When To Use Self-Referential Pronouns In Academic Writing

Because of their emphasis on objectivity, it’s always good practice to avoid the use of the first-person pronouns, such as “I”, “we”, “me”, “us”, “my” and “our”, in academic writing. However, there are cases where referencing in the first person actually makes sense and is allowed.

Do note that these rules might not be applicable to all courses in all universities. When in doubt, inquire with your professor.

1. The primary use of the first-person pronoun in academic writing will be when you’re talking about personal experience. How else are you supposed to tell a story that happened to you, other than to use a self-referencing pronoun.
2. In the humanities, where a lot of your writing will involve personal analysis of various things, the first-person reference is often acceptable. After all, the reader is expecting to get your perspective on the topic. Provided your use of the first-person pronoun is backed by proper argument and support, you should be fine.
3. In the sciences, using a first-person reference can be acceptable when done in the context of describing a project that you are working on, especially when positioning it within current research in the same field.
4. In the social sciences, the first-person reference can be used within the same context as in the sciences.

These pronouns can be sometimes used incorrectly for those who are not aware of its meaning and uses. Be careful on how you are going to write your sentences with proper addresses of the subject in order to determine which persons you are referring to in your sentence. Although these pronouns are written with one, two or three letters in all, still, most writers tend to forget these pronouns’ role in a sentence.

To avoid any future writing mistakes, make sure to identify how pronouns are classified into three different persons for reference. All have their own standing when it comes to formal or casual writing. Most of the time, you might end up inter-changing these pronouns in your writing. So make sure to check your writing back again and determine which audience and the kind of writing should you set your writing tone into different pronouns at.

If you’re using an academic writing software, make sure you tweak it to support these rules (most programs allow you to modify the things they check). Having it flag your use of pronouns, when you have express permission to use them, can waste a lot of your time.