Passive Voice in Research Papers - Avoid It

Passive Voice in Research Papers - Avoid ItThe use of the passive voice in research papers has been a long standing debate in academe. Most traditional style researchers are extremely wary of it and would rather avoid it. But the use of the passive voice in research papers is not a good idea for the same reason that it is bad for teaching.In the short format, the only way of communicating your ideas is to copy-paste them verbatim from the research paper itself. While you can minimize this disadvantage by writing the article in a way that it can be properly paraphrased for presentation in the audience, it is still a highly effective means of communicating ideas. In fact, most young researchers tend to be very cautious when using the passive voice in their research papers. When they see their paper reproduced by a different researcher, they feel the need to scrutinize every single word to make sure that it does not sound too academic.The fear of appearing academic is the very real prob lem of many poor students who have started this bad habit. Most of them continue with it because they have to do well in class to get good grades and have also started to view publishing their research as an essential requirement for their career advancement. In fact, doing this research has become almost a part of their daily life.It is, however, a serious mistake to assume that the fear of being seen to be weak is part of their internalized self-deprecating attitude. This is an unfortunate phenomenon that can easily be prevented by training the mind to think in a different way. Thus, let me explain why the use of the passive voice in research papers can be avoided.Most research papers consist of numerous sections. Most of these sections deal with lengthy details about a particular topic. And it is only natural that you are likely to run out of things to say about the topic if you have to type everything out verbatim from the research paper.The passive voice in research papers is u sed when you need to say something about the topic that is only relevant to the entire body of the paper. Even if you get it wrong, it will not be very difficult to explain what you have written and provide an alternative viewpoint on the topic.So, do not be worried about using the passive voice in research papers. The thing to think about is how you are going to convey your ideas in such a short space of time, and use any alternative viewpoint whenever you see fit. You can just ask any good research assistant to help you with this.