INTRODUCTIONS

WHY HAVE AN INTRODUCTION?

• To provide context for the study and to create a research space for yourself

Follow the CARS (create a research space)

model

• Establish a research territory – show that that your research area is important

• Indicate a gap in the previous research or to extend previous knowledge

• Show how you will fill that gap/niche

GENERAL FLOW OF AN INTRODUCTION

Creating your research space is often done by:

Moving from general to specific discussions of the field

E.g. going from the big picture to your contribution in the field

COMPONENTS OF AN INTRODUCTION

Opening sentences

Literature review

Creating a ‘niche’

Your contribution (how to fill the ‘niche’)

Clear statement of your goal with this paper/hypothesis

How you will reach this goal (sometimes included)

COMPONENTS OF AN INTRODUCTION1. OPENING STATEMENT

• An opening statement – one that refers to the importance of your research (general to specific) but can also start with a definition or other openings (more later)

e.g. Recently, there has been growing interest in...

The development of.....has led to the problem of...

A central issue in ....is....

The study of ....has become an important aspect of.......

2. LITERATURE REVIEW

• An important part of any research paper – establishes the context

• Reviews should only cover the research topic, not much broader (don’t lose the reader)

• Reviews shows familiarity with the field and it creates a research space for your research

• Review provides credibility for your work• Reviews show respect to previous scholars

and acknowledge intellectual property rights

LITERATURE REVIEWS

What tense to use?No rules - can use a mix of past, present

perfect and present

Past (very common in the sciences)

e.g. Smith (1999) investigated the use of herbicides in rural communities. (active past)

OR

The use of herbicides in rural communities was investigated by Smith (1999). (passive past)

PRESENT

No reference to researcher activity; stating a fact.

e.g. The causes of illiteracy are complex.Illiteracy has a complex set of causes.Socrates says that ....

PRESENT PERFECT

The impact of these legislative tools has been well studied.

OR

Researchers have studied the impact of these legislative tools well.

3. CREATING A ‘NICHE’ (SHOW THE GAP IN THE RESEARCH)

Usually use words like little, few, no, none of ....

THE NICHE/GAP.....

Sample statements:

However, little information exists on......

Few researchers have attempted......

No studies show that......

None of these recent findings.....

However, it remains unclear whether....

EXTENDING PREVIOUS RESEARCH

Not always a gap but can also extend previous research

e.g. Recent developments in computerized tomography have shown great potential for identifying brain tumours. In this paper, we demonstrate......

4. YOUR CONTRIBUTION (FILLING THE GAP/PROVIDING THE PURPOSE OF THE PAPER)

Once you have shown a gap or an issue, you have to fill the gap, show how will extend previous research or provide a new perspective.

This part is generally the last in your introduction and give the purpose of what you are doing and a brief description.

5. STATING YOUR HYPOTHESIS/GOAL/CENTRAL ARGUMENT

Is the/are the hypothesis clearly stated in the introduction?

When you explain your hypothesis to someone, is it easy?

OPENINGS FOR THE LAST PARAGRAPH

Sample openings:

The aim of the present paper is to give....This paper reports on the results obtained....This study was designed to evaluate....The aim of this review is to....Our primary objective in this paper is to......

WHICH TENSE TO USE IN THE LAST PARAGRAPH?

1) If you refer to the type of text – paper, article, thesis, or other texts, then you have to use present tense.

e.g. The aim of this paper is to.....NOT The aim of this paper was to.....(did the

aim change?)

2) If you refer to the type of investigation, then you can use either. Used to be the past tense, now a move to use the present.

e.g. This study aims to determine.....This study aimed to determine.....

ENDING INTRODUCTIONS

1) Listing research questions or hypothesise.g. Specifically, we tested two hypothesis:

2) Stating the value of the present research e.g......, thus increasing the possibility of

analyzing more biological samples.

3) Indicating the structure of the papere.g. Section I of this paper describes....

4) Announcing principal findings (depends on field – less common)

6. HOW YOU WILL ACHIEVE YOUR AIM

Not in all papers

Mentioned in the introduction if a novel methodology or approach

Refer to the convention in the journal you are submitting to

PRACTICE

1. Try Task 3 on page 247 of Swales and Feat

2. Examine a published journal article to see if it has the key components, examine a colleague’s manuscript, examine your own