How to Write an Effective Research Introduction for a Publication

Writing a research introduction can be a daunting task. When a scientist is asked to describe their research in conversation, their excitement often comes through. In response to questions and cues from the audience, the scientist can naturally adjust their presentation for greater clarity. When writing, however, it can be difficult to convey the necessary details. Below, we provide guidelines that can be applied when writing an introduction to ensure the information flows logically from one topic to another and prepare readers to understand and appreciate the research. Hopefully, the guidelines below will make this task a little less intimidating.

Keep the Audience in Mind

The goal of communicating background information is not to showcase everything the writer knows, but to clearly convey ideas and findings to readers in a way that increases their knowledge and understanding of the topic. With this in mind, when writing an introduction, it is helpful to first consider the audience by asking the following questions.

  • Will the article be published in a journal with a broad readership or a discipline-specific audience?
  • How much background knowledge might the audience already have?

The answers to these questions could determine the following:

  • How much context to provide to describe the current state of research in the topic area.
    • Members of a specific discipline or an industry that is influenced by the research may expect field-specific terms to be used and background information to be limited.
    • Readers outside the field may require more background information to understand the experimental limitations and/or how the research would affect future studies.
    • Readers from the general public may need jargon and field-specific terms to be explained in lay terms and their use to be limited.
  • How to frame the significance of the work.
    • A targeted audience may be more interested in the impact of the work on the field, whereas a broader audience may relate better to the interdisciplinary benefits of the research.
    • The importance of the research may not be obvious to all readers, especially those who are not as familiar with the topic. For audiences outside the field, more care may need to be taken to explain the significance in a relatable way. 

Although this is not a comprehensive list of questions the writer can ask themselves about the audience, it should spark some ideas about how to tailor the introduction appropriately.

Organize the Background Section to Promote Clarity

  1. The first sentence of the introduction should be a “hook” to capture readers' attention. This “hook” can set the stage for the importance of the research; two options are to describe the problem the research addresses or to state the question the research will answer.
  2. Structure the introduction in the shape of a funnel.
    • Start with broad information to orient readers to the topic.
    • Provide more details that increasingly focus in on the main point of the study.
      • Avoid including facts that are not directly related; facts that are interesting and relevant to the field but do not provide direct context for the discussed work may be distracting.
      • End this section by describing the current state of research that is most related to the topic.
    • Explain the knowledge gap the work addresses, i.e., the motivation for the project.
    • State the rationale for the project in the context of the knowledge gap, followed by the hypothesis. This brings the funnel to its narrowest point, i.e., the question the project addresses.
    • Briefly describe what was done in the research study and why/how it addresses the knowledge gap.
  3. After presenting the background information, clearly state what the conclusions from that information are, i.e., what the facts tell the audience. Even if all of the relevant background information is included, readers may not draw the same conclusions as the writer if they are unfamiliar with the topic. Clearly explaining why the facts are relevant to the research topic, and what they indicate about the way to move forward, will help guide readers through the introduction.
  4. Keep a “throughline,” or a thread that connects every piece of information in the introduction to the main idea. Clearly spell out how the facts included in the introduction relate to the overall story; this will help the audience understand why the information is important and how it relates to the research.

Structure Paragraphs to Improve Flow

To achieve an effective flow of information in the introduction, ensure paragraphs follow a consistent structure. 

  1. Think of a paragraph like a sandwich.
    • The first sentence is the topic sentence; in the beginning of the sentence, link the paragraph back to the previous paragraph, and at the end, provide a transition into the new topic. This will provide context for the new information in the new paragraph.
    • The middle of the paragraph provides supporting information for the new topic. Include both information and analysis of that information, i.e., a summary of its meaning.
    • The last sentence summarizes the main idea of the paragraph.
  2. Limit each paragraph to one major idea. This will help readers stay oriented to the topic and reduce confusion.
  3. Use transition words to indicate directionality (e.g., “similarly” or “in contrast”) to improve flow, but not too many. Whereas well-placed transition words can guide readers' understanding, a transition word at the beginning of every sentence can become distracting.

Use Effective Sentence Structure

If readers lack familiarity with the research subject, using good sentence structure can reduce confusion. For each guideline below, more examples can be found in the SERCC presentation Achieving Clarity in Scientific Writing.

  1. Use the topic and stress positions in a sentence effectively to improve flow.

    • The topic position is at the beginning of the sentence. Put information that the reader is familiar with here to provide perspective, context, and a link back to old information.
    • The end of the sentence is the stress position. Put new information here so that readers have the necessary context to understand it and for natural emphasis. 

    For example:

    • “Angiogenesis is the formation of new blood vessels from pre-existing vasculature and plays an important role in health and disease. Endothelial cell dynamics controlled by membrane trafficking is central to the process of angiogenesis.”

    In this example, “endothelial cell dynamics” arises with no context, making the flow of the sentences choppy and leaving the readers to wonder why the cells are being discussed (until the end of the sentence). Rearranging the information in the topic and stress positions can make this easier to follow:

    • “Angiogenesis is the formation of new blood vessels from pre-existing vasculature and plays an important role in health and disease. This process is dependent on dynamic changes in endothelial cells, which are in turn controlled by membrane trafficking.”

    In this example, the old information, “this process” (referring to angiogenesis), is placed in the topic position to provide context. The new information, endothelial cell dynamics and their roles, comes later in the sentence and is most likely what readers will remember.

    Introduction sections often provide a lot of information that is new to readers in a small space, and organization can become difficult. If a background section is confusing or hard to follow, rearrange the relevant sentences according to the concept of topic and stress positions. Following the pattern of old, new, old, new using the topic and stress positions will often fix the problem.

  2. Use strong verbs that convey the action. This not only makes the writing more impactful, but it can save space when page limits are tight.

    Example: Instead of

    • “we performed an analysis of the results to compare the control and experimental groups,”

    use

    • “we analyzed the data to compare the control and experimental groups” or
    • “we compared the data between the control and experimental groups.”

  3. Avoid overuse of nominalization, i.e., replacing verbs with their noun forms, because it can obscure the action. Overuse of nominalization is a common pitfall of academic writing, and avoiding this practice can naturally lead to using stronger verbs.

    Example: Instead of

    • “we carried out the evaluation of,” where “evaluation” is a noun,

    use

    • “we evaluated,” where “evaluated” is a verb.

  4. Follow a subject as soon as possible with its verb.

    • The subject of the sentence is who or what the sentence is about. The verb is what the subject is doing. When there is extensive information between the subject and the verb, readers are more likely to lose track of what the sentence is about.
    • Additionally, if readers are searching for the verb, the intervening text can be seen as an interruption and less important.
    • Often, if the subject and verb are separated by too much text, the sentence can be split into two sentences.

    Example: Instead of

    • “the investigators, after performing a comprehensive literature search of journal articles published in the last five years, determined that the new methodology had not yet been applied to groundwater testing,” where “investigators” is the subject and “determined” is the verb,

    use

    • “the investigators determined that the new methodology had not yet been applied to groundwater testing after performing a comprehensive literature search of journal articles published in the last five years.”

  5. Avoid long strings of adjectives to reduce confusion.

    Example: instead of 

    • “Nox1-containing NADPH oxidase-induced O2-mediated EGFR transactivation,”

    use

    • “…O2-mediated EGFR transactivation induced by Nox1-containing NADPH oxidase.”

    This converts the adjective “induced” into a verb while also providing a second noun (“oxidase”) to which some of the adjectives are assigned. The wording then makes the sentence less difficult to navigate and highlights “EGFR transactivation” as the clear focus of the sentence.

We hope this summary of considerations about the audience, organization, structure, and information helps you in writing your next research introduction.

Best of luck with your writing!
Emily Huber and the SERCC Team

References