The introduction

In the Introduction section, state the motivation for the work presented in your paper
and prepare readers for the structure of the paper. Write four components, probably
(but not necessarily) in four paragraphs: context, need, task, and object of the
document.

• First, provide some context to orient those readers who are less familiar with
your topic and to establish the importance of your work.

• Second, state the need for your work, as an opposition between what the
scientific community currently has and what it wants.

• Third, indicate what you have done in an effort to address the need (this is the
task).

• Finally, preview the remainder of the paper to mentally prepare readers for its
structure, in the object of the document.

Context and need

At the beginning of the Introduction section, the context and need work together as a
funnel: They start broad and progressively narrow down to the issue addressed in the
paper. To spark interest among your audience — referees and journal readers alike —
provide a compelling motivation for the work presented in your paper: The fact that a
phenomenon has never been studied before is not, in and of itself, a reason to study
that phenomenon.

Write the context in a way that appeals to a broad range of readers and leads into the
need. Do not include context for the sake of including context: Rather, provide only what
will help readers better understand the need and, especially, its importance. Consider
anchoring the context in time, using phrases such as recently, in the past 10 years,
or since the early 2000s. You may also want to anchor your context in space (either
geographically or within a given research field).

Convey the need for the work as an opposition between actual and desired situations.
Start by stating the actual situation (what we have) as a direct continuation of the
context. If you feel you must explain recent achievements in much detail — say, in more
than one or two paragraphs — consider moving the details to a section titled State of
the art (or something similar) after the Introduction, but do provide a brief idea of the
actual situation in the Introduction. Next, state the desired situation (what we want).
Emphasize the contrast between the actual and desired situations with such words
as but, however, or unfortunately.
One elegant way to express the desired part of the need is to combine it with the task in
a single sentence. This sentence expresses first the objective, then the action
undertaken to reach this objective, thus creating a strong and elegant connection
between need and task. Here are three examples of such a combination:

To confirm this assumption, we studied the effects of a range of inhibitors of connexin

channels . . . on . . .

To assess whether such multiple-coil sensors perform better than single-signal ones,
we tested two of them — the DuoPXK and the GEMM3 — in a field where . . .

To form a better view of the global distribution and infectiousness of this pathogen, we
examined 1645 postmetamorphic and adult amphibians collected from 27 countries
between 1984 and 2006 for the presence of . . .

Task and object

An Introduction is usually clearer and more logical when it separates what the authors
have done (the task) from what the paper itself attempts or covers (the object of the
document). In other words, the task clarifies your contribution as a scientist, whereas
the object of the document prepares readers for the structure of the paper, thus
allowing focused or selective reading.

For the task,

• use whoever did the work (normally, you and your colleagues) as the subject of
the sentence: we or perhaps the authors;

• use a verb expressing a research action: measured, calculated, etc.;

• set that verb in the past tense.

The three examples below are well-formed tasks.

To confirm this assumption, we studied the effects of a range of inhibitors of connexin

channels, such as the connexin mimetic peptides Gap26 and Gap27 and anti-peptide
antibodies, on calcium signaling in cardiac cells and HeLa cells expressing connexins.

During controlled experiments, we investigated the influence of the HMP boundary

conditions on liver flows.

To tackle this problem, we developed a new software verification technique called

oblivious hashing, which calculates the hash values based on the actual execution of
the program.
The list below provides examples of verbs that express research actions:

apply We applied Laklöter's principle to . . .

assess We assessed the effects of larger doses of . . .

calculate We calculated the photoluminescence spectrum of . . .

compare We compared the effects of . . . to those of . . .

compute We computed the velocity predicted by . . .

derive We derived a new set of rules for . . .

design We designed a series of experiments to . . .

determine We determined the complete nucleotide sequence of . . .

develop We developed a new algorithm to . . .

evaluate We evaluated the efficacy and biocompatibility of . . .

explore We explored the relationship between . . .

implement We implemented a genetic algorithm for . . .

investigate We investigated the behavior of . . .

measure We measured the concentration of cadmium in . . .

model We modeled the diffraction behavior of . . .

For the object of the document,

• use the document itself as the subject of the sentence: this paper, this letter,
etc.;

• use a verb expressing a communication action: presents, summarizes, etc.;

• set the verb in the present tense.

The three examples below are suitable objects of the document for the three tasks
shown above, respectively.

This paper clarifies the role of CxHc on calcium oscillations in neonatal cardiac
myocytes and calcium transients induced by ATP in HL-cells originated from cardiac
atrium and in HeLa cells expressing connexin 43 or 26.

This paper presents the flow effects induced by increasing the hepatic-artery pressure
and by obstructing the vena cava inferior.

This paper discusses the theory behind oblivious hashing and shows how this
approach can be applied for local software tamper resistance and remote code
authentication.

The list below provides examples of verbs that express communication actions:

clarify This paper clarifies the role of soils in . . .

describe This paper describes the mechanism by which . . .

detail This paper details the algorithm used for . . .

discuss This paper discusses the influence of acidity on . . .

explain This paper explains how the new encoding scheme . . .

offer This paper offers four recommendations for . . .

present This paper presents the results of . . .

proposes This paper proposes a set of guidelines for . . .

provide This paper provides the complete framework and . . .

report This paper reports on our progress so far . . .

summarize This paper summarizes our results for 27 patients with . . .