Writing Tip 007 – Using Past Tense and Present Tense in your
Introduction Section

Difficulty: Advanced

The Introduction and Literature Review sections of your paper must
include background to your research. Authors who publish successfully
and publish often know how to use verb tense effectively as a powerful
persuasive tool.

Let’s take the example below, whose two verbs are a standard format for
reporting findings. There are two verbs: the first verb has a reporting
function (“to show”, “to demonstrate”, “to suggest”, etc.), while the
second verb relates to the contents of the sentence. We will look at
present tense and past tense.

Which verb tense should we insert? Gupta et al. (2012) show // showed
that lower vitamin D levels in children with severe, therapy-resistant
asthma (STRA) are // were associated with worse asthma control and lung
function.

First verb - show//showed Using past tense for the first verb is
uncontroversial and recommended. It is appropriate because the research
was conducted in the past.

Correct & Natural: Gupta et al. (2012) showed that…

Using the present tense is not forbidden: it suggests “the study, which
is published and available to read at present, says…”. However, it can
sound affected: use with caution.

Correct & Slightly Strange: Gupta et al. (2012) show that…

Second verb – are//were associated Using past tense localizes the
findings to the time of the experiment, while using present tense
suggests the findings are true and applicable even now. You can use
both, but the present tense sounds stronger. Using the present tense for
the second verb will be perceived as a strong assertion of the findings!

Correct: …lower vitamin D levels in children with STRA were associated
with worse asthma control and lung function.

You can even use the relative weakness of the past tense to implicitly
dismiss past findings.

Smith et al. (2008) found that vitamin D levels had no relation with
asthma severity or recurrence. However, Gupta et al. (2012) reported a
contradictory finding, saying that lower vitamin D levels in children
with STRA are associated with worse asthma control and lung function.
\[Smith et al. said there was no relation, but we believe that, in
reality, there is a relation.\]

To report findings most strongly, you can omit the first part (“Gupta et
al. showed…”) entirely! The readers will know you are reporting a
finding because of the presence of a citation. Lower vitamin D levels in
children with STRA are associated with worse asthma control and lung
function (Gupta et al., 2012).

To sum up: • Past tense is more natural for reporting verbs like
“showed”, “demonstrated”, and “suggested”. • Present tense and past
tense are both okay for describing findings: present tense is stronger.
• You can even omit the reporting verb altogether for a very strong
assertion.

END OF TIP