"I" in academic and scholarly writing

[rm]

This is not a search for advice. This is a point of curiosity to me, because my education was sort of extreme and obsessive on this point, and it occurs to me that perhaps other fifth-graders were not scarred for life by writing papers that said things like "this author feels that Disney World would be an idea summer vacation destination for her family."

So, inquiring minds and all that....

[Poll #1563413]

Comments

[alienor.livejournal.com]

In grade school, I was taught "the author..." construction, but college made it clear that only VERY VERY VERY rarely is it appropriate to reference yourself in formal writing.

I believe my thesis was written in the passive voice "this was done to the materials..." because of this concern.

I do (now) get annoyed with "my opinion is" constructions because, duh, if you're writing it of course it's your opinion (or experiences, or whatever). Of course, I've now taken a wealth of technical editing continuing education courses (I'm an engineer) and find that any phrase that doesn't convey meaning irritates me.

[shadowravyn.livejournal.com]

Wheres in my college and grad school, "I" is considered acceptable, as what you're putting forth are your thoughts and ideas. They're just backed up by people who have said the same thing previously and who have more letters after their name than you.

Of course, my degrees are in English, so YMMV.

[dulcinbradbury.livejournal.com]

English degree here as well & I'd never use "I" in formal writing. It sounds automatically informal and non-academic to me.