Re: Passive Voice? in Scientific Writing

Subject: Re: Passive Voice? in Scientific Writing
From: "Wayne J. Douglass" <wayned -at- VERITY -dot- COM>
Date: Thu, 7 Nov 1996 10:57:34 -0800

At 01:00 PM 11/7/96 -0500, you wrote:
>Hi all! (Forgive the cross-postings.) I deal with mostly scientists here
>at NASA who almost always write in passive voice. As much as possible, I
>change it ("it has been noted" gets changed to "it was noted", etc.).
^^^^^^^^^^^^

Alas, the marked phrase is still passive voice with fewer words (and only
one at that). The way to change it to active voice is to say who noted it:
"Joe Schmoe noted in the Journal of Irreproducible Results that..."

--Wayne Douglass
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