Unlock the Secret Strategies Experts Use to Transform Research Papers into Clear, Concise Masterpieces
Consider the following examples:
- Passive: The experiment was performed by the technicians over a period of three weeks.
- Active: The technicians performed the experiment over three weeks.
The active version is shorter and more direct. It identifies the “doer” of the action immediately, which provides better flow. Passive voice often requires additional helper verbs (like “was” or “were”) and prepositions (like “by”), which increase the word count without adding value. While you may still use the passive voice to describe specific procedures where the actor is irrelevant, using the active voice for your arguments and conclusions will make your paper significantly more engaging and easier to read.
