Judith Hehir Aug 12, 2009:

With all due respect It is not to the active voice here that I object, but to the use of personal pronouns. Note: both suggestions that I offered use active voice only. I prefer my second suggestion, as it covers the насколько известно qualifier, which, as Rachel aptly pointed out, shoud not be omitted.

Jack slep Aug 12, 2009:

First, Rachel, my response was not directed at you personally but to all who make a macro out of a micro. Remember the KISS principle--Keep It Simple, Stupid. Verbiage is garbage and boring. Second, Judith, using active voice is perfectly acceptable and in most cases preferable. A quote from "Scientific English" (Robert Day), paraphrased: " ...in two issues of "Science" the authors of 12 of the 14 reports in the 1 June 1990 issue used the first person, and the authors of 9 of 11 reports in the 8 June 1990 issue used the first person.
"Friends, it is not egotistical to say "I" or "we." It is simply stupid not to."
Which is better: John hit Jim (active) or Jim was hit by John? 3 words vs 5. Passive-voice sentences are always wordier than active-voice sentences.

Judith Hehir Aug 12, 2009:

Another approach: A review of the literature reveals a dearth of publications on the topic of this article. This covers насколько известно with a rather standard phrase (which the asker explicitly sought) while avoiding the use of a personal pronoun (also conspicuously absent in original).

Rachel Douglas Aug 12, 2009:

What would Miss Manners say? Let's see... As nearly inconceivable as I find it that Jack's outburst might have been addressed to me, nonetheless just a little, tiny comment: Judith posted a reference to a rule-issuing source, which I thought was "off" in this case, so I said why. Anybody not interested in those observations is free, of course, not to read them.

Jack slep Aug 12, 2009:

Why all this verbiage for a simple sentence! Do you like listening to yourself? Boresville! Get to the point; we don't need to dissect and analyze a couple of words! "There are a few publications on the topic"--it's that simple! Oh, well....

Rachel Douglas Aug 11, 2009:

Rules Some writers do abide by such rules, cloaking their views in a mantle so-called "objectivity," but - even when such rules are being followed - there may be good reasons for exceptions to them. I think that "насколько известно"/"to the best of our knowledge" is such a case. If you omit "we/our," you're left stating something to be the case: "Almost nothing has been published about this" or "As far as anybody knows, almost nothing about this has appeared in the literature," whereas the polite and proper thing might be to be not quite so categorical, but ever so slightly self-effacing and deferential - "to the best of our knowledge," meaning, "We're pretty doggone sure about this, but of course we make allowance for the rare case in which we are mistaken."

Judith Hehir Aug 11, 2009:

On avoidance of use of personal pronouns... in academic writing, see http://www.monash.edu.au/lls/llonline/writing/arts/sociology...