Research Paper Introduction Example Plus 10 Tips For Effective Introduction

Introduction

The introduction serves multiple purposes. It presents the background to your study, introduces your topic and aims, and gives an overview of the paper. A good introduction will provide a solid foundation and encourage readers to continue to the main parts of your paper – the methods, results, and discussion.

The introduction leads the reader from a general research issue or problem to your specific area of research. It puts your research question in context by explaining the significance of the research being conducted. This is usually done by summarizing current understanding (research to date) and background information about the topic. This is followed by a statement of the purpose of your research issue or problem. This is sometimes followed by a hypothesis or a set of questions you attempt to answer in your research. You may also explain your methodology (how you will research this issue) and explain what your study can reveal. It also may contain a summary of the structure of the rest of the paper.

Usually, the introduction of a research paper includes:

Background of the Study

This section, comprising the first paragraph of your introduction, can be based around a historical narrative, chronologically outlining the very first research in the field to the current day.

Importance of the Study

The background then leads into the rationale behind the research, revealing whether it is building upon previous research, looking at something that everybody else has overlooked, or improving upon a previous research that delivered unclear results. This section of the introduction can then flow into how you are going to fill the gap, laying out your objectives and methodology. You will then try to predict what impact your research will have and the consequences of rejecting or accepting the null hypothesis.

Limitations of the Study

This part of the introductions is the place to highlight any weaknesses in the experiment from the start.

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Assumptions of the Study ­- You should also highlight any assumptions that you make about conditions during the research. You should set out your basic principles before embarking upon the experiment. For example, if you were performing educational research, you may assume that all students at the same school are from a very similar socio-economic background, with randomization smoothing out any variables. By alerting the reader to the fact that these assumptions have been made, you are giving them the opportunity to interpret and assess the results themselves.

 
Research Paper Introduction – Key Components of Strong Introductions

1. Compelling Hook

A hook is the first 1 or 2 sentences of your paper. It is meant to grab your readers’ attention, so they want to see what comes next.

Here are 5 that work well in academic writing.

• Powerful Statement /Declaration

With This hook, you begin with a sentence that makes a firm claim. For example, “Every day Facebook invades its users’ privacy.”  This sentence forces readers to reflect on whether or not they agree with this statement. To do that, they need to read your research paper.

In this case, most people have already formed an opinion about Facebook, and here you’ll either challenge or deepen their perspectives.

• Fact/ Statistic

This hook is popular because people love to learn facts and statistics. Studies can be very persuasive. We regard studies as evidence or proof and place great value on statistics. When readers see statistics, they want to know more about how it will relate to what you write. However, make sure the facts you use come from a credible source.

• Intriguing Question

When you start your paper or essay with a question, people will want to learn the answer to it. They are naturally curious, so an intriguing question makes them want to continue reading. Make sure this question connects to what you will write about. An off-topic question is confusing.

• Striking Quotation

Quotations are very popular. They can be inspiring and thought-provoking. You can use quotations from famous people, experts, characters, or even people mentioned in your paper. For example, if you are writing a case study, you could select a quotation from one of the participants in the study. Quotations work well when they connect with the rest of your academic essay or paper. Make sure the relationship between the quotation and your writing is clear.

• Simile/Metaphor

In this hook, you take 2 different things and state how they are similar or the same. For example, “Facebook is a digital version of prison people want to be in.” This sentence takes 2 different things, “Facebook” and “prison,” and claims they are alike. The comparison of Facebook being like a digital version of prison is a strong visual. Your readers will want to see how you show a connection between these 2 things.

Both similes and metaphors accomplish the same thing in your hook. The difference is that a simile uses the words “like” and “as” to make the comparison, “Writing a novel is like running a marathon.”   A metaphor states one thing is another, “Writing a novel is running a marathon.”

2. Important Background Information

The next group of sentences in your introduction express the circumstance and/or relevant information about your topic. A lot of times, you will see writers describe a problem, an issue or provide historical context.

Include the information people need to know to understand your topic and why it matters. If you are writing about Facebook and privacy, people would want to see what the situation is and why privacy matters. A good question to ask here is, “What is the context?”

Also, start with general information first, and in the following sentences, be more specific. Those specific sentences lead to the most important piece of your introduction: your thesis statement.

3. Provable and Specific Thesis Statement

A thesis statement is a sentence that describes what you will prove or show in your research paper. Think of it as the point of view (POV) or opinion you have about your topic. It also guides how you will organize your essay or paper.

A strong thesis statement is clear and specific and one you can prove. For example, Children should not use digital devices until they are at least 3 years old because it lowers their attention span, limits social interaction, and causes sleep problems.

Research Paper Introduction – Formulation of the Introduction

Present your topic

Tell your reader what your topic is and why it’s interesting or important. This is generally accomplished with a strong opening hook. The hook is a striking opening sentence that clearly conveys the relevance of your topic. Think of an interesting fact or statistic, a strong statement, or a brief anecdote that will get the reader wondering about your research topic.

State the aims and importance

Say what you want to achieve and why your reader should be interested in finding out whether you achieve it. The basic structure can be as simple as “we aim to do X, which is important because it will lead to Y.”

Provide background or summarize existing research

This part of the introduction differs depending on what approach your paper is taking. In a more argumentative paper, you’ll have to explore some general background. In a more empirical paper, this is the place to review previous research and establish how yours fit in.

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Establish your own research problem

Clarify how your own research fits in and what problem it addresses.

Detail your specific research problem and specify your objectives

Get into the specifics of what you intend to find out or express in your research paper. An argumentative paper presents a thesis statement, while an empirical paper generally poses a research question and sometimes with a hypothesis as to the answer.

Research Paper Introduction – Step By Step Guideline on How to Write a Research paper Introduction

Step 1: Introduce your topic

The first job of the introduction is to tell the reader what your topic is and why it’s interesting or important. This is generally accomplished with a strong opening hook.

The hook is a striking opening sentence that clearly conveys the relevance of your topic. Think of an interesting fact or statistic, a strong statement, a question, or a brief anecdote that will get the reader wondering about your topic.

For example, the following could be an effective hook for an argumentative paper about the environmental impact of cattle farming:

Argumentative paper hook

• Are cows responsible for climate change?

A more empirical paper investigating the relationship of Instagram use with body image issues in adolescent girls might use the following hook:

Empirical paper hook

• The rise of social media has been accompanied by a sharp increase in the prevalence of body image issues among women and girls.

Don’t feel that your hook necessarily has to be deeply impressive or creative. Clarity and relevance are still more important than catchiness. The key thing is to guide the reader into your topic and situate your ideas.

Step 2: Describe the background

This part of the introduction differs depending on what approach your paper is taking.

In a more argumentative paper, you’ll explore some general background here. In a more empirical paper, this is the place to review previous research and establish how yours fits in.

Argumentative paper: Background information

After you’ve caught your reader’s attention, specify a bit more, providing context and narrowing down your topic.

Argumentative paper background Example

A recent study (RIVM, 2019) shows that cattle farmers account for two-thirds of agricultural nitrogen emissions in the Netherlands. These emissions result from nitrogen in manure, which can degrade into ammonia and enter the atmosphere. The study’s calculations show that agriculture is the main source of nitrogen pollution, accounting for 46% of the country’s total emissions. By comparison, road traffic and households are responsible for 6.1% each, the industrial sector for 1%.

Provide only the most relevant background information. The introduction isn’t the place to get too in-depth; if more background is essential to your paper, it can appear in the body.

Empirical paper: Describing previous research

For a paper describing original research, you’ll instead provide an overview of the most relevant research that has already been conducted. This is a sort of miniature literature review—a sketch of the current state of research into your topic, boiled down to a few sentences.

This should be informed by genuine engagement with the literature. Your search can be less extensive than in a full literature review, but a clear sense of the relevant research is crucial to inform your own work.

Begin by establishing the kinds of research that have been done, and end with limitations or gaps in the research that you intend to respond to.

Empirical paper background Example

Various empirical studies have been conducted into Facebook usage among adolescent girls (Tiggermann & Slater, 2013; Meier & Gray, 2014). These studies have consistently found that the visual and interactive aspects of the platform have the greatest influence on body image issues. Despite this, highly visual social media (HVSM) such as Instagram have yet to be robustly researched.

Step 3: Establish your research problem

The next step is to clarify how your own research fits in and what problem it addresses.

Argumentative paper: Emphasize the importance

In an argumentative research paper, you can simply state the problem you intend to discuss and what is original or important about your argument.

Argumentative paper research problem example

While efforts are being made to mitigate these emissions, policymakers are reluctant to reckon with the scale of the problem. The approach presented here is a radical one but commensurate with the issue.

Empirical paper: Relate to the literature

In an empirical research paper, try to lead into the problem on the basis of your discussion of the literature. Think in terms of these questions:

• What research gap is your work intended to fill?
• What limitations in previous work does it address?
• What contribution to knowledge does it make?

You can make the connection between your problem and the existing research using phrases like the following.

Phrase	Connection
Although x has been studied in detail, insufficient attention has been paid to y.	You will address a previously overlooked aspect of your topic.
The implications of x study deserve to be explored further.	You will build on something suggested by a previous study, exploring in greater depth.
It is generally assumed that x. However, this paper assumes that y…	You will depart from the consensus on your topic, stabling a new position.

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Step 4: Specify your objective(s)

Now you’ll get into the specifics of what you intend to find out or express in your research paper.

The way you frame this varies. An argumentative paper presents a thesis statement, while an empirical paper generally poses a research question (sometimes with a hypothesis as to the answer).

Argumentative paper: Thesis statement

The thesis statement expresses the position that the rest of the paper will present evidence and arguments for. It can be presented in one or two sentences and should state your position clearly and directly, without providing specific arguments for it at this point.

Thesis statement

This paper argues that the Dutch government must stimulate and subsidize livestock farmers, especially cattle farmers, to transition to sustainable vegetable farming.

Empirical paper: Research question and hypothesis

The research question is the question you want to answer in an empirical research paper.

Present your research question clearly and directly, with a minimum of discussion at this point. The rest of the paper will be taken up with discussing and investigating this question; here, you just need to express it.

A research question can be framed either directly or indirectly.

• This study set out to answer the following question: What effects does daily use of Instagram have on the prevalence of body image issues among adolescent girls?
• We investigated the effects of daily Instagram use on the prevalence of body image issues among adolescent girls.

If your research involved testing hypotheses, these should be stated along with your research question. They are usually presented in the past tense since the hypothesis will already have been tested by the time you are writing up your paper.

For example, the following hypothesis might respond to the research question above:

Hypothesis

It was hypothesized that daily Instagram use would be associated with an increase in body image concerns and a decrease in self-esteem ratings.

Step 5: Map out your paper

The final part of the introduction is often dedicated to a brief overview of the rest of the paper.

In a paper structured using the standard scientific “introduction, methods, results, discussion” format, this isn’t always necessary. But if your paper is structured in a less predictable way, it’s important to describe the shape of it for the reader.

If included, the overview should be concise, direct, and written in the present tense.

• This paper first discusses several examples of survey-based research into adolescent social media use, then goes on to …

Research Paper Introduction – Tip for Writing an Effective Introduction to Original Research Paper

1.　Start broadly and then narrow down

In the first paragraph, briefly describe the broad research area and then narrow it down to your particular focus. This will help position your research topic within the broader field, making the work accessible to a broader audience, not just to specialists in your field.

2.　State the aims and importance

Papers rejected for “not showing the importance of the topic” or “lacking clear motivation” usually neglect this point. Say what you want to achieve and why your reader should be interested in finding out whether you achieve it. The basic structure can be as simple as “We aim to do X, which is important because it will lead to Y.”

3.　Cite thoroughly but not excessively

Instead of simply saying that the topic is important, show why the topic is important.

Once you’ve narrowed your focus to the specific topic of your study, you should thoroughly cover the most recent and most relevant literature pertaining to your study. Your review of the literature should be complete but not overly long—remember, you’re not writing a review article. If you find that your introduction is too long or overflowing with citations, one possible solution is to cite review articles rather than all the individual articles that have already been summarized in the review.

4.　Avoid giving too many citations for one point

Consider the following sentence: “Many studies have found a significant association between X and Y [4-15].” This sentence cites too many studies at once. Although references [4-15] might provide a good overview of the topic, this sentence doesn’t provide enough context or explanation for these past studies. If all of these references are worth citing, they should be discussed in greater specificity. For example, “A significant association has been found between X and Y in men [4-7], women [8-11], and children [12-15].”

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5.　Clearly state either your hypothesis or research question

For research in empirical sciences, stating a hypothesis can be an effective way of framing the research. For example, instead of stating, “In this study, we show that X is related to Y by method A,” you could say, “In this study, we hypothesize that X is related to Y, and we use method A to test this hypothesis.” For informal research sciences or exploratory research, you could consider stating a research question instead: “In this study, we examine the following research question: Is X related to Y?” Note that the research question doesn’t always have to be stated in the interrogative form (with a question mark); instead, you can put the question into a declarative sentence: “In this study, we investigate whether X is related to Y.” Hypotheses and research questions are effective because they help give shape to the paper and serve as “signpost phrases” that guide readers through your paper smoothly.

6.　Consider giving an overview of the paper

An organizational overview is more common in some fields than others. It is particularly common in technology but less so in medicine. In the last paragraph of your introduction, consider giving a section-by-section overview of your paper if it is appropriate for your field. For example, “In Section II, we describe our analysis methods and the datasets we used. In Section III we present the results. In Section IV, we discuss the results and compare our findings with those in the literature. In Section V, we state our conclusions and suggest possible topics for future research.”

7.　Keep it short

Try to avoid an overly long introduction. A good target is 500 to 1000 words, although checking the journal’s guidelines and past issues will provide the clearest guidance.

8.　Show, don’t tell

One goal of the introduction is to explain why your research topic is worthy of study. One of the most common pitfalls is to simply say, “Subject X is important.” Instead of simply saying that the topic is important, show why the topic is important. For example, instead of writing “The development of new materials is important for the automotive industry,” you could write, “The development of new materials is necessary for the automotive industry to produce stronger, lighter vehicles, which will improve safety and fuel economy.”

9.　Don’t bury your readers in detail

In the introduction, if your paper is in a field that commonly summarizes the study’s main results before starting the methods, you should avoid stating too many detailed results because these results need development in the other sections of your paper to be properly understood. Instead of saying, “We find that our algorithm requires 55% of the memory and 45% of the computation time of the conventional algorithm,” it is usually better to give a general overview of the findings in the introduction: “Here we compare the proposed algorithm with a conventional algorithm in terms of memory use and computational speed, showing that the proposed algorithm is both smaller and faster.” Some older style guides suggest holding back the main result to build suspense, but now journals in many fields—medicine being a notable exception—encourage giving a preview of your main results in the introduction.

10.　Check the journal requirements

Many journals have specific requirements for the introduction in their guidelines for authors. For example, there might be a maximum word count stated, or the guidelines might require specific content, such as a hypothesis statement or a summary of your main results.

Research Paper Introduction – Summary

When you begin drafting a paper, the introduction should be one of the first things you plan. The introduction serves as the roadmap for your paper; by clearly stating the study’s background information, aims, and hypothesis or research questions, the introduction can guide you as you write the rest of the paper.

It’s such an important section—setting the scene for everything that follows—that many authors write the methods, results, and discussion sections in full before completing the introduction.