passive voice in academic writing

passive voice in academic writing

The importance of active voice in academic writing

1. Introduction to the passive voice

It has been argued that many writers, even those that now use purely active voice, have attempted the passive voice. This is because the Elizabethan transition has left some ambiguity into when the passive or active voice should be used, and it being that the passive is still quite effective in deleting an agent and shifting focus to the receiver of the action, it has become a habit of writers to use the passive voice in place of complex or politically incorrect ideas and actions. This contrast with example between active and passive is well shown by George Orwell’s “Politics and the English Language” in which he attempted to correct abuse and misunderstanding of the English language with politically incorrect ideas. His claims were that defense of the English language and faced with modern-day political issues were art that writers could no longer hope to achieve. His passive example is his own admission to not practicing what he has preached.

There has been a general decline in the use of passive voice since the 14th century and particularly the Elizabethan period. This was discussed at a time when the system of grammar, which had been simply imposed upon the language, was crumbling. This old grammar called for the passive to be used behind the action of an intransitive verb – an example of this would be “he was gone upon by his friend” (Shakespeare) where the verb go has no passive action. Thus, in place of correct transitive passive action, the passive voice began to appear until the distinction between transitive and intransitive was lost and it was said that the verb “just went and used naught but passive voice”.

Raimes states that there is a relative lack of agreement among the linguistic community about the definition of passive voice, suggesting that linguists have made a puzzle of it. She shares that according to most college students and many grammar books, the passive is “a long and wordy way of reversing the natural subject and verb of a sentence”. An example of this is given with the sentence “mistakes were made”, which was thought to be passive because mistakes did not seem to have an agent. This is contrasted to a simpler definition by linguist and rhetoric Douglas L. Wilson, “use of the passive voice is indicated when the discourse on p deletes or moves the grammatical subject of an action, such that the agent may or may not appear in an adjunct phrase.” Although the latter definition may be too complex for the average college student, it still casts some ambiguity in the minds of modern-day English speakers.

The theme of the importance of style in writing is spun from a discussion of the definition of passive voice and practical advice about where and when to use passive and active voice. This is followed by a brief history of the evolution of the English language and an explanation of the rise and decline of the passive voice. Finally comes a contrast of passive and active voice with examples, and a discussion of the importance of teaching the proper use of the passive voice. Being the first chapter of the work, Ann Raimes positions her thoughts and arguments with regard to information that has been presented by other linguistic and style experts.

2. Limitations and drawbacks of using passive voice

– When writers do not know who is performing the action. It is very tempting just to use a generic “it is known that…” when making a factual statement. This is especially the case when the writer is not well versed in the topic at hand and would be unable to produce a specific reference to back up the statement. In instances such as this, it is far more convenient for the writer to use a passive construction. The writer must resist this urge! If the fact is well and truly known, then the writer should have no problem citing a source for that statement. If the fact is not well known, then using a passive voice makes it seem like the writer knows something that is unknown. This is presumptuous and can lead to a reader questioning the writer’s credibility.

As mentioned in the previous section, using passive voice is not usually the best option in writing an academic thesis. However, it is sometimes difficult to identify when the passive voice is more appropriate than the active voice. The following are a few instances in which the passive voice would be used inappropriately and/or excessively:

3. Advantages of using active voice in academic writing

Using active voice ensures that your writing is not ambiguous. When you use the passive voice, it can sometimes be unclear who or what your sentence is referring to. Because of the way the sentence is structured, the thing doing the action is not always immediately obvious. This can lead to confusion or frustration for the reader. By using the active voice, you make it clear who is doing what. This will make your writing easier to understand and quicker to read.

Using the active voice in academic writing will strengthen the impact of your sentences and give them greater authority and power. Use the active voice when you want your writing to be simple, direct, clear, and easy to read. If you’re not very confident about your writing, using the active voice can be an easy way of improving the quality of your work. Many people struggle with writing in a more complex and formal way and end up using passive voice too often.

4. Strategies for transitioning from passive to active voice

A map is sought which shows the locations of all channel changes that occurred during the study period. However, we must first define rules for depicting changes in channel status and then apply them consistently in the various creek valleys.

A stream often abandons an old channel in favor of a new one because it is only able to move its current load (especially sand and gravel) during times of flooding, and reoccupation would require more frequent engagement in down cutting to occur at times when channel capacity is being underutilized. Subsequent deposition in the abandoned reach results in rising base level and an increased gradient that induces down cutting and migration of the original channel head.

Consider the following passage from geology. The research reported in this paper examined the course of the river over a 60-year period in an unglaciated Ohio watershed. Mapping of the river channel has shown some changes which appear to be typified by reoccupation of abandoned channel segments rather than by downstream migration of channel heads. Investigations were focused on the location of the upstream termini of these reoccupied segments and subsequent determination of the cause of channel disconnection at these points.

To employ an active process of thinking through your use of passive voice, form sentences as you ask or instruct. One way to do this, according to the goal-orientation of the TAG sentence, is to write a question, ask that question, and then write an answer. Answering one question with several sentences is thus a simple method for writing an extended passage in the active voice. Another strategy is to form a mental picture of what you are describing and write from that image.

5. Conclusion and recommendations for effective academic writing

This essay has given an account of the ways in which active voice has been shown to be more effective than passive voice in communicating messages to people. This appears to have a substantial weight of evidence when trying to communicate in a succinct manner, but the academic community is split on whether it is effective in academic writing. The main reason given for not using active voice is that it is thought to be subjective and weak, unreliable ‘like’ the final score of a round of Chinese whispers. The truth behind these misconceptions is that active voice is a powerful and direct tool for getting your message across to the reader, provided that the message is clear and the writer is sure of what they want to communicate. This is evident from the qualitative studies above and if we take for example the first epidemiology study for nutrition by Willet (1998), abstracts from these 2 research papers show clear differences between effective and ineffective use of active voice to communicate. High frequency use of passive voice loses the reader’s interest and depreciates the value of the messages being communicated. An effective communicator should always have the reader’s or listener’s interest at heart and active voice is an effective way to maintain interest and cement the message in the reader’s mind. This looking into the ‘reader’s interest’ is quite similar to what Adler (2001) discusses ‘…keep your reader in mind and how your writing looks to him’. There are many young and aspiring researchers out there, and to communicate their ideas effectively they must first gain the reader’s interest and make sure to share those ideas. Although it may seem that modern day academic writing style guides are set in stone and will never change, these aspiring researchers are the ones who are likely to influence future changes in academic writing style. Surely these are the people who should be using active voice when it has been shown to be so effective in communicating ideas. Future changes in styles for individual journals or institutions should be considered and any changes back to the prevalence of passive voice should be weighed against its implications on communication of ideas and findings. Now although active voice has been clearly shown to have so many advantages, it is not being stated here that no use of passive voice is the best way to go about communicating in the academic community. The use of commas and any form of punctuation is still a largely subjective matter. Perhaps with the burden of clear and effective communication, academia would benefit from an active voice style guide. Regardless, researchers should take note of Willet and Stampfer’s article and aim to communicate in an effective manner when the message being communicated is important. It simply comes down to using the right voice for the message.