Active vs. passive voice

Most ecology writing generally uses active first-person voice to create a modern and concise style rather than the more old-fashioned passive voice. For example:

However, the passive voice has its place and you will find that your writing is a mixture of active and passive sentence structures. 

Use the passive voice:

1. When the doer of the action is unknown, irrelevant or obvious.

2. When you want to emphasise the action rather than the doer (eg, methods section).

3. To maintain the logical flow of information.

BioMedical Editor. (n.d.). The value of the passive voice. Retrieved December 16, 2014, from http://www.biomedicaleditor.com/passive-voice.html