Verb Tense
Verbs are direct, vigorous communicators. Use a chosen verb tense consistently throughout the same and adjacent paragraphs of a paper to ensure smooth expression.
Use the following verb tenses to report information in APA Style papers.
|
Paper section |
Recommended tense |
Example |
|---|---|---|
|
Literature review (or whenever discussing other researchers’ work) |
Past |
Martin (2020) addressed |
|
Present perfect |
Researchers have studied |
|
|
Method Description of procedure |
Past |
Participants took a survey |
|
Present perfect |
Others have used similar approaches |
|
|
Reporting of your own or other researchers’ results |
Past |
Results showed Scores decreased Hypotheses were not supported |
|
Personal reactions |
Past |
I felt surprised |
|
Present perfect |
I have experienced |
|
|
Present |
I believe |
|
|
Discussion of implications of results or of previous statements |
Present |
The results indicate The findings mean that |
|
Presentation of conclusions, limitations, future directions, and so forth |
Present |
We conclude Limitations of the study are Future research should explore |
Verb tense is covered in Section 4.12 of the APA Publication Manual, Seventh Edition
This guidance has been expanded from the 6th edition.