Using "I" in an Academic Paper

Why not?

Some people think that students who write using "I" are being terribly informal and perhaps even un-academic. According to this line of argument, academics should avoid calling attention to themselves. In scientific literature, the researchers should minimize the "I" because their work should be generalizable--anyone should be able to do the work, to replicate the experiment and the "I" is unnecessary. . .

Yet why not use "I"? Sometimes writers get in more trouble trying not to use "I" than they would using "I." They start writing in the passive; they start using nominalizations; they start to use words like "this author thinks . . ." or "It is the opinion of the researcher that . . ." Their writing gets lumpy and their style gets impersonal, sometimes strained.

Some people want to avoid "I" in constructions like "I think . . ." and "I believe" (or similar statements without "I" like "In my opinion . . .") because it's obvious that everything we write is in our opinion--so why say it?-- obviously, writers think; obviously, they believe. And there may be some truth in that--although not a lot. If, for instance, you want to shift from someone else's ideas to your own, you may have to signal it:

Sturguss may believe that sharks have fins. But I believe they have big muscles. . . .
Michalslop's opinion is common. But my opinion is not his. . ."

And sometimes, the "I" is personal, friendly, polite, and accurate. If you're writing about Hamlet and you want to say you don't like that stupid ghost, you ought to be able to say, "I don't like that stupid ghost." You don't want to say, "There are some who would dislike that ghost and call it stupid" or "It is this author's opinion that the ghost sucks." Likewise you don't want to make a general claim ("The ghost is stupid") when you're writing about a very personal reaction that may not be generalizable to other readers ("I think the ghost is stupid").

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