The Author's Voice

I generally prefer reading more personal voices in technical academic writings, but did notice that only the big shots dared to write in that style. It's also more personal for qualitative research than quantitative research. My supervisor told me to write more formally after looking at my Chapter 1. So here, I'm convincing myself of why I should, so I convinced myself once and for all, and I will not have that debate every time I type a sentence.

"A writer's voice, when preparing a literature review, should be formal because that is what the academic context dictates. The traditional voice in scientific writing dictates that the writer de-emphasize himself or herself in order to focus the readers' attention on the content." (p. 49)

That makes very much sense. It's an act of confidence and humility, to tell others to look at what I'm writing, consider it, and decide yourself whether you can trust it. Don't look at me, look at what I have done. "De-emphasizing myself". Yes, I can do that in my writing. Direct attention not to my voice, but use my voice to direct attention to evidence and arguments.

"Notice that academic writers tend to avoid using the first person. Instead, they let the "facts" and arguments speak for themselves." (p. 50)

Quotes taken from first edition of "Writing Literature Reviews" by Jose L. Galvan. Published by Pyrczak Publishing.