The Writing Guy

A Reader Writes

Jeff Zuckerman, Director of Writing Services

Jeff Zuckerman
Jeff Zuckerman

Hi, Jeff,

 

My professor requests that I consult you about writing in the third person. I have been referring to myself as "this author," which she says is incorrect.

 

Do you have any suggestions?

 

Signed,

This Author

 

 

Dear This:

 

This business gets really tricky. If "the author" follows the APA manual strictly, he or she is told to avoid "this researcher" and go with a personal pronoun (see p. 38 in the manual).


But, you say, Walden says to avoid first person. Indeed. And the manual on page 50 has "the investigator," although, strictly speaking, this writer can't tell what context that was in. Confusing? Absolutely.


Now here are some tips that might be able to help:

  1. If you're writing "The author believes" or “thinks” or “suspects” or whatever, try leaving it out and let your believing speak for itself.

    So instead of “The author believes that children who drink Kool-Aid tend to bounce off the walls,” go with “Children who drink Kool-Aid tend to bounce off the walls.” Ideally, then support the statement with the literature.

  2. If you’re writing “In this author’s experience,” try leaving it out or adjusting the sentence.

    So instead of “In this author’s experience, babies exposed to bald doctors enjoy classical music,” try “At the Do-Re-Mi Hospital in Decorah, IA, babies exposed to bald doctors were likely to enjoy classical music” (compared with what is ambiguous, of course).

  3. Instead of writing what “this author” did, try leaving it out, or alas, switching to passive voice.
    Instead of “This author studied the relationship between electric shavers and acne,” try “The relationship between electric shavers and acne was examined.” (Blech—it’s passive voice, I know. But what can you do?).

  4. Avoid, per APA, “This study examined,” although data can indicate something, and findings can suggest, and so on.

 

This writing guy hope these tips help, but understands they may not. As always, contact me or the tutors at writingsupport@waldenu.edu if you have comments or questions.