Introduction writing
Dr. Bina Fawad
IMRaD/IMRAD-Format for a scientific
writing
• I- Introduction
• M- Methodology
• R- Results
• D- Discussion
What is an introduction for a research paper?
• Introductions are always placed at the beginning of a paper.
• They guide the reader from a general subject area to the
narrow topic that the paper covers. They also explain
paper’s:
• Scope: The topic covered
• Context: The background of the topic
• Importance: Why this research matters in the context of an
industry or the world
Why is an introduction vital to a research
paper?
• Think of the introduction as a mental road map that must
answer for the reader these four questions:
• What was I studying?
• Why was this topic important to investigate?
• What did we know about this topic before I did this study?
• How will this study advance our knowledge?
A well-written introduction is important because, quite
simply, you never get a second chance to make a good
first impression.
Structure and Approach
• The introduction is the broad beginning of the paper that
answers three important questions for the reader:
• What is this?
• Why am I reading it?
• What do you want me to think about / consider doing / react
to?
What should be include in an introduction
for a research paper?
•The goal in this section is to:
•Introduce the topic to the reader
•Provide an overview of previous research on the
topic
•Rational of the study/Identify researcher’s own
hypothesis
Introduce the topic
• The first task is to provide a brief description of the
research question
• What is the study or experiment attempting to
demonstrate?
• What is the phenomenon under study?
• What is the magnitude of problem?
• Facts and figures taken from some authentic websites like
WHO, CDC etc. are used.
Summarize previous researches
• The second task in writing introduction is to provide a well-
rounded summary of previous researches that is relevant to
your topic
• It is very important to thoroughly research your topic ,
before you begin to write this summary.
Summarizing previous researches…
• Finding appropriate sources amid thousands of journal
articles can be a daunting task, but there are a number of
steps which can be taken to simplify the process.
Research your topic
• Search a journal data base to find article on topic of your
interest.
• Once you have located an article, look at the reference
section to locate other studies cited in the article.
• As you take notes from these articles, be sure to note down
the link from where you found the information
• A simple note detailing the author’s name, journal and date
of publication can help in keeping track of source and avoid
plagiarism.
Provide your hypothesis
• Once previous researches have been summarized, explain
areas where the research is lacking or potentially flawed
• What is missing from previous studies on your topic?
• What research questions have yet to be answered?
• Your own hypothesis should lead from these questions?
Provide your hypothesis…
• At the end of introduction, offer your hypothesis and
describe what you expected to find in your experiment or
study
The Narrative Flow
• Issues to keep in mind that will help the narrative flow in your
introduction:
• Your introduction should clearly identify the subject area of interest. A
simple strategy to follow is to use key words from your title in the first few
sentences of the introduction. This will help focus the introduction on the
topic at the appropriate level and ensures that you get to the primary subject
matter quickly without losing focus, or discussing information that is too
general.
• Establish context by providing a brief and balanced review of the
pertinent published literature that is available on the subject. The key is
to summarize for the reader what is known about the specific research
problem before you did your analysis. This part of your introduction should
not represent a comprehensive literature review but consists of a general
review of the important, foundational research literature (with citations) that
lays a foundation for understanding key elements of the research problem.
See the drop-down tab for "Background Information" for types of contexts.
The Narrative Flow….
• Clearly state the hypothesis that you investigated.
• Why did you choose this kind of research study or
design? Provide a clear statement of the rationale for your
approach to the problem studied. This will usually follow your
statement of purpose in the last paragraph of the
introduction.
Few important points
• The word count in introduction should not exceed 500
words.
• There should be at least 10 references in introduction.