As analysts of scientific writing begin to modify their stance against the passive voice and explore the complexities of its use, more research is needed on the rhetorical functions it serves in scientific writing. An analysis of twelve articles reporting experimental studies in speech-language pathology revealed consistently higher percentages of passive structures in the Method and Results sections, with relatively lower percentages in the Introduction and Discussion sections. These findings suggest that passive structures are more appropriate for expository purposes, in those sections where the author's rhetorical role is to describe procedures and present data. In contrast, active structures are more appropriate for argumentative purposes, in those sections where the author is criticizing previous research or advocating a new thesis.

Advice about how and when to implement the you-perspective is sometimes vague or contradictory. Many authorities simply advise writers to use the second person pronoun as often as possible, in either subject or object position; others suggest that the first person pronoun may be preferable for certain types of messages such as negative ones. Concepts from speech act theory can be used to clarify the most effective use of first and second person pronouns in two types of structures frequently found in professional communication: commissives and directives.

Current treatments of tone rely on a hit-list approach in which writers are presented with lists of words to avoid and a few do and don't examples. Such treatments, however, do not constitute a theory of why certain linguistic elements create problems in tone. The linguistic concept of presupposition can be used to construct such a theory. Presuppositions are unstated propositions conveyed by the use of certain linguistic expressions called presupposition triggers. These presupposition triggers may convey the writer's beliefs about the truth of a proposition or the writer's value judgments about a proposition. Many problems in tone can be traced to one of two types of conflict between reader and writer: different beliefs about the truth of an implied proposition, and different attitudes toward a proposition whose truth is agreed upon.