57 PRS Proofreading and Editing Service PhD Experts • All Academic Areas • Fast Turnaround • High Quality the results or explanation to shore up the claim. The job of the academic or scientific author is to show, explain, persuade, even defend when necessary with regard to his or her discoveries, but never to assume that the reader is already convinced or to use that assumption as a way in which to develop an argument or as a substitute for scholarly argumentation. ‘We observed that…,’ ‘We saw…,’ ‘We discovered that…’ (with the ‘We’ applying to the authors in each case) and ‘Human participants in this study did not…’ all report results, and therefore present evidence and advance an academic or scientific argument. What your readers see or think or discover may or may not do so, and assuming (even unwittingly) that what’s going on in your mind is also going on in the minds of your readers often means ignoring the potential for many different responses and interpretations. So while it is good to anticipate the needs of your readers, the best way to meet those needs is to rely on what’s going on in your own mind and do your very best to share that clearly and thoughtfully in your writing. So check your use of ‘we’ carefully as you proofread and revise your paper, and if there’s no specific and appropriate antecedent for it, devise a different way to express your thoughts. ‘You’ should also be avoided in academic and scientific prose. This is rarely a problem for authors as ‘we’ tends to be, but since I use the second-person voice so frequently in this Guide to facilitate concise expression of the advice I’m offering you as an academic or scientific author working toward publication, I thought I best mention it. My practice in this regard is a good example, then, of anticipating the perspective and needs of readers, yet also a classic case of do what I say, but not exactly what I do: in most contexts using ‘you’ simply establishes too personal a voice for formal academic or scientific writing. PARt II: PRePARIng, PResentIng And PolIsHIng YoUR woRk