Writing my first paper for publishing, we or I?

[Semiavas]

Hello,

I came up with an idea, wen't through the steps and it consistently worked. So now I'm writing a paper on it to submit for publishing. Along with this being my first forum post this is my first paper to publish, and I'm also only in my undergraduate right now, so please pardon my beginner mistakes.

The subject matter is in chemistry and physics, but I believe a bit more on the chemistry side so I'm looking to publish with the American Chemical Society.
I've been basing my formatting and such on this sample:
http://pubs.acs.org/userimages/ContentEditor/1218647565844/jacsat_commun_sample.pdf

Now the situation I'm faced with is that I don't know whether to use "I" or "we" as they use we in the sample paper. I have a professor of mine on as the coauthor/adviser because he acquired the materials for me and helped me get started. However since I alone came up with the idea, performed the experiment, etc.., do I use "I did this..." or "We did this..." ? I'm not sure what the proper etiquette is.

Thank you.

 

[SteamKing]

Hello,

I came up with an idea, wen't through the steps and it consistently worked. So now I'm writing a paper on it to submit for publishing. Along with this being my first forum post this is my first paper to publish, and I'm also only in my undergraduate right now, so please pardon my beginner mistakes.

The subject matter is in chemistry and physics, but I believe a bit more on the chemistry side so I'm looking to publish with the American Chemical Society.
I've been basing my formatting and such on this sample:
http://pubs.acs.org/userimages/ContentEditor/1218647565844/jacsat_commun_sample.pdf

Now the situation I'm faced with is that I don't know whether to use "I" or "we" as they use we in the sample paper. I have a professor of mine on as the coauthor/adviser because he acquired the materials for me and helped me get started. However since I alone came up with the idea, performed the experiment, etc.., do I use "I did this..." or "We did this..." ? I'm not sure what the proper etiquette is.

Thank you.

I don't know either. However, you should know that the verb "went" (past tense of "to go") is not a contraction.

 

[Semiavas]

I don't know either. However, you should know that the verb "went" (past tense of "to go") is not a contraction.

Lol, oops. Not sure why I typed it like that.

 

[rootone]

'We' would tend to better etiquette if other people have been active collaborators, or you could just use neutral language.
"Test X showed consistently that the condition 'A' was necessary prior to condition 'B' occurring".

 

[Semiavas]

'We' would tend to better etiquette if other people have been active collaborators, or you could just use neutral language.
"Test X showed consistently that the condition 'A' was necessary prior to condition 'B' occurring".

Thank you, I think I'll use the neutral language. I think it'll sound better and if someone cares enough they can always ask.

 

[cgk]

Neutral language for its own sake is not a good idea. If a sentence is clearer with "We" or "I", then you should use it. How do you know which option is clearer? Read this: http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/the-science-of-scientific-writing/1 . That should answer this question.

Regarding "We" or "I":
(a) if there is more than one author, "I" is out of the question. It has to be "We".
(b) if there is only one author, "We" is still fine. Especially in the context of explanations, the interpretation can be "I and the reader". I.e., pretend that the reader is closely following your argument.

 

[Semiavas]

Neutral language for its own sake is not a good idea. If a sentence is clearer with "We" or "I", then you should use it. How do you know which option is clearer? Read this: http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/the-science-of-scientific-writing/1 . That should answer this question.

Regarding "We" or "I":
(a) if there is more than one author, "I" is out of the question. It has to be "We".
(b) if there is only one author, "We" is still fine. Especially in the context of explanations, the interpretation can be "I and the reader". I.e., pretend that the reader is closely following your argument.

Ah, I see what you mean. I'll use "we" then. Thank you.

 

[jbrussell93]

I agree that if you have your professor as a coauthor, you should use 'we'. When I hear people use 'I', it just sounds unnatural and makes me raise an eyebrow a bit (unless it is a very well respected single author).