Should I Use “I”?
What this handout is about.
This handout is about determining when to use first person pronouns (“I”, “we,” “me,” “us,” “my,” and “our”) and personal experience in academic writing. “First person” and “personal experience” might sound like two ways of saying the same thing, but first person and personal experience can work in very different ways in your writing. You might choose to use “I” but not make any reference to your individual experiences in a particular paper. Or you might include a brief description of an experience that could help illustrate a point you’re making without ever using the word “I.” So whether or not you should use first person and personal experience are really two separate questions, both of which this handout addresses. It also offers some alternatives if you decide that either “I” or personal experience isn’t appropriate for your project. If you’ve decided that you do want to use one of them, this handout offers some ideas about how to do so effectively, because in many cases using one or the other might strengthen your writing.
Expectations about academic writing
Students often arrive at college with strict lists of writing rules in mind. Often these are rather strict lists of absolutes, including rules both stated and unstated:
- Each essay should have exactly five paragraphs.
- Don’t begin a sentence with “and” or “because.”
- Never include personal opinion.
- Never use “I” in essays.
We get these ideas primarily from teachers and other students. Often these ideas are derived from good advice but have been turned into unnecessarily strict rules in our minds. The problem is that overly strict rules about writing can prevent us, as writers, from being flexible enough to learn to adapt to the writing styles of different fields, ranging from the sciences to the humanities, and different kinds of writing projects, ranging from reviews to research.
So when it suits your purpose as a scholar, you will probably need to break some of the old rules, particularly the rules that prohibit first person pronouns and personal experience. Although there are certainly some instructors who think that these rules should be followed (so it is a good idea to ask directly), many instructors in all kinds of fields are finding reason to depart from these rules. Avoiding “I” can lead to awkwardness and vagueness, whereas using it in your writing can improve style and clarity. Using personal experience, when relevant, can add concreteness and even authority to writing that might otherwise be vague and impersonal. Because college writing situations vary widely in terms of stylistic conventions, tone, audience, and purpose, the trick is deciphering the conventions of your writing context and determining how your purpose and audience affect the way you write. The rest of this handout is devoted to strategies for figuring out when to use “I” and personal experience.
Effective uses of “I”:
In many cases, using the first person pronoun can improve your writing, by offering the following benefits:
- Assertiveness: In some cases you might wish to emphasize agency (who is doing what), as for instance if you need to point out how valuable your particular project is to an academic discipline or to claim your unique perspective or argument.
- Clarity: Because trying to avoid the first person can lead to awkward constructions and vagueness, using the first person can improve your writing style.
- Positioning yourself in the essay: In some projects, you need to explain how your research or ideas build on or depart from the work of others, in which case you’ll need to say “I,” “we,” “my,” or “our”; if you wish to claim some kind of authority on the topic, first person may help you do so.
Deciding whether “I” will help your style
Here is an example of how using the first person can make the writing clearer and more assertive:
Original example:
In studying American popular culture of the 1980s, the question of to what degree materialism was a major characteristic of the cultural milieu was explored.
Better example using first person:
In our study of American popular culture of the 1980s, we explored the degree to which materialism characterized the cultural milieu.
The original example sounds less emphatic and direct than the revised version; using “I” allows the writers to avoid the convoluted construction of the original and clarifies who did what.
Here is an example in which alternatives to the first person would be more appropriate:
As I observed the communication styles of first-year Carolina women, I noticed frequent use of non-verbal cues.
Better example:
A study of the communication styles of first-year Carolina women revealed frequent use of non-verbal cues.
In the original example, using the first person grounds the experience heavily in the writer’s subjective, individual perspective, but the writer’s purpose is to describe a phenomenon that is in fact objective or independent of that perspective. Avoiding the first person here creates the desired impression of an observed phenomenon that could be reproduced and also creates a stronger, clearer statement.
Here’s another example in which an alternative to first person works better:
As I was reading this study of medieval village life, I noticed that social class tended to be clearly defined.
This study of medieval village life reveals that social class tended to be clearly defined.
Although you may run across instructors who find the casual style of the original example refreshing, they are probably rare. The revised version sounds more academic and renders the statement more assertive and direct.
Here’s a final example:
I think that Aristotle’s ethical arguments are logical and readily applicable to contemporary cases, or at least it seems that way to me.
Better example
Aristotle’s ethical arguments are logical and readily applicable to contemporary cases.
In this example, there is no real need to announce that that statement about Aristotle is your thought; this is your paper, so readers will assume that the ideas in it are yours.
Determining whether to use “I” according to the conventions of the academic field
Which fields allow “I”?
The rules for this are changing, so it’s always best to ask your instructor if you’re not sure about using first person. But here are some general guidelines.
Sciences: In the past, scientific writers avoided the use of “I” because scientists often view the first person as interfering with the impression of objectivity and impersonality they are seeking to create. But conventions seem to be changing in some cases—for instance, when a scientific writer is describing a project she is working on or positioning that project within the existing research on the topic. Check with your science instructor to find out whether it’s o.k. to use “I” in his/her class.
Social Sciences: Some social scientists try to avoid “I” for the same reasons that other scientists do. But first person is becoming more commonly accepted, especially when the writer is describing his/her project or perspective.
Humanities: Ask your instructor whether you should use “I.” The purpose of writing in the humanities is generally to offer your own analysis of language, ideas, or a work of art. Writers in these fields tend to value assertiveness and to emphasize agency (who’s doing what), so the first person is often—but not always—appropriate. Sometimes writers use the first person in a less effective way, preceding an assertion with “I think,” “I feel,” or “I believe” as if such a phrase could replace a real defense of an argument. While your audience is generally interested in your perspective in the humanities fields, readers do expect you to fully argue, support, and illustrate your assertions. Personal belief or opinion is generally not sufficient in itself; you will need evidence of some kind to convince your reader.
Other writing situations: If you’re writing a speech, use of the first and even the second person (“you”) is generally encouraged because these personal pronouns can create a desirable sense of connection between speaker and listener and can contribute to the sense that the speaker is sincere and involved in the issue. If you’re writing a resume, though, avoid the first person; describe your experience, education, and skills without using a personal pronoun (for example, under “Experience” you might write “Volunteered as a peer counselor”).
A note on the second person “you”:
In situations where your intention is to sound conversational and friendly because it suits your purpose, as it does in this handout intended to offer helpful advice, or in a letter or speech, “you” might help to create just the sense of familiarity you’re after. But in most academic writing situations, “you” sounds overly conversational, as for instance in a claim like “when you read the poem ‘The Wasteland,’ you feel a sense of emptiness.” In this case, the “you” sounds overly conversational. The statement would read better as “The poem ‘The Wasteland’ creates a sense of emptiness.” Academic writers almost always use alternatives to the second person pronoun, such as “one,” “the reader,” or “people.”
Personal experience in academic writing
The question of whether personal experience has a place in academic writing depends on context and purpose. In papers that seek to analyze an objective principle or data as in science papers, or in papers for a field that explicitly tries to minimize the effect of the researcher’s presence such as anthropology, personal experience would probably distract from your purpose. But sometimes you might need to explicitly situate your position as researcher in relation to your subject of study. Or if your purpose is to present your individual response to a work of art, to offer examples of how an idea or theory might apply to life, or to use experience as evidence or a demonstration of an abstract principle, personal experience might have a legitimate role to play in your academic writing. Using personal experience effectively usually means keeping it in the service of your argument, as opposed to letting it become an end in itself or take over the paper.
It’s also usually best to keep your real or hypothetical stories brief, but they can strengthen arguments in need of concrete illustrations or even just a little more vitality.
Here are some examples of effective ways to incorporate personal experience in academic writing:
- Anecdotes: In some cases, brief examples of experiences you’ve had or witnessed may serve as useful illustrations of a point you’re arguing or a theory you’re evaluating. For instance, in philosophical arguments, writers often use a real or hypothetical situation to illustrate abstract ideas and principles.
- References to your own experience can explain your interest in an issue or even help to establish your authority on a topic.
- Some specific writing situations, such as application essays, explicitly call for discussion of personal experience.
Here are some suggestions about including personal experience in writing for specific fields:
Philosophy: In philosophical writing, your purpose is generally to reconstruct or evaluate an existing argument, and/or to generate your own. Sometimes, doing this effectively may involve offering a hypothetical example or an illustration. In these cases, you might find that inventing or recounting a scenario that you’ve experienced or witnessed could help demonstrate your point. Personal experience can play a very useful role in your philosophy papers, as long as you always explain to the reader how the experience is related to your argument. (See our handout on writing in philosophy for more information.)
Religion: Religion courses might seem like a place where personal experience would be welcomed. But most religion courses take a cultural, historical, or textual approach, and these generally require objectivity and impersonality. So although you probably have very strong beliefs or powerful experiences in this area that might motivate your interest in the field, they shouldn’t supplant scholarly analysis. But ask your instructor, as it is possible that he or she is interested in your personal experiences with religion, especially in less formal assignments such as response papers. (See our handout on writing in religious studies for more information.)
Literature, Music, Fine Arts, and Film: Writing projects in these fields can sometimes benefit from the inclusion of personal experience, as long as it isn’t tangential. For instance, your annoyance over your roommate’s habits might not add much to an analysis of “Citizen Kane.” However, if you’re writing about Ridley Scott’s treatment of relationships between women in the movie “Thelma and Louise,” some reference your own observations about these relationships might be relevant if it adds to your analysis of the film. Personal experience can be especially appropriate in a response paper, or in any kind of assignment that asks about your experience of the work as a reader or viewer. Some film and literature scholars are interested in how a film or literary text is received by different audiences, so a discussion of how a particular viewer or reader experiences or identifies with the piece would probably be appropriate. (See our handouts on writing about fiction , art history , and drama for more information.)
Women’s Studies: Women’s Studies classes tend to be taught from a feminist perspective, a perspective which is generally interested in the ways in which individuals experience gender roles. So personal experience can often serve as evidence for your analytical and argumentative papers in this field. This field is also one in which you might be asked to keep a journal, a kind of writing that requires you to apply theoretical concepts to your experiences.
History: If you’re analyzing a historical period or issue, personal experience is less likely to advance your purpose of objectivity. However, some kinds of historical scholarship do involve the exploration of personal histories. So although you might not be referencing your own experience, you might very well be discussing other people’s experiences as illustrations of their historical contexts. (See our handout on writing in history for more information.)
Sciences: Because the primary purpose is to study data and fixed principles in an objective way, personal experience is less likely to have a place in this kind of writing. Often, as in a lab report, your goal is to describe observations in such a way that a reader could duplicate the experiment, so the less extra information, the better. Of course, if you’re working in the social sciences, case studies—accounts of the personal experiences of other people—are a crucial part of your scholarship. (See our handout on writing in the sciences for more information.)
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Using “I” in Academic Writing
Traditionally, some fields have frowned on the use of the first-person singular in an academic essay and others have encouraged that use, and both the frowning and the encouraging persist today—and there are good reasons for both positions (see “Should I”).
I recommend that you not look on the question of using “I” in an academic paper as a matter of a rule to follow, as part of a political agenda (see webb), or even as the need to create a strategy to avoid falling into Scylla-or-Charybdis error. Let the first-person singular be, instead, a tool that you take out when you think it’s needed and that you leave in the toolbox when you think it’s not.
Examples of When “I” May Be Needed
- You are narrating how you made a discovery, and the process of your discovering is important or at the very least entertaining.
- You are describing how you teach something and how your students have responded or respond.
- You disagree with another scholar and want to stress that you are not waving the banner of absolute truth.
- You need “I” for rhetorical effect, to be clear, simple, or direct.
Examples of When “I” Should Be Given a Rest
- It’s off-putting to readers, generally, when “I” appears too often. You may not feel one bit modest, but remember the advice of Benjamin Franklin, still excellent, on the wisdom of preserving the semblance of modesty when your purpose is to convince others.
- You are the author of your paper, so if an opinion is expressed in it, it is usually clear that this opinion is yours. You don’t have to add a phrase like, “I believe” or “it seems to me.”
Works Cited
Franklin, Benjamin. The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin . Project Gutenberg , 28 Dec. 2006, www.gutenberg.org/app/uploads/sites/3/20203/20203-h/20203-h.htm#I.
“Should I Use “I”?” The Writing Center at UNC—Chapel Hill , writingcenter.unc.edu/handouts/should-i-use-i/.
webb, Christine. “The Use of the First Person in Academic Writing: Objectivity, Language, and Gatekeeping.” ResearchGate , July 1992, doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2648.1992.tb01974.x.
J.S.Beniwal 05 August 2017 AT 09:08 AM
I have borrowed MLA only yesterday, did my MAEnglish in May 2017.MLA is of immense help for scholars.An overview of the book really enlightened me.I should have read it at bachelor's degree level.
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Dr. Raymond Harter 25 September 2017 AT 02:09 PM
I discourage the use of "I" in essays for undergraduates to reinforce a conversational tone and to "self-recognize" the writer as an authority or at least a thorough researcher. Writing a play is different than an essay with a purpose.
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Using First Person in an Academic Essay: When is It Okay?
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Can You Use First-Person Pronouns (I/we) in a Research Paper?
Research writers frequently wonder whether the first person can be used in academic and scientific writing. In truth, for generations, we’ve been discouraged from using “I” and “we” in academic writing simply due to old habits. That’s right—there’s no reason why you can’t use these words! In fact, the academic community used first-person pronouns until the 1920s, when the third person and passive-voice constructions (that is, “boring” writing) were adopted–prominently expressed, for example, in Strunk and White’s classic writing manual “Elements of Style” first published in 1918, that advised writers to place themselves “in the background” and not draw attention to themselves.
In recent decades, however, changing attitudes about the first person in academic writing has led to a paradigm shift, and we have, however, we’ve shifted back to producing active and engaging prose that incorporates the first person.
Can You Use “I” in a Research Paper?
However, “I” and “we” still have some generally accepted pronoun rules writers should follow. For example, the first person is more likely used in the abstract , Introduction section , Discussion section , and Conclusion section of an academic paper while the third person and passive constructions are found in the Methods section and Results section .
In this article, we discuss when you should avoid personal pronouns and when they may enhance your writing.
It’s Okay to Use First-Person Pronouns to:
- clarify meaning by eliminating passive voice constructions;
- establish authority and credibility (e.g., assert ethos, the Aristotelian rhetorical term referring to the personal character);
- express interest in a subject matter (typically found in rapid correspondence);
- establish personal connections with readers, particularly regarding anecdotal or hypothetical situations (common in philosophy, religion, and similar fields, particularly to explore how certain concepts might impact personal life. Additionally, artistic disciplines may also encourage personal perspectives more than other subjects);
- to emphasize or distinguish your perspective while discussing existing literature; and
- to create a conversational tone (rare in academic writing).
The First Person Should Be Avoided When:
- doing so would remove objectivity and give the impression that results or observations are unique to your perspective;
- you wish to maintain an objective tone that would suggest your study minimized biases as best as possible; and
- expressing your thoughts generally (phrases like “I think” are unnecessary because any statement that isn’t cited should be yours).
Usage Examples
The following examples compare the impact of using and avoiding first-person pronouns.
Example 1 (First Person Preferred):
To understand the effects of global warming on coastal regions, changes in sea levels, storm surge occurrences and precipitation amounts were examined .
[Note: When a long phrase acts as the subject of a passive-voice construction, the sentence becomes difficult to digest. Additionally, since the author(s) conducted the research, it would be clearer to specifically mention them when discussing the focus of a project.]
We examined changes in sea levels, storm surge occurrences, and precipitation amounts to understand how global warming impacts coastal regions.
[Note: When describing the focus of a research project, authors often replace “we” with phrases such as “this study” or “this paper.” “We,” however, is acceptable in this context, including for scientific disciplines. In fact, papers published the vast majority of scientific journals these days use “we” to establish an active voice. Be careful when using “this study” or “this paper” with verbs that clearly couldn’t have performed the action. For example, “we attempt to demonstrate” works, but “the study attempts to demonstrate” does not; the study is not a person.]
Example 2 (First Person Discouraged):
From the various data points we have received , we observed that higher frequencies of runoffs from heavy rainfall have occurred in coastal regions where temperatures have increased by at least 0.9°C.
[Note: Introducing personal pronouns when discussing results raises questions regarding the reproducibility of a study. However, mathematics fields generally tolerate phrases such as “in X example, we see…”]
Coastal regions with temperature increases averaging more than 0.9°C experienced higher frequencies of runoffs from heavy rainfall.
[Note: We removed the passive voice and maintained objectivity and assertiveness by specifically identifying the cause-and-effect elements as the actor and recipient of the main action verb. Additionally, in this version, the results appear independent of any person’s perspective.]
Example 3 (First Person Preferred):
In contrast to the study by Jones et al. (2001), which suggests that milk consumption is safe for adults, the Miller study (2005) revealed the potential hazards of ingesting milk. The authors confirm this latter finding.
[Note: “Authors” in the last sentence above is unclear. Does the term refer to Jones et al., Miller, or the authors of the current paper?]
In contrast to the study by Jones et al. (2001), which suggests that milk consumption is safe for adults, the Miller study (2005) revealed the potential hazards of ingesting milk. We confirm this latter finding.
[Note: By using “we,” this sentence clarifies the actor and emphasizes the significance of the recent findings reported in this paper. Indeed, “I” and “we” are acceptable in most scientific fields to compare an author’s works with other researchers’ publications. The APA encourages using personal pronouns for this context. The social sciences broaden this scope to allow discussion of personal perspectives, irrespective of comparisons to other literature.]
Other Tips about Using Personal Pronouns
- Avoid starting a sentence with personal pronouns. The beginning of a sentence is a noticeable position that draws readers’ attention. Thus, using personal pronouns as the first one or two words of a sentence will draw unnecessary attention to them (unless, of course, that was your intent).
- Be careful how you define “we.” It should only refer to the authors and never the audience unless your intention is to write a conversational piece rather than a scholarly document! After all, the readers were not involved in analyzing or formulating the conclusions presented in your paper (although, we note that the point of your paper is to persuade readers to reach the same conclusions you did). While this is not a hard-and-fast rule, if you do want to use “we” to refer to a larger class of people, clearly define the term “we” in the sentence. For example, “As researchers, we frequently question…”
- First-person writing is becoming more acceptable under Modern English usage standards; however, the second-person pronoun “you” is still generally unacceptable because it is too casual for academic writing.
- Take all of the above notes with a grain of salt. That is, double-check your institution or target journal’s author guidelines . Some organizations may prohibit the use of personal pronouns.
- As an extra tip, before submission, you should always read through the most recent issues of a journal to get a better sense of the editors’ preferred writing styles and conventions.
Wordvice Resources
For more general advice on how to use active and passive voice in research papers, on how to paraphrase , or for a list of useful phrases for academic writing , head over to the Wordvice Academic Resources pages . And for more professional proofreading services , visit our Academic Editing and P aper Editing Services pages.
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Solving an Important Issue in Academic Writing: Can You Use I in a Research Paper?
What will a professor answer if you ask: Can you say I in a research paper? Most professors will answer with a strict no to that question. But is this a one-dimensional issue? Isn’t there more depth to the problem?
You’re also wondering: why can’t I say I in a research paper, when I am the one writing it? There’s an interesting discussion around this issue. Most students would prefer more liberty in academic writing, so they can add uniqueness to their papers and express themselves in any way they want. The academic format is too strict and doesn’t allow for such flexibility.
When you’re working on projects that involve creative writing, using I is not a problem. A research paper, however, is more of an analytic and critical thinking paper, so the guidelines are different. In essence, you’re advised against using I, we, or you in this type of writing.
THE ISSUE OF USING WE IN A RESEARCH PAPER: WHEN IS THIS LANGUAGE ACCEPTABLE?
When you’re providing your own point of view, using I is the natural form of expression that comes to mind. Let’s take an example: we’ll assume you’re writing a research paper from social studies, focused on children living with alcoholic parents. In the introduction, you’ll be required to explain what this research paper is about.
In this research paper, I explored the negative influence that alcoholic parents have on the development on their children.
This seems like the simplest way to describe what your research is focused on. It is an acceptable form of academic writing, but it’s not the style that most academics recommend. This is what the recommended formulation would sound like:
Research has explored the negative influence that alcoholic parents have on the development on their children.
Yes; it sounds weird. No; it’s not how you usually talk when communicating with people around you. Yes; it involves some passive language. Still, it’s the recommended form of academic expression.
There are professors who insist that passive language must be avoided as much as possible, so the sentences will be clearer and more readable. Others, however, will insist on avoiding the use of first-person language. There’s a conflict of opinions here, so the best way to figure out how to write your research paper is by asking direct questions to your professor. When you need more detailed instructions, there’s no shame in asking for them.
THE FINAL ANSWER: CAN YOU USE I IN RESEARCH PAPER?
- If your professor or mentor says you should write in the most natural way, then it’s okay to use I in your research paper.
- If you’re referring to the reader and yourself, or you were working on the research paper as part of a team, then it’s okay to use we, too.
- It’s not OK to use we when you’re only referring to yourself.
- If your professor tells you that using I is not appropriate in research paper writing, then you should definitely avoid that form of expression. This means you’ll have to rely on passive language, so you’ll avoid first-person writing.
What if you don’t get precise a precise guide for the style of your research paper? Maybe you cannot reach the professor or your email message gets no answer.
In that case, it’s best to stick to the traditional format of research paper writing. What does that mean? – Avoid using I and we!
WHAT’S THE CORRECT WAY TO WRITE A RESEARCH PAPER?
When someone tells you that you should avoid using first person in academic writing, you probably need more information. The instruction is not enough to convince you that avoidance of I is the right way to write a research paper.
There are several factors that go in favor of this point of view:
- In science and academics, the use of I is considered rather arrogant and self-serving. The most important thing to remember is that you’re not focused on yourself as a writer, but on the research as something that serves the reader and the academic community.
- It’s best to avoid personal pronouns when engaged in persuasive writing. Saying I believe is not persuasive enough. Here’s another example: Based on my findings, I concluded that alcoholic parents have a negative influence over the emotional development of their children. The more convincing way to formulate that statement would be this one: Based on the research findings, it may be concluded that alcoholic parents have a negative influence over the emotional development of their children. You see? It’s important to focus on the research; not on yourself.
- It’s also important to avoid the use of you when writing a research paper, since that form of expression is usually implemented when providing instructions or addressing the reader directly. In a research paper, you’re not doing that.
DO YOU NEED HELP TO FIND YOUR ACADEMIC WRITING STYLE?
All these guidelines seem rather simple, don’t they? You’ll just avoid first and second person, and you’ll write your research paper in a format that’s acceptable for the academic community, right? Wrong!
The third person, as a generally used style in academic writing, can impose some difficulties. You cannot use he or she in a research paper, since you’re not writing about particular persons. Instead, you’ll use indefinite pronouns to refer to the subject, while avoiding feminine or masculine terminology.
Finally, there are always some exceptions from the rules, and that makes it even harder for you to find the right style. Who said that college or university education was easy?
Fortunately, there is a solution. You may always buy research paper online. You’ll find the perfect research paper writing service and you’ll collaborate with a professional PhD writer. The writer will take your requirements into consideration, and they will write the perfect research paper that meets all academic writing standards. The good news is that you can hire a professional service for a really affordable price!
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May 22, 2014
“me, me, me”: how to talk about yourself in an apa style paper.
Any sleep-deprived student knows those papers don’t write themselves. A living, breathing, person must produce the words on the page, and in certain contexts, you have to acknowledge that fact in the text itself. Let’s go through several cases of how to write about yourself in an APA Style paper.
General Use of I or We
It is totally acceptable to write in the first person in an APA Style paper. If you did something, say, “I did it”—there’s no reason to hide your own agency by saying “the author [meaning you] did X” or to convolute things by using the passive “X was done [meaning done by you].” If you’re writing a paper alone, use I as your pronoun. If you have coauthors, use we .
However, avoid using we to refer to broader sets of people—researchers, students, psychologists, Americans, people in general, or even all of humanity—without specifying who you mean (a practice called using the editorial “we” ). This can introduce ambiguity into your writing.
For example, if you are writing about the history of attachment theory, write “Researchers have studied attachment since the 1970s” rather than “We have studied attachment since the 1970s.” The latter may allow the reader to erroneously believe that you have personally studied attachment for the last 40 years (which may be difficult for those dear readers under 40).
If you want to refer to yourself as well as a broader group, specify to whom we refers. Write “As young adults in college, we are tasked with learning to live independent lives” not “We are tasked with learning to live independent lives.” By stating that we refers here to young adults in college, readers understand the context (which could otherwise be any number of groups tasked with the same, such as individuals with developmental disabilities or infants).
Use of I or We in Personal Response or Reaction Papers
A common assignment in psychology classes is the personal response or reaction paper. The specifications of these assignments vary, but what they all have in common is that you are supposed to critique and/or give your personal thoughts about something you have read. This necessitates using the first person. In the professional psychology world, a similar type of paper exists, and it is called a Comment or a Reply.
The excerpt below illustrates how the first person should be used to express personal opinions. Here, South and DeYoung (2013), the authors, respond to papers by Hopwood (2013) and Skodol and Krueger (2013).
Notice how the authors state their opinions and reactions: They use plain, straightforward language. If you are tasked with writing a personal response paper, you can do the same. The authors have also used the pronoun we because there are two of them; if a single author had written this passage, she or he would have used the pronoun I .
It’s less hard than you might think to write about yourself in APA Style. Own your opinions by using the appropriate pronouns. If you have further questions about this topic, please leave a comment.
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When to Use “e.g.” and “i.e.” While Writing Your Paper
We see them often in text, usually in parentheses, and we can usually figure out the context from the text before them, but what do those letters mean? The abbreviation “e.g.” stands for the Latin exempli gratia , which means “for example” or “for the sake of example.” The abbreviation “ i.e. ” stands for the Latin phrase id est , which means “that is to say” or “in other words.” When writing, we often use these terms like examples ( e.g. ) to emphasize a point or use ( i.e. ) to state the point in a different way without a long explanation.
Some confuse the two terms and use them incorrectly. The following will provide you with some helpful hints and examples.
E.g. vs. i.e.–What’s the Difference?
As stated above, e.g. is short for “for example.” The easiest way to remember this one is that it starts with an “ e ” and so does “ example .” Here’s how to use for example (e.g.) in a sentence:
“There are many types of trees ( e.g., spruce, oak, maple ) in the study area.” “There were several breeds of horse ( e.g., Thoroughbreds, Appaloosas, Paints ) at the barn where we conducted our study on West Nile Virus.”
Note that by providing a few names as examples, we imply that there are many more than just these three trees or these three breeds of horse.
If these three trees or horse breeds were the only ones in those settings, the sentences would instead read:
“There are many spruce, oak, and maple trees in the study area.” “There are Thoroughbreds, Appaloosas, and Paints at the barn where we conducted our study on West Nile Virus.”
Related: Finished preparing your manuscript? Check out these additional points now before submitting your manuscript
Remembering the abbreviation i.e. is just as easy. It begins with an “ i ” and so does the first word in its meaning—“ in other words.” Here’s how to use i.e. in a sentence:
“After work, I’m going to try the new restaurant ( i.e., All About Pasta ) to decide on a venue for the reception.” “To buy the car that I really want ( i.e., a Tesla ), I will have to work a lot of overtime.”
It might also help you remember the differences if you think of the two abbreviations this way: e.g. provides examples so it tends to increase the number of options, while i.e. provides clarification or precise information so that it tends to narrow down the number of options.
Punctuation and Style
Correct punctuation of abbreviations is also important. For these two abbreviations, the punctuation is fairly simple, although there are some exceptions (as noted). Some of the rules of punctuation for these two abbreviations are as follows:
- Use lowercase letters unless at the beginning of a sentence (very rare) and then capitalize only the first letter. It would be best to not use an abbreviation to begin a sentence. Instead, write out the phrase it stands for , such as “for example,” or “in other words,” to begin the sentence.
- Place a period after each letter.
- Place a comma after the second period (note: in British English, no commas are used).
- Do not italicize even though they are abbreviated Latin terms; however, note that some author guidelines specify that all foreign words and phrases be italicized. In scientific writing, we often see phrases such as “in vitro” italicized as well as these abbreviations. Be sure to check your guidelines.
- Place the phrase either in parentheses or within the sentence itself. This is a matter of preferred style. Most scientific writings place the phrases inside parentheses, and the Chicago Manual of Style , which is used for all prose and poetry and in many of the liberal arts fields of discipline, specifies that they always be inside parentheses.
Different disciplines use different style guides that have their own rules of punctuation for these and other abbreviations. Generally, the above points should be followed in most cases in academic writing. Abbreviations are fairly standardized across all disciplines; however, always be sure to check your author guidelines and style guides for specific discipline for any exceptions to these rules.
Have you faced any problems while using e.g. or i.e.? What tips did you follow? Share with us in the comments section!
This post clarified all my life now. I used to struggle and misunderstand every time I read those abbreviations but now, after that amazing explanation, I feel like I finally learn! Thank you so much!!!!
Is ‘i.e.’ used in past tense too? For example,
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Is it suitable to use 'etc.' in an academic paper?
I'm writing one of my first academic papers and I'm not sure whether etc. is too informal. Should I use et cetera instead?
- abbreviations
- 2 I think Writers.SE might be able to help you more with this question, since it's more about style than usage. – Mark Beadles Apr 29, 2012 at 14:33
- Go with et cetera when it is not sentence-ending, to avoid the ugly period after etc . – Kaz Apr 29, 2012 at 15:16
- 2 @Kat: only the most pretentious and unedited academic writers would use the full spelling of these abbreviations. Sorry, I mean to say that -no one- uses the full spelling. – Mitch Apr 29, 2012 at 16:57
- @Mitch: My supervisor tells me that "etc." is too informal for scientific writing. Funny thing though, when I searched the 'web for scientific style guides, all three that I found used it profusely, without mentioning guidelines for its use. :D – naught101 May 2, 2012 at 7:11
- @naught101: I agree that 'etc.' is too informal. My point was to Kaz that one should definitely not spell it out as 'et cetera' – Mitch May 2, 2012 at 11:36
5 Answers 5
etc. is not informal. In fact it is better than its expansion, which sounds rather awkward. It is perfectly ok to use etc. in an academic paper.
Just note, however, that both of them are very sparingly and carefully used in serious writing. Try to list fully or describe the list instead.
- 2 For better advice, migrate the Q. to writersSE and see. – Kris Apr 29, 2012 at 14:29
- 1 What do you mean that et cetera sounds awkward compared to etc ? Are you referring to the "ee tee cee" pronuncation? Otherwise, they do not make a different sound. – Kaz Apr 29, 2012 at 15:11
- 2 Right, it sounds the same, but it looks awkward. – naught101 May 2, 2012 at 7:13
I would recommend not using etc. in an academic paper. And if you do, please be sure you are using it correctly. See this good explanation about using etc. Here's an excerpt:
It isn’t that writing that contains et al. or etc. is bad writing, it’s just that it is completely possible to construct meaningful sentences without using them. In fact, in most cases, it is probably preferable not to use them since both are badly overused, and technically speaking, they have definite meanings and specific usages that often do not apply in the cases they are used. More specifically, etc. is NOT to be used to complete a clause that starts with such as or for example . To use etcetera in a sentence is to imply that the the reader already knows the rest of the set it is referring to, not, as it is so often used, as a placeholder for an undefined set. (Note that etc. is fine to use when referring to an infinite set, which is, by definition, a known set.)
As an editor, I would almost always ask for a revision of a sentence that contains etc. It usually can be reworded more precisely and better without using this word. And quite honestly, many authors use it incorrectly.
- AP style is for media writing, not academic writing. I like the point about not using it with e.g., but I'm not sure that I could find a rational argument to support it. You could have a sentence "for example, apples, oranges, bananas and so on", couldn't you? Why is that bad, other than sounding a little awkward? Also, "an infinite set" is certainly not always a known set. – naught101 May 2, 2012 at 7:18
- We use AP style in our clinical journal (or at least our style guide is based on it). I think saying "for example,...and so on" is redundant. What follows are examples, not intended to be a complete list. I'm not sure about the "infinite set." That point was made in the excerpt, wasn't mine. – JLG May 2, 2012 at 15:35
I think the problem is not the phrase itself, but the fact that it assumes the reader will know what "the rest" is. As a rule, in academic papers, this is a difficult assumption to make, because the nature of an academic paper is to define and spell out information.
So if it is appropriate to include this at all, then the expression "etc." is fine - it is not the formality that is the issue, but the implications.
- Nice argument. What about when it doesn't matter if the audience knows the rest of the set? – naught101 May 2, 2012 at 7:19
- +1. This is the reason it is better to expand fully or describe the list. – Kris May 2, 2012 at 7:36
- 1 @naught101 - I have been trying to think of a case where this would be appropriate. Given that it is an academic paper, the list should normally be expanded or have a group title ( "or any other 2D shapes" ). etc. always leaves some ambiguity, which is rarely appropriate for such a medium. FWIW, I am currently writing a PhD thesis, and have not found a place for etc anywhere in it. – Schroedingers Cat May 2, 2012 at 8:07
- 1 I have one: the list of components in a climate model: "cloud formation processes, soil water run-off, sea-ice model, etc." There is potentially no end to the list, but it doesn't matter to the reader. The list is just to give the reader an idea of what kind of processes we're talking about. I guess I could use "for example ...", but I don't see why that's any better. – naught101 May 3, 2012 at 1:15
Garner in Garner's Modern American Usage has a good entry on this. He says:
Writers should generally try to be as specific as possible rather than make use of this term. Still, it would be foolish to prohibit etc. outright because often one simply cannot practicably list all that should be listed in a given context. Hence, rather than convey to the reader that a list is seemingly complete when it is not, the writer might justifiably use etc. ( always the abbreviation ). In text, a substitute such as and others is usually a better choice. The term etc. should be reserved for things, not for people.
- I'm not sure whether to fix misspelled simply or flag for unattributed quote from Garner's Modern American Usage; got any thoughts? – James Waldby - jwpat7 Apr 29, 2012 at 15:31
- Try to search Garner's Modern American Usage on Google Books; or try with this link ( books.google.com/… ) that function from Italy, but I do not think that function from others countries. – user19148 Apr 29, 2012 at 15:39
- 2 A google search provides six links all more relevant than that in your comment, which shows "New Yorker" references in Garner. But the link is not the important issue. The important issue is that you should attribute the quotation, instead of displaying it like original writing. – James Waldby - jwpat7 Apr 29, 2012 at 15:48
- @jwpat7 - Done. – user19148 Apr 29, 2012 at 15:54
- @jwpat7 - Pardon! - The preceding link was referred to this answer english.stackexchange.com/questions/66126/… – user19148 Apr 29, 2012 at 17:51
I'm using 'et cetera' it seems more formal and my teachers taught me not to abbreviate on test and important documents.
- 2 Hello, Lexi. Do what your teachers say until you're no longer under their authority. But then you can explore the facts for yourself. One university style guide I've come across requires that etc , et al etc should not be used at all. But others differ. Any 'rules' about this are local style preferences rather than binding requirements common to the English language. – Edwin Ashworth Apr 10, 2018 at 22:20
Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged abbreviations formality or ask your own question .
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Use of Pronouns in Academic Writing
Published by Alvin Nicolas at August 17th, 2021 , Revised On December 12, 2022
Pronouns are words that make reference to both specific and nonspecific things and people. They are used in place of nouns.
First-person pronouns (I, We) are rarely used in academic writing. They are primarily used in a reflective piece, such as a reflective essay or personal statement. You should avoid using second-person pronouns such as “you” and “yours”. The use of third-person pronouns (He, She, They) is allowed, but it is still recommended to consider gender bias when using them in academic writing.
The antecedent of a pronoun is the noun that the pronoun represents. In English, you will see the antecedent appear both before and after the pronoun, even though it is usually mentioned in the text before the pronoun. The students could not complete the work on time because they procrastinated for too long. Before he devoured a big burger, Michael looked a bit nervous.
The Antecedent of a Pronoun
Make sure the antecedent is evident and explicit whenever you use a pronoun in a sentence. You may want to replace the pronoun with the noun to eliminate any vagueness.
- After the production and the car’s mechanical inspection were complete, it was delivered to the owner.
In the above sentence, it is unclear what the pronoun “it” is referring to.
- After the production and the car’s mechanical inspection was complete, the car was delivered to the owner.
Use of First Person Pronouns (I, We) in Academic Writing
The use of first-person pronouns, such as “I” and “We”, is a widely debated topic in academic writing.
While some style guides, such as ‘APA” and “Harvard”, encourage first-person pronouns when describing the author’s actions, many other style guides discourage their use in academic writing to keep the attention to the information presented within rather than who describes it.
Similarly, you will find some leniency towards the use of first-person pronouns in some academic disciplines, while others strictly prohibit using them to maintain an impartial and neutral tone.
It will be fair to say that first-person pronouns are increasingly regular in many forms of academic writing. If ever in doubt whether or not you should use first-person pronouns in your essay or assignment, speak with your tutor to be entirely sure.
Avoid overusing first-person pronouns in academic papers regardless of the style guide used. It is recommended to use them only where required for improving the clarity of the text.
If you are writing about a situation involving only yourself or if you are the sole author of the paper, then use the singular pronouns (I, my). Use plural pronouns (We, They, Our) when there are coauthors to work.
Avoiding First Person Pronouns
You can avoid first-person pronouns by employing any of the following three methods.
There are advantages and disadvantages of each of these three strategies. For example, passive voice introduces dangling modifiers, which can make your text unclear and ambiguous. Therefore, it would be best to keep first-person pronouns in the text if you can use them.
In some forms of academic writing, such as a personal statement and reflective essay, it is completely acceptable to use first-person pronouns.
The Problem with the Editorial We
Avoid using the first person plural to refer to people in academic text, known as the “editorial we”. The use of the “editorial we” is quite common in newspapers when the author speaks on behalf of the people to express a shared experience or view.
Refrain from using broad generalizations in academic text. You have to be crystal clear and very specific about who you are making reference to. Use nouns in place of pronouns where possible.
- When we tested the data, we found that the hypothesis to be incorrect.
- When the researchers tested the data, they found the hypothesis to be incorrect.
- As we started to work on the project, we realized how complex the requirements were.
- As the students started to work on the project, they realized how complex the requirements were.
If you are talking on behalf of a specific group you belong to, then the use of “we” is acceptable.
- It is essential to be aware of our own
- It is essential for essayists to be aware of their own weaknesses.
- Essayists need to be aware of their own
Use of Second Person Pronouns (You) in Academic Writing
It is strictly prohibited to use the second-person pronoun “you” to address the audience in any form of academic writing. You can rephrase the sentence or introduce the impersonal pronoun “one” to avoid second-person pronouns in the text.
- To achieve the highest academic grade, you must avoid procrastination.
- To achieve the highest academic grade, one must avoid procrastination.
- As you can notice in below Table 2.1, all participants selected the first option.
- As shown in below Table 2.1, all participants selected the first option.
Use of Third Person Pronouns (He, She, They) in Academic Writing
Third-person pronouns in the English language are usually gendered (She/Her, He/Him). Educational institutes worldwide are increasingly advocating for gender-neutral language, so you should avoid using third-person pronouns in academic text.
In the older academic text, you will see gender-based nouns (Fishermen, Traitor) and pronouns (him, her, he, she) being commonly used. However, this style of writing is outdated and warned against in the present times.
You may also see some authors using both masculine and feminine pronouns, such as “he” or “she”, in the same text, but this generally results in unclear and inappropriate sentences.
Considering using gender-neutral pronouns, such as “they”, ‘there”, “them” for unknown people and undetermined people. The use of “they” in academic writing is highly encouraged. Many style guides, including Harvard, MLA, and APA, now endorse gender natural pronouns in academic writing.
On the other hand, you can also choose to avoid using pronouns altogether by either revising the sentence structure or pluralizing the sentence’s subject.
- When a student is asked to write an essay, he can take a specific position on the topic.
- When a student is asked to write an essay, they can take a specific position on the topic.
- When students are asked to write an essay, they are expected to take a specific position on the topic.
- Students are expected to take a specific position on the essay topic.
- The writer submitted his work for approval
- The writer submitted their work for approval.
- The writers submitted their work for approval.
- The writers’ work was submitted for approval.
Make sure it is clear who you are referring to with the singular “they” pronoun. You may want to rewrite the sentence or name the subject directly if the pronoun makes the sentence ambiguous.
For example, in the following example, you can see it is unclear who the plural pronoun “they” is referring to. To avoid confusion, the subject is named directly, and the context approves that “their paper” addresses the writer.
- If the writer doesn’t complete the client’s paper in time, they will be frustrated.
- The client will be frustrated if the writer doesn’t complete their paper in due time.
If you need to make reference to a specific person, it would be better to address them using self-identified pronouns. For example, in the following sentence, you can see that each person is referred to using a different possessive pronoun.
The students described their experience with different academic projects: Mike talked about his essay, James talked about their poster presentation, and Sara talked about her dissertation paper.
Ensure Consistency Throughout the Text
Avoid switching back and forth between first-person pronouns (I, We, Our) and third-person pronouns (The writers, the students) in a single piece. It is vitally important to maintain consistency throughout the text.
For example, The writers completed the work in due time, and our content quality is well above the standard expected. We completed the work in due time, and our content quality is well above the standard expected. The writers completed the work in due time, and the content quality is well above the standard expected.“
How to Use Demonstrative Pronouns (This, That, Those, These) in Academic Writing
Make sure it is clear who you are referring to when using demonstrative pronouns. Consider placing a descriptive word or phrase after the demonstrative pronouns to give more clarity to the sentence.
For example, The political relationship between Israel and Arab states has continued to worsen over the last few decades, contrary to the expectations of enthusiasts in the regional political sphere. This shows that a lot more needs to be done to tackle this. The political relationship between Israel and Arab states has continued to worsen over the last few decades, contrary to the expectations of enthusiasts in the regional political sphere. This situation shows that a lot more needs to be done to tackle this issue.
You May Also Like
We use prepositions to express relationships between different components of a sentence. This article explains the use of prepositions with examples.
A modifier is a word that changes, clarifies, or limits a particular word in a sentence in order to add details, clarification, importance, or explanation.
Conjunctions is the glue that the sentence together. This article explains coordinating conjunctions, subordinating conjunctions and correlative conjunctions with examples.
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Since 2007, Walden academic leadership has endorsed the APA manual guidance on appropriate use of the first-person singular pronoun "I," allowing the use of this pronoun in all Walden academic writing except doctoral capstone abstracts, which should not contain first person pronouns.
In addition to the pointers below, APA 7, Section 4.16 provides information on the appropriate use of first person in scholarly writing.
Inappropriate Uses: I feel that eating white bread causes cancer. The author feels that eating white bread causes cancer. I found several sources (Marks, 2011; Isaac, 2006; Stuart, in press) that showed a link between white bread consumption and cancer. Appropriate Use: I surveyed 2,900 adults who consumed white bread regularly. In this chapter, I present a literature review on research about how seasonal light changes affect depression.
Confusing Sentence: The researcher found that the authors had been accurate in their study of helium, which the researcher had hypothesized from the beginning of their project. Revision: I found that Johnson et al. (2011) had been accurate in their study of helium, which I had hypothesized since I began my project.
Passive voice: The surveys were distributed and the results were compiled after they were collected. Revision: I distributed the surveys, and then I collected and compiled the results.
Appropriate use of first person we and our : Two other nurses and I worked together to create a qualitative survey to measure patient satisfaction. Upon completion, we presented the results to our supervisor.
Make assumptions about your readers by putting them in a group to which they may not belong by using first person plural pronouns. Inappropriate use of first person "we" and "our":
- We can stop obesity in our society by changing our lifestyles.
- We need to help our patients recover faster.
In the first sentence above, the readers would not necessarily know who "we" are, and using a phrase such as "our society " can immediately exclude readers from outside your social group. In the second sentence, the author assumes that the reader is a nurse or medical professional, which may not be the case, and the sentence expresses the opinion of the author.
To write with more precision and clarity, hallmarks of scholarly writing, revise these sentences without the use of "we" and "our."
- Moderate activity can reduce the risk of obesity (Hu et al., 2003).
- Staff members in the health care industry can help improve the recovery rate for patients (Matthews, 2013).
- APA Formatting & Style: Pronouns (video transcript)
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Essay Structure
Writing an academic essay means fashioning a coherent set of ideas into an argument. Because essays are essentially linear—they offer one idea at a time—they must present their ideas in the order that makes most sense to a reader. Successfully structuring an essay means attending to a reader's logic.
The focus of such an essay predicts its structure. It dictates the information readers need to know and the order in which they need to receive it. Thus your essay's structure is necessarily unique to the main claim you're making. Although there are guidelines for constructing certain classic essay types (e.g., comparative analysis), there are no set formula.
Answering Questions: The Parts of an Essay
A typical essay contains many different kinds of information, often located in specialized parts or sections. Even short essays perform several different operations: introducing the argument, analyzing data, raising counterarguments, concluding. Introductions and conclusions have fixed places, but other parts don't. Counterargument, for example, may appear within a paragraph, as a free-standing section, as part of the beginning, or before the ending. Background material (historical context or biographical information, a summary of relevant theory or criticism, the definition of a key term) often appears at the beginning of the essay, between the introduction and the first analytical section, but might also appear near the beginning of the specific section to which it's relevant.
It's helpful to think of the different essay sections as answering a series of questions your reader might ask when encountering your thesis. (Readers should have questions. If they don't, your thesis is most likely simply an observation of fact, not an arguable claim.)
"What?" The first question to anticipate from a reader is "what": What evidence shows that the phenomenon described by your thesis is true? To answer the question you must examine your evidence, thus demonstrating the truth of your claim. This "what" or "demonstration" section comes early in the essay, often directly after the introduction. Since you're essentially reporting what you've observed, this is the part you might have most to say about when you first start writing. But be forewarned: it shouldn't take up much more than a third (often much less) of your finished essay. If it does, the essay will lack balance and may read as mere summary or description.
"How?" A reader will also want to know whether the claims of the thesis are true in all cases. The corresponding question is "how": How does the thesis stand up to the challenge of a counterargument? How does the introduction of new material—a new way of looking at the evidence, another set of sources—affect the claims you're making? Typically, an essay will include at least one "how" section. (Call it "complication" since you're responding to a reader's complicating questions.) This section usually comes after the "what," but keep in mind that an essay may complicate its argument several times depending on its length, and that counterargument alone may appear just about anywhere in an essay.
"Why?" Your reader will also want to know what's at stake in your claim: Why does your interpretation of a phenomenon matter to anyone beside you? This question addresses the larger implications of your thesis. It allows your readers to understand your essay within a larger context. In answering "why", your essay explains its own significance. Although you might gesture at this question in your introduction, the fullest answer to it properly belongs at your essay's end. If you leave it out, your readers will experience your essay as unfinished—or, worse, as pointless or insular.
Mapping an Essay
Structuring your essay according to a reader's logic means examining your thesis and anticipating what a reader needs to know, and in what sequence, in order to grasp and be convinced by your argument as it unfolds. The easiest way to do this is to map the essay's ideas via a written narrative. Such an account will give you a preliminary record of your ideas, and will allow you to remind yourself at every turn of the reader's needs in understanding your idea.
Essay maps ask you to predict where your reader will expect background information, counterargument, close analysis of a primary source, or a turn to secondary source material. Essay maps are not concerned with paragraphs so much as with sections of an essay. They anticipate the major argumentative moves you expect your essay to make. Try making your map like this:
- State your thesis in a sentence or two, then write another sentence saying why it's important to make that claim. Indicate, in other words, what a reader might learn by exploring the claim with you. Here you're anticipating your answer to the "why" question that you'll eventually flesh out in your conclusion.
- Begin your next sentence like this: "To be convinced by my claim, the first thing a reader needs to know is . . ." Then say why that's the first thing a reader needs to know, and name one or two items of evidence you think will make the case. This will start you off on answering the "what" question. (Alternately, you may find that the first thing your reader needs to know is some background information.)
- Begin each of the following sentences like this: "The next thing my reader needs to know is . . ." Once again, say why, and name some evidence. Continue until you've mapped out your essay.
Your map should naturally take you through some preliminary answers to the basic questions of what, how, and why. It is not a contract, though—the order in which the ideas appear is not a rigid one. Essay maps are flexible; they evolve with your ideas.
Signs of Trouble
A common structural flaw in college essays is the "walk-through" (also labeled "summary" or "description"). Walk-through essays follow the structure of their sources rather than establishing their own. Such essays generally have a descriptive thesis rather than an argumentative one. Be wary of paragraph openers that lead off with "time" words ("first," "next," "after," "then") or "listing" words ("also," "another," "in addition"). Although they don't always signal trouble, these paragraph openers often indicate that an essay's thesis and structure need work: they suggest that the essay simply reproduces the chronology of the source text (in the case of time words: first this happens, then that, and afterwards another thing . . . ) or simply lists example after example ("In addition, the use of color indicates another way that the painting differentiates between good and evil").
Copyright 2000, Elizabeth Abrams, for the Writing Center at Harvard University
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Writing an Abstract for Your Research Paper
Definition and Purpose of Abstracts
An abstract is a short summary of your (published or unpublished) research paper, usually about a paragraph (c. 6-7 sentences, 150-250 words) long. A well-written abstract serves multiple purposes:
- an abstract lets readers get the gist or essence of your paper or article quickly, in order to decide whether to read the full paper;
- an abstract prepares readers to follow the detailed information, analyses, and arguments in your full paper;
- and, later, an abstract helps readers remember key points from your paper.
It’s also worth remembering that search engines and bibliographic databases use abstracts, as well as the title, to identify key terms for indexing your published paper. So what you include in your abstract and in your title are crucial for helping other researchers find your paper or article.
If you are writing an abstract for a course paper, your professor may give you specific guidelines for what to include and how to organize your abstract. Similarly, academic journals often have specific requirements for abstracts. So in addition to following the advice on this page, you should be sure to look for and follow any guidelines from the course or journal you’re writing for.
The Contents of an Abstract
Abstracts contain most of the following kinds of information in brief form. The body of your paper will, of course, develop and explain these ideas much more fully. As you will see in the samples below, the proportion of your abstract that you devote to each kind of information—and the sequence of that information—will vary, depending on the nature and genre of the paper that you are summarizing in your abstract. And in some cases, some of this information is implied, rather than stated explicitly. The Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association , which is widely used in the social sciences, gives specific guidelines for what to include in the abstract for different kinds of papers—for empirical studies, literature reviews or meta-analyses, theoretical papers, methodological papers, and case studies.
Here are the typical kinds of information found in most abstracts:
- the context or background information for your research; the general topic under study; the specific topic of your research
- the central questions or statement of the problem your research addresses
- what’s already known about this question, what previous research has done or shown
- the main reason(s) , the exigency, the rationale , the goals for your research—Why is it important to address these questions? Are you, for example, examining a new topic? Why is that topic worth examining? Are you filling a gap in previous research? Applying new methods to take a fresh look at existing ideas or data? Resolving a dispute within the literature in your field? . . .
- your research and/or analytical methods
- your main findings , results , or arguments
- the significance or implications of your findings or arguments.
Your abstract should be intelligible on its own, without a reader’s having to read your entire paper. And in an abstract, you usually do not cite references—most of your abstract will describe what you have studied in your research and what you have found and what you argue in your paper. In the body of your paper, you will cite the specific literature that informs your research.
When to Write Your Abstract
Although you might be tempted to write your abstract first because it will appear as the very first part of your paper, it’s a good idea to wait to write your abstract until after you’ve drafted your full paper, so that you know what you’re summarizing.
What follows are some sample abstracts in published papers or articles, all written by faculty at UW-Madison who come from a variety of disciplines. We have annotated these samples to help you see the work that these authors are doing within their abstracts.
Choosing Verb Tenses within Your Abstract
The social science sample (Sample 1) below uses the present tense to describe general facts and interpretations that have been and are currently true, including the prevailing explanation for the social phenomenon under study. That abstract also uses the present tense to describe the methods, the findings, the arguments, and the implications of the findings from their new research study. The authors use the past tense to describe previous research.
The humanities sample (Sample 2) below uses the past tense to describe completed events in the past (the texts created in the pulp fiction industry in the 1970s and 80s) and uses the present tense to describe what is happening in those texts, to explain the significance or meaning of those texts, and to describe the arguments presented in the article.
The science samples (Samples 3 and 4) below use the past tense to describe what previous research studies have done and the research the authors have conducted, the methods they have followed, and what they have found. In their rationale or justification for their research (what remains to be done), they use the present tense. They also use the present tense to introduce their study (in Sample 3, “Here we report . . .”) and to explain the significance of their study (In Sample 3, This reprogramming . . . “provides a scalable cell source for. . .”).
Sample Abstract 1
From the social sciences.
Reporting new findings about the reasons for increasing economic homogamy among spouses
Gonalons-Pons, Pilar, and Christine R. Schwartz. “Trends in Economic Homogamy: Changes in Assortative Mating or the Division of Labor in Marriage?” Demography , vol. 54, no. 3, 2017, pp. 985-1005.
![“The growing economic resemblance of spouses has contributed to rising inequality by increasing the number of couples in which there are two high- or two low-earning partners. [Annotation for the previous sentence: The first sentence introduces the topic under study (the “economic resemblance of spouses”). This sentence also implies the question underlying this research study: what are the various causes—and the interrelationships among them—for this trend?] The dominant explanation for this trend is increased assortative mating. Previous research has primarily relied on cross-sectional data and thus has been unable to disentangle changes in assortative mating from changes in the division of spouses’ paid labor—a potentially key mechanism given the dramatic rise in wives’ labor supply. [Annotation for the previous two sentences: These next two sentences explain what previous research has demonstrated. By pointing out the limitations in the methods that were used in previous studies, they also provide a rationale for new research.] We use data from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID) to decompose the increase in the correlation between spouses’ earnings and its contribution to inequality between 1970 and 2013 into parts due to (a) changes in assortative mating, and (b) changes in the division of paid labor. [Annotation for the previous sentence: The data, research and analytical methods used in this new study.] Contrary to what has often been assumed, the rise of economic homogamy and its contribution to inequality is largely attributable to changes in the division of paid labor rather than changes in sorting on earnings or earnings potential. Our findings indicate that the rise of economic homogamy cannot be explained by hypotheses centered on meeting and matching opportunities, and they show where in this process inequality is generated and where it is not.” (p. 985) [Annotation for the previous two sentences: The major findings from and implications and significance of this study.]](https://writing.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/535/2019/08/Abstract-1.png "using i in an academic paper")
Sample Abstract 2
From the humanities.
Analyzing underground pulp fiction publications in Tanzania, this article makes an argument about the cultural significance of those publications
Emily Callaci. “Street Textuality: Socialism, Masculinity, and Urban Belonging in Tanzania’s Pulp Fiction Publishing Industry, 1975-1985.” Comparative Studies in Society and History , vol. 59, no. 1, 2017, pp. 183-210.
![“From the mid-1970s through the mid-1980s, a network of young urban migrant men created an underground pulp fiction publishing industry in the city of Dar es Salaam. [Annotation for the previous sentence: The first sentence introduces the context for this research and announces the topic under study.] As texts that were produced in the underground economy of a city whose trajectory was increasingly charted outside of formalized planning and investment, these novellas reveal more than their narrative content alone. These texts were active components in the urban social worlds of the young men who produced them. They reveal a mode of urbanism otherwise obscured by narratives of decolonization, in which urban belonging was constituted less by national citizenship than by the construction of social networks, economic connections, and the crafting of reputations. This article argues that pulp fiction novellas of socialist era Dar es Salaam are artifacts of emergent forms of male sociability and mobility. In printing fictional stories about urban life on pilfered paper and ink, and distributing their texts through informal channels, these writers not only described urban communities, reputations, and networks, but also actually created them.” (p. 210) [Annotation for the previous sentences: The remaining sentences in this abstract interweave other essential information for an abstract for this article. The implied research questions: What do these texts mean? What is their historical and cultural significance, produced at this time, in this location, by these authors? The argument and the significance of this analysis in microcosm: these texts “reveal a mode or urbanism otherwise obscured . . .”; and “This article argues that pulp fiction novellas. . . .” This section also implies what previous historical research has obscured. And through the details in its argumentative claims, this section of the abstract implies the kinds of methods the author has used to interpret the novellas and the concepts under study (e.g., male sociability and mobility, urban communities, reputations, network. . . ).]](https://writing.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/535/2019/08/Abstract-2.png "using i in an academic paper")
Sample Abstract/Summary 3
From the sciences.
Reporting a new method for reprogramming adult mouse fibroblasts into induced cardiac progenitor cells
Lalit, Pratik A., Max R. Salick, Daryl O. Nelson, Jayne M. Squirrell, Christina M. Shafer, Neel G. Patel, Imaan Saeed, Eric G. Schmuck, Yogananda S. Markandeya, Rachel Wong, Martin R. Lea, Kevin W. Eliceiri, Timothy A. Hacker, Wendy C. Crone, Michael Kyba, Daniel J. Garry, Ron Stewart, James A. Thomson, Karen M. Downs, Gary E. Lyons, and Timothy J. Kamp. “Lineage Reprogramming of Fibroblasts into Proliferative Induced Cardiac Progenitor Cells by Defined Factors.” Cell Stem Cell , vol. 18, 2016, pp. 354-367.
![“Several studies have reported reprogramming of fibroblasts into induced cardiomyocytes; however, reprogramming into proliferative induced cardiac progenitor cells (iCPCs) remains to be accomplished. [Annotation for the previous sentence: The first sentence announces the topic under study, summarizes what’s already known or been accomplished in previous research, and signals the rationale and goals are for the new research and the problem that the new research solves: How can researchers reprogram fibroblasts into iCPCs?] Here we report that a combination of 11 or 5 cardiac factors along with canonical Wnt and JAK/STAT signaling reprogrammed adult mouse cardiac, lung, and tail tip fibroblasts into iCPCs. The iCPCs were cardiac mesoderm-restricted progenitors that could be expanded extensively while maintaining multipo-tency to differentiate into cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle cells, and endothelial cells in vitro. Moreover, iCPCs injected into the cardiac crescent of mouse embryos differentiated into cardiomyocytes. iCPCs transplanted into the post-myocardial infarction mouse heart improved survival and differentiated into cardiomyocytes, smooth muscle cells, and endothelial cells. [Annotation for the previous four sentences: The methods the researchers developed to achieve their goal and a description of the results.] Lineage reprogramming of adult somatic cells into iCPCs provides a scalable cell source for drug discovery, disease modeling, and cardiac regenerative therapy.” (p. 354) [Annotation for the previous sentence: The significance or implications—for drug discovery, disease modeling, and therapy—of this reprogramming of adult somatic cells into iCPCs.]](https://writing.wisc.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/535/2019/08/Abstract-3.png "using i in an academic paper")
Sample Abstract 4, a Structured Abstract
Reporting results about the effectiveness of antibiotic therapy in managing acute bacterial sinusitis, from a rigorously controlled study
Note: This journal requires authors to organize their abstract into four specific sections, with strict word limits. Because the headings for this structured abstract are self-explanatory, we have chosen not to add annotations to this sample abstract.
Wald, Ellen R., David Nash, and Jens Eickhoff. “Effectiveness of Amoxicillin/Clavulanate Potassium in the Treatment of Acute Bacterial Sinusitis in Children.” Pediatrics , vol. 124, no. 1, 2009, pp. 9-15.
“OBJECTIVE: The role of antibiotic therapy in managing acute bacterial sinusitis (ABS) in children is controversial. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of high-dose amoxicillin/potassium clavulanate in the treatment of children diagnosed with ABS.
METHODS : This was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Children 1 to 10 years of age with a clinical presentation compatible with ABS were eligible for participation. Patients were stratified according to age (<6 or ≥6 years) and clinical severity and randomly assigned to receive either amoxicillin (90 mg/kg) with potassium clavulanate (6.4 mg/kg) or placebo. A symptom survey was performed on days 0, 1, 2, 3, 5, 7, 10, 20, and 30. Patients were examined on day 14. Children’s conditions were rated as cured, improved, or failed according to scoring rules.
RESULTS: Two thousand one hundred thirty-five children with respiratory complaints were screened for enrollment; 139 (6.5%) had ABS. Fifty-eight patients were enrolled, and 56 were randomly assigned. The mean age was 6630 months. Fifty (89%) patients presented with persistent symptoms, and 6 (11%) presented with nonpersistent symptoms. In 24 (43%) children, the illness was classified as mild, whereas in the remaining 32 (57%) children it was severe. Of the 28 children who received the antibiotic, 14 (50%) were cured, 4 (14%) were improved, 4(14%) experienced treatment failure, and 6 (21%) withdrew. Of the 28children who received placebo, 4 (14%) were cured, 5 (18%) improved, and 19 (68%) experienced treatment failure. Children receiving the antibiotic were more likely to be cured (50% vs 14%) and less likely to have treatment failure (14% vs 68%) than children receiving the placebo.
CONCLUSIONS : ABS is a common complication of viral upper respiratory infections. Amoxicillin/potassium clavulanate results in significantly more cures and fewer failures than placebo, according to parental report of time to resolution.” (9)
Some Excellent Advice about Writing Abstracts for Basic Science Research Papers, by Professor Adriano Aguzzi from the Institute of Neuropathology at the University of Zurich:
Academic and Professional Writing
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We should use ‘I’ more in academic writing – there is benefit to first-person perspective
Lecturer in Critical Thinking; Curriculum Director, UQ Critical Thinking Project, The University of Queensland
Disclosure statement
Peter Ellerton is affiliated with the Centre for Critical and Creative Thinking. He is a Fellow of the Rationalist Society of Australia.
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The use of the word “I” in academic writing, that is writing in the first person , has a troublesome history. Some say it makes writing too subjective, others that it’s essential for accuracy.
This is reflected in how students, particularly in secondary schools, are trained to write. Teachers I work with are often surprised that I advocate, at times, invoking the first person in essays or other assessment in their subject areas.
In academic writing the role of the author is to explain their argument dispassionately and objectively. The author’s personal opinion in such endeavours is neither here nor there.
As noted in Strunk and White’s highly influential Elements of Style – (first published in 1959) the writer is encouraged to place themselves in the background.
Write in a way that draws the reader’s attention to the sense and substance of the writing, rather than to the mood and temper of the author.
This all seems very reasonable and scholarly. The move towards including the first person perspective, however, is becoming more acceptable in academia.
There are times when invoking the first person is more meaningful and even rigorous than not. I will give three categories in which first person academic writing is more effective than using the third person.
1. Where an academic is offering their personal view or argument
Above, I could have said “there are three categories” rather than “I will give three categories”. The former makes a claim of discovering some objective fact. The latter, a more intellectually honest and accountable approach, is me offering my interpretation.
I could also say “three categories are apparent”, but that is ignoring the fact it is apparent to me . It would be an attempt to grant too much objectivity to a position than it deserves.
In a similar vein, statements such as “it can be argued” or “it was decided”, using the passive voice, avoid responsibility. It is much better to say “I will argue that” or “we decided that” and then go on to prosecute the argument or justify the decision.
Taking responsibility for our stances and reasoning is important culturally as well as academically. In a participatory democracy, we are expected to be accountable for our ideas and choices. It is also a stand against the kinds of anonymous assertions that easily proliferate via fake and unnamed social media accounts.
Read more: Post-truth politics and why the antidote isn't simply 'fact-checking' and truth
It’s worth noting that Nature – arguably one of the world’s best science journals – prefers authors to selectively avoid the passive voice. Its writing guidelines note:
Nature journals prefer authors to write in the active voice (“we performed the experiment…”) as experience has shown that readers find concepts and results to be conveyed more clearly if written directly.
2. Where the author’s perspective is part of the analysis
Some disciplines, such as anthropology , recognise that who is doing the research and why they are doing it ought to be overtly present in their presentation of it.
Removing the author’s presence can allow important cultural or other perspectives held by the author to remain unexamined. This can lead to the so-called crisis of representation , in which the interpretation of texts and other cultural artefacts is removed from any interpretive stance of the author.
This gives a false impression of objectivity. As the philosopher Thomas Nagel notes, there is no “ view from nowhere ”.
Philosophy commonly invokes the first person position, too. Rene Descartes famously inferred “I think therefore I am” ( cogito ergo sum ). But his use of the first person in Meditations on First Philosophy was not simply an account of his own introspection. It was also an invitation to the reader to think for themselves.
3. Where the author wants to show their reasoning
The third case is especially interesting in education.
I tell students of science, critical thinking and philosophy that a phrase guaranteed to raise my hackles is “I strongly believe …”. In terms of being rationally persuasive, this is not relevant unless they then go on tell me why they believe it. I want to know what and how they are thinking.
To make their thinking most clearly an object of my study, I need them to make themselves the subjects of their writing.
I prefer students to write something like “I am not convinced by Dawson’s argument because…” rather than “Dawson’s argument is opposed by DeVries, who says …”. I want to understand their thinking not just use the argument of DeVries.
Read more: Thinking about thinking helps kids learn. How can we teach critical thinking?
Of course I would hope they do engage with DeVries, but then I’d want them to say which argument they find more convincing and what their own reasons were for being convinced.
Just stating Devries’ objection is good analysis, but we also need students to evaluate and justify, and it is here that the first person position is most useful.
It is not always accurate to say a piece is written in the first or third person. There are reasons to invoke the first person position at times and reasons not to. An essay in which it is used once should not mean we think of the whole essay as from the first person perspective.
We need to be more nuanced about how we approach this issue and appreciate when authors should “place themselves in the background” and when their voice matters.
- Critical thinking
- First person
- Academic writing
- Essay writing
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- Knowledge Base
- APA Style 7th edition
- APA format for academic papers and essays
APA Formatting and Citation (7th Ed.) | Generator, Template, Examples
Published on November 6, 2020 by Raimo Streefkerk . Revised on August 23, 2022.
The 7th edition of the APA Publication Manual provides guidelines for clear communication , citing sources , and formatting documents. This article focuses on paper formatting.
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Throughout your paper, you need to apply the following APA format guidelines:
- Set page margins to 1 inch on all sides.
- Double-space all text, including headings.
- Indent the first line of every paragraph 0.5 inches.
- Use an accessible font (e.g., Times New Roman 12pt., Arial 11pt., or Georgia 11pt.).
- Include a page number on every page.
Let an expert format your paper
Our APA formatting experts can help you to format your paper according to APA guidelines. They can help you with:
- Margins, line spacing, and indentation
- Font and headings
- Running head and page numbering
Table of contents
How to set up apa format (with template), apa alphabetization guidelines, apa format template [free download], page header, headings and subheadings, reference page, tables and figures, frequently asked questions about apa format.
References are ordered alphabetically by the first author’s last name. If the author is unknown, order the reference entry by the first meaningful word of the title (ignoring articles: “the”, “a”, or “an”).
Why set up APA format from scratch if you can download Scribbr’s template for free?
Student papers and professional papers have slightly different guidelines regarding the title page, abstract, and running head. Our template is available in Word and Google Docs format for both versions.
- Student paper: Word | Google Docs
- Professional paper: Word | Google Docs
In an APA Style paper, every page has a page header. For student papers, the page header usually consists of just a page number in the page’s top-right corner. For professional papers intended for publication, it also includes a running head .
A running head is simply the paper’s title in all capital letters. It is left-aligned and can be up to 50 characters in length. Longer titles are abbreviated .
APA headings have five possible levels. Heading level 1 is used for main sections such as “ Methods ” or “ Results ”. Heading levels 2 to 5 are used for subheadings. Each heading level is formatted differently.
Want to know how many heading levels you should use, when to use which heading level, and how to set up heading styles in Word or Google Docs? Then check out our in-depth article on APA headings .
The title page is the first page of an APA Style paper. There are different guidelines for student and professional papers.
Both versions include the paper title and author’s name and affiliation. The student version includes the course number and name, instructor name, and due date of the assignment. The professional version includes an author note and running head .
For more information on writing a striking title, crediting multiple authors (with different affiliations), and writing the author note, check out our in-depth article on the APA title page .
The abstract is a 150–250 word summary of your paper. An abstract is usually required in professional papers, but it’s rare to include one in student papers (except for longer texts like theses and dissertations).
The abstract is placed on a separate page after the title page . At the top of the page, write the section label “Abstract” (bold and centered). The contents of the abstract appear directly under the label. Unlike regular paragraphs, the first line is not indented. Abstracts are usually written as a single paragraph without headings or blank lines.
Directly below the abstract, you may list three to five relevant keywords . On a new line, write the label “Keywords:” (italicized and indented), followed by the keywords in lowercase letters, separated by commas.
APA Style does not provide guidelines for formatting the table of contents . It’s also not a required paper element in either professional or student papers. If your instructor wants you to include a table of contents, it’s best to follow the general guidelines.
Place the table of contents on a separate page between the abstract and introduction. Write the section label “Contents” at the top (bold and centered), press “Enter” once, and list the important headings with corresponding page numbers.
The APA reference page is placed after the main body of your paper but before any appendices . Here you list all sources that you’ve cited in your paper (through APA in-text citations ). APA provides guidelines for formatting the references as well as the page itself.
Creating APA Style references
Play around with the Scribbr Citation Example Generator below to learn about the APA reference format of the most common source types or generate APA citations for free with Scribbr’s APA Citation Generator .
Formatting the reference page
Write the section label “References” at the top of a new page (bold and centered). Place the reference entries directly under the label in alphabetical order.
Finally, apply a hanging indent , meaning the first line of each reference is left-aligned, and all subsequent lines are indented 0.5 inches.
Tables and figures are presented in a similar format. They’re preceded by a number and title and followed by explanatory notes (if necessary).
Use bold styling for the word “Table” or “Figure” and the number, and place the title on a separate line directly below it (in italics and title case). Try to keep tables clean; don’t use any vertical lines, use as few horizontal lines as possible, and keep row and column labels concise.
Keep the design of figures as simple as possible. Include labels and a legend if needed, and only use color when necessary (not to make it look more appealing).
Check out our in-depth article about table and figure notes to learn when to use notes and how to format them.
The easiest way to set up APA format in Word is to download Scribbr’s free APA format template for student papers or professional papers.
Alternatively, you can watch Scribbr’s 5-minute step-by-step tutorial or check out our APA format guide with examples.
APA Style papers should be written in a font that is legible and widely accessible. For example:
- Times New Roman (12pt.)
- Arial (11pt.)
- Calibri (11pt.)
- Georgia (11pt.)
The same font and font size is used throughout the document, including the running head , page numbers, headings , and the reference page . Text in footnotes and figure images may be smaller and use single line spacing.
You need an APA in-text citation and reference entry . Each source type has its own format; for example, a webpage citation is different from a book citation .
Use Scribbr’s free APA Citation Generator to generate flawless citations in seconds or take a look at our APA citation examples .
Yes, page numbers are included on all pages, including the title page , table of contents , and reference page . Page numbers should be right-aligned in the page header.
To insert page numbers in Microsoft Word or Google Docs, click ‘Insert’ and then ‘Page number’.
APA format is widely used by professionals, researchers, and students in the social and behavioral sciences, including fields like education, psychology, and business.
Be sure to check the guidelines of your university or the journal you want to be published in to double-check which style you should be using.
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The official home of correct movie opinions, a step-by-step guide to writing an outstanding academic essay.
Writing an academic essay is a challenging task for many students. It requires the ability to express your thoughts and arguments in a clear and concise manner, while following an appropriate writing format. Fortunately, there are some simple steps that you can take to help you write an outstanding academic essay. This step-by-step guide will provide you with tips on how to create a well-structured essay and ensure that your writing is of the highest quality. With these tips, you can confidently write an impressive academic essay that will make a lasting impression on your readers. A-level students are encouraged to submit essays for English. In case you are not able to complete your academic paper by yourself don’t worry, just use our write essays for me option and receive A+ paper.
Construct a Thesis Statement
Writing an effective thesis statement is one of the most important steps in writing an essay. It serves as the main point of your paper and provides a direction for your argument or discussion. A good thesis statement should be clear, concise, and provide a strong argument that can be supported by evidence. In this article, we will discuss how to construct a thesis statement in an essay and how to write one that will effectively capture the reader’s attention. How to Construct a Thesis Statement in an Essay. A thesis statement is a sentence that states the main point of your essay. It should be one or two sentences long and is often used at the beginning of each paragraph. When you brainstorm ideas for your introduction, make sure the thesis statement is well-crafted so you don’t have to worry about it later on in the essay.
Outline Your Essay Structure
Writing an essay is not as easy as it sounds. It requires careful planning and organization of ideas to ensure that your argument is well-structured and convincing. To help you with this, it is important to outline the structure of your essay before you start writing. This will give you a template that you can use to map out the structure of your argument and ensure that all the points are logically connected. By following a clear essay structure template, you can make sure that your essay flows logically from one point to another, making it more persuasive and easier for readers to understand.
Writing an effective essay requires careful planning and execution. A clear essay structure template is essential to ensure the logical flow of ideas, making your essay more persuasive and easier for readers to understand. It also helps to keep track of the main points and arguments throughout the essay, ensuring that each point is properly developed and explained. With a clear essay structure template in hand, you can be confident that your essay will be well-organized, informative, and convincing.
Write Introduction Paragraphs to Hook Your Reader
Writing an introduction paragraph can be a daunting task. It is often the first thing that your reader will encounter, and it needs to make a good impression. If you want to hook your reader and keep them engaged, then you need to know how to write an effective introduction paragraph. In this article, we’ll look at some tips and tricks for writing introduction paragraphs that will capture your reader’s attention and keep them reading. We’ll also discuss some of the common mistakes people make when writing introductions, so that you can avoid them in your own work.
Crafting an attention-grabbing introduction paragraph is an essential skill for anyone who wants to write compelling content. Whether you’re writing a blog post, article, or even a book, having an engaging introduction can be the difference between readers sticking around and them quickly losing interest. In this article, we’ll provide some tips and tricks on how to write effective introduction paragraphs that will captivate your reader’s attention and keep them engaged. We’ll also discuss some of the common mistakes writers make when crafting their introductions.
Develop Your Argument with Evidence & Examples
When making an argument, it is important to provide evidence and examples to support your claims. Evidence and examples are the building blocks of any successful argument. Without them, your argument will lack credibility and be less persuasive.
Incorporating evidence into your argumentation can help you build a strong case for your stance on a particular issue. Evidence can come in many forms, such as facts, statistics, quotes from experts in the field, or even personal experiences. Examples are also powerful tools for supporting arguments as they provide concrete illustrations of the points you’re trying to make.
When developing an argument, make sure to incorporate evidence and examples that are relevant and reliable so that you can effectively support your claims and persuade your audience.
Developing a compelling argument is an essential skill for any writer. To achieve success, it’s important to incorporate evidence and examples that are relevant and reliable to back up your claims. Doing this will help you present a convincing argument that will be persuasive to your audience. By understanding the importance of reliable evidence and examples, you can effectively support your arguments and make sure they have the desired impact on your readers.
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Journal of Computer Information Systems
Task dependence and external control constraints in technology acceptance.
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- https://doi.org/10.1080/08874417.2022.2150912
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Information system (IS) acceptance has received considerable attention in prior research using a variety of dependent variables (DVs) representing intentions and behaviors. This study proposes that task dependence and external control determine the extent of flexibility in IS use faced by individuals. Using a 2 × 2 framework, this study argues that flexibility is high when both task dependence and external control are low while flexibility is low when either task dependence or external control is high. Further, this study suggests that: a) both intention and behavior DVs may be appropriate when flexibility is high, b) adoption and system use may be most appropriate when flexibility is low, and c) the antecedents of adoption and system use need to account for task dependence and external control. This study provides a review of the adoption and system use constructs in recent literature on IS acceptance and offers potential directions for future research.
- Information system acceptance
- task dependence
- external control
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How to use ChatGPT to summarize an article
Save time when you know how to use ChatGPT to summarize an article
Knowing how to use ChatGPT to summarize an article is useful when you’re in a rush and looking for the key points of an article. You might be a fast reader, but no one can compete with an AI. It can also often help to understand more complicated subject matter if it’s presented in smaller chunks. Of course, it’s always worth going back and reading the article properly when you have more time, to make sure you get the full gist of it.
We know you would never summarize one of our lovingly-written articles on Tom’s Guide, but for other sites and sources, here’s how to use ChatGPT to summarize an article.
And we’ll keep it brief, we promise.
How to use ChatGPT to summarize an article
- Log in and select the chat bar
- Type TLDR and link to the article
- Press send Read on to see detailed instructions for each step.
As of the time of writing the main ways to use ChatGPT to summarize an article are on the new Bing with ChatGPT (which you may not have access to yet) or on OpenAI’s own website , where you can make a free account and then sign in. One thing to bear in mind is the openai.com version of the chatbot is limited to information pre-September 2021. Both methods use the same command, TLDR, which is internet speak for “Too long, didn’t read”. Make sure to put this before the text you wish to summarize.
How to use ChatGPT to summarize an article - on ChatGPT.com
1. log in and select the chat bar.
Login to https://chat.openai.com and select the chat bar at the bottom of the page.
2. Type TLDR and link to the article
Type in TLDR and then paste a link to the article you wish to summarize.
3. Press send
Select the send button (or press enter) and then wait for ChatGPT's response. Rest assured, the chatbot can skim the article much quicker than you can.
How to use Bing with ChatGPT to summarize an article
- Select chat
- Enter TLDR and the article link
- Press enter and wait Read on to see detailed instructions for each step.
1. Select chat
Navigate to the Bing homepage in your browser of choice, select chat .
2. Enter TLDR and the article link
Enter TLDR and then copy and paste the link to the article that you want summed up.
3. Press enter and wait
Press enter and then wait for Bing to prepare its response.
There you go, remember of course that just because an AI has summarized an article, it won't have altered the information at all. That means if the information isn't accurate to begin with, it won't be accurate in the summary. Your best bet is to stick to trusted sources like Tom’s Guide!
If you want some more AI assistance why not check out the 7 best ChatGPT tips to get the most out of the chatbot , how to use ChatGPT for travel advice or how to use the Dall-E 2 AI image generator .
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Andy is Tom’s Guide’s Trainee Writer, which means that he currently writes about pretty much everything we cover. He has previously worked in copywriting and content writing both freelance and for a leading business magazine. His interests include gaming, music and sports- particularly Formula One, football and badminton. Andy’s degree is in Creative Writing and he enjoys writing his own screenplays and submitting them to competitions in an attempt to justify three years of studying.
AI Essay Generators: The Pros and Cons of Using Them for Academic Writing
Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a game-changer in many industries, and now it’s made its way into academic writing. Enter AI essay generators, or as they’re also known, AI essay writers.
These nifty tools are becoming increasingly popular among students and writers alike, providing a quick and easy way to churn out essays without the hassle of hours of research and writing.
But like any new tech, AI essay generators have their pros and cons. In this article, we’ll take a deep dive into the benefits and drawbacks of using these tools, and explore some of the most popular ones available today.
How to Write an Essay on Any Topic Using AI
Ai systems, like jasper ai, can write essays on any topic, just with one click- you don’t need to be an expert in….
becominghuman.ai
What is AI Essay Generators?
AI essay generators are computer programs that leverage the power of artificial intelligence algorithms to generate high-quality essays on any topic.
Essentially, these tools are designed to mimic the style and language of human writing and can produce content that ranges from a few paragraphs to multiple pages in length.
Some of these essay generators use natural language processing (NLP) to analyze and understand the topic, while others rely on pre-existing templates and fill-in-the-blank structures to create the essay.
Regardless of the approach, the end result is an essay that can be used for a variety of purposes, from school assignments to professional writing tasks.
How to Use AI to Write Creative Stories in Seconds (Case Study)
The use of ai to write creative stories is increasing in popularity., popular ai essay generators.
There are plenty to choose from! Here are some of the best ones:
- Jasper AI : This AI essay generator is widely regarded as one of the best in the business . Its algorithms are designed to produce high-quality, coherent essays that are tailored to your specific needs. Plus, it’s super easy to use, making it a favorite among students and writers alike.
- EssayBot : This AI-powered writing assistant offers a wide range of features, including a topic suggestion tool, a citation generator, and a built-in plagiarism checker. While it’s not perfect, EssayBot can be a helpful tool for writers who need a little extra help.
- Article Forge : This AI essay generator uses cutting-edge technology to produce articles that are both informative and engaging. Its advanced algorithms can generate articles on a wide range of topics, making it a great option for writers who need to produce a lot of content quickly.
- AI Writer : This AI essay generator uses natural language processing to produce essays that are both grammatically correct and relevant to the topic at hand. It also offers a range of customization options, allowing you to tailor the essay to your specific needs.
And of course, let’s not forget about ChatGPT ! As a language model trained by OpenAI, ChatGPT is a powerful tool for generating high-quality text on a wide range of topics.
While it may not be designed specifically for essay writing, it can still be a valuable resource for writers who need a little extra help.
How to Make an Essay Longer
Ps: this article was written in less than 5 minutes by an advanced ai writing tool to demonstrate just what’s possible…, the pros of using ai essay generators.
In this section, we’ll dive into some of the benefits of using these tools.
Let’s start with the most obvious one: time-saving . Imagine being able to generate a high-quality essay within minutes, with just a few clicks of a button.
That’s the magic of AI essay generators! By using these tools, you can save a lot of time that you can spend on other assignments or activities.
But wait, there’s more! AI essay generators can also provide a fresh perspective on a topic , bringing in ideas that you may not have thought of on your own.
This can be a game-changer if you’re struggling with a creative block or if you’re looking for a new angle to approach a topic.
How to Write a 500-Word Essay in 5 Minutes
Writing an essay is one of the most dreaded tasks for students..
Another great benefit of using AI essay generators is overcoming writer’s block . Sometimes, starting a new writing piece can be daunting, but AI essay generators can provide a starting point and structure for the essay, giving you a place to begin.
Consistency is key when it comes to writing, and AI essay generators can help with that. These tools can maintain consistency in writing style, tone, and language use .
This can be especially useful for large projects or assignments that require a consistent voice throughout.
They use algorithms that are designed to produce accurate and relevant content, reducing the risk of errors or misinformation in the essay.
One of the best parts about AI essay generators is that they can be affordable, with some being available for free . This makes them a great option for students or writers on a tight budget.
How to Use an AI Story Generator to Write Your Stories
Ps: this entire article was written by an ai story generator: jasper ai., the cons of using ai essay generators.
Using AI essay generators can have some drawbacks that are important to consider before using them.
Here are some of the main cons:
- Lack of quality: Although AI essay generators can produce essays quickly, the quality of the content may not always meet expectations. The generated essays may lack coherence, relevance to the topic, or depth of analysis, which can be a problem for academic writing.
- Limited creativity: AI essay generators are designed to follow specific rules and templates, which can limit their creativity and ability to produce original content. This can be a disadvantage if you need to produce unique and creative essays.
- Inability to customize: AI essay generators may not be able to accommodate specific requirements or preferences for the essay, such as formatting, tone, or citation style. This can be a problem if your assignment has strict guidelines or if you want to convey a specific message or tone.
- Dependence on technology: Using AI essay generators can make you dependent on technology to produce your writing, which can be a disadvantage if you want to develop your own writing skills or if the technology fails to produce satisfactory results.
- Inaccuracy: Although AI essay generators are designed to produce accurate content, they may not always be able to capture the nuances or complexities of a topic, which can lead to errors or inaccuracies in the essay.
So, while AI essay generators can be a useful tool for saving time and providing a starting point for your writing, they may not always produce the highest quality content and may not be suitable for every situation.
Weigh the pros and cons before using them and make sure they meet the specific requirements of your assignment.
How to Write an Essay Fast with AI
It’s no secret that writing an essay can be a daunting task. but what if you could write it fast — and still get great…, the future of ai essay generators.
Let’s talk about the future of AI essay generators.
As we all know, technology is advancing at a rapid pace and it’s safe to say that AI essay generators will become even more advanced in the future.
With the use of machine learning algorithms, AI essay generators will be able to analyze and understand text in a more nuanced way, allowing for more sophisticated and complex writing .
Remember though, AI essay generators should never be seen as a replacement for human writing skills and critical thinking . While these programs can be helpful for generating ideas and starting a piece of writing, use them in conjunction with your own creativity and expertise.
Additionally, they should never be relied on solely for academic writing, as they may lack the nuance and depth of understanding that comes with human research and analysis.
In the future, we can expect to see more advanced and user-friendly AI essays generators, such as Jasper AI and ChatGPT.
These programs will likely offer more features and customization options, allowing for a more personalized writing experience .
Nonetheless, remember that the writer’s own voice and creativity should never be lost in the process.
Rewrite Your Essays and Make Them Better Using AI (Different Language Samples!)
It’s no secret that essay rewriters are becoming more and more popular in the essay writing world., what are ai essay generators.
AI essay generators are computer programs that use artificial intelligence algorithms to generate essays on any topic.
How do AI essay generators work?
AI essay generators use algorithms to analyze and understand the topic at hand before generating an essay. Some programs use natural language processing, while others rely on pre-existing templates.
What are the advantages of using AI essay generators?
AI essay generators save time, provide a fresh perspective, help overcome writer’s block, maintain consistency, ensure accuracy, and are affordable.
What are the disadvantages of using AI essay generators?
The quality of the essays may not always be high, and the language used may not be sophisticated enough for academic writing.
What are some popular AI essay generators?
Some popular AI essay generators include EssayBot, Article Forge, AI Writer, Jasper AI, and ChatGPT.
Are AI essay generators a substitute for human writing and critical thinking skills?
No, AI essay generators should never be relied on solely for academic writing. They should be seen as useful tools for generating ideas and getting started on a piece of writing.
What is the future of AI essay generators?
As AI technology continues to advance, AI essay generators will likely become even more sophisticated and nuanced.
Are AI essay generators free to use?
Some AI essay generators are available for free, while others require a subscription or payment.
Can AI essay generators write academic papers?
AI essay generators can be helpful in generating ideas and providing a starting point for academic papers, but they should never be relied on solely for academic writing.
Are essays generated by AI essay generators of high quality?
The quality of essays generated by AI essay generators varies, with some being of high quality and others lacking coherence and relevance to the topic.
Can AI essay generators save time?
Yes, AI essay generators can save time by generating high-quality essays within minutes, freeing up time to focus on other assignments or activities.
Do AI essay generators maintain consistency in writing style?
Yes, AI essay generators can help maintain consistency in writing style, tone, and language use, which can be particularly useful for large projects or assignments that require a consistent voice throughout.
Can AI essay generators provide a fresh perspective on a topic?
Yes, AI essay generators can provide a new perspective on a topic, bringing in fresh ideas that you may not have thought of on your own.
PS: If you enjoyed this article and found it helpful, consider buying me a coffee to support my work. Your support means a lot!
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What are some of the main strengths and limitations of using an atheoretical, categorical approach as found in the DSM-5?
The atheoretical approach is one of the most important in diagnosing mental disorders within DSM-5. This view of mental health suggests that the etiology of mental disorders cannot be unequivocally established. In particular, DSM-5 recognizes that the occurrence of mental disorders in people’s daily lives does not have a specific cause that can be clearly described. The main strength of this approach lies in the ability to include a wide range of symptoms and manifestations in diagnosing disorders.
Professionals can assess the behavior and condition of a person and characterize it as a manifestation of a mental disorder. However, at the same time, this vague description suggests many interpretations, which is also the main limitation of the approach. Thus, the atheoretical approach leads to a lack of specific criteria for patient evaluation, which leads to difficulties for clinicians in defining disorders.
At the same time, DSM-5 uses a categorical approach to describe the symptoms and manifestations of mental disorders. An evident advantage of this approach is the presence of certain indicators that could help identify a mental disorder. Additionally, a categorical approach involves a description of each disorder, which can, to some extent, guide professionals in their diagnosis. On the other hand, this approach, as opposed to the atheoretical one, may limit clinicians in describing the manifestations of disorders.
This aspect may result in a false diagnosis based on the descriptions and criteria provided in the categories. Thus, the two approaches presented by the DSM-5 appear to be complementary and offer a framework for the holistic evaluation of behavioral and psychological factors. However, both the description and the classification of mental disorders presented in the DSM-5 have their drawbacks.
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Academic Integrity - Essay Examples and Topic Ideas
The ethical policy regarding academia is known to be academic integrity. The meaning of academic integrity is ignoring cheating as well as plagiarism. The institutes for education founded it. The practice of academic integrity is mainly done within the institutes that are educational.
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- Academic Integrity and Education
- What is Academic Integrity?
- Academic Honesty and Why Plagiarism Is Wrong
- Define and discuss Academic integrity by describing the five
- Academic Integrity
- The importance of Academic Integrity
- The Pros and Cons of Academic Cheating
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- Academic Honesty in American Education
- Issues of Academic Misconduct
- Continuing Academic Success
- An Overview of the Continuation of the Academic Success
- Importance of Continuing Academic Success
- Contribute to Academic Success
- The Importance of Referencing in Academic Writing
- Essay about Academic Success
- The academic performance of students
- PrefaceThis is the academic report on difference between Traditional Chinese Medicine and
- Academic Integrity and Plagiarism
- Academic integrity
- EXP Syllabus
- Academic Integrity Essential For Student’s Intellectual Development
Introduction
The ethical policy regarding academia is known to be academic integrity. Late Don McCabe helped in popularizing the name and he was also called the ‘grandfather of academic integrity’. The meaning of academic integrity is ignoring cheating as well as plagiarism. The institutes for education founded it. The practice of academic integrity is mainly done within the institutes that are educational.
The representation of the academic integrity is made within honor codes and is also taught in the classes for ethics. There are several websites, which possess sections exclusively for academic integrity that help in defining the term in accordance to the certain institution. The code of honor helps in the improvement as well as honesty for the students and the credit is given to the people writing it. The teachers along with the students get help in the creation of a pledge of honor, which help in allowing them to possess severity regarding punishments for those committing dishonesty regarding academy. The pledge of honor goes through creation before the assignment is being assigned and it requires for reading as well as signature, through which it will be shown that there is agreement from the students for not attempting for violation of the rules.
The game here is over the board with four segments that are colored, that includes yellow, red, green and blue. The players take token individually for residing within the base of the home before the game is started. In order to begin the game, the dice has to be rolled by every player individually and the player getting highest number will be beginning the game.
In this paper, a report will be provided regarding academic integrity and its significance regarding higher education. The steps that are taken will be reflected along with the emphasis in the production of the game.
Significance of Academic Integrity Regarding Higher Education
There are various reasons regarding the significance of possessing academic integrity. The meaning of keeping academic integrity in possession is gaining trust from others. The people that are to be dealt with will have the knowledge that they can have trust over the person for doing the correct thing as well as the behavior remains persistent regarding the belief of trust. Furthermore, trust is among core factors for a leader being successful. This help the every individual for developing betterment in reputations with the qualities of honesty, fairness as well as trustworthy. People who achieved success regarding their business involves in understanding the advantages of integrity.
The community of academy along with the community of business is on the basis of capability of possessing among within the community. Hence, the development of ethical habits while pursuing higher studies will help the students during joining jobs and facing issues related to ethics.
Possessing academic integrity is significant as value is provided by it as per degree. The preference of employers is hiring those graduates, who possess integrity. They prefer investing in the development of human capital for someone, who possess influence with positivity within the company or the organization as well as someone, who will be possess perfection in carrying out the mission for the company.
Lastly, possessing the academic integrity is also essential as it helps in having peace within mind with the knowledge of doing the correct thing and acting with persistency as per the beliefs of academic integrity.
Implications Regarding Misconducting Academy
The obvious implications for academic misconduct or dishonesty include the penalties that can be imposed by the university over the student involved in the misconduct.
- Social implications
As per discussions the moral implication for cheating includes the nature of forming a habit in cheating as well as its disvalue regarding integrity, hard work and fairness. The nature of making charting a habit proves that people cheating in activities regarding academics, makes the habit on a continuous basis in the workplace, family, friends as well as other factors of life. This particular attitude has the possibility of being harmful for the person doing this along with the people getting affected by it.
- Losing property intellectually
Academic misconduct including plagiarism holds the same position as the stealing properties of people. A work with originality made by someone is termed as the currency of that specific person and when someone make use of that work without permission, the person creating the work tend to loose his original property, recognition and many more things.
Assessment with Inaccuracy
Whenever, academic activities are plagiarized by the students, the instructors or the professors find difficulty in making assessments regarding the performance of those particular students or do evaluation of the knowledge and skills possessed by them regarding the specific field. As an outcome, credentials can be granted by the universities to the not deserving students that have the possibility of possessing ramifying within the workplace.
- Concerning practically
Students committing acts regarding the activities of academics go through credentials with the confirmation of successful confirmation of the program when they have done just the opposite, will result in serious implications within the workplace. For instance, if credentials are derived by people for practicing medicine, law as well as engineering by misconducting academics, safety of the pubic as well as welfare, will have the possibility of jeopardizing.
The concern of the practicality that impose impact over the employers, make an ultimate impact over the alumni. If a person is hired and he derived the credentials through misconduct, then the incompetence of that person will provide reflection over the alma mater-a situation of the person, which has the possibility of hurting the prospect of employment for that individual.
Implications That are Legal
There are times when students can be involved by the faculty of the institution in projects, which are granted by the institution or the university through sponsors externally. This is done for providing opportunities to the students to work with on issues and problems in real. When students go for plagiarism, cheating, fabrication or falsify in specific projects, the sponsors have the option of taking legal actions against the specific institution. The actions are inclusive of fines, loss in projects in the long run for the institution. These mentioned actions are serious consequences and implications and they have the power of ruining the reputation of the institution along with the loss in opportunities for every student and their future within the institution.
Other Implications
After all the mentioned implications and the consequences, if there is continuation of academic misconduct and dishonesty from the student, then in this case the duty of the educators is taking the help of the police rather than giving them education regarding academic misconduct. The environment for education like this involve in stifling the enthusiasm of the educator along with sapping the energy in order to interact with the students through productivity.
Self-esteem of the Student
People or say students who involve themselves in continuous plagiarism as well as cheating can possibly get away with it and feel proud of it, however, in the future will be feeling guilty along with suffering from self-esteem on lower basis. Loss in self-respect has the possibility of leading to the large number of other issues and problems, which includes facing challenges and difficulties in careers, challenges faced within the family as well as other various factors of life.
Though, the thought of cheating and plagiarism is of no harm for some people, and the penalties will be giving its impact over the student potentially, it is very necessary that they understand the serious implications and consequences for the academic misconduct and dishonesty along with possessing the ramifications both personally as well as on social basis.
Steps Taken During the Production of the Game
The game is played over a board that has four colored segments i.e. red, blue, yellow and green. Tokens have been provided among the players individually, who reside within the base of the home before starting the game.
The game will be played with the help of a rolling dice. The aim is completing the entire lap with the token through the board and getting back at the base before the opponents. The player completing the lap and returning to the base at the first will win the game.
In order to begin the game, the devices will be rolled by the players and the player getting the highest number will begin it. The players left behind will have to play in accordance with the number derived by them after rolling the dice. The player deriving the least number will be the last person playing.
After the order regarding the players are determined, the dice will have to be rolled by the starter for starting to move, however, at that stage the player has to answer a question that is in relation to the academic integrity correctly, and then only he can move forward. If the player does not give the correct answer, then the chance will go to the next person playing.
The difficulty in the game is that when one payer is rolling the dice and landed his piece of game over the other players’ piece of game, the other player will have to go back to his base and begin his game from the start.
The challenges that are encountered within the game is that, the players had to be chosen as per their academic skills and it had to be made sure that they don’t try to do cheating during the game. And to ensure this, the topic of academic integrity was chosen for answering the questions during the game, so that the when answering the questions they realize the importance of academic integrity and impose it within the game.
Conclusion Including the Skills Learned During the Game and Regarding Academic Integrity
Possessing the skill of integrity is of great use and it helps in gaining trust from others. Academic integrity in education makes assurance to the educators to trust the student. Whenever a student is taking the help of cheating as well as plagiarism, he is leaning over the failure of his career in the long-run. Academic integrity will also the student to work in the organization, where the executives of the business can trust him regarding the projects.
Here, during the production of the game, the players were suggested that they maintain the integrity academically and understand the importance of it. Thus, the chosen topic for asking the questions was the same. This will help the players to play the game with a fresh and peace mind and thy will not have to take the help of cheating in order to win the game.
The meaning of keeping academic integrity in possession is gaining trust from others. The people that are to be dealt with will have the knowledge that they can have trust over the person for doing the correct thing as well as the behavior remains persistent regarding the belief of trust. Furthermore, trust is among core factors for a leader being successful. This help the every individual for developing betterment in reputations with the qualities of honesty, fairness as well as trustworthy. There are implications for academic misconduct or dishonesty, which include the penalties that can be imposed by the university over the student involved in the misconduct.
- Abdullah, A. and Karim, A.A., 2019. Academic Integrity in Higher Education: Analysis of Research Publication and Web Citation. KnE Social Sciences, pp.1046-1056.
- Bretag, T. ed., 2016. Handbook of academic integrity. Singapore: Springer.
- Carruthers, J., 2019. Academic integrity. South African Journal of Science, 115(11/12).
- Denisova-Schmidt, E., 2017. The challenges of academic integrity in higher education: Current trends and prospects.
- Denisova-Schmidt, E., 2018. Corruption, the Lack of Academic Integrity and Other Ethical Issues in Higher Education: What Can Be Done Within the Bologna Process?. In European higher education area: The impact of past and future policies (pp. 61-75). Springer, Cham.
- Glendinning, I., 2016. Evaluation of Policies for Academic Integrity in Higher Education: An International Perspective (Doctoral dissertation, Coventry University).
- Glendinning, I., Foltýnek, T., Dlabolová, D., Linkeschová, D. and Lancaster, T., 2017. Exploring issues challenging academic integrity in South East Europe. Plagiarism across Europe and beyond.
- Ives, B., 2016. AN INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH TEAM INVESTIGATES ACADEMIC INTEGRITY IN HIGHER EDUCATION. In ICERI2016 Proceedings (pp. 2692-2692). IATED.
- Johnson, J.A., 2018. Academic Integrity in Higher Education: Is Collegiate Aviation Education at Risk?. The Collegiate Aviation Review International, 14(1).
- Kasler, J., Hen, M. and Sharabi-Nov, A., 2019. Academic Integrity in Higher Education: the Case of a Medium-Size College in the Galilee, Israel. Journal of Academic Ethics, 17(2), pp.151-167.
- Lock, J.V., Schroeder, M. and Eaton, S.E., 2019. Positioning graduate students for success with an online academic integrity tutorial.
- McKenzie, A., 2019. Enhancing academic integrity through quality assurance.
- O’Connell, J., 2016. Networked participatory online learning design and challenges for academic integrity in higher education. International Journal for Educational Integrity, 12(1), p.4.
- Simola, S., 2017. Managing for academic integrity in higher education: Insights from behavioral ethics. Scholarship of Teaching and Learning in Psychology, 3(1), p.43.
- Tran, U.T., Huynh, T. and Nguyen, H.T.T., 2018. Academic integrity in higher education: The case of plagiarism of graduation reports by undergraduate seniors in Vietnam. Journal of Academic Ethics, 16(1), pp.61-69.
- Waghid, Y. and Davids, N., 2019. On the polemic of academic integrity in higher education. South African Journal of Higher Education, 33(1), pp.1-5.
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LSU issues statement on academic misconduct after college athlete influencer Olivia Dunne promoted AI essay helper on TikTok
- Student athlete-slash-TikToker Olivia Dunne posted a paid partnership video about using AI for homework help.
- Three days after the video was published, LSU made a statement about the power of AI and warned students of academic misconduct.
- Dunne is the third highest valued student athlete in the US, according to NIL database.
Louisiana State University is reminding students of its code of conduct after an influencer enrolled at the university promoted the use of an artificial intelligence-powered app for help writing essays.
On Monday, 20-year-old LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne shared a paid partnership video with her over seven million followers in which she recommended Caktus.ai as a tool to help with essay-writing. The 10-second clip garnered over one million views, and was followed by a statement from LSU on using AI for schoolwork days later, local news reported.
"Need to get my creativity flowing for my essay due at midnight," Dunne's on-screen caption read as she showed herself using the program.
@livvy @caktus.ai will provide real resources for you to cite at the end of your essays and paragraphs;) #caktus #foryou ♬ original sound - Coach
The Advocate, a Louisiana-based publication , obtained the following statement from LSU on Thursday:
"At LSU, our professors and students are empowered to use technology for learning and pursuing the highest standards of academic integrity," the statement said. "However, using AI to produce work that a student then represents as one's own could result in a charge of academic misconduct, as outlined in the Code of Student Conduct."
Caktus.ai's official site says it's "the first ever educational artificial intelligence tool" and boasts about its ability to "create polished essays with AI assistance for enhanced understanding." Unlike her other content, the comments for Dunne's Caktus.ai promotion were turned off. The video received over 40,000 likes.
Education and AI experts alike have championed the capabilities of programs like Caktus.ai and ChatGPT in the classroom despite general concerns about academic dishonesty.
Although it's unclear how much Dunne was paid to post the video, she has had brand deals with American Eagle Outfitters, Forever 21, and more.
In 2021, a monumental NCAA policy change allowed student to make money from their names, images, and likenesses after they fought decades for the right to do so. The change sparked a slew of brand deals for college athletes, and Dunne is among the highest earners.
According to the On3 database of student athletes and their Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) valuation , Dunne is the third highest valued athlete at over $3 million. The gymnast ranks behind basketball player Lebron "Bronny" James Jr., the son of NBA icon Lebron James; and football player Archie Manning Jr., whose uncles Peyton and Eli were NFL star quarterbacks.
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Explain the importance of costs in the pricing strategy of an organization. Design a costing system: Managing Financial Principles and Techniques Research Paper, UOS, Ireland
- Explain the importance of costs in the pricing strategy of an organization
- Design a costing system for use within an organization
- Propose improvements to the costing and pricing systems used by an organization
- Be able to apply forecasting techniques to obtain information for decision making
- apply forecasting techniques to make cost and revenue decisions in an organization
- assess the sources of funds available to an organization for a specific project
- Be able to participate in the budgetary process of an organization
- select appropriate budgetary targets for an organization
- participate in the creation of a master budget for an organization
- compare actual expenditure and income to the master budget of an organization
- evaluate budgetary monitoring processes in an organization
- Be able to recommend cost reduction and management processes for an organization
- recommend processes that could manage cost reduction in an organization
- evaluate the potential for the use of activity-based costing
- Be able to use financial appraisal techniques to make strategic investment decisions for an organization
- apply financial appraisal methods to analyze competing investment projects in the public and private sector
- make a justified strategic investment decision for an organization using relevant financial information
- report on the appropriateness of a strategic investment decision using information from a post-audit appraisal
- Be able to interpret financial statements for planning and decision making
- analyze financial statements to assess the financial viability of an organization
- apply financial ratios to improve the quality of financial information in an organization’s financial statements
- make recommendations on the strategic portfolio of an organization based on its financial information
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My students are using ChatGPT to write papers and answer exam questions—and I support it
“It made no sense to ban ChatGPT within the university. It was already being used by 100 million people.”
By Boris Steipe March 3, 2023
UofT biochemistry professor Boris Steipe witnessed ChatGPT go from a curiosity to a phenomenon among students in a matter of weeks (Photos by Brent Gooden)
I’ve been a professor in the University of Toronto’s biochemistry department since 2001. Last fall, I taught a first-year course on the foundations of computational biology, a field that applies computer-science principles to the study of biological processes. For the final assignment, I asked each of my 16 students to examine data on some genes involved in damage repair in human cells and write a short report on their findings. There was something off about two or three of the responses I received. They read like they’d been written by students who were sleep-deprived: a mix of credible English prose and non-sequiturs that missed the point of what I was asking. A few weeks earlier, the AI chatbot ChatGPT became available to the public, but it was so new that it never occurred to me that a student could be using it to help them with an assignment. I marked the reports and moved on.
READ: This U of T professor created an entire course on the Netflix mega-hit Squid Game
In the following weeks, I saw ChatGPT change from a curiosity into a phenomenon. It came up in every discussion I had with fellow faculty members, across all disciplines—from the humanities to data sciences. My colleagues wondered how one could tell whether a student used the AI to answer questions, and many were concerned with how it might enable plagiarism. What if a professor suspected a student had used ChatGPT but couldn’t prove it? A plagiarism allegation is no small thing: you can’t risk ruining a student’s academic career on a hunch. I thought again about that December assignment and realized those off-putting answers might have been my first brush with ChatGPT.
I directed the university’s bioinformatics and computational biology program for 15 years, and often wrote programs for my own lab, so I had been learning to “talk” to computers for years. I signed up for a ChatGPT account and became intensely interested in finding solutions to this new problem. I figured it made no sense to ban ChatGPT within the university; it was already being used by 100 million people. Over the Christmas break, it hit me: as professors, we shouldn’t be focusing our energy on punishing students who use ChatGPT, but instead reconfiguring our lesson plans to work on critical-thinking skills that can’t be outsourced to an AI. The ball is in our court: if an algorithm can pass our tests, what value are we providing?
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I became so consumed by the ChatGPT issue that I decided to spend the next semester pouring all of my energy into what I’ve called the “Sentient Syllabus Project.” With the help of colleagues across the world—a philosopher in Tokyo and a historian at Yale—I am creating a publicly available resource that will help educators teach students to use ChatGPT to expedite academic grunt work, like formatting an Excel spreadsheet or summarizing literature that exists on a topic, and focus on higher-level reasoning. The syllabus includes principles like, Create a course that an AI cannot pass , as well as practical advice on how to normalize honesty around AI use.
“As professors, we shouldn’t be focusing our energy on punishing students who use ChatGPT”
Instead of grading for skills an AI can manage, like eloquent language, we could grade on the quality of a student’s questions; how they weigh two sides of an issue and form an opinion; and, if they use ChatGPT, how they improve on the algorithm’s answer. This framework would change how I would have designed the assignment in December. Instead of asking students to read data and tell me what they see, I would say: tell me what you see, but also tell me how you came up with that answer . That type of question encourages a student to creatively engage with the facts—whether they receive them from ChatGPT or not. ChatGPT offers many possibilities: this technology could help non-native English speakers put their ideas into coherent prose, or help people with atypical needs converse with a platform that won’t ever become impatient. It also opens up the option for personalized tutoring and customized assignments—education that would only have been available to the wealthiest few in the past. In general, this invention allows us to spend more time and energy on developing students’ critical-thinking abilities, which is a wonderful thing. However, this is not just about better teaching. Generative AI can already do so many things, all day long, without overtime, benefits or maternity leave. Our students must learn how to be better, how to create additional value for themselves and for others. They have to learn how to surpass the AI. And they’ll have to use the AI to do that.
We are entering a fascinating time in the history of AI, but I have two fears: one is that the adaptation moves so fast that it creates enormous economic disruption, which could cause people across industries—including some professors—to lose their jobs. The other fear is, of course, that we are not even sure what the adaptation could look like, or what new skills that we should be teaching in the meantime. For now, we need to accept that ChatGPT is part of our set of tools, kind of like the calculator and auto-correct, and encourage students to be open about its use. Then, it’s up to us as professors to provide an education that remains relevant as technology around us evolves at an alarming rate. If we outsource all our knowledge and thinking to algorithms, that might lead to an unfortunate poverty in our curiosity and creativity. We have to be wary of that. —As told to Alex Cyr
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You might choose to use "I" but not make any reference to your individual experiences in a particular paper. Or you might include a brief description of an experience that could help illustrate a point you're making without ever using the word "I."
Using "I" in Academic Writing by Michael Kandel Traditionally, some fields have frowned on the use of the first-person singular in an academic essay and others have encouraged that use, and both the frowning and the encouraging persist today—and there are good reasons for both positions (see "Should I").
Many times, high school students are told not to use first person ("I," "we," "my," "us," and so forth) in their essays. As a college student, you should realize that this is a rule that can and should be broken—at the right time, of course. By now, you've probably written a personal essay, memoir, or narrative that used first person.
Use personal pronouns carefully ("you," "we," "us," "our"). Generally, you also want to avoid using the personal "I" in an academic paper unless you are writing a reflection paper or are referring to research that you have conducted. Use shorter sentences. Do not use big words for the sake of sounding scholarly (i.e., "The individuals utilized ...
However, "I" and "we" still have some generally accepted pronoun rules writers should follow. For example, the first person is more likely used in the abstract, Introduction section, Discussion section, and Conclusion section of an academic paper while the third person and passive constructions are found in the Methods section and ...
In science and academics, the use of I is considered rather arrogant and self-serving. The most important thing to remember is that you're not focused on yourself as a writer, but on the research as something that serves the reader and the academic community. It's best to avoid personal pronouns when engaged in persuasive writing.
General Use of I or We It is totally acceptable to write in the first person in an APA Style paper. If you did something, say, "I did it"—there's no reason to hide your own agency by saying "the author [meaning you] did X" or to convolute things by using the passive "X was done [meaning done by you]."
Here's how to use i.e. in a sentence: "After work, I'm going to try the new restaurant (i.e., All About Pasta) to decide on a venue for the reception." "To buy the car that I really want (i.e., a Tesla), I will have to work a lot of overtime."
I would recommend not using etc. in an academic paper. And if you do, please be sure you are using it correctly. See this good explanation about using etc. Here's an excerpt: It isn't that writing that contains et al. or etc. is bad writing, it's just that it is completely possible to construct meaningful sentences without using them. In fact, in most cases, it is probably preferable not ...
In this article we follow the guidelines of APA Style, one of the most common style guides used in academic writing. In general, words should be used for numbers from zero through nine, and numerals should be used from 10 onwards. This is true for both cardinal numbers (e.g., two, 11) and ordinal numbers (e.g., second, 11 th ).
First-person pronouns (I, We) are rarely used in academic writing. They are primarily used in a reflective piece, such as a reflective essay or personal statement. You should avoid using second-person pronouns such as "you" and "yours".
This guide includes instructional pages on scholarly voice. Since 2007, Walden academic leadership has endorsed the APA manual guidance on appropriate use of the first-person singular pronoun "I," allowing the use of this pronoun in all Walden academic writing except doctoral capstone abstracts, which should not contain first person pronouns.
Essay Structure Writing an academic essay means fashioning a coherent set of ideas into an argument. Because essays are essentially linear—they offer one idea at a time—they must present their ideas in the order that makes most sense to a reader. Successfully structuring an essay means attending to a reader's logic.
Academic Paper Format Here is an example of what an academic paper typically looks like. Using standard fonts, margins, and indentations helps your paper gain credibility with an academic audience; readers who are comfortable with your paper's format can pay close attention to the ideas you're communicating.
Definition and Purpose of Abstracts An abstract is a short summary of your (published or unpublished) research paper, usually about a paragraph (c. 6-7 sentences, 150-250 words) long. A well-written abstract serves multiple purposes: an abstract lets readers get the gist or essence of your paper or article quickly, in order to decide whether to…
The use of the word "I" in academic writing, that is writing in the first person, has a troublesome history. Some say it makes writing too subjective, others that it's essential for accuracy....
First-Person Pronouns. Use first-person pronouns in APA Style to describe your work as well as your personal reactions. If you are writing a paper by yourself, use the pronoun "I" to refer to yourself. If you are writing a paper with coauthors, use the pronoun "we" to refer yourself and your coauthors together.
Throughout your paper, you need to apply the following APA format guidelines: Set page margins to 1 inch on all sides. Double-space all text, including headings. Indent the first line of every paragraph 0.5 inches. Use an accessible font (e.g., Times New Roman 12pt., Arial 11pt., or Georgia 11pt.).
Construct a Thesis Statement. Writing an effective thesis statement is one of the most important steps in writing an essay. It serves as the main point of your paper and provides a direction for your argument or discussion. A good thesis statement should be clear, concise, and provide a strong argument that can be supported by evidence.
This study proposes that task dependence and external control determine the extent of flexibility in IS use faced by individuals. Using a 2 × 2 framework, this study argues that flexibility is high when both task dependence and external control are low while flexibility is low when either task dependence or external control is high.
Login to https://chat.openai.com and select the chat bar at the bottom of the page. 2. Type TLDR and link to the article. Type in TLDR and then paste a link to the article you wish to summarize. 3 ...
AI essay generators use algorithms to analyze and understand the topic at hand before generating an essay. Some programs use natural language processing, while others rely on pre-existing templates.
Because it is much easier to read is the most important reason to understand and use a standard style for formatting academic papers. Log in for more information. Added 5 minutes 28 seconds ago|3/6/2023 5:31:12 PM
Our academic experts can create an original essay on any subject for $13.00 $11/page Learn More The atheoretical approach is one of the most important in diagnosing mental disorders within DSM-5. This view of mental health suggests that the etiology of mental disorders cannot be unequivocally established.
1. Academic Integrity and Education. Words • 1111. Pages • 5. Paper Type: 1200 word essay Examples. Academic integrity means dealing with honesty, trust and responsibilities in work that is the foundation for students to be successful in university life's journey. Students were more expected to express and submit their own though and ...
On Monday, 20-year-old LSU gymnast Olivia Dunne shared a paid partnership video with her over seven million followers in which she recommended Caktus.ai as a tool to help with essay-writing. The ...
Be able to use financial appraisal techniques to make strategic investment decisions for an organization; apply financial appraisal methods to analyze competing investment projects in the public and private sector; make a justified strategic investment decision for an organization using relevant financial information
My students are using ChatGPT to write papers and answer exam questions—and I support it. "It made no sense to ban ChatGPT within the university. It was already being used by 100 million ...