# past and present tense in academic writing **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [March 22, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-and-present-tense-in-academic-writing/533346 "2010-03-22T15:52:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![drhess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/94ad74/32.png) [@drhess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drhess)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-and-present-tense-in-academic-writing/533346/1 "2010-03-22T15:52:10Z")
When do you refer to what is reported in a…well…report or article as past or present tense? Are the activities of Einsteing in the past, but the findings state in a report referred to in the present? I see advice that says that data in tables should be stated in the present tense (“Table 1 in the study lists…”) but others seem to make blanket statements about using past tense in general. Here’s an example: "The latest Program Assessment Rating Tool (PART) appraisal by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) lists the Food Stamp Program as “moderately effective.” " ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-and-present-tense-in-academic-writing/533346/2 "2010-03-22T16:40:08Z")
I try to use the present tense in my papers, since mathematical truths are eternal. For example, I would have to say, “Euclid showed unique prime factorization” but, “Integers have unique prime factorization, as shown by Euclid”. I think I am in the minority, however. I also use “I” rather than “we” when possible. (“We” if there are coauthors of course, but also if I feel that I am talking about my readers and me collectively.) That goes very much against usual academic style, but I don’t care. It helps that I am the TeX editor of the journal where I publish most of my papers, so I get the last word. But I make no attempt to enforce my views on other authors. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-and-present-tense-in-academic-writing/533346/3 "2010-03-22T18:44:07Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > I try to use the present tense in my papers, since mathematical truths are eternal. For example, I would have to say, “Euclid showed unique prime factorization” but, “Integers have unique prime factorization, as shown by Euclid”. I think I am in the minority, however. I also use “I” rather than “we” when possible. (“We” if there are coauthors of course, but also if I feel that I am talking about my readers and me collectively.) That goes very much against usual academic style, but I don’t care. It helps that I am the TeX editor of the journal where I publish most of my papers, so I get the last word. But I make no attempt to enforce my views on other authors. So what is the “usual accademic style” or “majority”? I assume the former is what I was taught in English class: to avoid use of the first person, but what is the latter? Past tense all the time, present tense all the time, or something else? ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-and-present-tense-in-academic-writing/533346/4 "2010-03-22T19:04:06Z")
Use present tense. - a grad student ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2010, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-and-present-tense-in-academic-writing/533346/5 "2010-03-22T23:22:20Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > So what is the “usual accademic style” or “majority”? I assume the former is what I was taught in English class: to avoid use of the first person, but what is the latter? Past tense all the time, present tense all the time, or something else? Us what I call the soporific mode. Lots of passives (no subject pronoun needed), very long and convoluted sentences, in math, never use words if you can do it with formulas, oh, I can’t think of all the ways. But I think there is a strong tendency to use past tense, especially the compound past (mistakenly called the perfect, although it is actually mostly imperfective). Oh and heavy on semicolons and parenthetical clauses (which I am guilty of.) ---
**Author:** ![Uncertain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Uncertain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncertain)\ **Post date:** [March 23, 2010, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/past-and-present-tense-in-academic-writing/533346/6 "2010-03-23T01:50:12Z")
> [@drhess](#): > > Are the activities of Einsteing in the past I think that’s the present participle (unless it’s the gerund).