a present tense in the second sentence which describes something that happened relatively recently, in 2014?

• present-tense
• formal-language

• Even though 2014 is 'relatively recent' , it's still in the past right? –  Varun Nair Commented May 23, 2016 at 11:51
• @VarunKN It is the past indeed, but I had the impression that sometimes in papers people write in the present tense about another paper even though it is clearly in the past. Could something like the historic present be used in this context? –  Sinusx Commented May 23, 2016 at 12:03

2 Answers 2

It's perfectly fine to use the present tense for all research, even going back to ancient times; see here for another question about this.

However, there is a way that you can usefully shift tense in a literature review in a scientific paper. You can use the present tense for recent research that is still a topic of current conversation—especially if your paper extends or contradicts that research. The cut-off point for "recent"—that is, the present—is "present conversation". The present perfect is a convenient way to suggest that the matter is still "open" and that your paper is going to make a contribution to it.

For example, if your paper proves a new stone theorem for the cake process, you could choose the tenses in your literature review like this:

Stone theorems have a long history. As long ago as 1978, B [B1978] proved the stone theorem for the B model. More recently , C and D [CD2014] have proved a stone theorem for the cake process in a random environment. They also provide a nice overview of existing results. In the present paper, we prove that stones in non-random cakes are indigestible.

The past tense suggests that B1978 is mostly of historical interest, a settled matter, now forgotten, or extremely well-known. It's done. Switching to the various forms of the present tense suggests that the research in those tenses is more directly relevant to the "present" paper—that is, yours.

This trick will probably have no effect on non-native speakers, who are usually oblivious to the difference between the simple past and the present perfect. And most native speakers do not consciously understand how they exploit these differences in tenses. But it's a very common technique at the beginning of a presentation to establish the scope of what is to follow. It sets the reader's expectations, even though most readers (and authors) aren't aware of it. You can see "establishing tense" used a lot at the beginning of newspaper stories, where an opening statement in the present perfect tense often indicates the range of time that the story will cover ("Election costs have risen 300% since 2000"), while an opening statement in the simple past tense often suggests a very short time-frame ("Stocks rose 2.1% on light trading [implicitly today ].").

Disciplines which follow the APA's Publications Manual are sternly (and to my mind ludicrously) literal-minded about such temporal references, but to the best of my knowledge everybody else in academe accepts the ancient convention that a text which still 'speaks' to a present-day audience does so in the present tense.

However: if you're going to shift your tense in mid-stream, you should have a reason for doing so, and you should provide it; if you don't, you leave your readers wondering why you shifted—and quite possibly inferring a reason which you did not intend. In your case, for instance, a reader might conclude that B78 is a work of merely historical interest, while CD14 may still be profitably consulted by contemporary readers.

• Another point that strikes me as odd is that the second sentence seems to talk about the author (B) having proven something, while the third sentence seems to talk about what's in the paper (that C and D co-authored), which (besides of the shift of the tense) urged me to re-read the second sentence once again and found that both sentences seem to be about papers rather than authors. –  Damkerng T. Commented May 23, 2016 at 12:48
• @DamkerngT. So in your opinion, you think if one uses past-tense, one is describing the author himself, e.g., what he did at what time, while if one uses present-tense, one is describing the things the author did, e.g., what exactly he did, and why the stuff he did is important. The different tenses lead readers to focus on different 'subjects', or, 'objects'? Am I understanding right? –  Hua Commented May 24, 2016 at 3:27
• @Hua It wasn't quite like that, and you shouldn't read a paper like that. In our case, when I read the second sentence ( B [B78] proved ... ), it's just common sense to read it as "B (an author) proved something", even though [B78] would refer to a specific paper (alpha style). However, when I read the next sentence, C and D [CD14] not only prove ..., but also have a nice overview , even though the verb agreements suggests that the the subject is "C and D", the verb have made me wonder what the writer had in mind when writing that sentence. They can have an overview in a paper, of course. –  Damkerng T. Commented May 24, 2016 at 6:40
• (cont.) but the way it's phrased, it sounds like the authors still have the overview with them, even right now, which made me wonder whether the writer (supposedly our OP) thought of the authors (C and D) or their paper when writing that sentence. -- Note that rephrasing the idea with another verb, provide , as suggested in another answer, can avoid this confusion. –  Damkerng T. Commented May 24, 2016 at 6:43

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for browse other questions tagged tense past-tense present-tense writing formal-language ..

• Featured on Meta
• Bringing clarity to status tag usage on meta sites
• We've made changes to our Terms of Service & Privacy Policy - July 2024
• Announcing a change to the data-dump process

Hot Network Questions

• Is there a "simplest" way to embed a graph in 3-space?
• How to cite a book if only its chapters have DOIs?
• How to allow just one user to use SSH?
• Can police offer an “immune interview”?
• Power line crossing data lines via the ground plane
• Discrete cops and robbers
• Why can't wrong-owner intention refer to a communal bull?
• Where exactly was this picture taken?
• Existence of semi-group with local but not global identity
• Is a *magnetized* ferrite less ideal as a core?
• How would a culture living in an extremely vertical environment deal with dead bodies?
• What's wrong with my app authentication scheme?
• Is my encryption format secure?
• Difference between "backpedal" and "change your tune"
• Age is just a number!
• Is It Possible to Assign Meaningful Amplitudes to Properties in Quantum Mechanics?
• Are there jurisdictions where an uninvolved party can appeal a court decision?
• How did Jason Bourne know the garbage man isn't CIA?
• ambobus? (a morphologically peculiar adjective with a peculiar syntax here)
• Word to classify what powers a god is associated with?
• What was the reason for not personifying God's spirit in NABRE's translation of John 14:17?
• Giant War-Marbles of Doom: What's the Biggest possible Spherical Vehicle we could Build?
• Dial “M” for murder
• Polar coordinate plot incorrectly plotting with PGF Plots