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Should you use past tense or present tense when citing a study in your introduction?
Here’s the rule in one line: when you cite a study, the verb that reports it goes in past tense (“Gupta et al. showed…”), and the verb that describes what they found can go in present tense if you want…
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What’s Wrong With ‘The Present Study’?
Nothing. “The present study” is grammatically fine. The problem is what happens when it shows up nine times in one results section: it starts costing your reader effort for no reason, and in an abstract it eats words you don’t…
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What Does \”Significant\” Actually Mean in a Research Paper?
\”Significant\” means two different things in a research paper — a statistical result (p
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How to Reduce Wordiness in a Research Paper (Without Losing Meaning)
If a journal caps your abstract at 250 words and yours is running at 290, you don’t need to say less. You need to say the same thing in fewer words. That’s the whole skill, and it’s more mechanical than…
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Present perfect or past tense in your introduction? Here’s the test
Here’s the test: if you can name the researcher, use past tense. If you’re describing what “researchers” in general have been finding for years, use present perfect. “The contribution of agricultural production to greenhouse gas has long been debated” —…
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On the Other Hand vs. Besides: What’s the Difference?
“On the other hand” means you’re still weighing two sides. “Besides” means you’ve already decided, and you’re just piling on extra reasons. That’s the whole difference, and it’s worth learning because mixing them up doesn’t just sound a bit off…
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Should You Nominate Your Own Peer Reviewers When You Submit?
A lot of submission systems have a field for “suggested reviewers,” and a lot of authors skip straight past it because it looks optional and slightly awkward — like you’re picking your own examiner. Some journals require it outright. Either…
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How to Use Hyphens Correctly in Academic Writing
A hyphen joins two or more words that are working together as a single description in front of a noun — “a well-designed study” — and you drop it the moment those same words land after the noun: “the study…
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When Do You Need to Define an Acronym in a Research Paper?
Here’s the test: if you’ll only use the term once, don’t turn it into an acronym at all — just write it out. If you’ll use it three times or more, define it the first time you write it, unless…
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Do You Have a Conflict of Interest? How to Tell, and What to Write
A conflict of interest isn’t misconduct — it’s anything that could make a reader wonder whether your results were shaped by something other than the data. Here’s how to spot one and how to find out what your target journal…