小曼课堂｜为什么英文学术写作中不提倡使用第一人称？

不鼓励在写作中使用第一人称代词I or we。而最常见的原因是读者可能将此类写作视为主观，而学术论文更讲究客观性，但是目前并没有普遍的规则反对在论文写作时使用第一人称。

之前有一位叫戴维·舒尔茨（David Schultz）的作者专门研究了一下在学术论文中能否在学术论文中使用第一人称，当他翻阅了大量期刊后发现，其实还是有一些期刊在[作者须知]上主张使用第一人称。

例如，Robert Day和Barbara Gastel 在“ 如何撰写和发表科学论文”中说：

Because of this [avoiding first person pronouns in scientific writing], the scientist commonly uses verbose (and imprecise) statements such as “It was found that” in preference to the short, unambiguous “I found.” Young scientists should renounce the false modesty of their predecessors. Do not be afraid to name the agent of the action in a sentence, even when it is “I” or “we.”

再比如，许多世界上最著名的科学家都使用第一人称：

爱因斯坦偶尔会使用第一人称。费曼有时也会使用第一人称，居里，达尔文，莱尔和弗洛伊德也是一样。只要把重点放在你的工作而不是你身上，那么明智地使用第一人称就没有错。

还有人说：

“It is thought that…” is a meaningless phrase and unnecessary exercise in modesty. The reader wants to know who did the thinking or assuming, the author, or some other expert.

最后舒尔茨博士得出的结论是：

“first-person pronouns in scientific writing are acceptable if used in a limited fashion and to enhance clarity.” In other words, don’t pepper your paper with I’s and We’s. But you don’t have to rigidly avoid the first person either. For example, use it when stating a nonstandard assumption (“Unlike Day and Gastel, I assumed that…”). Or use it when explaining a personal action or observation (“We decided not to include…”). Finally, follow the conventions in your field, and particularly check that the journal you intend to submit your paper to does not specifically ban the use of the first person (as a handful of journals do).