How To Decide On Using The Passive Or Active Voice In Your Introduction

Quick Takeaways:

et al.' means 'and others'.
Use 'et al.' to cite works with three or more authors.
The presentation (et al., et al., or rarely et al) depends on the style guide or journal guidelines

The English language has a rich history of borrowing words from other languages, especially from Latin. Latin abbreviations such as ‘a.m.’, ‘p.m.’ and ‘CV’ have become part of our everyday vocabulary. Such abbreviations are also frequently used in academic writing, from the ‘Ph.D.’ in the affiliation section to the ‘i.e.’, ‘e.g.’, ‘et al.’, and ‘QED’ in the rest of the paper.

This guide explains when and how to correctly use ‘et al.’ in a research paper.

In this guide:

1)Meaning of ‘et al.’
2)When and how to use ‘et al.’
- a)Table: Correct use of ‘et al.’ by style guide
- b)Unusual scenarios

Passive or active voice?

Passive voice is often considered more complicated, objective and professional, especially among English learners in Asia. They usually feel that they are demonstrating their proficiency in English through mastering the passive voice. Even school teachers love to encourage students to use more passive voice by awarding it higher marks.

However, when it comes to academic research, whether journal papers should be written in the passive or active voice is a much-debated topic.

What do the majority of journals suggest?

Although the passive voice was once considered more objective, the use of the first person is now preferred by the majority of journals.

Check out this advice from two highly-prestigious journals:

So, the key takeaways here are:

Using active voice effectively in your journal paper introduction

In one of our previous blogs, we went through the structure and flow of a journal paper’s introduction and we know that one of its key functions is to provide essential context to the research.

You will probably therefore switch frequently between descriptions of previous studies and your own study. It is critical to make it clear which study you are referring to, and the use of the active voice avoids ambiguity.

Here are some tips:

Using “we found” and “our study” helps to differentiate between your own findings and those of other studies.
Using “we” also avoids the repetition of phrases such as “The present study” and “A previous study”, which becomes monotonous.
Most importantly, avoid phrases such as “It has been found” and “It was shown” that do not make the subject of the sentence clear.

But Remember, language usage in different fields can vary, so always check how papers in your target journal are written. It is of utmost importance to write in a style that is consistent with the language usage in your particular field.

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Wondering why some abbreviations such as ‘et al.’ and ‘e.g.’ use periods, whereas others such as CV and AD don’t? Periods are typically used if the abbreviations include lowercase or mixed-case letters. They’re usually not used with abbreviations containing only uppercase letters.

Unusual Scenarios

Our latest online workshop built on the success of face-to-face workshops we developed specifically for local universities. Over 30 faculty members joined the session, presented by our Chief Operating Officer, Mr Nick Case, to learn from our case studies on editing research proposals.

The response to our workshop, which included a constructive and insightful Q&A session, was very positive.Drawing on our extensive experience working with hundreds of Hong Kong researchers targeting the GRF and ECS every year, we used examples of poor and subsequently improved proposals to show the attendees how they can make their applications stand out. The response to our workshop, which included a constructive and insightful Q&A session, was very positive.Drawing on our extensive experience working with hundreds of Hong Kong researchers targeting the GRF and ECS every year, we used examples of poor and subsequently improved proposals to show the attendees how they can make their applications stand out. The response to our workshop, which included a constructive and insightful Q&A session, was very positive.Drawing on our extensive experience working with hundreds of Hong Kong researchers targeting the GRF and ECS every year, we used examples of poor and subsequently improved proposals to show the attendees how they can make their applications stand out.

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Author Resources

Check out AsiaEdit’s professional research grant proposal editing service.
Read more about our training services covering all aspects of academic writing tailored for local institutions.

More resources on research grant proposal writing: On-demand Webinars
Preparing an effective research proposal – Your guide to successful funding application
Preparing an effective research proposal – Your guide to successful funding application (Part 2)

About the Author

Dr Rachel Baron

Co-Chief Editor & Managing Editor (Social Sciences)

Rachel first joined us as a freelance editor in 2001, while completing her PhD. After spending a few years as a post-doctoral researcher and then lecturing in psychology, she returned to us in 2010 and focused her career on academic editing. She took on the role of Assistant Chief Editor in 2018, and became co-Chief-Editor in 2020. Unable to leave academia behind completely, she also teaches Psychology at an English-speaking university in Italy, where she is now based. With extensive experience in both academia and publishing, Rachel has an excellent overview of both the client and editor sides of the business.