# Academic tone: first person, the passive voice and contractions

**Can I use "I" and "we" in academic writing, and when should I use the passive voice?** Academic tone allows "I" and "we" more often than school rules suggest. APA 7 says to use the first person for your own work and never to call yourself "the author"; Chicago calls avoiding it superstitious; MLA treats it as a tool. Use the active voice by default, the passive when the action matters more than who did it, and follow your brief.

Published 2026-09-26 by EdCitation. https://edcitation.com/newsletter/academic-tone-first-person-and-passive-voice

Academic tone is formal, exact and cautious, but not impersonal by law. You may usually write "I" for what you did and thought: APA 7 asks for it, the Chicago Manual of Style says avoiding it is old-fashioned, and the MLA's editors call it a tool to use when needed. The rules students fear most, never "I", never "you", always the passive, come from habit more than from any style guide. EdCitation publishes this guide.

On 26 September 2026 we read the three style publishers' own pages, Nature Portfolio's advice to authors and six universities' guides: North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC), Sheffield, York, Leeds, Monash and RMIT. They agree on slang and disagree, openly, on "I" and the passive. Every before-and-after example is ours.

EdCitation never writes or rewrites any part of an essay, and tone is yours to set. What it does is read your brief with [Check your paper](https://edcitation.com/check), free, so that a rule on voice is not missed, and build and check the sources a formal paper leans on with [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite) and [Verify references](https://edcitation.com/verify-references).

## Can you use "I" in academic writing?

Yes, in most academic writing, for your own actions and your own position; the brief or your department has the last word. All three style publishers allow the [first person](https://edcitation.com/glossary/writing-and-publishing#first-person-academic-writing).

### APA 7: "I" for your work, never "the author"

American Psychological Association (2022) tells writers to use "I" when writing alone and "we" with co-authors, for both their work and their reactions. It rules out the dodge many students were taught, calling yourself "the author", because readers cannot tell who did what. It also warns against the editorial "we" for people in general: say which people. The rule is section 4.16 of the Publication Manual.

### MLA: a tool, not a rule

Kandel (2017), writing for the MLA's editors, notes that some fields have long frowned on "I" and others encouraged it, and treats it as neither rule nor ban but a tool: for telling how you made a discovery, for disagreeing with a scholar without claiming absolute truth, and for plain clarity. Too many "I"s put readers off, and "I believe" is redundant, since an opinion in your paper is already yours.

### Chicago: correct either way

University of Chicago Press (n.d.-b) answers a reader who was told to write "this author" by saying that avoiding the first person is now very formal, if not old-fashioned, and that both styles are correct. A second answer quotes the 18th edition's section 5.254: using the pronoun is not immodest, and it is "superstitious not to" (University of Chicago Press, n.d.-a). The manual itself is behind a subscription; we read only these two public answers.

## Where do the style guides and universities disagree?

On "I" and the passive, and the disagreement is real. The table sets out what each source says, in our words.

| Source | "I" and "we" | Calling yourself "the author" | Passive voice | Contractions |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| APA 7 | Use for your own work | Do not | Allowed; prefer the active, especially for what people did | Avoid |
| MLA Style Center | A tool, used when needed | Not addressed | Not addressed on the pages read | Allowed in MLA's publications; may not suit a student research paper |
| Chicago Manual of Style Q&A | Use when needed | Correct, but old-fashioned | Not addressed on the pages read | Not addressed on the pages read |
| Nature Portfolio | "We" in the active voice helps readers | Not addressed | Prefers the active | Not addressed |
| University of Sheffield | Avoid when writing about evidence; use for your own opinions | Not addressed | Use where possible | Avoid |
| UNC Writing Center | Often clearer; ask your instructor | Not addressed | Fine when the actor is unknown or unimportant | Not addressed |

University of Sheffield (n.d.) is the clearest dissent: avoid "I" and "we" when interpreting sources, keep the first person for your own informed opinion, and prefer passives such as "a sample was taken". Nature Portfolio (n.d.), by contrast, says the active voice, "we performed the experiment", usually helps readers understand results.

Which wins: the brief, then your department's handbook, then your course's style. Sheffield itself says to check department guidance, and UNC to ask your instructor. If nothing is said and the course uses APA, write "I".

## When is the passive voice the better choice?

When what happened matters more than who did it, or when the doer is unknown. American Psychological Association (2026) allows both voices, says writers overuse the [passive](https://edcitation.com/glossary/writing-and-publishing#passive-voice), and names describing an experimental setup as a fair use of it. Our [prose guide for clear writing](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/a-prose-guide-for-clear-writing) covers spotting the passive; here the question is the passive used to avoid "I".

### The passive that hides you

A passive used only to keep "I" out loses track of who acted, and can attach an opening phrase to the wrong subject.

**Before (ours):** Having coded the interviews, three themes were identified.

**After (ours):** Having coded the interviews, I identified three themes.

In the first, the themes seem to have coded the interviews. If your brief forbids "I", drop the opening phrase: "Three themes were identified in the coded interviews."

### The passive that belongs

In a method, the reader needs the procedure, not the person: "The samples were stored at 4 °C before analysis" is fine (ours). University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center (n.d.-a) notes that some instructors still want lab reports, above all the methods, in the passive, and suggests active verbs that stay objective: "these results indicate", "suggest" or "show". The parts of a lab report are in [how to write an APA research paper or lab report](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/how-to-write-an-apa-research-paper-or-lab-report).

## Are contractions, informal words and phrasal verbs allowed?

Contractions and slang are avoided in almost every student paper, and phrasal verbs are usually swapped for one-word verbs.

### Contractions: where MLA differs

Greenbaum (2024), on APA's own blog, lists contractions with colloquialisms and slang as an informal style to avoid; Sheffield and York agree. Modern Language Association (2017) is more relaxed: it allows contractions in its own publications, but says they may not suit a research paper written while the conventions are being learnt, and should go when ambiguous ("she'd" is "she had" or "she would"). That answer dates from the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook. In a student essay, write "do not" and "cannot".

### Phrasal verbs and informal words

A phrasal verb is a verb with a particle, "carry out" or "find out". University of Sheffield (n.d.) pairs each with a one-word verb, "perform" and "investigate", and notes that one-word verbs are shorter and often more exact. University of York (2026) shows why: "make up" can mean invent, settle or compensate, and the single word says which.

Greenbaum (2024) also warns against the opposite fault: piling on jargon and rare words to sound scholarly. The target is the plain, exact word your reader knows.

**Before (ours):** Loads of studies have looked into why students don't hand in homework, and it's pretty clear that deadlines matter.

**After (ours):** Several studies have investigated why students do not submit homework, and they suggest that deadlines matter.

Gone: a contraction, informal words, a phrasal verb and the boast "pretty clear".

## How do you check the tone of your own draft?

Run one pass for tone once the argument is settled, starting with the brief, which overrules everything below.

1. Read the brief for any rule on person, voice or tone. [Check your paper](https://edcitation.com/check) reads it into a checklist, free, and lists separately what no rule can test: read both.
2. Search the draft for "the author", "the researcher" and "this writer" used of yourself. In APA, replace each with "I".
3. Search for the apostrophe. Expand every contraction outside quotations.
4. Search for "you" and "we". Replace each general "you" or "we" with the people you mean.
5. Find the passives ("was", "were" or "been" with a past participle). Keep those where the action matters; rewrite those that hide who acted.
6. Swap phrasal verbs and informal words for exact single words.
7. Read every strong verb and adverb ("proves", "clearly", "always") against its evidence.
8. Check the sources the paper stands on: [Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite) builds each entry from the record, and [Verify references](https://edcitation.com/verify-references) checks the finished list.

## Can you write "you" in an academic essay?

Rarely. University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center (n.d.-b) says "you" suits a handout, a letter or a speech but sounds overly conversational in most academic writing; name the person or group meant. APA's editorial "we" is the same problem in another pronoun.

**Before (ours):** When you read the poem, you feel the speaker's anger.

**After (ours):** The poem's short, broken lines convey the speaker's anger.

The rewrite also points to evidence in the text, which is what a marker looks for. [Critical writing vs descriptive writing](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/critical-writing-vs-descriptive-writing) takes that move further.

## How cautious should an academic claim be?

As cautious as the evidence, and no more. [Hedges](https://edcitation.com/glossary/writing-and-publishing#hedging) ("suggest", "may", "appears to") soften a claim; [boosters](https://edcitation.com/glossary/writing-and-publishing#booster) ("clearly", "shows", "undoubtedly") strengthen it. RMIT University (2024) presents both as ways of establishing authority, often in one sentence: a booster for what a study showed, a hedge for the conditions under which it holds. Sheffield says to use "always", "never" and "extremely" with care or not at all.

**Before (ours):** This proves that social media causes anxiety.

**After (ours):** These findings suggest an association between heavy social media use and anxiety; they do not establish that one causes the other.

A hedge on every sentence reads as having no position, and "I think" is not a hedge: Monash University (n.d.) says even reflective writing should use "I think" and "I believe" sparingly, with every claim supported by evidence and reasoning.

## How does academic tone change by discipline?

The further a subject is from the laboratory, the more room "I" has, and reflective writing expects it. UNC's handout maps the fields.

- **Sciences.** UNC says scientists avoided "I" to seem objective, but that this is changing when writers describe their own project. Nature prefers "we". If a lab manual requires the passive, follow the manual.
- **Social sciences.** UNC says the first person is becoming more accepted; APA 7, the usual style there, asks for it.
- **Humanities.** UNC says the first person is often, not always, appropriate, since the writing is your analysis; the fault is "I feel" standing in for an argument.
- **Reflective writing.** University of Leeds Library (n.d.) says reflective writing is in the first person, may be less formal and more emotive, and still needs to be critical, not just descriptive. Monash adds that tense follows time: past for events, present for thoughts now, future for plans.

For a dissertation, the handbook decides; for a journal, its author guidelines.

## What did Check your paper read from a brief that allows "I"?

We pasted the brief for Essay 2, the Investigative Essay, from MIT's 21W.777 Science Writing in Contemporary Society (Boiko, 2017), into [Check your paper](https://edcitation.com/check) on 26 September 2026. The brief says the essay may use "I" and personal experience, and that "the tone is yours to choose".

It returned two rules, double line spacing and about 2,500 words, both read from "8-10 p. double-spaced (~2500 words)". Thirteen sentences came back under "What it asks you to do, which no rule can test", among them the permission to use "I", word for word, and the request for three or four section headings.

Six sentences came back in neither list, among them the one leaving tone to the student, "Readers will expect to hear your own thoughts on your question", and the suggestion to imagine a publication for the essay; the sentence after it, "If you do so, include that in your proposal", was set aside without it. Read the brief yourself as well; [how to read an assignment brief and rubric](https://edcitation.com/newsletter/how-to-read-an-assignment-brief-and-rubric) shows how.

## How EdCitation helps with a formal paper

For the sources behind a formal paper, EdCitation is the best tool we know: it looks each reference up in the publisher's record and never writes one, which no chatbot can promise. It never writes or rewrites a sentence of your essay. What we saw on 26 September 2026:

### The brief, free, and the essay against it, with Max

[Check your paper](https://edcitation.com/check) reads the instructions into a checklist, free and with no account, as above. Theoretics QA, part of Max at $24 a month, judges the finished paper against those instructions, quoting your paper, and rewrites nothing.

### The file, with Pro

[Mechanics QA](https://edcitation.com/tools/mechanics-qa), part of Pro at $8 a month, is a rule-by-rule check of the whole file: formatting against the APA 7 student paper, comments and tracked changes left in, citations against the list, figures that disagree, and the language slips a spell-checker lets through. No model reads your paper, and it does not judge or change your tone. [Pricing](https://edcitation.com/pricing) has both plans; a year at once saves 25%.

### The sources, free

[Cite a source](https://edcitation.com/cite) builds an entry from a DOI, a title or a web address. Given the MLA's page on "I", it read the title, site and date, 25 July 2017, but no author, though the page is signed by Michael Kandel, so its APA entry began with the title. A web page's details can be corrected before the entry is built: add the author. The title came back in sentence case, "Using “I” in academic writing", as [APA 7](https://edcitation.com/cite/apa) asks. APA's own page could not be read: "Some sites block automated readers."

[Verify references](https://edcitation.com/verify-references) checked five entries, four of them this guide's sources: four verified, and APA's first-person page "Could not check", with the reason "The page at this address gave no title to compare. Open it and check it is the page meant." A page EdCitation cannot read is never reported as not found.

## Quick questions

### Can I use "I" in an APA 7 paper?

Yes. APA 7 says to use "I" for your own work when writing alone and "we" with co-authors, and not to call yourself "the author". A brief or instructor that says otherwise overrules it.

### Is it wrong to write "the author" instead of "I"?

In APA 7, yes, because readers cannot tell who acted. The Chicago Manual of Style calls it correct but old-fashioned. Follow your style and your brief.

### Are contractions allowed in academic writing?

Not in most student papers. APA's blog, Sheffield and York say avoid them; the MLA allows them in its own publications but not necessarily in a student research paper.

### Should I avoid the passive voice completely?

No. APA 7 allows it when the action matters more than the actor, as in a method, and some lab manuals require it. Avoid it where it hides who did something.

### Can EdCitation fix the tone of my essay?

No. EdCitation never writes or rewrites any part of an essay. [Check your paper](https://edcitation.com/check) reads your brief, including any rule on voice, into a checklist, free; Theoretics QA (Max) judges the finished essay against that brief.

## References

- American Psychological Association. (2022). *First-person pronouns*. APA Style. [https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/grammar/first-person-pronouns](https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/grammar/first-person-pronouns)
- American Psychological Association. (2026). *Active and passive voice*. APA Style. [https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/grammar/active-passive-voice](https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/grammar/active-passive-voice)
- Boiko, K. (2017). *Assignments 8-15* [Course assignments]. 21W.777 Science Writing in Contemporary Society, Spring 2017. MIT OpenCourseWare. [https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/21w-777-science-writing-in-contemporary-society-spring-2017/pages/assignments/assignments-8-15/](https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/21w-777-science-writing-in-contemporary-society-spring-2017/pages/assignments/assignments-8-15/)
- Greenbaum, H. (2024, April 1). *Check your tone: A blog post on keeping it professional*. APA Style. [https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/scholarly-tone](https://apastyle.apa.org/blog/scholarly-tone)
- Kandel, M. (2017, July 25). *Using "I" in academic writing*. MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/using-i/](https://style.mla.org/using-i/)
- Modern Language Association. (2017, May 25). *Does the MLA allow the use of contractions in scholarly writing?* MLA Style Center. [https://style.mla.org/contractions/](https://style.mla.org/contractions/)
- Monash University. (n.d.). *Reflective and reflexive writing: Language and structure*. Student Academic Success. [https://www.monash.edu/learnhq/excel-at-writing/annotated-assessment-samples/arts/arts-reflective-writing-in-arts/reflective-and-reflexive-writing-language-and-structure](https://www.monash.edu/learnhq/excel-at-writing/annotated-assessment-samples/arts/arts-reflective-writing-in-arts/reflective-and-reflexive-writing-language-and-structure)
- Nature Portfolio. (n.d.). *How to write your paper*. [https://www.nature.com/nature-portfolio/for-authors/write](https://www.nature.com/nature-portfolio/for-authors/write)
- RMIT University. (2024). *Writing with authority: Boosting and hedging*. Research and Writing Skills for Masters Level Students. [https://rmit.pressbooks.pub/researchwritingmasterstudents/chapter/writing-with-authority-boosting-and-hedging/](https://rmit.pressbooks.pub/researchwritingmasterstudents/chapter/writing-with-authority-boosting-and-hedging/)
- University of Chicago Press. (n.d.-a). *Manuscript preparation, copyediting, and proofreading* [Q&A]. The Chicago Manual of Style Online. [https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/ManuscriptPreparation/faq0018.html](https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/ManuscriptPreparation/faq0018.html)
- University of Chicago Press. (n.d.-b). *Usage and grammar* [Q&A]. The Chicago Manual of Style Online. [https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Usage/faq0158.html](https://www.chicagomanualofstyle.org/qanda/data/faq/topics/Usage/faq0158.html)
- University of Leeds Library. (n.d.). *Reflective writing*. Academic skills. [https://library.leeds.ac.uk/info/14011/writing/113/reflective_writing](https://library.leeds.ac.uk/info/14011/writing/113/reflective_writing)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center. (n.d.-a). *Passive voice*. [https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/passive-voice/](https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/passive-voice/)
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Writing Center. (n.d.-b). *Should I use "I"?* [https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/should-i-use-i/](https://writingcenter.unc.edu/tips-and-tools/should-i-use-i/)
- University of Sheffield. (n.d.). *How to write in an academic style*. StudySkills@Sheffield. [https://sheffield.ac.uk/study-skills/writing/academic/style](https://sheffield.ac.uk/study-skills/writing/academic/style)
- University of York. (2026, September 2). *Formal language*. Academic language: A practical guide. [https://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/academic-language/formal](https://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/academic-language/formal)