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  EDline Vol. 8, no. 2    (23 January 2003)

  Editorial mailing list (digest version)
  Published by the Electric Editors
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  Contents:

         Q & A
  [2wz]  Authority and responsibility and passive constructions
            [Offshoot of [2wy] Spellcheckers]

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---[2]-- Q & A --------------------------------------------------

         Date: Sun, 29 Dec 2002
         From: Joy Burrough, burrough@bos.nl

Breen Sweeney wrote

> However the passive does have its use. I remember a long time
> ago I was a student and was doing a science experiment. I wrote
> it up, and in my diary I said things like "I set up the circuit
> as shown in the diagram." I was told to change everything to
> the passive.
>
> The reason is that in science, they are trying to emphasise the
> objectivity of the experiment. In other words, it didn't matter
> that I was doing the experiment, the results should be the same
> whether I did it, or my teacher did it. What matters is
> recording exactly how the experiment was set up, and what
> happened when the experiment took place.

The phrase "a long time ago" says it all. These days, scientists
are urged to use the active voice, and the "objectivity of the
passive" has been recognised as a myth. As one of the Web guides
to scientific writing ("Scitext Cambridge: Principles of Science
Writing") puts it:

  Do not use the passive voice to avoid responsibility, as in
  "It is conjectured that..."- by whom? You should not cover the
  subjective with a veneer of the objective.

John Kirkman is one of the teachers of scientific English who's
been crusading for more use of the active voice in scientific
English. He's checked through a vast number of current scientific
journals and has found " I "or "we" being used (indicating that
the active voice is being used). He's published his findings in
European Science Editing. 

Many journals now encourage scientists to write in the active
voice. Here are some examples John sent me. 

  Quotations from Instructions to Authors:

  - Animal Behaviour, Academic Press
  Use active voice whenever feasible, and write in the first
  person.

  - BMJ
  Write in the active and use the first person where necessary.

  - Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, American
  Psychological Society
  Use the active voice and first person [in the text, not in the
  abstract, which has to go in Medline].

  - Animal Conservation, Cambridge UP
  Use active voice whenever feasible, and write in the first
  person [except in the abstract].

  - Journal of Zoology, Cambridge UP
  Use active voice whenever feasible, and write in the first
  person [except in the abstract].


         ---------------------
         Date: Fri, 3 Jan 2003
         From: Esther Shchory, eshchory@nonstop.net.il

Joy Burrough wrote:

> Many journals now encourage scientists to write in the active
> voice. Here are some examples 
 
I realise we have visited this subject more than once but just
because it's fashionable doesn't mean it's better. The fashion of
starting all sentences with "I did" is just indicative of the
'me' society.
 
> The phrase "a long time ago" says it all. These days,
> scientists are urged to use the active voice, and the
> "objectivity of the passive" has been recognised as a myth.
 
I don't think this is necessarily a good thing. It has led to
'celebrity science' where the popularity of the scientist is more
important than the science itself.


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