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In my experience, policy is inconsistent across and within institutions. I was told to use ŒI¹. It had the unexpected advantage of making me think through my argument more because too many ŒI¹s became over-insistent. It made me rely less on convention and concentrate more on the flow and balance of the text, and this is what I tell my students now. Best wishes, Simon Bell Dr. Simon Bell, PhD, MA (Lit), BA (Hons), PGDipLTHE Deputy Head, Coventry University School of Art and Design Principal Lecturer, Programme Manager BA / MA Graphic Design Coventry University School of Art and Design Priory Street Coventry CV1 5FB [log in to unmask] 024 7765 7783 On 22/09/2015 06:45, "European Association for the Teaching of Academic Writing - discussions on behalf of Ingerid Straume" <[log in to unmask] on behalf of [log in to unmask]> wrote: >Dear Anne, > >There is another issue here which I do not think has been mentioned by >anyone, viz. that there are different meanings of the terms "I/we" in an >academic text. There is the professional I, the researcher's I (these >roles may or may not be the same), and what I call the writer's I. I like >to I teach my students to identify the various forms, and to have a more >reflexive approach to their uses. In my opinion it is often better to >make active use of the writer's I than to conceal it. One example is a >(longer) master thesis where the student might need to remind the reader >what she has written before, what comes next and so forth. In this >context, phrases like "as I have argued" should be perfectly OK in most >disciplines, but I know there are exceptions. Use of the other I's >(researcher, professional) can sometimes be relevant, and sometimes used >for stylistic purposes, but most often it is not (as many have pointed >out). The private use of I has nothing to > do in an academic text, of course, but my point is that it is important >that students understand that not all I's are about the private person. > >Best wishes, >Ingerid > > >Ingerid Straume >Hellvikveien 149 >1450 Nesoddtangen > > >Academic librarian, PhD >University of Oslo, >Reference and Research Section >Library of Humanities and Social Sciences > >https://uio.academia.edu/IngeridSStraume > >-------------------------------------------- >Den man 2015-09-21 skrev Anne Wegner <[log in to unmask]>: > > Emne: Use of we/I in academic texts? > Til: [log in to unmask] > Dato: Mandag 21. september 2015 15.05 > > Dear colleagues > Two questions for you. I teach academic writing, mainly to > PhD students from difference scientific areas at various > German universities. One of the things I teach is that it is > generally ok to use ³we/I² in academic texts, while > pointing out that its use does slightly depend on the area > in which one is working or the journal for which one is > writing. However, my daughter said that during her recent > Bachelor studies (Durham University, political sciences), > she was mainly writing, and being expected to write, in the > passive voice, avoiding we/I. I have two main questions > related to this: > > 1) Am I the only one getting my workshop > participants to use we/I in an English academic text? If so, > I'd better stop! > 2) What do academic texts in other > European languages generally contain - we/I or passive > voice? In a German academic text, the use of we/I is > generally frowned upon. > > I would appreciate any comments and am happy to put together > a summary of any answers I receive. > > Many thanks > Anne Wegner > > [log in to unmask]