What tense in a scientific paper
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I am currently writing my first scientific paper and therefore I am wondering which tense I should use in it.
I'd tend to use a future tense, but present perfect seems to be suitable as well.
e.g.
[In the first part of this paper, we will study how ...]
or
[In the first part of this paper, we have studied how ...]
tenses writing-style
asked Aug 12 at 0:22
p_punkt
6
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 2 hours ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
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I am currently writing my first scientific paper and therefore I am wondering which tense I should use in it.
I'd tend to use a future tense, but present perfect seems to be suitable as well.
e.g.
[In the first part of this paper, we will study how ...]
or
[In the first part of this paper, we have studied how ...]
tenses writing-style
asked Aug 12 at 0:22
p_punkt
6
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 2 hours ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
6
How about simple present? It was good enough for Watson & Crick. More seriously, look at a few papers in your field and see what tenses they use. I would be very surprised if any of them used present perfect.
– Peter Shor
Aug 12 at 0:27
Also, if the present perfect is used, it would only be used after you've already discussed something, not before discussing it.
– Jason Bassford
Aug 12 at 2:32
More things to consider are word count and international readship. You might have a page limit and "we study" simply takes up less room than "we will study" and "we have studied" or (in some cases) "we have been studying". It is also easier to read if English isn’t your first language. Also, at the point of reading, the paper is complete, so "will" (and future tense) is, perhaps, redundant. Although at the point of writing, future tense feels natural for referring to sections not yet written.
– Pam
Aug 12 at 11:16
p_punkt, sorry to be so obvious and that's down first to your department and then to your college… If they have no style guides then please consider which professional association most suits your career goals, and follow that style guide.
– Robbie Goodwin
Aug 12 at 20:41
@p_punkt you should use present, but mainly because it allows for more active writing style e.g. "in this study we exam..." avoiding passive writing is more important than tense.
– faustus
1 hour ago
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
favorite
up vote
0
down vote
favorite
I am currently writing my first scientific paper and therefore I am wondering which tense I should use in it.
I'd tend to use a future tense, but present perfect seems to be suitable as well.
e.g.
[In the first part of this paper, we will study how ...]
or
[In the first part of this paper, we have studied how ...]
tenses writing-style
asked Aug 12 at 0:22
p_punkt
6
I am currently writing my first scientific paper and therefore I am wondering which tense I should use in it.
I'd tend to use a future tense, but present perfect seems to be suitable as well.
e.g.
[In the first part of this paper, we will study how ...]
or
[In the first part of this paper, we have studied how ...]
tenses writing-style
tenses writing-style
asked Aug 12 at 0:22
p_punkt
6
asked Aug 12 at 0:22
p_punkt
6
asked Aug 12 at 0:22
p_punkt
6
asked Aug 12 at 0:22
p_punkt
6
asked Aug 12 at 0:22
p_punkt
6
6
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 2 hours ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
bumped to the homepage by Community♦ 2 hours ago
This question has answers that may be good or bad; the system has marked it active so that they can be reviewed.
6
How about simple present? It was good enough for Watson & Crick. More seriously, look at a few papers in your field and see what tenses they use. I would be very surprised if any of them used present perfect.
– Peter Shor
Aug 12 at 0:27
Also, if the present perfect is used, it would only be used after you've already discussed something, not before discussing it.
– Jason Bassford
Aug 12 at 2:32
More things to consider are word count and international readship. You might have a page limit and "we study" simply takes up less room than "we will study" and "we have studied" or (in some cases) "we have been studying". It is also easier to read if English isn’t your first language. Also, at the point of reading, the paper is complete, so "will" (and future tense) is, perhaps, redundant. Although at the point of writing, future tense feels natural for referring to sections not yet written.
– Pam
Aug 12 at 11:16
p_punkt, sorry to be so obvious and that's down first to your department and then to your college… If they have no style guides then please consider which professional association most suits your career goals, and follow that style guide.
– Robbie Goodwin
Aug 12 at 20:41
@p_punkt you should use present, but mainly because it allows for more active writing style e.g. "in this study we exam..." avoiding passive writing is more important than tense.
– faustus
1 hour ago
add a comment |
6
How about simple present? It was good enough for Watson & Crick. More seriously, look at a few papers in your field and see what tenses they use. I would be very surprised if any of them used present perfect.
– Peter Shor
Aug 12 at 0:27
Also, if the present perfect is used, it would only be used after you've already discussed something, not before discussing it.
– Jason Bassford
Aug 12 at 2:32
More things to consider are word count and international readship. You might have a page limit and "we study" simply takes up less room than "we will study" and "we have studied" or (in some cases) "we have been studying". It is also easier to read if English isn’t your first language. Also, at the point of reading, the paper is complete, so "will" (and future tense) is, perhaps, redundant. Although at the point of writing, future tense feels natural for referring to sections not yet written.
– Pam
Aug 12 at 11:16
p_punkt, sorry to be so obvious and that's down first to your department and then to your college… If they have no style guides then please consider which professional association most suits your career goals, and follow that style guide.
– Robbie Goodwin
Aug 12 at 20:41
@p_punkt you should use present, but mainly because it allows for more active writing style e.g. "in this study we exam..." avoiding passive writing is more important than tense.
– faustus
1 hour ago
6
6
How about simple present? It was good enough for Watson & Crick. More seriously, look at a few papers in your field and see what tenses they use. I would be very surprised if any of them used present perfect.
– Peter Shor
Aug 12 at 0:27
How about simple present? It was good enough for Watson & Crick. More seriously, look at a few papers in your field and see what tenses they use. I would be very surprised if any of them used present perfect.
– Peter Shor
Aug 12 at 0:27
Also, if the present perfect is used, it would only be used after you've already discussed something, not before discussing it.
– Jason Bassford
Aug 12 at 2:32
Also, if the present perfect is used, it would only be used after you've already discussed something, not before discussing it.
– Jason Bassford
Aug 12 at 2:32
More things to consider are word count and international readship. You might have a page limit and "we study" simply takes up less room than "we will study" and "we have studied" or (in some cases) "we have been studying". It is also easier to read if English isn’t your first language. Also, at the point of reading, the paper is complete, so "will" (and future tense) is, perhaps, redundant. Although at the point of writing, future tense feels natural for referring to sections not yet written.
– Pam
Aug 12 at 11:16
More things to consider are word count and international readship. You might have a page limit and "we study" simply takes up less room than "we will study" and "we have studied" or (in some cases) "we have been studying". It is also easier to read if English isn’t your first language. Also, at the point of reading, the paper is complete, so "will" (and future tense) is, perhaps, redundant. Although at the point of writing, future tense feels natural for referring to sections not yet written.
– Pam
Aug 12 at 11:16
p_punkt, sorry to be so obvious and that's down first to your department and then to your college… If they have no style guides then please consider which professional association most suits your career goals, and follow that style guide.
– Robbie Goodwin
Aug 12 at 20:41
p_punkt, sorry to be so obvious and that's down first to your department and then to your college… If they have no style guides then please consider which professional association most suits your career goals, and follow that style guide.
– Robbie Goodwin
Aug 12 at 20:41
@p_punkt you should use present, but mainly because it allows for more active writing style e.g. "in this study we exam..." avoiding passive writing is more important than tense.
– faustus
1 hour ago
@p_punkt you should use present, but mainly because it allows for more active writing style e.g. "in this study we exam..." avoiding passive writing is more important than tense.
– faustus
1 hour ago
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
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0
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Generally, scientific papers are written in the present tense, with past tense used to describe the experiments that were done during the research, and future tense reserved for planned future work.
Here is a writing style guide from Nature that gives more detailed explanations about tenses.
There are several conventions about the use of tense that vary between authors, and may vary between scientific disciplines. For example, previous work done by other researchers can be reported in past tense or in present perfect tense. I would suggest looking at several papers in your discipline to see how they use tenses.
answered Aug 13 at 11:14
Peter Shor
61.5k5117220
add a comment |
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
1 Answer
1
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
up vote
0
down vote
Generally, scientific papers are written in the present tense, with past tense used to describe the experiments that were done during the research, and future tense reserved for planned future work.
Here is a writing style guide from Nature that gives more detailed explanations about tenses.
There are several conventions about the use of tense that vary between authors, and may vary between scientific disciplines. For example, previous work done by other researchers can be reported in past tense or in present perfect tense. I would suggest looking at several papers in your discipline to see how they use tenses.
answered Aug 13 at 11:14
Peter Shor
61.5k5117220
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
Generally, scientific papers are written in the present tense, with past tense used to describe the experiments that were done during the research, and future tense reserved for planned future work.
Here is a writing style guide from Nature that gives more detailed explanations about tenses.
There are several conventions about the use of tense that vary between authors, and may vary between scientific disciplines. For example, previous work done by other researchers can be reported in past tense or in present perfect tense. I would suggest looking at several papers in your discipline to see how they use tenses.
answered Aug 13 at 11:14
Peter Shor
61.5k5117220
add a comment |
up vote
0
down vote
up vote
0
down vote
Generally, scientific papers are written in the present tense, with past tense used to describe the experiments that were done during the research, and future tense reserved for planned future work.
Here is a writing style guide from Nature that gives more detailed explanations about tenses.
There are several conventions about the use of tense that vary between authors, and may vary between scientific disciplines. For example, previous work done by other researchers can be reported in past tense or in present perfect tense. I would suggest looking at several papers in your discipline to see how they use tenses.
answered Aug 13 at 11:14
Peter Shor
61.5k5117220
Generally, scientific papers are written in the present tense, with past tense used to describe the experiments that were done during the research, and future tense reserved for planned future work.
Here is a writing style guide from Nature that gives more detailed explanations about tenses.
There are several conventions about the use of tense that vary between authors, and may vary between scientific disciplines. For example, previous work done by other researchers can be reported in past tense or in present perfect tense. I would suggest looking at several papers in your discipline to see how they use tenses.
answered Aug 13 at 11:14
Peter Shor
61.5k5117220
edited Aug 13 at 11:19
answered Aug 13 at 11:14
Peter Shor
61.5k5117220
answered Aug 13 at 11:14
Peter Shor
61.5k5117220
answered Aug 13 at 11:14
Peter Shor
61.5k5117220
61.5k5117220
add a comment |
add a comment |
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6
How about simple present? It was good enough for Watson & Crick. More seriously, look at a few papers in your field and see what tenses they use. I would be very surprised if any of them used present perfect.
– Peter Shor
Aug 12 at 0:27
Also, if the present perfect is used, it would only be used after you've already discussed something, not before discussing it.
– Jason Bassford
Aug 12 at 2:32
More things to consider are word count and international readship. You might have a page limit and "we study" simply takes up less room than "we will study" and "we have studied" or (in some cases) "we have been studying". It is also easier to read if English isn’t your first language. Also, at the point of reading, the paper is complete, so "will" (and future tense) is, perhaps, redundant. Although at the point of writing, future tense feels natural for referring to sections not yet written.
– Pam
Aug 12 at 11:16
p_punkt, sorry to be so obvious and that's down first to your department and then to your college… If they have no style guides then please consider which professional association most suits your career goals, and follow that style guide.
– Robbie Goodwin
Aug 12 at 20:41
@p_punkt you should use present, but mainly because it allows for more active writing style e.g. "in this study we exam..." avoiding passive writing is more important than tense.
– faustus
1 hour ago