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Can I Write My Own Opinion?

Faculties: AC, AMP, AR, BI, BW, D, EFI, IN, MB/VS, SOH, SW, VT, WT

The situation is clear: If your own opinion is equated with a “gut feeling,” it has no place in academic papers. Never like it was once written in a first-year student's paper: “In conclusion, although all the arguments and numbers support it, I am still against it.”

Contents

Voice in Academic Writing (A video by the University of Melbourne)

Your actual independent contribution

It is essential that an academic paper includes your well-founded, logically comprehensible conclusions based on what you have worked out, read, researched, investigated, thought about, and presented in the paper.

This creates something new even in a student paper – something that makes it worth reading. You ask questions, compare, evaluate, make critical remarks, discover contradictions, notice that something has not been addressed, that the entire literature supports one position or several different ones, that certain positions are mutually exclusive, that models, theories, and concepts seem applicable – or not, and so on.

Even processing a topic, creating a coherent structure, and answering a research question are independent achievements.

Taking a well-founded position

Expressing your own well-founded position does not belong only at the end of a paper, but wherever it fits. These can be small remarks, e.g. as a footnote, or more significant conclusions – for example, when you conclude that the method examined appears only partially applicable to the chosen field. Or when your survey has limited representativeness, but still provides impulses for further research.

Frequently asked questions

At what point am I allowed to include my own opinion in my paper?

Well-founded statements on your part do not only belong at the end of your paper, but wherever they fit. More significant conclusions are usually included in the conclusion. However, gut feelings that are not proven by your work should not be mentioned.

Why can’t I include my gut feeling?

In academic work, your gut feeling is not the same as your own opinion. Your own opinions should be logically reasoned conclusions that can be traced back to your elaborated text. However, your gut feeling can be a good starting point for initiating your own research projects.

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Description of the Research Subject

Info: Here you can find an overview of the overall structure of a Social Science paper. As a rule, you already briefly introduce your research subject in the introduction. However, it is often common to explain your research subject in detail and precisely in the following chapter. Example Due to the moderate effectiveness and side …

Faculties: SW

Contributors: Carola Gröhlich, Susanne Heidenreich, Maria Noll, Erika von Rautenfeld, Schreibzentrum, Dzifa Vode, Wolfgang Wahl

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Explaining Terms

Info: Here you can find an overview of the overall structure of a Social Science paper. It is often useful to illustrate the different usage of terms or definitions and to justify your own choice. Refer to the scientific literature when doing so. Less important terms might only be explained in parentheses, a footnote, or …

Faculties: SW

Contributors: Carola Gröhlich, Susanne Heidenreich, Maria Noll, Erika von Rautenfeld, Schreibzentrum, Dzifa Vode, Wolfgang Wahl

This article was published in August 2025 and last updated in February 2025.

Faculties: AC, AMP, AR, BI, BW, D, EFI, IN, MB/VS, SOH, SW, VT, WT

Contributors: Carola Gröhlich, Susanne Heidenreich, Maria Noll, Erika von Rautenfeld, Schreibzentrum, Dzifa Vode, Deirdre Rieker

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