Today’s post comes from this post about the structure of an academic text in Spanish.

This time I will focus in the person in which the text should be written. Should I have to write in first person? Or impersonal? Or what is the same when writing my academic report I need to use YO such as he efectuado or a passive voice like se ha efectuado.

In Spanish academic texts you can use both first person or impersonal. But once you opt for one way you need to keep it all along the text. So you can’t start talking in first person and finish talking impersonal. That is one good reason to hire someone to proofread you Spanish academic text.

It is common to use the plural of the first person, like hemos realizado even when the author of the paper is a single one.

If you want to publish the paper in an academic journal you need to read their requirements. Sometimes they specify if you have to use impersonal or first person. If there is not information about the subject I would suggest to user impersonal way and passive voice because some people would find first person too informal for an academic writing.

However, it depends more on the reader that in a real well-known rule.