Author identity in economics and linguistics abstracts

In this paper I present as part of the KIAP project (see Fløttum’s paper, this volume) an analysis of 160 English and Norwegian research article abstracts within economics and linguistics with a view to characterising the various identities or roles assumed by the author. Three different roles are established, viz. the author as writer, as researcher and as arguer. My findings indicate an economics author who primarily assumes the role of researcher, while the linguist most often assumes the role of arguer. As regards language, there are similarities in author behaviour in English and Norwegian for economics, but differences for linguistics.