Which Verb Tenses to Use in a Research Paper

When writing an academic paper, writers should follow the accepted grammar and style conventions: not only to abide by the institutional and domain standards, but to communicate clearly to readers what was studied, when it took place, and from what perspective you are discussing your research (and that of others) in your paper. One crucial writing element that you must consider when composing your paper is verb tense. Which tense you use will determine the flow and coherency of your paper.
You might have found yourself thinking along these lines before: "Everything in this study has already been completed, so shouldn’t I simple write everything in the simple past tense?"
The answer is "no"--at least not in a strict sense. The verb tense you use for a given sentence or phrase depends on your position as author to the material you are discussing. As author, you stand in some distance to each element mentioned in your text in terms of your role: as participant, critic, or messenger, among others.
You must also take into account the chronological reasons for choosing between present and past tenses in a given instance.
Knowing which tense to use requires both knowledge of the exact guidelines set out for you in whichever formatting style you are following (APA, AMA, etc.), as well as some discretion and savvy in choosing the tense that makes the most sense for a given statement in the paper.
While new authors should certainly familiarize themselves with the guidelines of the formatting style they are applying, this article will focus on the most common applications and rules of verb tense among research papers in journals and at academic institutions, reflecting basic verb usage rules in academic English and encompassing all formatting styles.
This video includes:
✔ An overview of three commonly used verb tenses
✔ A detailed explanation of how these verb tenses are applied
✔ Explanation of which verb tense to use by paper section
✔ Realistic sample sentences from research papers
Who should watch this video:
★Research writers writing a paper for a journal or conference
★Students interested in learning how to compose a research paper
★All students and researchers in the hard/social sciences seeking information on which tenses to use in their papers
For more useful writing tips, check out these posts on our “Resources” page:
“How to Write the Best Journal Submissions Cover Letter":
wordvice.com/journal-submissi...
“100+ Strong Verbs That Will Make Your Research Writing Amazing”:
wordvice.com/recommended-verb...
“How to Write an Abstract”:
wordvice.com/how-to-write-a-r...
"How to Create the Perfect Research Paper Title": wordvice.com/how-to-write-the...
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[@bethechageyouyouwanttosee1871]

Thank you so much man I have been looking for this kind of lesson for a long time.

[@prateeknegi6307]

Hey, this is exactly what I was looking for all these years. This is such a brilliant video for all non-English researchers to write good research papers. I am looking forward to more videos.

[@Wordvice]

Cheers! Delighted we could help clarify this issue for you. If you are looking for more tips on writing research papers, look for a video on writing the Literature Review section to be uploaded in a few hours.

[@bogalemenigistie2660]

Hi Dr I'm from ethiopia.This was my finding you clearly describing for me.your splendifirous expration makes me to score good grade for my design project.

[@sochivykhieng8561]

Thank you so much professor for your time and thoughts to share this comprehensive and extremely helpful presentation and explanation about using these three tenses in the thesis writing..

[@osmanabdalaosman5593]

Clear, concise, and to the point. Thank you, sir.

[@wimaladasaperera3996]

Thank you very much. This is exactly i have been looking for.

[@jonathanberroya7721]

thank you for this comprehensively explained topic on tense usage

[@angesomgebregziabher19]

Wonderful lecture! Thank you!

[@sylamseto]

Thank you so much for this video. It helps me to write my research report.

[@mohammadwasifnaqvi8934]

Great video for new researchers.

[@Y2Ka966]

Thank you dear expert, this is really help full

[@lienphan6446]

This is very helpful. Thank you very much.

[@sachinkmohan]

Thanks! You made it easy! :)

[@Justme1635438]

I'm mostly confused about tense shifts. For example: "Previous studies mostly aimed to examine whether there is a relationship between parental expectations and academic performance". Would I have to write: "Previous studies mostly aimed to examine whether there was a relationship between parental expectations and academic performance." I think the first sentence is more correct, as they aimed to discover general truths. I find, however, that I have too many tense shifts in my writing. So I get seriously confused! Also, it is way more difficult to discover general truths in social science, so I get more in doubt on whether I should use present tense or simple past when discussing research results. And sometimes several results were found in a single study, where some could be considered general while others were not, why I am in doubt on whether I should use present or simple past. Until recently, I never thought about the use of tenses, but now that I do, I find myself correcting my writing again and again without ever reaching certainty on which tense is correct.

[@marshalie2976]

Thank you for your super amazing video. It is way helpful.

[@drgutharajasekar6275]

Sir, wonderful explanation. Helping me a lot to write my paper. If you explain using published research paper , it will be more useful

[@zakariaahmed8534]

Great teacher I have got a lot of experience in this video

[@janethriosalaga7716]

very helpful...thank you so much

[@julietoq.paylajr.9579]

Wow.. Thank for this video..

[@smritisngh]

Its a very helpful informative and precise. thanks for such a wonderful video

[@jokhakk9190]

great explanation

[@ShivaprakashGopinath]

thank u team u r done a great job.. i learn a lot...

[@healcono]

So informative

[@ITSME-mu5fu]

That's great👍

[@keithlamar4793]

Great teacher every since I've been taking your advise I'm getting 100s thank you

[@Wordvice]

Way to go! So glad we could help. Let your friends, peers, and colleagues know about our channel. And let us know if there are any other academic topics that you have burning questions about--we'll see what we can do!

[@AnimalsDiseaseTreatment]

Thank you sir. .. it saved my time 🕞

[@kodiang05]

Thank you

[@mohammadidrees1308]

Thank you sir so much. Love from Pakistan.

[@sayokotanaka9942]

Excellent explanation. Easy to understand with good examples.

[@Wordvice]

Very glad to be of assistance!

[@naveenswarnkar4180]

Thank you sir for giving me your guidance. Hope one day you'll achieve your Red diamond button from KZbin channel soon 💐 love from India!

[@AnimalWorldUploads]

nice class sir,

[@BoundInChains]

Editing a friend's thesis. Got it mostly right I see. Lol. Good vid.

[@maramezina1094]

thank you if you could show us how to analyse qualitative data. we would be grateful

[@RajKumar-cq4yo]

Nice

[@DurayStuffCrafts]

Excellent! Is passive or active which structure good for research paper writing?

[@yogiegemini2053]

Thank you this was very helpful. Also, the audio timing of the video is behind the visual footage of the video.

[@reynsigfridf.crisostomo5024]

What tense is used in writing a theory?

[@takeleabebe255]

my confusion is when should I use simple past tense (was, were) and present/past perfect tense (has, have + v3) in research writing.

[@sthakur8780]

Wow love u

[@agentanakin9889]

Good video, but there are teleprompters that allow you to continue looking into the camera.

[@bacsterbacx4110]

A member of the panel wanted me to make all tenses in past form. It makes me cringe 'coz some phrases sounded wrong if i did that

[@luan1328]

Sir, I am quite confusing when you only mentioned the use of Present Tense in the Literature Review section. My professor said that Past Tense could also be used. Could you help me to clarify this matter?

[@jjonnto]

past tense is used when you want the focus on the study itself or the people who studied it present tense is used when you share your own views of the previous study

[@orlovae1]

Information is important, but the sound is very echoe

[@polydoc5124]

2:52 Chi [Chee] square test?

[@Wordvice]

Thanks!

[@mosfrat7711]

I got bored with this video. I found the Turabian distinction between passive verbs and action verbs very useful. Rule of thumb: action verbs are preferable. An action verb is when the subject of the sentence is acting upon an object. Example: "the pterodactyl pecked the toddler's eyes out," pterodactyl being the subject of the sentence and toddler being the object. In a passive verb, the subject of the sentence has an action being performed on it by an object. Example: "the midget's eyes were pecked out by a clownfish."

[@amanyhafiz4095]

You speak so fast and I am as Turkish one I can't understand you

[@tanatedi278]

Nonsense

[@walidalaraba2517]

It is confusing this academic writing.. it is horrible..every person is displaying what he wanted...I become crazy of all that...

[@ImtithalSaeed]

The topic is very important, but you are fas + the voice is very bad... disappointed