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Subject:Use of the First Person From:Dan Sabin <dsabin -at- ELECTROTEK -dot- COM> Date:Fri, 30 Jan 1998 11:19:39 -0500
Hi,
I'm an engineer, and I recently submitted a paper to a pretty well-known
standards organization. The reviewers rejected my paper mainly for
stylistic reasons, especially as related to my use of the first person
"we" when I was referring to myself and the other researchers on the
project. For example, instead of saying, "The researchers found...," I
often stated "We found..."
I was surprised that the reviewers reacted so negatively to the first
person, especially as a friend who is a technical writer told me that in
most business/technical writing, it's best to avoid the third person and
passive voice. I thought using "we" would make my writing more
accessible to readers, and I wanted to avoid the stuffiness and
formalism of constantly saying "the researchers..." According to the
reviewers, using "we" in a professional document is not an acceptable
technical writing style.
I wonder what you technical writers have to say about this...Is using
"we" inappropriate in a professional report that basically summarizes my
research findings to engineering colleagues?
