One’s tense will vary depending on what one is trying to convey within their paper or section of their paper. For example, the tense may change between the methods section and the discussion section.

A scientific paper often describes how “Participants were selected for certain characteristics ... refers to it several times as the “passive tense”. It isn’t a tense.

Passive Voice. 1. I wrote the essay. (active voice) 2. The essay was written by me. (Passive voice) 3. The essay will be written. (Passive voice) Although the verb is in the active or passive voice, ...

Among other things, the passive voice may make it more difficult to celebrate particular scientific accomplishments. When scientists fight for the passive voice, they’re not fighting for their ...