Even the most experienced writers occasionally struggle with the use of verb tenses in research papers because it is such a tricky subject.
There are some guidelines, and frequently it also depends on the context of the discussion of your study that you are writing.
For instance, authors may use a combination of present and past tenses in the Abstract section, but the Materials and Methods section would primarily use the past tense.
We have created a helpful infographic that depicts the tenses advised for various portions of a research paper or manuscript, or in science writing generally, to aid you in remembering what tense to use in a research paper.


If you are not sure about the tense usage or in general with manuscript writing, get the help of professional manuscript editor who can polish your manuscript and make it impactful for publishing in high-impact journals.
Comments are closed.