<p>Hi, for a scientific research paper, is it more appropriate to use “we” or “I” (As in “In this paper, we will introduce” or “In this paper, I will introduce”). I am doing my own independent research, and I am writing up a paper, so I don’t know which one is more formal. Even if I am doing it by myself, do I use “we”?</p>
<p>Thanks</p>
<p>I was taught to never refer to yourself. Instead say “In this paper, x-topic will be introduced.”</p>
<p>We, if you have to. But most avoid it unless it’s not a very serious paper…</p>
<p>My teachers have also told me to not reference the paper at all. Why do you have to say you’re going to introduce something? Can’t we figure that out ourselves?</p>
<p>No, in research papers, it’s very common for the researchers to clearly state what they’re writing about. In general, the papers are written by groups of people, and so “we” is appropriate.</p>
<p>I read many scientific papers as part of a research project I’m involved in, and I rarely see a reference to the actual paper in an abstract or introduction. Most often, “In this paper,…” is replaces with “Here,…” It’s something along the lines of “Here, we discuss…” or “Here, we show that…” All articles contain some sort of reference to exactly what the paper will demonstrate, because the breadth of scientific knowledge on any given topic is so huge that it has to be clearly narrowed down. And, really, scientists don’t care about eloquence, so “here, we show that…” is perfectly fine, and definitely common.</p>
<p>I have done research papers and graded research papers. NEVER NEVER NEVER EVER USE FIRST PERSON!!!</p>
<p>^ Isn’t that something that should be drilled into your head in high school?</p>
<p>“I don’t care how you feel about this, quit using the first person!”</p>
<p>Lol, that was my 9th grade English teacher. He was a fun guy.</p>
<p>All research reports should be done in past tense. Research reports and research papers are different things. In the report you should talk about what you did, but not really explicitly use I or we. But rather just describe what was done. For research papers, it should always be in the present tense and NEVER use first person.</p>
<p>Dbate is correct. As a rule, avoid first person when in doubt.</p>
<p>Don’t use 1st person, but don’t be awkward and say “This research paper will tell you about this” or something along those lines. Start off with a very general statement like</p>
<p>“Energy is one of the most widely debated topics in the world. Its importance is vital, but it’s efficiency will be desctructive to the human race” instead of saying “This paper will talk about energy and it will tell you why it’s important.”</p>
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<p>How’d you tell XD. We got one point taken off each paper for each first person word we used. Along with redundant and unspecific words like “things” and “stuff”.</p>
<p>I also got this drilled in in my researching class - thats right I had a formal class to do my research projects >_<.</p>
<p>I’ve read a few physics research papers and the authors are not afraid to use the 1st person or to reference the paper itself.</p>
<p>I would worry more about making sure that you have described your experiment and your results clearly. Silly little stylistic things like using “we” aren’t a big deal.</p>