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Tense Guidelines

Here are some guidelines to help you in dealing with the tenses in writing the articles.
Abstract: generally, use the simple past (or in some cases use the present perfect for a short introductory
phrase); for general statements and facts use the present tense.
Introduction: use a mixture of present and past tense; the present tense is applied when you are talking about
something that is always true; the past tense is used for earlier research efforts, either by your own or by another
group. If the time of demonstration is unknown or not important, use the present perfect. For the concluding
statements of your introduction use the simple past; you may use the past perfect, when you talk about
something that was true in the past but is no longer so.
Methods: generally, use the passive voice in the simple past.
Results: simple past and present tense should be employed here, but when you refer to figures and tables you
use the present tense, since they continue to exist in your paper ;); you can mix active and passive voice.
Discussion: use the simple past for your own findings and the perfect tense for cited information; the present
tense is also acceptable.
Conclusions: use present perfect to make clear that your statements still hold at the time of reading; for further
work the future tense (or the present) is acceptable.

Source: Moore and Tsuda. 2003. A practical guide to the use of scientific English: a skeleton approach for
written and oral presentation in the medical field. Asian Pacific Education Press.