Recently…
Currently….
A decade ago…
Time-related language in your academic manuscript is essential. Positioning past research studies in your writing in a timeframe provides an important historical perspective. Readers need to know if the studies were conducted in the last 5 years or the last 50 years because their relevance changes depending on their publication date.
So, giving a sense of time in your writing is important. It informs the reader about how the study fits into the field as a whole. Time references like the ones above, however, are ever changing, making them too vague for academic writing.
Recently and currently, for example, aren’t specific enough. Even more, time shifts with these phrases, so if a researcher is reading your published dissertation 10 years from now, these words no longer apply.
Evergreen copy is essential in your academic writing. List the year of publication when it’s available. If you’re discussing a range of time, frame it as a decade or a range of dates, such as In the 1990s or From 2005 to 2015.
This simple change creates an evergreen academic manuscript where timeframes are always abundantly clear. When they are, your manuscript offers a more accurate overview of your concept, with concrete dates included.