# Science research writing - Passive and Active **Parent**:: [[♯ Science research writing]] ## Should I use the passive or the active here? [📄](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/KS7N47TZ?page=43) This depends on factors such as the potential for ambiguity, the style of the target journal and whether you prefer to focus on yourselves as authors or on the study. [📄](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/KS7N47TZ?page=43) ## 1.5.3 Passive/Active choices [📄](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/KS7N47TZ?page=97) There are three options: using we/our, using the passive, and restructuring the sentence so that it is in the active, with a non-human subject ( This study demonstrates that.../Section 1 presents...). [📄](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/KS7N47TZ?page=97) With regard to style, the first thing to do is — as always — to check the journal in question, so start by looking at your target articles. [📄](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/KS7N47TZ?page=97) > #reverse-engineering With regard to communicative accuracy, if you use the active, it is important to keep the referent of we/our consistent. [📄](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/KS7N47TZ?page=98&annotation=958IL38H) If you are using we/our to refer to people in general, it may be clearer to use a construction with It (It is known/thought that...). [📄](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/KS7N47TZ?page=98&annotation=VJYP4XKH) ## 2.5.1 Verb tense and the agentless passive [📄](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/KS7N47TZ?page=149) Science writers generally use an agentless passive verb ( was/is found), rather than passive + agent ( was/is found by us), so in most cases those who actually performed the verb are not mentioned. This creates a high risk of ambiguity because the agentless passive looks identical whether it is describing your own work (samples were collected using a sterile swab) or the work of another researcher ( samples were collected using a sterile swab). [📄](zotero://open-pdf/library/items/KS7N47TZ?page=149&annotation=TY6EAHC5)