can you use passive voice in a research paper

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How and When to Use Active or Passive Voice in Research Papers

Many young researchers are unsure about when and where to use active or passive voice in research papers. In fact, once you are sure about what to include in your research article, the next big question usually is how to include this information and which writing voice to use.  

Being uncertain about whether to use the active or passive voice in research papers is actually quite common. The simple answer is that usage and preference of one over the other is arbitrary and depends on the point that you, the researcher, are trying to make 1 . Balance is crucial here, though; sticking to just one voice structure can not only make the article boring but also ambiguous at times. As a result, the reader is left unsure of the authors’ intended message and which section to focus on. 

You might be wondering at this point what the difference between active and passive voice is and why it matters so much when only the research should be of concern. It matters because choosing the right writing style is key to convey your ideas in your research paper in a clear, succinct, and convincing manner.

To make it easier, we answer the most frequently asked questions in this article. 

Table of Contents

• What’s the difference between active and passive voice? 
• When should you use active or passive voice in research papers? 
• i) The introduction section 
• ii) The results section 
• ii) The methods section 

What’s the difference between active and passive voice?

When you use active voice in research papers, the agent—a person or object—doing the stated “action”—receives emphasis. 

E.g., CRISPR is a new gene editing tool that edits the DNA (Active)  

The use of CRISPR as the agent in this sentence serves to highlight the significance of CRISPR as a tool for gene editing. 

When you use passive voice in scientific writing, emphasis is given to the subject (person or object) receiving the action (of the verb). 

E.g., The DNA can be edited by a new gene editing tool, CRISPR (Passive)  

In this example, DNA is the object of the CRISPR action (editing). The author wants to draw attention to how the DNA can be edited by CRISPR. Simply put, the performer (CRISPR) is the main focus in the active voice, whereas the recipient (DNA) is the star of the show in the passive voice. 

When should you use active or passive voice in research papers ?

When you write a research paper, active or passive voice usage makes a significant difference to how your words are interpreted. The use of passive voice in research papers has traditionally been favored; however, in recent years, more journals have started to prefer the use of active voice in research papers. Journals like Science and Nature encourage researchers to use, whenever appropriate, active voice in research papers 2 . This is because scientific articles should be simple to read and comprehend, and most sentences written in the active voice are succinct, straightforward, and vigorous. It does not imply that sentences in the passive voice have no place in your research articles. Passive sentences are formal, impersonal, and occasionally even shorter, making them just as significant as active voice sentences if used in the right way. See how the passive voice can be shorter and more impersonal than the active voice in the following example. 

E.g., Researchers have created the first artificial vision system for both land and water (Active)  

In the above active sentence, the placement of the subject (researchers) at the beginning gives the impression that researchers are significant in this context. 

E.g., The first artificial vision system for both land and water has been created (Passive)  

The most important part of the passive sentence above is the construction of the first artificial vision system (action); information about the researchers (subject) is either universally true or unnecessary and can be omitted entirely. 

In contrast, using passive voice can occasionally lengthen and also complicate a sentence. See this example: 

E.g., The James Webb telescope finds a 13.5 billion-year-old galaxy in the universe (Active)  

E.g., A 13.5 billion-year-old galaxy in the universe was found by the James Webb telescope (Passive)  

In this example, the active voice sentence is clear and emphasizes the James Webb telescope as the agent that performs the action of identifying a galaxy. The sentence in passive voice emphasizes the newly discovered galaxy and is two words longer than in active voice. 

Which sections of the manuscript require which type of voice construction?

It is crucial to use both active and passive voice in research papers in order to keep your writing from sounding repetitive and unclear. The active voice is typically used in an article’s introduction, results, and discussion sections to simplify complex information 3 . See a few examples: 

i) The introduction section

E.g., Mild and moderate diseases of the upper respiratory tract in animals and humans are caused by the SARS-CoV-2, an enveloped RNA virus (Passive)  

E.g., SARS-CoV-2 is an enveloped RNA virus that causes mild and moderate diseases of the upper respiratory tract in animals and humans (Active)  

As seen in the above example, using active voice in the introduction is preferable as it is clear and concise. 

ii) The results section

E.g., No attempts were made to check the interactions of the proteins as it was beyond the scope of the present study (Passive)  

E.g., We did not check the interactions of the proteins as it was beyond the scope of the present study (Active)  

Active voice is usually preferred in the results section to emphasize the outcome (interactions of protein in this example); it is also used to highlight the role of the authors in making decisions. 

ii) The methods section

The total RNA was treated with DNAseI to remove the contaminating DNA for cDNA synthesis (Passive)  

We treated the total RNA with DNAseI to remove the contaminating DNA for cDNA synthesis (Active)  

The use of passive voice is preferred in the methods section, where the process itself is valued more highly than who is performing the process. 

The general rule is, therefore, to select the preferred voice while taking the statement’s clarity and the points you want to emphasize into consideration. Needless to say, a combination of both voices provides cadence and clarity to the writing. When in doubt, use active voice liberally when you need objectivity, and use passive voice when it is required. Use passive voice in academic writing when the performer is unimportant, obvious, or unknown; passive voice is also preferred when the process or action is more important than who did it (often the case in the method section). Hope these tips help you understand when to use active and passive voice in research papers, and you can slay your academic writing. 

1. Majumdar, K. How to effectively use active and passive voice in research writing. Editage Insights (2019) https://www.editage.com/insights/how-to-effectively-use-active-and-passive-voice-in-research-writing

2. Clear Science Writing: Active Voice or Passive Voice? http://www.biomedicaleditor.com/active-voice.html

3. Cerejo, C. Using the active and passive voice in research writing. Editage Insights (2013) https://www.editage.com/insights/using-the-active-and-passive-voice-in-research-writing

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Passive Voice

What this handout is about.

This handout will help you understand what the passive voice is, why many professors and writing instructors frown upon it, and how you can revise your paper to achieve greater clarity. Some things here may surprise you. We hope this handout will help you to understand the passive voice and allow you to make more informed choices as you write.

So what is the passive voice? First, let’s be clear on what the passive voice isn’t. Below, we’ll list some common myths about the passive voice:

1. Myth: Use of the passive voice constitutes a grammatical error.

Use of the passive voice is not a grammatical error. It’s a stylistic issue that pertains to clarity—that is, there are times when using the passive voice can prevent a reader from understanding what you mean.

2. Myth: Any use of “to be” (in any form) constitutes the passive voice.

The passive voice entails more than just using a being verb. Using “to be” can weaken the impact of your writing, but it is occasionally necessary and does not by itself constitute the passive voice.

3. Myth: The passive voice always avoids the first person; if something is in first person (“I” or “we”) it’s also in the active voice.

On the contrary, you can very easily use the passive voice in the first person. Here’s an example: “I was hit by the dodgeball.”

4. Myth: You should never use the passive voice.

While the passive voice can weaken the clarity of your writing, there are times when the passive voice is OK and even preferable.

5. Myth: I can rely on my grammar checker to catch the passive voice.

See Myth #1. Since the passive voice isn’t a grammar error, it’s not always caught. Typically, grammar checkers catch only a fraction of passive voice usage.

Do any of these misunderstandings sound familiar? If so, you’re not alone. That’s why we wrote this handout. It discusses how to recognize the passive voice, when you should avoid it, and when it’s OK.

Defining the passive voice

A passive construction occurs when you make the object of an action into the subject of a sentence. That is, whoever or whatever is performing the action is not the grammatical subject of the sentence. Take a look at this passive rephrasing of a familiar joke:

Why was the road crossed by the chicken?

Who is doing the action in this sentence? The chicken is the one doing the action in this sentence, but the chicken is not in the spot where you would expect the grammatical subject to be. Instead, the road is the grammatical subject. The more familiar phrasing (why did the chicken cross the road?) puts the actor in the subject position, the position of doing something—the chicken (the actor/doer) crosses the road (the object). We use active verbs to represent that “doing,” whether it be crossing roads, proposing ideas, making arguments, or invading houses (more on that shortly).

Once you know what to look for, passive constructions are easy to spot. Look for a form of “to be” (is, are, am, was, were, has been, have been, had been, will be, will have been, being) followed by a past participle. (The past participle is a form of the verb that typically, but not always, ends in “-ed.” Some exceptions to the “-ed” rule are words like “paid” (not “payed”) and “driven.” (not “drived”).

Here’s a sure-fire formula for identifying the passive voice:

form of “to be” + past participle = passive voice

For example:

The metropolis has been scorched by the dragon’s fiery breath.

When her house was invaded, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage.

Not every sentence that contains a form of “have” or “be” is passive! Forms of the word “have” can do several different things in English. For example, in the sentence “John has to study all afternoon,” “has” is not part of a past-tense verb. It’s a modal verb, like “must,” “can,” or “may”—these verbs tell how necessary it is to do something (compare “I have to study” versus “I may study”). And forms of “be” are not always passive, either—”be” can be the main verb of a sentence that describes a state of being, rather than an action. For example, the sentence “John is a good student” is not passive; “is” is simply describing John’s state of being. The moral of the story: don’t assume that any time you see a form of “have” and a form of “to be” together, you are looking at a passive sentence.

Need more help deciding whether a sentence is passive? Ask yourself whether there is an action going on in the sentence. If so, what is at the front of the sentence? Is it the person or thing that does the action? Or is it the person or thing that has the action done to it? In a passive sentence, the object of the action will be in the subject position at the front of the sentence. As discussed above, the sentence will also contain a form of be and a past participle. If the subject appears at all, it will usually be at the end of the sentence, often in a phrase that starts with “by.” Take a look at this example:

The fish was caught by the seagull.

If we ask ourselves whether there’s an action, the answer is yes: a fish is being caught. If we ask what’s at the front of the sentence, the actor or the object of the action, it’s the object: the fish, unfortunately for it, got caught, and there it is at the front of the sentence. The thing that did the catching—the seagull—is at the end, after “by.” There’s a form of be (was) and a past participle (caught). This sentence is passive.

Let’s briefly look at how to change passive constructions into active ones. You can usually just switch the word order, making the actor and subject one by putting the actor up front:

The dragon has scorched the metropolis with his fiery breath.

After suitors invaded her house, Penelope had to think of ways to delay her remarriage.

To repeat, the key to identifying the passive voice is to look for both a form of “to be” and a past participle, which usually, but not always, ends in “-ed.”

Clarity and meaning

The primary reason why your instructors frown on the passive voice is that they often have to guess what you mean. Sometimes, the confusion is minor. Let’s look again at that sentence from a student’s paper on Homer’s The Odyssey:

Like many passive constructions, this sentence lacks explicit reference to the actor—it doesn’t tell the reader who or what invaded Penelope’s house. The active voice clarifies things:

After suitors invaded Penelope’s house, she had to think of ways to fend them off.

Thus many instructors—the readers making sense of your writing—prefer that you use the active voice. They want you to specify who or what is doing the action. Compare the following two examples from an anthropology paper on a Laotian village to see if you agree.

(passive)  A new system of drug control laws was set up. (By whom?)

(active)  The Lao People’s Revolutionary Party set up a new system of drug control laws.

Here’s another example, from the same paper, that illustrates the lack of precision that can accompany the passive voice:

Gender training was conducted in six villages, thus affecting social relationships.

And a few pages later:

Plus, marketing links were being established.

In both paragraphs, the writer never specifies the actors for those two actions (Who did the gender training? Who established marketing links?). Thus the reader has trouble appreciating the dynamics of these social interactions, which depend upon the actors conducting and establishing these things.

The following example, once again from that paper on The Odyssey, typifies another instance where an instructor might desire more precision and clarity:

Although Penelope shares heroic characteristics with her husband, Odysseus, she is not considered a hero.

Who does not consider Penelope a hero? It’s difficult to tell, but the rest of that paragraph suggests that the student does not consider Penelope a hero (the topic of the paper). The reader might also conceivably think that the student is referring to critics, scholars, or modern readers of The Odyssey. One might argue that the meaning comes through here—the problem is merely stylistic. Yet style affects how your reader understands your argument and content. Awkward or unclear style prevents your reader from appreciating the ideas that are so clear to you when you write. Thus knowing how your reader might react enables you to make more effective choices when you revise. So after you identify instances of the passive, you should consider whether your use of the passive inhibits clear understanding of what you mean.

Summarizing history or literary plots with the passive voice: don’t be a lazy thinker or writer!

With the previous section in mind, you should also know that some instructors proclaim that the passive voice signals sloppy, lazy thinking. These instructors argue that writers who overuse the passive voice have not fully thought through what they are discussing and that this makes for imprecise arguments. Consider these sentences from papers on American history:

The working class was marginalized. African Americans were discriminated against. Women were not treated as equals.

Such sentences lack the precision and connection to context and causes that mark rigorous thinking. The reader learns little about the systems, conditions, human decisions, and contradictions that produced these groups’ experiences of oppression. And so the reader—the instructor—questions the writer’s understanding of these things.

It is especially important to be sure that your thesis statement is clear and precise, so think twice before using the passive voice in your thesis.

In papers where you discuss the work of an author—e.g., a historian or writer of literature—you can also strengthen your writing by not relying on the passive as a crutch when summarizing plots or arguments. Instead of writing:

It is argued that… or  Tom and Huck are portrayed as… or  And then the link between X and Y is made, showing that…

you can heighten the level of your analysis by explicitly connecting an author with these statements:

Anderson argues that… Twain portrays Tom and Huck as… Ishiguro draws a link between X and Y to show that…

By avoiding passive constructions in these situations, you can demonstrate a more thorough understanding of the material you discuss.

Scientific writing

All this advice works for papers in the humanities, you might note—but what about technical or scientific papers, including lab reports? Many instructors recommend or even require the passive voice in such writing. The rationale for using the passive voice in scientific writing is that it achieves “an objective tone”—for example, by avoiding the first person. To consider scientific writing, let’s break it up into two main types: lab reports and writing about a scientific topic or literature.

Lab reports

Although more and more scientific journals accept or even prefer first-person active voice (e.g., “then we sequenced the human genome”), some of your instructors may want you to remove yourself from your lab report by using the passive voice (e.g., “then the human genome was sequenced” rather than “then we sequenced the human genome”). Such advice particularly applies to the section on Materials and Methods, where a procedure “is followed.” (For a fuller discussion on writing lab reports, see our handout on writing lab reports .)

While you might employ the passive voice to retain objectivity, you can still use active constructions in some instances and retain your objective stance. Thus it’s useful to keep in mind the sort of active verbs you might use in lab reports. Examples include: support, indicate, suggest, correspond, challenge, yield, show.

Thus instead of writing:

A number of things are indicated by these results.

you could write:

These results indicate a number of things . or Further analysis showed/suggested/yielded…

Ultimately, you should find out your instructor’s preference regarding your use of the passive in lab reports.

Writing about scientific topics

In some assignments, rather than reporting the results of your own scientific work, you will be writing about the work of other scientists. Such assignments might include literature reviews and research reports on scientific topics. You have two main possible tasks in these assignments: reporting what other people have done (their research or experiments) or indicating general scientific knowledge (the body of knowledge coming out of others’ research). Often the two go together. In both instances, you can easily use active constructions even though you might be tempted by the passive—especially if you’re used to writing your own lab reports in the passive.

You decide: Which of these two examples is clearer?

(passive) Heart disease is considered the leading cause of death in the United States.

or (active)  Research points to heart disease as the leading cause of death in the United States.

Alternatively, you could write this sentence with human actors:

Researchers have concluded that heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.

The last two sentences illustrate a relationship that the first one lacks. The first example does not tell who or what leads us to accept this conclusion about heart disease.

Here’s one last example from a report that describes angioplasty. Which sounds better to you?

The balloon is positioned in an area of blockage and is inflated. or The surgeon positions the balloon in an area of blockage and inflates it.

You can improve your scientific writing by relying less on the passive. The advice we’ve given for papers on history or literature equally applies to papers in more “scientific” courses. No matter what field you’re writing in, when you use the passive voice, you risk conveying to your reader a sense of uncertainty and imprecision regarding your writing and thinking. The key is to know when your instructor wants you to use the passive voice. For a more general discussion of writing in the sciences , see our handout.

“Swindles and perversions”

Before we discuss a few instances when the passive might be preferable, we should mention one of the more political uses of the passive: to hide blame or obscure responsibility. You wouldn’t do this, but you can learn how to become a critic of those who exhibit what George Orwell included among the “swindles and perversions” of writing. For example:

Mistakes were made.

The Exxon Company accepts that a few gallons might have been spilled.

By becoming critically aware of how others use language to shape clarity and meaning, you can learn how better to revise your own work. Keep Orwell’s swindles and perversions in mind as you read other writers. Because it’s easy to leave the actor out of passive sentences, some people use the passive voice to avoid mentioning who is responsible for certain actions.

So when is it OK to use the passive?

Sometimes the passive voice is the best choice. Here are a few instances when the passive voice is quite useful:

1. To emphasize an object. Take a look at this example:

One hundred votes are required to pass the bill.

This passive sentence emphasizes the number of votes required. An active version of the sentence (“The bill requires 100 votes to pass”) would put the emphasis on the bill, which may be less dramatic.

2. To de-emphasize an unknown subject/actor. Consider this example:

Over 120 different contaminants have been dumped into the river.

If you don’t know who the actor is—in this case, if you don’t actually know who dumped all of those contaminants in the river—then you may need to write in the passive. But remember, if you do know the actor, and if the clarity and meaning of your writing would benefit from indicating him/her/it/them, then use an active construction. Yet consider the third case.

3. If your readers don’t need to know who’s responsible for the action.

Here’s where your choice can be difficult; some instances are less clear than others. Try to put yourself in your reader’s position to anticipate how they will react to the way you have phrased your thoughts. Here are two examples:

(passive)  Baby Sophia was delivered at 3:30 a.m. yesterday.

and (active)  Dr. Susan Jones delivered baby Sophia at 3:30 a.m. yesterday.

The first sentence might be more appropriate in a birth announcement sent to family and friends—they are not likely to know Dr. Jones and are much more interested in the “object”(the baby) than in the actor (the doctor). A hospital report of yesterday’s events might be more likely to focus on Dr. Jones’ role.

Summary of strategies

• Look for the passive voice: “to be” + a past participle (usually, but not always, ending in “-ed”)
• If you don’t see both components, move on.
• Does the sentence describe an action? If so, where is the actor? Is the he/she/they/it in the grammatical subject position (at the front of the sentence) or in the object position (at the end of the sentence, or missing entirely)?
• Does the sentence end with “by…”? Many passive sentences include the actor at the end of the sentence in a “by” phrase, like “The ball was hit by the player ” or “The shoe was chewed up by the dog .” “By” by itself isn’t a conclusive sign of the passive voice, but it can prompt you to take a closer look.
• Is the doer/actor indicated? Should you indicate him/her/them/it?
• Does it really matter who’s responsible for the action?
• Would your reader ask you to clarify a sentence because of an issue related to your use of the passive?
• Do you use a passive construction in your thesis statement?
• Do you use the passive as a crutch in summarizing a plot or history, or in describing something?
• Do you want to emphasize the object?
• If you decide that your sentence would be clearer in the active voice, switch the sentence around to make the subject and actor one. Put the actor (the one doing the action of the sentence) in front of the verb.

Towards active thinking and writing

We encourage you to keep these tips in mind as you revise. While you may be able to employ this advice as you write your first draft, that’s not necessarily always possible. In writing, clarity often comes when you revise, not on your first try. Don’t worry about the passive if that stress inhibits you in getting your ideas down on paper. But do look for it when you revise. Actively make choices about its proper place in your writing. There is nothing grammatically or otherwise “wrong” about using the passive voice. The key is to recognize when you should, when you shouldn’t, and when your instructor just doesn’t want you to. These choices are yours. We hope this handout helps you to make them.

Works consulted and suggested reading

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Anson, Chris M., and Robert A. Schwegler. 2010. The Longman Handbook for Writers and Readers , 6th ed. New York: Longman.

Baron, Dennis E. 1989. “The Passive Voice Can Be Your Friend.” In Declining Grammar and Other Essays on the English Vocabulary , 17-22. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers.

Hjortshoj, Keith. 2001. The Transition to College Writing . New York: Bedford/St Martin’s.

Lanham, Richard A. 2006. Revising Prose , 5th ed. New York: Pearson Longman.

Orwell, George. 1968. “Politics and the English Language.” In The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell , edited by Ian Angus and Sonia Orwell, 4: 127-140. New York: Harcourt, Brace, Javanovich.

Rosen, Leonard J., and Laurence Behrens. 2000. The Allyn and Bacon Handbook , 4th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Strunk, William, and E.B. White. 2000. The Elements of Style , 4th ed. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Trimble, John R. 2000. Writing With Style , 2nd ed. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Williams, Joseph, and Joseph Bizup. 2017. Style: Lessons in Clarity and Grace , 12th ed. Boston: Pearson.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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The passive and active voices and when to to use them

Active voice.

The subject (doer) is put at the beginning of the sentence and performs and action. The object (done to) of the action is placed after the verb at the end of the sentence. In the following sentence 'The team' is the subject, the 'optimum pH' the object. 

The team calculated the optimum pH . 

The active voice:

• is usually more concise than the passive voice
• puts the subject at the sentence beginning - better if the subject is at least as important as the object

Passive Voice

The object of the action is placed at the beginning of the sentence. The subject is placed after the verb. This sentence construction sometimes needs additional words with the main verb, such as 'is, was, are, being ...[verb]...by'

The optimum pH was calculated by the team. 

The passive voice : 

• sounds more formal so invites use in science
• can sound duller
• can use more words
• enables a more impersonal tone

When should I use passive, when active?

Some believe that you should not use the active voice in formal scientific writing because scientific writing should be impersonal. Ultimately, you should use the style of language with which supervisors and co authors feel most comfortable. Further, some journals provide guidance on writing style and prefer authors to use the active voice (always read a journal’s ‘Instructions for Authors’).  

Using the active voice does not mean you need to use a person’s name or personal pronoun (‘ I ’ or ‘ we’ ). Take the example: ‘ Process X improves yield .’ This is the active voice but does not need a personal pronoun. The passive version is fine ‘ Yield is improved by using process X .’, but it uses more words.

It is now acceptable to use 'we' in formal science writing. Further, in thesis writing the occasional use of 'I' can be appropriate - for example when indicating that you have decided to use a particular method from a number of alternatives. However in disciplines such as the physical sciences, using the first person ('I') is often less acceptable. So check with your supervisor or PI, or other colleagues and a journal's Instructions for Authors. 

If you are uncertain about what a passive or active style reads like, compare the following two abstracts. The passive version has nine instances of the passive voice and 131 words. The active version has six instances of the active voice and three in the passive; the word count is 122 words. 

Example 1: passive style

Biosecurity is defined as a set of measures to protect animals and crops from the risk of disease. It is considered important in pig production, and several routine measures are employed by farmers (e.g. cleaning, disinfection, segregation). However, air as a potential vector of pathogens has long been disregarded. Filters for incoming and recirculating air were installed into the ventilation system of one of two barns at a fattening piggery. Over three consecutive fattening periods, the lung health of pigs in the filtered compared with the unfiltered barn was evaluated. Air filtration was easily introduced into the existing ventilation system. Better lung health was found in animals from the barn equipped with recirculating air filtration modules. Therefore, air filtration systems in animal rearing enclosures should be recommended by animal healthcare professionals.

Example 2: active style

Biosecurity is defined as a set of measures to protect animals and crops from the risk of disease. It is important in pig production, and farmers routinely employ several measures (e.g. cleaning, disinfection, segregation). However, air as a potential vector of pathogens has long been disregarded. We installed filters for incoming and recirculating air into the ventilation system of one of two barns at a fattening piggery. Over three consecutive fattening periods, we compared the lung health of pigs in the filtered and unfiltered barn. Air filtration was easily introduced into the existing ventilation system. Animals had better lung health in the barn equipped with recirculating air filtration modules. Therefore, animal healthcare professionals should recommend air filtration systems in animal rearing enclosure s.

(Adapted from: Wenke C. et al. (2018). Impact of different supply air and recirculating air filtration systems on stable climate, animal health, and performance of fattening pigs in a commercial pig farm. PloS One 13.3: e0194641)

The active voice is appropriate:

• when readers/journals express a preference/expect the active voice
• to avoid/cut down excessive use of words
• to identify the subject and/or take responsibility.

The passive voice is appropriate:

• the most readable text is often a combination of active and passive voice (as in example 2 above)
• to achieve a balance with the active voice, particularly in the ‘methods’ section of a manuscript
• when the subject is not known, obvious or irrelevant:

Artificial intelligence has been the subject of considerable research for decades. (By whom? … It doesn’t matter.)

• when the object/recipient is the main topic:

These dangerous emissions are produced by diesel engines. (When the focus is ‘dangerous emissions’ and not diesel engines.)

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Using Active or Passive Voice in Research Papers

When to Use the Active or Passive Voice in Research Writing

One decision that gives pause to thousands of beginning researchers is whether to use the active or passive voice in their research papers. You may have been taught in school that you should always use the active voice, especially when giving speeches and when writing fiction or persuasive essays, as it emphasizes the subject and makes your sentences leaner and stronger.

While this rule generally applies to research writing, there are some definite differences in application–this accounts for why there are so many sentences in scientific journal articles using the passive voice construction. In fact, applying only  one  type of voice construction can make a paper awkward to read and difficult to comprehend, and it might even confuse the reader about which parts of the study or a given passage are most important. So when should an author choose the passive voice over the active voice and what is the difference between the two?

Differences Between the  Active  and the  Passive Voice

In general, the active voice emphasizes the  agent  of the action—that is, the  person or object performing the action .

Example: “ We   arranged  the sample groups.”

The subject pronoun “we” leads the sentence, setting off its importance in the action and leading right into the action taken against the object, “the sample groups.” Using this construction doesn’t necessarily imply that “the sample groups” is unimportant, but it does place special emphasis on the agent of the action.

The passive voice, on the other hand, emphasizes the  person or object receiving the action.

Example:  “ Sample groups   were arranged  (by us/by the researchers).”

In this example, “sample groups” stands out as the most important element in the sentence, and indeed it should since we are able to omit the agent entirely—adding “by us” or “by the researchers” seems redundant as the researchers are necessarily the ones carrying out the operations of a study. Also, note that by eliminating the agent we have also decreased the word count, which makes the passive construction leaner than the active voice in this case.

Since active-voice constructions are usually stronger, clearer, more direct, and often more concise than their passive-voice counterparts, most style guides advise scientific and clinical authors to favor the active voice in their research writing.

However, this is not a command to silence the passive voice entirely. In fact, scientific manuscripts have increasingly favored passive-voice construction in the past couple of decades. Whether the reasons for this are practical or because it is simply more fashionable today to use the passive voice, there are good reasons to include this construction to gain a balanced perspective in your writing.

Sticking with the conventional wisdom that we should use the  active voice  as often as possible, when exactly should we opt for the passive? Here are three circumstances in which using the passive voice can be a good decision.

1) When the agent of the action is unimportant, unknown, or obvious to readers

Choose the passive voice when the agent of the action is unknown or unimportant to the action being discussed, or when it is quite clear who is performing the action. In some cases, you may identify the agent using a “by” clause, but it is often unnecessary to add this information.

Examples of active and passive voice:

“Over 20,000 patients  are diagnosed  with diabetes each year (by doctors) in the United States.” “Encyclopedias  have been written  (by scribes and scholars) throughout history.” “ Carcharodon carcharias   has been studied  (by scientists) more extensively than almost any other species of shark.”

In the first example, naming the agent of diagnosis is redundant, as doctors are almost universally the ones who diagnose diseases. In the second example, the author assumes the reader will not be interested in the authors (this decision of course depends on the focus of the study) or perhaps the authors are unknown; the agent may be added in case this information is known and is somewhat important to the statement. In the third example, the agent is fairly obvious, as scientists are the ones tasked with studying species of animals.

2) When the object or action itself is more important than the agent performing the action

In research writing, the study is clearly of greater importance than the researcher undertaking the study (unless that researcher happens to be someone as renowned as Stephen Hawking), and thus the passive voice is more often employed. This object/action focus can commonly be seen in the  Methods  section, in which an author writes about what he or she did (or rather,  “what was done”),  mostly using the passive voice since the topics here are generally the research methods, materials, and procedures.

“Frozen embryos  were stored  in a cryogenic tank for two weeks.” “The extract from sample A  was added  to sample B to create a mixture.” “The results  were assessed  using a Chi-square statistic.”

The sentences might be written in the active voice like so:

“We  stored  the embryos in a cryogenic tank for two weeks.” “We  added  the extract from sample A to sample B to create a mixture.” “Our team  assessed  the results using a Chi-square statistic.”

What would be the net benefit of using the active voice here? In none of these examples would the active voice improve the sentences by shortening them or by clarifying the focus of the action. The length of each active sentence is the same as its passive voice counterpart, and the sentences in the active voice actually redirect the focus to the  agent —“we” or “our team”—which does not seem to be the most important element in any of these examples. The active-voice constructions are admittedly a bit stronger and livelier, but they seem more fitting for a short story or anecdote than for an explanation of actions carried out in the course of a scientific study.

Another benefit of using the passive voice in the Methods section (in addition to some other parts of the research paper) is that it varies the structure and cadence of your sentences while maintaining an emphasis on the actual work. One can see how a paper becomes more readable when there isn’t constant emphasis on only one part of a sentence.

In the  Methods  and other sections of the manuscript, use the passive voice to redirect focus to the work being done—the object of the action or the action itself. When editing a manuscript , note this distinction in voice usage between the Methods section and other sections, as it is a common one in research writing.

3) When the recipient of the action is the topic of your sentence

It is sometimes necessary to use the passive voice to place the  most important information  at the beginning. By placing an item at the  beginning  of a sentence, you are putting it in the “topic position” (or “subject position”), indicating that it is the central element of your sentence.

Similarly, by placing a word at the  very end  of your sentence, you put it in the “stress position,” which is often used for words or phrases that modify or qualify the primary focus of your sentence. You can place words in these positions using passive or active constructions.

Active voice: “Scientists once  classified  slime molds as fungi, but they no longer  classify  them as part of that particular kingdom.” Passive voice: “Slime molds  were  once  classified  as fungi but  are  no longer  considered  to be part of that particular kingdom.”

In the first example, “scientists” occupies the topic position, and “part of that particular kingdom” is in the stress position. What might this ordering indicate to the reader? First, it shows that “scientists” is perhaps the main focus (or at least an important element) of this information. Second, by putting “part of that particular kingdom” at the end of the sentence, the author seems to be telling the reader that this qualifying information is also essential to understanding this information.

How might this information be interpreted differently in passive-voice construction? The main difference here is that “slime molds” are placed in the topic position, indicating that they are the primary focus of this information.

Privileging One Element Over Another in a Sentence

Which voice you use and how you order your sentence elements can make a big difference in establishing the importance of one element over another, especially when both of these are important to your study and neither involve the researcher.

In the following examples, there are at least two elements that the study focuses on. Reordering these by changing the voice makes the importance of these positions quite clear.

Active voice: “These amoeba coalesce into a multicellular, slug-like coordinated creature that  grows  into a fruiting body.” Passive voice: “This multicellular, slug-like coordinated creature, which eventually  grows  a fruiting body, is created by coalescing amoeba.”

In both of these sentences, the “amoeba” and the “multicellular, slug-like coordinated creature” are central; they seem to be essentially two parts of one process. This  process  is demonstrated through the active construction, which explains the life-cycle chronologically and therefore places emphasis on both elements (both agents) equally: “amoeba” and “fruiting body” (in the topic and stress position respectively) are at the beginning and end of this sentence and the particular part of the life cycle, with the information in the middle representing the transition between the two.

However, in the passive-voice construction, the “multicellular, slug-like coordinated creature” is in the topic position, the “amoeba” in the stress position, and the “fruiting body” in the middle is described (using a relative clause) as an outgrowth of this “creature.” This ordering completely shifts the focus of the sentence to the multicellular creature itself, with the other elements acting as supporting information. But because “amoeba” is still included in the sentence and is in the stress position, the author clearly wants to show its importance.

Combining the Active and Passive Constructions in a Sequence of Sentences

Whether introducing the purpose of your study in the  Introduction  section or suggesting further applications or studies in the  Discussion  and  Conclusion , you should try to combine conciseness and clarity of intention to create a logically cohesive structure. This can be done by combining passive and active constructions.

One way to achieve this is to create a structure that “connects backwards”—the final sentence in your paragraph or short sequence of sentences explains the purpose of the first sentence. Let’s see how this might work in action in the  Introduction  section.

Example of three cohesive sentences ( active—passive—passive ):

[Excerpt from “A Possible Correction of the Face Inversion Effect: A Methodological Commentary” (Rakover, Sam and Cahlon, Baruch)] “The present commentary concerns the face/object (UI) effect. This effect can be explained by appeal to either innate or learning factors. However, this effect  can  also be influenced by another factor, the ‘baseline-level,’ which is the focus of the present commentary.”

These three lines occur in sequence within the paper’s  Introduction  section. The first sentence clearly and directly explains the problem of the study (“the face/object (UI) effect”) using the active voice, setting the reader up for a further explanation to follow.

The second sentence, written in the passive voice, explores some potential directions from which this problem can be approached.

And the third sentence unites the two ideas, or “synthesizes” them, using a passive-voice construction. This third sentence has a parallel structure to the second and unites the problem and the proposed explanations using the word “influence” as a unifying action.

By focusing on the topic (“the effect”), the author can create a cohesive structure that uses sentences in both the active and passive voice. Such a passage flows naturally and is more comprehensible and enjoyable for the reader than separated sentences using the same voice construction.

Active and Passive Voice Guidelines

There are several good reasons to vary your sentences between active and passive voice:

• To place emphasis on the most important element of the sentence
• To cut down on word count (sometimes using active, sometimes using passive)
• To make your paper easier for the reader by creating variations in cadence and syntax

As a rule of thumb,  choose the active voice whenever possible.

Choose the passive voice  when there is good reason to do so. Consider passive voice when:

• The agent is unknown, unimportant, or obvious to the reader
• The agent is less important than the  action  of the sentence
• The agent is less important than the  topic  of the sentence
• One topic (among several) has greater importance

To ensure that your voice constructions follow style guidelines, as well as grammar rules, be sure to get paper proofreading services from a reputable English editing company like Wordvice.

Academic Resources:

• Springer.com.  “Stress Position”  https://www.springer.com/gp/authors-editors/authorandreviewertutorials/writinginenglish/stress-position/10252690
• Gopen GD, Swan JA. The science of scientific writing.  Am Scientist.  1990;78:550-558.
• Rakover, S., & CAHLON, B. (2014). A Possible Correction of the Face Inversion Effect: A Methodological Commentary.  The American Journal of Psychology,   127 (3), 303-311. doi:10.5406/amerjpsyc.127.3.0303 Website:  https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/amerjpsyc.127.3.0303?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents
• Wordvice  Blog: “Which Tenses to Use in Your Research Paper.”  https://blog.wordvice.com/video-which-verb-tenses-should-i-use-in-a-research-paper/
• Wordvice  Blog: “How to Choose the Best Title for Your Manuscript.”  https://blog.wordvice.com/best-title-for-journal-manuscript/
• Wordvice YouTube Channel:  “ How to Create a Title for Your Research Paper .”
• Wordvice Blog:  “Choosing the Best Keywords for Your Paper.”  https://blog.wordvice.com/choosing-research-paper-keywords/
• Wordvice YouTube Channel:  “Parts of a Research Paper.”  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aO6ipI-d2fw
• ScienceDocs  Inc. Blog: “5 Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Discussion.”  https://www.sciencedocs.com/writing-a-research-paper-discussion/ 

How to Effectively Use Active and Passive Voice in Academic Writing

A sentence is considered to be in passive voice when the subject of a sentence is the object being acted on. Active voice, on the other hand, is where the subject is the one doing the acting. In the 20 th century, passive voice was a dominant characteristic of scientific writing; however, there has been a discernible shift in consensus in recent years. Most writing guides (such as APA [6 th edition, section 3.18]), root for the active voice for clarity and conciseness. According to scholars, the general opinion is that the passive voice makes writing flat and insinuates evasion of responsibility in writing of any form, not just scientific writing.

In fact, some scholars have actually shown that active voice was the preferred form till the beginning of the 20 th century when the trend of objectivity became favored. According to Ding (1998), in writing, the world should essentially be represented “in terms of objects, things, and materials.” Passive voice can obscure agents and readers can lose sight of the relevance of a prose that is dominated by things and objects. However, in the art of writing, polarized views often become irrelevant and a balance must be achieved by using the two voices contextually.

After all, human agents are responsible for designing experiments…writing awkward phrases to avoid admitting their responsibility and their presence is an odd way of being objective . -Jane J. Robinson

The APA recommends that verb tenses and voices should be used carefully. Try not to be reluctant to utilize the active voice – particularly in the Discussion section, where it is imperative to express that it is you supposing certain things and having specific assessments. In the Methods section, it is satisfactory to break the dullness of numerous passive voice sentences with the usage of the active voice. A response on Quora (John Geare, 2015) sums up the required balance in a succinct manner:

In academic writing, passive voice is used to describe a process, the results of study , or similar material which is objective in nature. But active voice is used to describe actions.

Related: Having trouble with grammar and punctuations in your research paper ?  Get help from native language experts now!

John Geare provides a specific example for clarity.

My colleagues A, B, [names changed] and I, designed an experiment to test the impact on worker perceptions of well-being when domesticated cats were allowed to freely roam various work environments in which the subjects were normally employed. Three test environments were selected for our experiments: a law office, a laboratory in which experiments were performed using laboratory rats, and an automobile assembly line. One-way mirrored glass panels were installed to allow video cameras to record the activity, and researchers to observe the same and take notes. We secretly inserted observers directly into the work environment. These observers posed as outside contractors, and were uniformed as maintenance and cleaning staff, coffee and water service vendors, and similar supporting personnel. The observers were drawn from the students who were matriculated into the experimental psychology courses from which this study had been developed as an example of such studies generally.

You can check the references for more information on the usage of active and passive voice across writing styles.

References:

Vijith Assar (2015, September 3) An Interactive Guide To Ambiguous Grammar. Retrieved from https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/an-interactive-guide-to-ambiguous-grammar

Josh Bernoff, WOBS LLC (2016, April 26) A passel of pernicious passive voice (Master Post). Retrieved from http://withoutbullshit.com/blog/master-post-passel-pernicious-passive-voice

Duke University Scientific Writing Resource. Passive Voice in Scientific Writing. Retrieved from https://cgi.duke.edu/web/sciwriting/index.php?action=passive_voice

Leong Ping Alvin (2014, March 13) The passive voice in scientific writing. The current norm in science journals . Retrieved from https://jcom.sissa.it/sites/default/files/documents/JCOM_1301_2014_A03.pdf

Language and Learning Online. Active or passive voice? Retrieved from http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing/general/lit-reviews/5.xml

John Geare (2015, August 29) Why shouldn’t we use a passive voice in academic writing? Retrieved from https://www.quora.com/Why-shouldnt-we-use-a-passive-voice-in-academic-writing

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Capstone Form and Style

Scholarly voice: active vs. passive voice, active vs. passive voice.

APA style encourages use of the active voice over passive voice for clarity. Writing in the active voice means the subject of the sentence clearly performs the action that the verb expresses. 

APA stresses using the active voice to make it clear to the reader who is taking action in the sentence. The reason is that the use of passive voice often makes it difficult for the reader to determine who is taking the action of the verb. In addition, the active voice stresses that the actor (or grammatical subject) precedes the verb, again, putting emphasis on the subject.

The order of words in a sentence with active voice is subject, verb, object.

• Example : I conducted a study of elementary school teachers.
• This sentence structure puts the emphasis of the sentence on the subject, clarifying who conducted the study. 
• Example : A study was conducted of elementary school teachers.
• In this sentence, it is not clear to the reader who conducted this study. 

Generally, in scholarly writing, with its emphasis on precision and clarity, the active voice is preferred. However, the passive voice is acceptable in some instances, for example:

• if the reader is aware of who the actor is;
• in expository writing, where the goal of the discussion is to provide background, context, or an in-depth explanation;
• if the writer wants to focus on the object or the implications of the actor’s action; or
• to vary sentence structure.  

Also, much like for anthropomorphism , different writing styles have different preferences. So, though you may see the passive voice used heavily in articles that you read for your courses and study, it does not mean that APA style advocates the same usage.

Examples of Writing in the Active Voice

Here are some examples of scholarly writing in the active voice:

• This is active voice because the subject in the sentence precedes the verb, clearly indicating who (I) will take the action (present).

Example : Teachers conducted a pilot study addressing the validity of the TAKS exam.

• Similarly, teachers (subject) clearly took the action (conducted) in this sentence.

Recognizing the Passive Voice

According to APA, writers should select verb tenses and voice carefully. Consider these examples to help determine which form of the verb is most appropriate:

Example : A study was conducted of job satisfaction and turnover.

• Here, it is not clear who did the conducting. In this case, the writer should revise this sentence to clarify who is doing the conducting. 

Example : I conducted a study of job satisfaction and turnover.

• This revised sentence clearly indicates the action taker. Using “I” to identify the writer’s role in the research process is often a solution to the passive voice (see APA 7, Section 4.16).

Using the past tense of the verb “to be” and the past participle of a verb together is often an indication of the passive voice. Here are some signs to look for in your paper:

• Example : This study was conducted.
• Example : Findings were distributed.

Another indication of passive voice is when the verb precedes the actor in the sentence. For example, even if the action taker is clearly identified, that actor should be the grammatical subject and come before the verb.

• Issue : Though the verb and the actor (action taker) are clearly identified here, to use the active voice , the writer should also place that actor, Rogers, before the verb. This improves clarity and word economy as well.
• Correct : Rogers (2016) conducted a study on nursing and turnover.
• Issue : Here, the actor follows the verb, which reduces emphasis and clarity.
• This revised sentence is in the active voice and clearly identifies the action takers and the action being taken.

Intentional Use of the Passive Voice

Sometimes, even in scholarly writing, the passive voice may be used intentionally and strategically. A writer may intentionally include the subject later in the sentence so as to reduce the emphasis and/or importance of the subject in the sentence. See the following examples of intentional passive voice to indicate emphasis:

Example : Schools not meeting AYP for 2 consecutive years will be placed on a “needs improvement” list by the State’s Department of Education.

• Here, all actors taking actions are identified, but this is in the passive voice as the State’s Department of Education is the actor doing the placing, but this verb precedes the actor. This may be an intentional use of the passive voice, to highlight schools not meeting AYP.
• To write this in the active voice, it would be phrased: “The State’s Department of Education will place schools not meeting AYP for 2 consecutive years on a “needs improvement” list. This sentence places the focus on the State’s Department of Education, not the schools.

Example : Participants in the study were incentivized with a $5 coffee gift card, which I gave them upon completion of their interview.

• As the writer and researcher, I may want to vary my sentence structure in order to avoid beginning several sentences with “I provided…” This example is written in the passive voice, but the meaning is clear.

Using Passive Voice in Scholarly Writing

As noted before, passive voice is allowed in APA style and can be quite appropriate, especially when writing about methods and data collection. However, students often overuse the passive voice in their writing, which means their emphasis in the sentence is not on the action taker. Their writing is also at risk of being repetitive. Consider the following paragraph in which the passive voice is used in each sentence:

A survey was administered . Using a convenience sample, 68 teachers were invited to participate in the survey by emailing them an invitation. Email addresses of teachers who fit the requirements for participation were provided by the principal of the school . The teachers were emailed an information sheet and a consent form. Responses were collected from 45 teachers… As you can see, the reader has no idea who is performing these actions, which makes the research process unclear. This is at odds with the goal of the methods discussion, which is to be clear and succinct regarding the process of data collection and analysis.

However, if translated entirely to the active voice, clearly indicating the researcher’s role, “I” becomes redundant and repetitive, interrupting the flow of the paragraph:

In this study, I administered a survey. I created a convenience sample of 68 teachers. I invited them to participate in the survey by emailing them an invitation. I obtained email addresses from the principal of the school… “I” is quite redundant here and repetitive for the reader.

The Walden Writing Center suggests that students use “I” in the first sentence of the paragraph . Then, as long as it is clear to the reader that the student (writer) is the actor in the remaining sentences, use the active and passive voices appropriately to achieve precision and clarity (where applicable):

In this study, I administered a survey using a convenience sample. Sixty-eight teachers were invited to participate in the survey. The principal of the school provided me with the email addresses of teachers who fit the requirements for participation. I emailed the teachers an information sheet and a consent form. A total of 45 teachers responded …

The use of the passive voice is complicated and requires careful attention and skill. There are no hard-and-fast rules. Using these guidelines, however, should help writers be clearer and more engaging in their writing, as well as achieving the intended purposes.

Remember, use voice strategically. APA recommends the active voice for clarity. However, the passive voice may be used, with intention, to remove the emphasis on the subject and also as a method for varying sentence structure. So, generally write in the active voice, but consider some of the above examples and some uses of the passive voice that may be useful to implement in your writing. Just be sure that the reader is always aware of who is taking the action of the verb.

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Passive Voice: When to Use It and When to Avoid It

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What is passive voice?

In English, all sentences are in either “active” or “passive” voice:

active: Werner Heisenberg formulated the uncertainty principle in 1927. passive: The uncertainty principle was formulated by Werner Heisenberg in 1927.

In an active sentence, the person or thing responsible for the action in the sentence comes first. In a passive sentence, the person or thing acted on comes first, and the actor is added at the end, introduced with the preposition “by.” The passive form of the verb is signaled by a form of “to be”: in the sentence above, “was formulated” is in passive voice while “formulated” is in active.

In a passive sentence, we often omit the actor completely:

The uncertainty principle was formulated in 1927.

When do I use passive voice?

In some sentences, passive voice can be perfectly acceptable. You might use it in the following cases:

The cave paintings of Lascaux were made in the Upper Old Stone Age. [We don’t know who made them.]

An experimental solar power plant will be built in the Australian desert. [We are not interested in who is building it.]

Mistakes were made. [Common in bureaucratic writing!]

Rules are made to be broken. [By whomever, whenever.]

Insulin was first discovered in 1921 by researchers at the University of Toronto. It is still the only treatment available for diabetes.

The sodium hydroxide was dissolved in water. This solution was then titrated with hydrochloric acid.

In these sentences you can count on your reader to know that you are the one who did the dissolving and the titrating. The passive voice places the emphasis on your experiment rather than on you.

Note: Over the past several years, there has been a movement within many science disciplines away from passive voice. Scientists often now prefer active voice in most parts of their published reports, even occasionally using the subject “we” in the Materials and Methods section. Check with your instructor or TA whether you can use the first person “I” or “we” in your lab reports to help avoid the passive.

When should I avoid passive voice?

Passive sentences can get you into trouble in academic writing because they can be vague about who is responsible for the action:

Both Othello and Iago desire Desdemona. She is courted. [Who courts Desdemona? Othello? Iago? Both of them?]

Academic writing often focuses on differences between the ideas of different researchers, or between your own ideas and those of the researchers you are discussing. Too many passive sentences can create confusion:

Research has been done to discredit this theory. [Who did the research? You? Your professor? Another author?]

Some students use passive sentences to hide holes in their research:

The telephone was invented in the nineteenth century. [I couldn’t find out who invented the telephone!]

Finally, passive sentences often sound wordy and indirect. They can make the reader work unnecessarily hard. And since they are usually longer than active sentences, passive sentences take up precious room in your paper:

Since the car was being driven by Michael at the time of the accident, the damages should be paid for by him.

Weeding out passive sentences

If you now use a lot of passive sentences, you may not be able to catch all of the problematic cases in your first draft. But you can still go back through your essay hunting specifically for passive sentences. At first, you may want to ask for help from a writing instructor. The grammar checker in your word processor can help spot passive sentences, though grammar checkers should always be used with extreme caution since they can easily mislead you. To spot passive sentences, look for a form of the verb to be in your sentence, with the actor either missing or introduced after the verb using the word “by”:

Poland was invaded in 1939, thus initiating the Second World War. Genetic information is encoded by DNA. The possibility of cold fusion has been examined for many years.

Try turning each passive sentence you find into an active one. Start your new sentence with the actor. Sometimes you may find that need to do some extra research or thinking to figure out who the actor should be! You will likely find that your new sentence is stronger, shorter, and more precise:

Germany invaded Poland in 1939, thus initiating the Second World War. DNA encodes genetic information. Physicists have examined the possibility of cold fusion for many years.

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Active Versus Passive Voice

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Active voice is used for most non-scientific writing. Using active voice for the majority of your sentences makes your meaning clear for readers, and keeps the sentences from becoming too complicated or wordy. Even in scientific writing, too much use of passive voice can cloud the meaning of your sentences.

The action is performed upon the sentence subject, meaning this sentence is passive (indirect).

This is an example of the active voice because the sentence subject performs the action.

This is an example of the passive voice.

This is an example of an active voice sentence because the sentence subject performs the action.

This is an example of an active voice sentence because its subject performs the action expressed in the verb.

Sentences in active voice are also more concise than those in passive voice because fewer words are required to express action in active voice than in passive.

This passive voice sentence is less concise than its active voice counterpart (shown below).

This active voice sentence requires fewer words to communicate the same idea as the passive voice version (above).

This passive voice sentence is more wordy than an active voice version.

This active voice sentence is more concise than the passive voice version (above) because the subject directly performs the action.

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If you read about 'meticulous commendable intricacy' there's a chance a boffin had help.

Linguistic and statistical analyses of scientific articles suggest that generative AI may have been used to write an increasing amount of scientific literature.

Two academic papers assert that analyzing word choice in the corpus of science publications reveals an increasing usage of AI for writing research papers. One study , published in March by Andrew Gray of University College London in the UK, suggests at least one percent – 60,000 or more – of all papers published in 2023 were written at least partially by AI.

A second paper published in April by a Stanford University team in the US claims this figure might range between 6.3 and 17.5 percent, depending on the topic.

Both papers looked for certain words that large language models (LLMs) use habitually, such as “intricate,” “pivotal,” and “meticulously." By tracking the use of those words across scientific literature, and comparing this to words that aren't particularly favored by AI, the two studies say they can detect an increasing reliance on machine learning within the scientific publishing community.

In Gray's paper, the use of control words like "red," "conclusion," and "after" changed by a few percent from 2019 to 2023. The same was true of other certain adjectives and adverbs until 2023 (termed the post-LLM year by Gray).

In that year use of the words "meticulous," "commendable," and "intricate," rose by 59, 83, and 117 percent respectively, while their prevalence in scientific literature hardly changed between 2019 and 2022. The word with the single biggest increase in prevalence post-2022 was “meticulously”, up 137 percent.

The Stanford paper found similar phenomena, demonstrating a sudden increase for the words "realm," "showcasing," "intricate," and "pivotal." The former two were used about 80 percent more often than in 2021 and 2022, while the latter two were used around 120 and almost 160 percent more frequently respectively.

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The researchers also considered word usage statistics in various scientific disciplines. Computer science and electrical engineering were ahead of the pack when it came to using AI-preferred language, while mathematics, physics, and papers published by the journal Nature, only saw increases of between five and 7.5 percent.

The Stanford bods also noted that authors posting more preprints, working in more crowded fields, and writing shorter papers seem to use AI more frequently. Their paper suggests that a general lack of time and a need to write as much as possible encourages the use of LLMs, which can help increase output.

Potentially the next big controversy in the scientific community

Using AI to help in the research process isn't anything new, and lots of boffins are open about utilizing AI to tweak experiments to achieve better results. However, using AI to actually write abstracts and other chunks of papers is very different, because the general expectation is that scientific articles are written by actual humans, not robots, and at least a couple of publishers consider using LLMs to write papers to be scientific misconduct.

Using AI models can be very risky as they often produce inaccurate text, the very thing scientific literature is not supposed to do. AI models can even fabricate quotations and citations, an occurrence that infamously got two New York attorneys in trouble for citing cases ChatGPT had dreamed up.

"Authors who are using LLM-generated text must be pressured to disclose this or to think twice about whether doing so is appropriate in the first place, as a matter of basic research integrity," University College London’s Gray opined.

The Stanford researchers also raised similar concerns, writing that use of generative AI in scientific literature could create "risks to the security and independence of scientific practice." ®

Narrower topics

• Large Language Model
• Machine Learning
• Neural Networks
• Tensor Processing Unit

Broader topics

• Self-driving Car

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