Effective Introduction for Your Research Paper: A Comprehensive Guide for Researchers

A research paper always has a strictly defined structure. If you do not take into account the metadata, then the text itself can be divided into three parts: introduction, body text, and conclusion. As in a literary work of any genre, one cannot immediately proceed to a discussion of the result.

Students realize the value of introduction at the stage of writing their first term papers. Even then, it becomes clear: the better this small piece of text is developed, the higher the score. By the time a research paper or project is prepared, there is no longer any doubt: the introduction needs to be worked out almost more carefully than the subsequent text.

For a research paper to be published in a scientific journal, it performs the following functions:

• characterizes compliance or non-compliance with the topic of the publication;
• demonstrates the degree of scientific novelty;
• confirms relevance.

In many publications, the initial assessment of incoming materials is limited to reading the introduction. If it does not convince the editor of the high scientific level of the research, he will not even submit the text for review.

Undoubtedly, the rationale for choosing your topic is one of the main points of the introduction; one can conditionally call it “an introduction within an introduction.” It is with its writing that a good introduction should begin, which will impress both the supervisor and all kinds of inspectors. Therefore, the main focus of this mini-review will be on writing this part of the introduction.

Writing an introduction starts with an introductory word

Any introduction should begin with an introductory word. For many novice authors who are faced with writing scientific papers for the first time, the first problems begin with the introductory word. What is this introductory word, and how to form it correctly?

The introductory word plays the role of a support from which further description should begin. Without it, the introduction will be incomplete since the narrative cannot begin immediately with relevance or with a description of goals and objectives.

If you do not have an introductory word, then during your defense the inspectors may have unnecessary and unpleasant questions that will cause you a lot of trouble.

The introductory word, as a rule, consists of two or three pages of clear text, which in its content fully reveals the problems of your topic.

A correctly written introductory word should contain the following main points:

1. Disclosure of basic concepts and research problems. There should be no questions here, you simply point out the main problem of the study and define the main concepts with which you will work.
2. You must show the features of interaction between the main object of your research and the outside world. This is a very important question that can show your level of understanding of the topic you have chosen.

In order to avoid difficulties in the process of writing an introduction, it is recommended to adhere to the following algorithm rules:

1. Carefully study the writing rules.
2. Understand the terms so as not to confuse, for example, object and subject, goals and objectives.
3. Study examples of introductions of other scientific works.

A lifehack for students: it is advisable to write an introduction after the main part of the work since, firstly, the purpose of the work can be adjusted during the writing process, and secondly, in this way, you can simply tailor the tasks and hypothesis to the result obtained.

Important: we should not forget that the introduction, like the rest of the work, must be unique, so ready-made samples should be used only in order to understand the very principle of writing this section.

What does an introduction to a research paper consist of?

An introduction is written for one reason: together with the conclusion, it makes it easier to get to know the research paper. Several people will read the entire text of the research paper: the author, the supervisor, and 2-3 academic opponents. Other members of the scientific committee will limit themselves to the introduction and conclusion and read the abstract. There is no need to worry about writing an introduction to your research paper- tradition dictates a ready-made sample and a set of blocks. In practice, they can be written separately or as a single text. The introduction writing template has the following structure:

1. Relevance. The text usually begins with its justification. In science, it is customary to explain at the start why research on a chosen topic makes sense and is valuable in modern realities.
2. Target. Here, the author describes what he wanted to get from his research. Simply put, this is the expected result.
3. Tasks. If sufficiently capacious work has been completed, the result is a voluminous text, it is worth highlighting the individual tasks that the author solved in the process of achieving the goal. In short papers, this is not necessary.
4. Review of previous studies on the topic. It is needed to indicate problems that predecessors could not solve or ignored. This contains an indirect indication of value and theoretical and (or) practical novelty.
5. Initial hypothesis. This part is not always present. If the goal statement contains the words “prove”, “confirm”, “refute”, then you can safely add a paragraph about the hypothesis.
6. Object and subject of research. The main thing here is not to confuse one with the other. An object is the actual thing, person, or organization that the author is researching. An object is an important characteristic, property, state of an object, or a problem associated with it.
7. Scientific novelty. The higher the scientific level of the journal, the more importance the editors attach to this point when evaluating the research. Reputable publications immediately reject works that lack novelty.
8. The main results obtained during the research process and presented for defense. The provisions that are submitted for defense are proven research results.
9. Validity and reliability of scientific results. The justification of the results obtained in the introduction is written with reference. You can “lead” the reader to the basis of the study – one of the chapters – or to the appendix, where detailed diagrams and drawings are presented, scientific test reports illustrating the reliability of the results.
10. Approbation of research results. Testing of the results of the work is carried out outside the scope of writing the dissertation. Approbation involves speaking at scientific conferences. Some work requires joint research with other scientists. It is relevant to use the proposed technology by a third party. The named methods additionally confirm the reliability of the results obtained.

Should I include research methods or not?

It is sometimes recommended to include a description of the research methods in the introduction. But they can be mentioned at the beginning of the main part in the context of discussing the results obtained.

Research methods are ways and techniques of cognition of an object. Any research work uses the method of literature analysis, analysis of regulatory documentation on the topic of the thesis, as well as analysis of documents, archives, etc. In the work, you can specify the following methods used:

• literature analysis;
• analysis of regulatory documentation on the topic of the thesis;
• study and generalization of domestic and foreign practice;
• comparison;
• interviewing;
• modeling;
• synthesis;
• theoretical analysis and synthesis,
• abstraction,
• concretization and idealization,
• induction and deduction,
• analogy,
• classification,
• generalization,
• historical method,
• special legal and comparative legal (if you are writing a research paper in law).

Some useful tips for writing an introduction

Tip #1. Many researchers mistakenly believe that the introduction must be written immediately and completely. This is wrong. Before starting work on the main part of the research paper, it is necessary to write only part of the introduction, namely relevance, goals, and objectives. Everything else is written after the work is completed.

Tip #2. According to the rules, the size of the introduction should range from five to ten percent of the total size of the entire work. On defense, this can be given special attention.

Tip #3. The introduction of a research paper should be interconnected with its conclusion. At a minimum, the conclusion should list the general results of the work done, and these results must be based on the assigned research tasks.

In conclusion, it should be noted that the presented scheme for writing an introduction is not absolutely exhaustive. However, if you follow the recommendations and advice described above, then during your defense, you will not have any problems associated with unnecessary questions about writing an introduction to a research paper.