Tips to avoid past tense in a thesis?

Question

I'm a non-native speaker and currently writing on a thesis in English. I'm struggeling to avoid the past tense. Accoriding to my advisor I'm supposed to write the thesis in present tense. But this makes sentences like: > ... are already described in section XYZ. wrong, right? It would be great to get some general advice how to avoid this. PS: Can I use past tense for summaries?

Answer 1

The example you give ("[the results] are described in section XYZ") is actually correct. Sentences like these, which writing instructors call "meta-discourse," are useful for making both your central claims and your organization clear to your audience. Meta-discourse, or sentences like the one you provide, are always in present tense.

One reason for this convention is that your dissertation is not necessarily intended to be read in its totality; nor is it necessarily intended to be read in order. To say that "[the results] were described in XYZ section" assumes that the reader has read the dissertation in order, from the beginning, and it points the reader backward. When you write "[the results] are described in WYZ section," your meta-discourse points the reader forward, toward additional information that she may not have already encountered. In short: don't assume that a generic reader will read the document in full, in order, from the beginning.

In addition to using present tense for meta-discourse (or sentences about the dissertation itself), you should also use present tense for any facts that are or continue to be true (e.g. "the earth revolves around the sun"), and also to present your own findings and conclusions (e.g. "measurements suggest that the universe is expanding").

However, per your second question, other elements of academic writing are typically presented in past tense: any summaries or references to previous research (e.g. "In 2016, XYZ argued..."), to describe a claim that is no longer considered true (e.g. "early astronomers hypothesized that the earth was the center of the universe"), or to describe your own methodology or results (e.g. "We measured the distance between the earth and the sun").

These are general guidelines; it may be that your advisor wants you to use present tense throughout (it is not entirely uncommon to see researchers use present tense, for example, when referring to the work of others). Make sure that if you have further questions, you clarify with your advisor.