The writer's voice repertoire: Exploring how health researchers accomplish a distinctive ‘voice’ in their writing

Much published research writing is dull and dry at best, impenetrable and off‐putting at worst. This state of affairs both frustrates readers and impedes research uptake. Scientific conventions of objectivity and neutrality contribute to the problem, implying that ‘good’ research writing should have no discernible authorial ‘voice’. Yet some research writers have a distinctive voice in their work that may contribute to their scholarly influence. In this study, we explore this notion of voice, examining what strong research writers aim for with their voice and what strategies they use.