Research papers are a critical part of the academic process. Good research papers not only show that you know a lot about the topic, but also that you know how to use grammar and syntax correctly. When writing a research paper, it’s important to know the difference between active voice and passive voice. How you use active and passive voice can have a big effect on how clear and strong your paper is. Knowing when to use active and passive voice is also an important skill for any student or researcher, as it can be the difference between a well-written and an ill-constructed paper. This article will discuss the proper use of active and passive voice in research papers and provide examples for each.
Definition of Active and Passive Voice
Active voice is the term used to describe a sentence written by the person doing the action. Passive voice, on the other hand, is when the person or thing receiving the action is mentioned first. For example, in an active sentence, the subject does the action, and the verb reflects that. In a passive sentence, the subject is acted upon, and the verb still reflects that. There are many rules when it comes to active and passive voice. In a nutshell, though, active voice is the preferred choice because it is more direct and concise. Passive voice, on the other hand, is a more subtle and nuanced tone. A good mnemonic device for remembering the difference between active and passive voice is to think of active voice as a dog barking and passive voice as a dog barking while being kicked.
How to Use Active and Passive Voice in Research Papers
There are a few main ways to add more active voice to your writing, and you can use these tips to add more active voice to your research papers. If a sentence contains a linking verb followed by a noun, you can usually rephrase that sentence so that the subject is performing the action of the verb. For example, if a sentence reads, “The experiment produced an unexpected result,” you can change that to “Researchers produced an unexpected result in the experiment.” Another way to add more active voice to your writing is to use the active form of a verb followed by a prepositional phrase or a noun phrase that is the direct object of the verb. For example, if a sentence reads, “The design of the experiment was very complex,” you can change that to “The researchers designed an experiment with a complex design.” Finally, you can add more active voice to your writing by simply rephrasing a sentence with a linking verb that reflects the action.
Tips for Using Active and Passive Voice
Keep these tips in mind when writing in active and passive voice. Active voice should be the person doing the action, while passive voice should be the person receiving the action. For example, in the active voice, “The researcher studied the effects of caffeine on sleep,” the researcher is performing the action of studying. However, in the passive voice, “The effects of caffeine on sleep were studied by the researcher,” the researcher is receiving the action of studying. The passive voice is not wrong per se, but it is often used to avoid naming the agent that performed the action. The passive voice is not recommended when you are trying to emphasize the person performing the action.
Common Mistakes to Avoid When Using Active and Passive Voice
There are a few common mistakes to avoid when writing in active and passive voice. Don’t change verbs from their original form in the passive voice. In other words, don’t use an irregular verb in the passive voice when the same verb is in its regular form in the active voice. For example, the active sentence “The researcher collected data for three weeks” could become “Data were collected for three weeks by the researcher.” This is incorrect because the regular verb “collected” should appear in the passive sentence as well.
Don’t start a sentence with the subject of the sentence unless the subject is the agent of the verb. When using the passive voice, you can avoid beginning sentences with the subject of the sentence if the subject is not the agent of the verb. For example, “The data were collected by the researcher” is incorrect because “data” is the subject of the sentence and not the agent.
Conclusion
Any writer will tell you that using both active and passive voice is an essential aspect of the writing process. While passive speech is complex and nuanced, active voice is straightforward and succinct. Any good researcher must know the distinctions between active and passive voice and when to utilize each. You can write research papers with clarity and accuracy by being familiar with the fundamentals of active and passive voice.
