The following structured abstract summarizes
Yin Ling Cheung & Louwena Lau (2020). Authorial voice in academic writing:
A comparative study of journal articles in English Literature and Computer
Science. Ibérica, (39), 215–242.
Background: In this paper, we examine how the usage of first person pronouns helps build
sound and effective arguments. We discover ways this type of pronouns is used in different
spheres of science. In this case. works of expert writers from Computer Science and
Literature fields are compared.
Objective: Research questions are the following: (1) How frequency of first person pronouns
differs in Computer Science and Literature research papers? (2) How usage of first person
pronouns differs in Computer Science and Literature research papers?
Methods: We used the corpus of 160 research papers, where each 80 were from Computer
Science and Literature. Papers with a single author were used only to prevent bias. Automatic
concordancer (AntConc 3.4.4) was used to find all first person pronouns in papers (omitting
abstracts, references, etc.). All concordancer work was validated manually to ensure
correctness of labeling.
Results: Unlike results of previous works, we found that first person pronouns quantity was
2.5 times more in Computer Science than in Literature papers. However, this type of
pronouns was not used in 8 Computer Science articles while it appeared at least once in all
Literature papers. Therefore, we conclude that usage of first person pronouns is not based just
on their presence, but on the extent of how frequently they are used to strengthen and
enhance arguments.
Implications: Results of our study refute previous point of view that first personal pronouns
are used more frequently in soft sciences than in hard sciences. Besides, our paper could help
novice researchers in familiarizing themselves with ways of persuading readers via first
person pronouns along with common academic writing rules and conventions.