tenses in academic writing

[Joaniecheng]

When mentioning contents or results of research which were done, and author’s ideas which were written in past work, how to judge which tense to be used?
Because I found both past tense and present perfect tense are used.
Besides, if I want to present my ideas based on past studies, what tense should be used?
It really confuses me.

Thank you!

[Mister Micawber]

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Generally, I would just choose one and try to stick to it, Joanie. The present perfect is used if the past activities are recent and/or relate strongly to the present.
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Native English teacher at Mister Micawber's

[Nyc]

In that situation, in my own experience, I have found that I save myself many headaches by choosing the past tense and sticking with that.

You can use the perfect tense in all sorts of strange ways to prove your mastery of the language. You can't go wrong by using only the past until the perfect is actually necessary. If I say he lived for 20 years, you might assume he died at age 20. If I say he has lived for 20 years or has been alive for 20 years, you would probably assume he is still alive. Either way, 20 years have gone by and living was done that entire time.

[Mister Micawber]

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[Joaniecheng]

thanks a lot!