First Person vs Third Person in Academic Writing: Using I/We in Research Papers, Theses, Dissertations

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Contents

• Glossary of Key Terms
• Key Takeaways
• Introduction: Why Pronoun Choice Matters in Academic Writing
• What Do the Major Style Guides Actually Say?
• First Person vs Third Person: A Direct Comparison
• When Should You Use First Person vs Third Person?
• I vs We: Which First Person Pronoun Should You Use?
• Discipline by Discipline: Norms Across Academic Fields
• How to Check Your Journal or Institution’s Guidelines
• Practical Rewriting: Converting Third Person to First Person
• Writing Positionality and Reflexivity Statements
• Does Using First Person Affect Peer Review Outcomes?
• First Person in Theses and Dissertations: Special Considerations
• Does First Person Affect Academic Tone?
• Frequently Asked Questions
• Conclusion: Own Your Research by Owning Your Voice

Glossary of Key Terms

Term	Definition
First person	The grammatical perspective that uses pronouns such as I, me, my, we, our, and us. The writer speaks as an active participant.
Third person	The grammatical perspective that refers to people and things outside the writer: he, she, it, they, one, the author, the researcher.
Active voice	A sentence construction in which the grammatical subject performs the action: “I analyzed the data.”
Passive voice	A sentence construction in which the subject receives the action: “The data were analyzed.” Often used to avoid first person.
Positionality	A researcher’s acknowledgment of how their background, identity, and standpoint shape the research process and findings.
Hedging language	Words and phrases that soften claims or signal uncertainty: might, may, appears to, suggests, it is possible that.
Authorial presence	The degree to which a writer’s voice, judgment, and agency are visible in the text.
Nominalization	Turning a verb into a noun: “conduct an analysis” instead of “analyze.” Common in academic prose; can make writing impersonal and dense.
Style guide	An authoritative manual setting rules for formatting, citation, and language use, for example APA, MLA, Chicago, or AMA.
Persona non grata strategy	An informal term for writing that erases the writer entirely, replacing I with constructions like the present study or it was found.

Key Takeaways

• Using first person (I or we) is explicitly supported by major style guides including APA 7, and is increasingly preferred across disciplines for clarity, accountability, and stronger authorial voice.
• Third person and passive voice are not more objective: they simply obscure who did what, which can introduce ambiguity and reduce the persuasive force of your argument.
• Always check journal submission guidelines and institutional dissertation requirements first, then default to first person wherever those guidelines permit.
• Consistent, purposeful use of I or we signals confidence in your scholarship; readers and reviewers across STEM and the humanities respond positively to clear, direct academic prose.

Introduction: Why Pronoun Choice Matters in Academic Writing

Few decisions in academic writing generate as much anxiety as the simple question: Can I write “I”? For generations, researchers were taught that objectivity required the removal of the self. The result was a vast body of scholarly work written in passive constructions, impersonal noun phrases, and labyrinthine sentences that obscure who actually did the research, made the decisions, and reached the conclusions.

That convention is changing. Style guides, journal editors, and writing researchers have increasingly recognized that first person pronouns are not a sign of subjectivity run amok. They are a mark of intellectual honesty. When you write “I analyzed the data,” you are accurately representing what happened. When you write “the data were analyzed,” you are, in effect, pretending the data analyzed themselves.

This guide explains the case for using first person in research papers, theses, and dissertations; maps the situations where each voice is most appropriate; and provides practical tools you can use immediately in your own writing. Importantly, it also helps you navigate institutional and journal requirements so that advocacy for first person does not put your submission at risk.

What Do the Major Style Guides Actually Say?

The short answer: most major guides either explicitly encourage first person or permit it. The blanket prohibition belongs to an earlier era.

Style Guide	Position on First Person	Key Recommendation	Common Disciplines
APA 7th ed.	Explicitly encouraged	Use I or we to avoid ambiguity and anthropomorphism	Psychology, social sciences, education
MLA 9th ed.	Permitted	Encourages clear, direct prose; first person is acceptable	Humanities, literature
Chicago 17th ed.	Permitted	Discourages pompous constructions; first person is fine in most contexts	History, social sciences
AMA 11th ed.	Permitted with care	Active voice preferred; first person is acceptable in appropriate contexts	Medicine, health sciences
IEEE	Permitted	Active voice, including we, is acceptable and often clearer	Engineering, computing
Vancouver	Permitted	Active voice is preferred; we is standard for multi-author papers	Biomedical sciences

Of these guides, APA 7 is the most explicit. Its Publication Manual (7th ed., Section 4.16) states directly that writers should use first person to avoid the passive constructions and anthropomorphism that come from avoiding it. The guide provides a concrete example: an experiment cannot “attempt to demonstrate” anything, but I or we can. That distinction matters for precision as much as for style.

First Person vs Third Person: A Direct Comparison

Clarity and Agency

The single strongest argument for first person is clarity of agency. Consider these pairs:

Third Person / Passive	First Person / Active
It was decided that the sample would be limited to adults.	We decided to limit the sample to adults.
The literature was reviewed to identify gaps.	I reviewed the literature to identify gaps.
An attempt was made to control for confounding variables.	We attempted to control for confounding variables.
This paper argues that…	I argue that…
The findings suggest the present authors’ conclusion that…	Our findings suggest that…

In every case, the first-person version is shorter, clearer, and more accurate. The passive or third person version obscures who made decisions and conceals the human judgment that underlies every step of the research process.

Objectivity: A Common Misconception

Avoiding first person does not make writing more objective. Objectivity is a property of methods and reasoning, not of pronouns. A poorly designed study does not become rigorous by being written in the passive voice. Conversely, a carefully designed study does not lose its rigor because the author writes I throughout.

What passive and third person constructions actually do is reduce transparency. When a reader cannot tell who made a particular methodological choice, they cannot evaluate whether that choice was appropriate. First person forces accountability: it makes clear that a human being made decisions that could have been made differently.

Anthropomorphism and Awkward Constructions

One of the most practical arguments against avoiding first person is the distorted writing it produces. When writers try to avoid I and we, they often attribute human actions to inanimate objects:

• “This paper will argue…” (papers do not argue; authors do)
• “The study found…” (studies do not find; researchers find)
• “The experiment attempted to show…” (experiments do not attempt anything)
• “The present author notes…” (an awkward workaround that actually uses more words than simply writing I)

These constructions are not just stylistically inelegant; they are technically inaccurate. APA 7 flags them explicitly as forms of anthropomorphism that should be avoided.

When Should You Use First Person vs Third Person?

First person is the right default choice in most academic writing contexts. That said, some situations call for more nuance. The table below provides a practical decision framework.

Writing Context	Recommended Voice	Rationale
Stating your argument or thesis	First person (I argue, I contend)	Makes authorial position clear and ownable
Describing your methodology	First person (I collected, we analyzed)	Clarifies who made methodological decisions
Reflexivity and positionality statements	First person essential	These sections literally require the researcher’s voice
Literature review	First person preferred (I identify, I review)	Clarifies your interpretive lens vs the sources you cite
Reporting established facts	Third person acceptable	Focuses attention on the fact, not the author
Describing someone else’s work	Third person (Smith argues, Jones found)	Attributes the work accurately to its author
Abstract	First person acceptable	Many journals now accept or encourage active voice in abstracts
Conclusion and implications	First person (I conclude, we recommend)	Owns the contribution and signals scholarly confidence

I vs We: Which First Person Pronoun Should You Use?

Once you decide to use first person, a secondary question arises: should you write I or we? The answer depends on authorship and disciplinary convention, not on what sounds more modest.

Use I When:

• You are the sole author of the paper, thesis, or dissertation.
• You are describing a decision or interpretation that is specifically yours.
• Your field uses I as the standard for solo-authored work, as is common in humanities and qualitative social sciences.
• Your institution or supervisor has specified singular first person for a single-author dissertation.

Use We When:

• The paper has two or more authors who all contributed to the work being described.
• Your discipline conventionally uses we even for sole-authored work to signal that knowledge production is a collaborative enterprise, which is common in some STEM fields.
• You are addressing the reader as a partner in reasoning, for example: “If we examine the data closely, a pattern emerges.”
• Your institution permits or expects we for theses that reflect supervisory collaboration.

What About “The Author” or “The Present Study”?

These third person workarounds are almost universally awkward and should be avoided. “The present author argues” uses more words than “I argue” and produces no benefit. Reviewers and readers generally find such constructions contrived. Unless your journal or institution explicitly requires them, use I or we directly.

Discipline by Discipline: Norms Across Academic Fields

Disciplinary norms vary more than most writers realize, and those norms are shifting. The table below captures current conventions, but always verify with your specific target journal or institution.

Discipline	Dominant Convention	Direction of Change	Notes
Psychology	First person (APA 7)	Firmly established	APA explicitly mandates active voice and first person
Sociology	First person increasingly common	Shifting toward first person	Qualitative work especially embraces I
Biology	We (multi-author); passive in methods	Gradual shift to active voice	Methods sections often retain passive
Chemistry	Passive voice dominant	Slow shift	Check individual journal guidelines carefully
Medicine	Mixed; passive still common	Active voice gaining ground	High-impact journals vary widely
Engineering	We; active voice	Stable; active is standard	IEEE explicitly permits we
Humanities	First person standard	Stable	I is the norm in literary criticism, history, philosophy
Education	First person common	Stable	Qualitative and mixed-methods work favors first person
Economics	We (even for sole authors)	Stable	Sole-author papers conventionally use we in many journals

How to Check Your Journal or Institution’s Guidelines

Before submitting any paper or dissertation, always verify the specific requirements of your target outlet. A systematic check takes less than fifteen minutes and can save hours of revision.

For Journal Submissions

• Download the journal’s author guidelines and search for terms such as: voice, first person, pronoun, we, active, passive.
• Read two or three recently published articles in the journal and note whether I or we appears in them.
• If the guidelines are silent on pronoun use, default to first person with active voice: silence is permission.
• If the journal explicitly requires passive voice or third person, comply; then flag this as a constraint in your writing notes for future submissions to that outlet.

For Theses and Dissertations

• Consult your graduate school’s thesis formatting guide: most universities post these publicly.
• Ask your supervisor directly: “Do you have a preference for first person or third person in this dissertation?”
• Review recent dissertations from your department that received high marks and note their pronoun use.
• If your institution is silent, use first person: it is increasingly the accepted standard and is explicitly recommended by APA 7, which many graduate programs follow.

Practical Rewriting: Converting Third Person to First Person

The following examples show common academic sentences rewritten from third person or passive to first person active. Each revision is shorter, clearer, and more direct.

Original (Third Person / Passive)	Revised (First Person / Active)
It is argued in this paper that…	I argue that…
The data were collected using semi-structured interviews.	I collected data using semi-structured interviews.
Thematic analysis was conducted on the transcripts.	We conducted thematic analysis on the transcripts.
It can be concluded from these findings that…	I conclude from these findings that…
A limitation of the present study is the small sample size.	My study is limited by its small sample size.
The present author proposes a framework for…	I propose a framework for…
Participants were recruited through purposive sampling.	We recruited participants through purposive sampling.
It was found that students performed better when…	We found that students performed better when…

Professional Editing Support

If you are unsure whether your prose is consistent, clear, and appropriately voiced for your target journal or institution, a professional editor can help. Editage’s English editing service offers expert review by subject-matter editors who can flag passive voice issues, advise on appropriate pronoun use for your discipline, and ensure your manuscript meets the stylistic standards of your target journal.

Writing Positionality and Reflexivity Statements

Positionality and reflexivity statements are among the most important sections that require first person. These passages ask you to acknowledge who you are as a researcher and how your background, identity, and assumptions may have shaped your work. They literally cannot be written in third person without absurdity.

What to Include in a Positionality Statement

• Your relevant background (professional experience, personal identity, prior beliefs about the topic).
• How that background may have influenced your research design, data collection, or interpretation.
• Steps you took to maintain rigor despite those potential influences (bracketing, member-checking, peer debriefing).
• An honest assessment of the limits of your perspective.

Example: Weak vs Strong Positionality Statement

Weak (Third Person Evasion)	Strong (First Person Ownership)
Potential bias was acknowledged. The researcher’s background may have influenced data interpretation.	I acknowledge that as a former classroom teacher, I brought assumptions about student motivation to this study. I addressed this by maintaining a reflective journal and inviting a peer researcher to review my interpretations.

The strong version is more credible because it specifies what the bias was and what was done about it. Vague third person acknowledgments of potential bias satisfy no one.

Does Using First Person Affect Peer Review Outcomes?

Research on this question is limited but instructive. Studies of peer review in the humanities and social sciences find that reviewers generally respond positively to clear, direct prose, which tends to accompany first person use.

The practical implication:

• If your target journal explicitly permits first person, use it: it improves clarity and is appropriate.
• If you are submitting to a conservative journal in a passive-voice-dominant discipline, consider a mixed strategy: first person for arguments, interpretations, and conclusions; passive for methods reporting.
• In all cases, prioritize internal consistency: a paper that randomly alternates between I and the passive voice reads as unpolished regardless of which convention it is mixing.

Getting Your Voice Right Before Submission

Striking the right balance between first person and passive voice for your specific field and journal takes experience. If you are navigating a complex or high-stakes submission, consider getting a professional second opinion. Editage’s English editing service provides manuscript editing with discipline-specific expertise, including guidance on voice, register, and adherence to journal-specific style conventions.

First Person in Theses and Dissertations: Special Considerations

Theses and dissertations present a unique writing situation. They are longer and more formally examined than journal articles, and they must satisfy both institutional guidelines and the expectations of a supervisory committee.

Key Points for Thesis and Dissertation Writers

• Most modern universities permit and many encourage first person in doctoral and master’s theses, especially in qualitative, mixed-methods, and humanities research.
• Check your graduate school’s thesis manual before beginning Chapter 1: some institutions have explicit requirements, while others are silent (which means you have discretion).
• A common and widely accepted strategy is to use I throughout the conceptual and interpretive chapters (introduction, literature review, discussion, conclusion) and to use a mix of first person and passive in the methods chapter where passive is disciplinarily conventional.
• If your supervisor objects to first person on principle, ask them to point you to the specific institutional rule they are citing. If no rule exists, share APA 7’s guidance and negotiate from there.
• For collaborative research with your supervisor or other team members, use we in chapters describing joint work and I in chapters describing your independent analysis.

Does First Person Affect Academic Tone?

Using first person does not mean abandoning academic tone. You can write in a formal, scholarly tone and still use I and we. The two are entirely compatible. Academic register is maintained through:

• Precise vocabulary and technical terminology appropriate to your field.
• Appropriate hedging language (suggests, may, appears to) when claims are uncertain.
• Citation of sources to support claims.
• Logical structure: clear topic sentences, evidence, analysis, and transitions.
• Absence of colloquialisms, contractions (unless the journal style permits), and informal phrasing.

Ensuring Publication-Ready Quality

Even confident writers benefit from a professional review before submitting to high-impact journals or depositing a final dissertation. Editage’s English editing service offers comprehensive manuscript review that covers language accuracy, consistency of voice, adherence to style guide requirements, and overall readability, helping you submit with confidence.

Frequently Asked Questions

My supervisor told me never to use I in my thesis. What should I do?

This is the most common complaint among graduate students, and it deserves a direct answer. Ask your supervisor to point you to the specific institutional rule prohibiting first person. In most cases, no such rule exists: it is a personal stylistic preference, not a formal requirement. Show your supervisor APA 7’s explicit recommendation for first person and ask whether the department has a written policy. If a formal policy does exist, comply with it; but if none exists, you have grounds to advocate for the approach that makes your writing clearer and your scholarly voice more visible.

Will reviewers penalize me for using I in a journal submission?

In most disciplines and journals, no. Peer reviewers are primarily evaluating the quality of your argument, the rigor of your methods, and the significance of your contribution. Research on reviewer behavior suggests that clear, active prose is generally received more favorably than dense, passive constructions. Checking the journal’s published author guidelines and scanning recent issues is important before submitting.

Is it acceptable to switch between I and passive voice in the same paper?

Yes, a mixed strategy is common and often appropriate. Many scholars use first person for arguments, interpretations, and conclusions while using passive voice selectively in methods sections where it is often expected. The key is intentionality: switch for a reason, and be consistent within each section. Random alternation reads as inconsistency; purposeful mixing reads as stylistic awareness.

Does using “we” in a sole-authored paper look dishonest?

Not necessarily, though it can create confusion about authorship. In some disciplines, particularly economics, using “we” in a single-author paper is a longstanding convention that signals the collaborative nature of knowledge production. In other fields, particularly qualitative social science and humanities, using “I” in sole-authored work is preferred and expected. Check the norm in your specific field by reading recent solo-authored papers in your target journals.

Some PhD supervisors are completely against first person while others encourage it. How do I handle this inconsistency in multi-supervisor situations?

This is a genuine practical problem, especially for students with co-supervisors who disagree. The recommended approach: have an explicit early conversation in which all supervisors agree on a pronoun convention before you begin writing. If they cannot agree, default to APA 7’s guidance (or the relevant style guide for your field) as a neutral authority and document that decision in writing. This prevents the frustration of being asked to revise your pronoun use at a late stage.

Can I use first person in a systematic review or meta-analysis?

Yes, and it is particularly valuable in these genres. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses involve multiple methodological choices: which databases to search, which inclusion criteria to apply, how to assess risk of bias, how to handle heterogeneity. All of these decisions were made by you or your team. Writing “we searched four databases” and “we excluded studies that did not report” makes the decision trail transparent and reproducible, which is exactly what evidence synthesis requires. First person actively serves the methodological rigor of these genres.

Conclusion: Own Your Research by Owning Your Voice

Use I and we wherever your journal or institution permits. Check the guidelines, advocate for first person when the guidelines are silent, and get professional support if you need help calibrating your voice for a specific audience. Editage’s English editing service can help ensure that your manuscript is not only linguistically polished but also appropriately voiced for the outlets you are targeting. Your scholarship deserves to be heard in your voice.