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.
From the APA Style blog
Whether expressing your own views or actions or the views or actions of yourself and fellow authors, use the pronouns “I” and “we.”
Navigating the not-so-hidden treasures of the APA Style website
This post links directly to APA Style topics of interest that users may not even know exist on the website.
This blog post provides insight into how this change came about and provides a forum for questions and feedback.