: Re: Can I use the passive voice to avoid referring to myself in a scientific report? I'm writing a report for a piece of University coursework, but I understand that I should avoid referring to

@Carla500

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This depends on the style guide. In APA, you should prefer "I":

Here are two common cases in which you should prefer the active voice rather than the passive voice:


Use the active voice to describe your own actions. It is completely permissible, and in fact encouraged, to use the first person to describe your own actions in APA Style. Use I to refer to yourself if you worked alone and we if you worked as part of a group (see PM 3.09 for more).


Active voice: I conducted an experiment about body image.
Passive voice: An experiment about body image was conducted.



Principles of Writing: Passive and Active Voice

This has several advantages. It tends to lead to shorter, clearer sentences. Most people prefer reading active voice sentences. It also avoids a potential source of confusion: "the author" could refer to the author of a paper that was cited, while "I" is unambiguous.

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