

The nurse must ensure that she has a large enough blood sample for her assay. For example:Ī researcher must ensure that he has enough material for his experiment. We use indefinite pronouns to refer back to the subject but must avoid using masculine or feminine terminology. The third person point of view is generally used in scientific papers but, at times, the format can be difficult. The researchers determined that there was not enough sample material to conduct the assay. The instructors decided that the students should help pay for lab supplies. The third person point of view that refers to groups include the following:Įveryone at the convention was interested in what Dr. The ones that refer to individuals are as follows: The third person point of view uses both proper nouns, such as a person’s name, and pronouns that refer to individuals or groups (e.g., doctors, researchers) but not directly to the reader. Before cooking it, you must wash it first thoroughly with cold water.Īlthough this is a good technique for giving instructions, it is not appropriate in academic or scientific writing. You will want to buy a turkey that is large enough to feed your extended family. The reason behind using the second person is to engage the reader. This point of view is usually used in the context of providing instructions or advice, such as in “how to” manuals or recipe books. The second person point of view uses pronouns that refer to the reader. To make it more appropriate, the above sentence can be revised as follows:īased on the results of the assay, A and B did not equal to C. To refer to the results in this context is incorrect and should be avoided. The results discussed are not those of the author they are generated from the experiment. In this example, the entire meaning of the research could be misconstrued. In addition to sounding somewhat arrogant, the strength of your findings might be underestimated.īased on my results, I concluded that A and B did not equal to C. When you want to persuade the reader, it is best to avoid personal pronouns in academic writing even when it is personal opinion from the authors of the study. It is important to remember that when writing your research results, the focus of the communication is the research and not the persons who conducted the research. It is often considered to be somewhat self-serving and arrogant. In science and mathematics, this point of view is rarely used. Using these, we present the information based on what “we” found. These are as follows:Ĭan we use I or We In the Scientific Paper?

The first person point of view simply means that we use the pronouns that refer to ourselves in the text. In the following sections, we will discuss the usage and examples of the first, second, and third person point of view.
