The multiple functions of the word ‘one’ in research articles

Nagano, Robin Lee (2025) The multiple functions of the word ‘one’ in research articles. PORTA LINGUA (2). pp. 19-27. ISSN 1785-2420

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Abstract

This corpus study arose from questions regarding appropriate usage of the word ‘one’ in academic writing for publication in cases of nominal substitution and when used as a generic pronoun. Are these usages avoided in research articles published today? What roles does ‘one’ play in journal articles? These questions were investigated in 15 recently published articles from the journal English for Specific Purposes. Results show that ‘one’ used as a number is most frequent, occurs in all articles throughout main body, and often appears to have a role in organizing information. ‘One’ as a substitute for a previously appearing noun was used in ten of the articles as a cohesive device, most often in the results and discussion section, while the generic pronoun ‘one’ – used in five articles – was rather used inclusively than impersonally. The questions seem worth investigating further in a larger corpus.

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