撰寫學術文章時，我們常需要透過引述他人的意見和研究結果來進行綜合討論，更進一步強化自己的論點或是推翻反面的論點。以下幾個範例中，黑色部分是引述句（reporting clause），紅色部分則是被引述句（reported clause）：
Hofstede (1996) argues that people in individualist countries are encouraged to be self-reliant and independent.
Mattila and Patterson (2004) contend that Western customers are more likely than Eastern customers to seek compensation when they perceive a sense of unfairness.
引述句的時態選擇
使用現在式的情況有：
- 引述他人的意見和看法
Haythornthwaite (2001) suggests that finding information is among the most common online activities.
Granovetter (1973) maintains that social networks are a common source of information.
- 引述法規的內容
The Convention on the Rights of the Child prescribes that state parties shall take all appropriate measures to protect children against all forms of discrimination or punishment.
使用過去式的情況有：
- 引述他人觀察到、實驗或調查得出的特定結果
Ohanian (1991) investigated the effects of a celebrity’s attractiveness, trustworthiness, and expertise on an individual’s intention to purchase products endorsed by the celebrity and found that the perceived expertise of the celebrity was the only factor that significantly affected the intention to buy the endorsed products.
使用現在完成式的情況有：
- 引述來源不只一個
Studies have shown that people decide on the person they seek information from based on what they know of the person as well as the person’s knowledge and skills (Borgatti and Cross, 2003; O’Reilly, 1982).
Bettinghaus et al. (1970) and Harvey and Hays (1972) have found that authoritarian people are more influenced by information sources with high credibility.
被引述句的時態選擇
使用現在式的情況有：
- 引述的內容是普遍為真的事實
The UK National Health Service (2022) revealed that smoking cigarettes is the largest risk factor for lung cancer.
- 引述的內容為較廣泛、籠統的敘述
Ohanian (1991) found that using celebrities as the spokespeople for brands is a common advertising approach.
Koçak et al. (2007) confirmed that different cultural conditions lead consumers to different brand evaluations.
使用過去式的情況有：
- 引述的內容是特定研究的發現、觀察或實驗結果（通常會提供更多細節，如：研究的對象、人口、數據等）
Hsieh (2004) reported that brand value calculated based on brand associations for 19 car brands varied significantly across consumers in 16 countries.
選擇被引述句的時態時，其實兩種時態的使用情況差異並不大。因此，在寫作時，我們可能還是會在被引述句的時態選擇上遇到困難。不確定怎麼做，陷入兩難時，可以試著運用這一條規則：“當引述內容越籠統和廣泛，適合現在式的機率就越高；當引述內容越特定和詳細，適合過去式的機率就越大”，或許就能幫助您決定哪種時態更為適合！
