Medicinal Plant Research 2025, Vol.15, No.6, 244-253 http://hortherbpublisher.com/index.php/mpr 248 5 Stance and Authorial Voice in Ginseng Research Articles 5.1 Authorial stance and interaction In scientific discourse, authorial stance is often shown through modal verbs such as “can”, “may”, and “must”, as well as stance adverbs like “possibly”, “certainly”, and “likely”. These grammatical features express the author’s degree of certainty, obligation, and evaluation toward research results or claims (Huang and Li, 2023). In research papers, authors use hedges to express caution and boosters to show confidence, balancing between presenting conclusions and acknowledging limitations (Huang and Li, 2023; Wu, 2025). The use and frequency of these pragmatic devices vary across disciplines and cultures, reflecting both academic conventions and personal rhetorical strategies (Hamdan and Ahmad, 2023). Self-mention, such as using “we” and “our”, is an important rhetorical strategy in scientific writing that shows the author’s presence and emphasizes originality. Although some disciplines or cultural traditions prefer impersonal expressions, explicit self-mention is increasingly seen as an effective way to build credibility, clarify responsibility, and strengthen reader engagement (Khedri, 2016; Zhang and Pan, 2023). The frequency and rhetorical role of self-mention differ among disciplines and levels of writing experience. Experienced writers often combine self-mention with emphatic expressions to present findings while using hedges to extend arguments and show modesty (Wang and Zeng, 2021; Zhang and Pan, 2023). 5.2 Academic politeness and hedging devices Hedging is a key part of academic politeness and an important strategy for maintaining scientific credibility. Writers often use modal verbs, adverbs, and vague expressions such as “suggests”, “may indicate”, and “possibly” to show caution and uncertainty. This makes their conclusions appear tentative or open to discussion (Schmauss and Kilian, 2023; Deng et al., 2025). The use of hedging is influenced by disciplinary norms, cultural background, and the author’s need to avoid exaggeration or direct confrontation (Chen and Zhang, 2017; Yu and Wen, 2022). Hedging also has important pragmatic functions. It softens absolute statements, shows openness to different opinions, and promotes cooperative dialogue between writers and readers. Such expressions help authors manage interpersonal relationships in academic communication, reduce the risk of conflict, and maintain a polite and objective tone—especially when discussing controversial or uncertain findings (Viktorova, 2024). 5.3 Academic identity and authority construction Citation practices play a central role in building academic identity and following disciplinary norms. By using citations, authors place their research in the context of the academic community and show their understanding of existing studies. This strengthens the objectivity and credibility of their arguments (Khedri, 2016; Zhang and Pan, 2023). The strategic use of citations, such as attribution shields and reporting verbs, helps authors find a balance between presenting their own voice and showing respect for disciplinary authority (Yu and Wen, 2022). Effective scientific writing needs to balance an objective tone with the author’s presence. Some academic traditions suggest reducing self-reference to highlight objectivity, while others encourage a clear author voice to show contribution and engagement (Khedri, 2016; Zhang and Pan, 2023). The use and combination of stance markers, self-references, and hedging expressions reflect both the writing habits of the author’s academic community and their personal rhetorical style. Together, these elements shape the author’s authority and credibility in academic texts (Wang and Zeng, 2021; Zhang and Pan, 2023; Wu, 2025). 6 Register and Genre Variation in Ginseng Studies 6.1 Register differences across disciplines Ginseng research covers many scientific fields, with pharmacology and molecular biology being the most representative. In pharmacology, ginseng studies often focus on clinical effects, therapeutic outcomes, and pharmacodynamic mechanisms. Terms like “pharmacological effects,” “adaptogenic effects,” and “immune-modulatory” are often used to describe research topics (Ito and Ito, 2024; Yang et al., 2025). These studies usually emphasize ginseng’s impact on human health, citing clinical trial data, safety evaluations, and therapeutic applications (Ito and Ito, 2024; Zhou et al., 2024; Yang et al., 2025). In contrast, molecular biology
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