Tenses can be extremely challenging and there are varied thoughts on their use in academic writing. Prof Liz van Aswegen suggests the following Sections Tenses Research Proposal Future tense Abstract Past tense Significance of the research Present tense Introduction Present tense Literature review Present tense Methodology Chapter Past tense ( generally ) Findings Chapter Past tense Discussion/Significance of findings Present tense Recommendations Present tense Some useful comments can be found on The tense debate