How to Avoid Passive Voice in Academic Writing (Without Sounding Weird)

ByJenny Hill, PhD

Introduction

You’ve probably heard this feedback before: “Too much passive voice.” Or maybe you’ve read back your own writing and thought, Why does this sound so flat?

Passive voice is one of the most common traps in academic writing. It makes your sentences sound vague, impersonal, and—let’s face it—kind of boring. And while you might think using passive constructions makes you sound more “academic,” the truth is, overusing them weakens your arguments.

If you’ve ever written something like, “It was observed that…” or “The samples were analyzed…,” you’re not alone. Everyone does it, especially in research. But here’s the good news: you can fix it. With just a few simple strategies, you can learn how to avoid passive voice in academic writing and make your work feel more confident and direct.

Let’s break it down so you can start writing in a way that feels powerful, not passive.

What Is Passive Voice, and Why Does It Matter?

Before you can avoid passive voice, you need to recognize it. Passive voice happens when the subject of the sentence is acted upon rather than doing the action. For example:

  • Passive: The experiment was conducted by the researcher.
  • Active: The researcher conducted the experiment.

In the passive version, the subject (experiment) isn’t doing anything—it’s just sitting there, being “conducted.” That structure distances the action from the actor. In academic writing, that often leads to unclear or wordy sentences.

Why does it matter? Because when your sentences are full of passives, your readers have to work harder to follow your logic. It can make your arguments feel abstract or ungrounded—especially in disciplines that value clarity, like the sciences or social sciences.

That doesn’t mean passive voice is always wrong. It has its place. But if it dominates your writing, you’ll lose both impact and reader attention.

Spotting Passive Voice in Your Own Writing

Let’s be honest—most people don’t notice they’re using passive voice. It sounds formal, and we’ve been conditioned to think formality equals quality. But if you want to change your habits, you need to see them first.

Here’s how to spot passive voice:

  • Look for “be” verbs + past participles: is written, was observed, has been shown.
  • Add “by zombies” to the sentence. If it still makes sense, it’s passive.
    → “The data were analyzed (by zombies)” = passive.

Try this exercise: take a paragraph from your thesis and highlight all the verbs. Then check—who is doing the action? If it’s not clear, or if the subject isn’t even mentioned, you’ve probably got a passive structure.

When I did this in my own work, I was shocked. A whole page went by without a single “I” or “we.” Just endless data being measured, calculated, and interpreted—by whom? No idea. That’s when I realized I needed to be more intentional.

Strategies to Avoid Passive Voice

Now for the fun part: how do you actually fix it? Here are a few strategies you can use right away:

1. Make the Subject Do Something

This is the easiest fix. Ask yourself: Who is doing the action? Put them at the beginning of the sentence.

  • Passive: The results were interpreted as significant.
  • Active: We interpreted the results as significant.

Don’t be afraid to use “I” or “we,” especially in sections like the methodology or discussion. Many style guides—including APA and Chicago—now encourage it.

2. Rewrite the Sentence to Highlight the Actor

Sometimes the actor isn’t “you,” but another noun:

  • Passive: The decision was made to delay the experiment.
  • Active: The committee decided to delay the experiment.

If you don’t know who made the decision, figure it out—or reword the sentence to make it clearer.

3. Use Strong, Specific Verbs

Passive constructions often hide behind vague verbs like is, was, has been. Swap them out for verbs with more punch:

  • Passive: The solution was added to the flask.
  • Active: The technician poured the solution into the flask.

When your verbs are precise, your meaning is clearer—and your writing sounds more confident.

When Is Passive Voice Okay?

Here’s the truth: sometimes passive voice makes sense.

  • You don’t know who did the action.
  • The actor is irrelevant.
  • You want to emphasize the action or result, not the actor.

Example:

  • “The samples were contaminated during storage.”
    → If it doesn’t matter who contaminated them, passive is fine.

The key is to choose passive voice intentionally—not just default to it. One or two passive sentences per paragraph might be okay. Ten in a row? Time for a rewrite.

Editing Tips: How to Catch Passive Voice in Revisions

Even if you draft passively (most of us do), you can revise actively. Here’s how:

  • Use Ctrl+F to search for “is,” “was,” “were,” “has been,” “have been.”
  • Read each sentence and ask: Is someone doing something, or is something just happening?
  • Rewrite unclear passives using a clear subject + active verb.

You can also try tools like Hemingway Editor or Grammarly to help flag passive constructions. They’re not perfect—but they give you a starting point.

I like to do an “active voice pass” in my editing process. One round where I just focus on verbs. It’s amazing how much more readable my thesis became once I cleaned up the passives.

Conclusion

Knowing how to avoid passive voice in academic writing gives you a serious edge. You’re not just cleaning up your grammar—you’re strengthening your arguments, clarifying your ideas, and making your writing more engaging.

So don’t let passive voice drain the life out of your thesis. Be bold. Be direct. Put the action front and center. Whether you’re writing your methodology, discussing your results, or defending your conclusions, active voice helps you own your work and show your authority.

You’ve done the research—now write like you mean it.