When you need your writing to sound non-judgmental (like writing in science and engineering), then writing objectively should be your primary goal, assuming you have the syntax and writing structure sufficiently handled by your main grammar software. The more impartial the style of your communication, the more the reader can trust the ideas you are promoting.

The passive voice

In an attempt to make their writing sound objective, some people resort to using the passive voice. Since this style of construction takes the actor out of the action, it helps objectivity to some extent.

However, it is not entirely the best solution either. As you’ve probably noticed, writing entire paragraphs with nothing more than passive sentences can make your writing awkward and confusing.

Active voice

These days, even the scientific community encourages the use of the active voice in writing. Yes, even when doing it occasionally makes the use of self-referential pronouns (like “I” and “we”) a must. The risk of losing objectivity when inserting the actor deserves the additional clarity and precision that the resulting sentences exhibit. However, as a general rule of thumb, it is still advisable to avoid too many first-person references, especially during the beginning of sentences, when you are making a guess, and especially not in a way that includes the reader in your reference if ‘You are concerned about remaining objective.

Broad generalizations

However, more important to promoting an objective tone is avoiding false generalizations. Never rest your arguments on assumptions that are not proven or substantiated. Also, be sure to recognize the limitations of your work – set an objective benchmark from which the reader can view your results and conclusions.