How To Write A Research Paper: Introduction (Complete Tutorial)
Summary
TLDRThis video script by Iakovos Theodorakopoulos, founder of Academic English, offers a step-by-step guide to writing compelling research paper introductions. It emphasizes the importance of the introduction, highlighting the research gap and the paper's novelty. The script outlines a structured approach: start with the topic's importance and key concept definition, provide a brief literature review, identify the research gap, state the study's aim, and optionally summarize the main contributions and paper structure. Examples from different fields illustrate the consistent pattern across disciplines.
Takeaways
- 📝 The introduction of a research paper is crucial as it's often the first part that reviewers and readers engage with, significantly influencing their initial impression and the paper's acceptance.
- 🔍 A well-crafted introduction should clearly highlight the research gap, the paper's contribution, and its novelty to avoid potential rejection.
- 👨🏫 The speaker, Mykovic, specializes in assisting PhD students and researchers in writing research papers, particularly for Scopus-indexed journals.
- 🧩 Despite differences in disciplines, the structure of an introduction is largely uniform across fields, with about 80-90% similarity.
- 📈 The introduction typically starts by presenting the importance of the research topic, which could be relevant to the academic field or society at large.
- 🔑 It's common to define key concepts early in the introduction to provide a clear understanding of the paper's focus.
- 📚 A brief literature review is essential, organized from general to specific topics, to set the stage for identifying the research gap.
- 🕳️ The research gap is the most critical element of the introduction; it articulates the need for the study and what the paper aims to contribute.
- 🎯 After establishing the gap, the paper's aim should be stated concisely, often in one or two sentences, to convey the study's purpose.
- 📑 Optional elements like summarizing the main contributions and outlining the paper's structure can be included in some disciplines or journals.
- 🔗 The script provides examples from different fields to illustrate how a structured introduction can be adapted to various research papers.
Q & A
Why is the introduction of a research paper considered so important?
-The introduction is crucial because it is one of the first things that reviewers and readers will read. If it is not well-written, does not highlight the research gap, or clearly state the contribution and novelty of the paper, it is likely that the paper will be rejected.
What are the two common ways to start a research paper?
-The two common ways to start a research paper are by presenting the importance of the topic and by defining the key concept.
What is the significance of stating the importance of the topic in the introduction?
-Stating the importance of the topic is significant because it tells the reader why they should care about the study. It establishes the relevance of the research to the field or society.
How should the literature review be presented in the introduction?
-The literature review in the introduction should be brief, identifying key topics that need to be introduced before identifying the research gap. It should be organized from general to specific topics, often referred to as an inverted pyramid approach.
Why is the research gap the most important element in the introduction?
-The research gap is the most important element because it highlights the need for the study. It points out the lack of research, limitations of previous studies, or a specific problem that needs solving, which justifies the novelty and contribution of the paper.
What should be included after identifying the research gap?
-After identifying the research gap, the aim of the study should be stated, which includes the research questions, objectives, or hypotheses, in a simple and concise manner.
Are there any optional elements that can be included in the introduction of a research paper?
-Yes, there are two optional elements that can be included: a quick recap or summary of the results, and a presentation of the structure of the paper.
How does the introduction of a research paper in social sciences differ from that in exact sciences?
-The introduction in social sciences might be shorter and more concise, while in exact sciences, it might be longer and more detailed, but both follow a similar pattern of importance of the topic, literature review, research gap, and aim of the study.
What is the purpose of defining key concepts in the introduction?
-Defining key concepts in the introduction helps to establish a common understanding of the terms and concepts that are central to the research, which is essential for the reader to comprehend the study's focus and context.
How can the structure of the paper be presented in the introduction?
-The structure of the paper can be presented by stating how the paper is organized, such as into sections, and briefly describing what each section is about.
Outlines
📘 Introduction to Research Paper Writing
The paragraph emphasizes the importance of the introduction in a research paper, as it's often the first section that reviewers and readers encounter. A poorly written introduction that fails to highlight the research gap, contribution, and novelty can lead to paper rejection. The speaker, Kovic, introduces the video's purpose: to guide viewers step by step on writing an effective introduction. Kovic, who assists PhD students and researchers in writing for Scopus-indexed journals, dispels the myth that every introduction is entirely unique. Instead, he points out that while there are superficial differences between disciplines, the core structure of an introduction is largely uniform, with about 80-90% similarity across fields. The paragraph sets the stage for the video's content, which will delve into the common elements of a research paper introduction and how they are applied across different disciplines.
🔍 The Crucial Research Gap
This paragraph delves into the critical component of a research paper's introduction: the research gap. The speaker shares anecdotes of papers being rejected or requiring major corrections due to an unclear or non-existent research gap. The research gap is the element that most significantly can lead to a paper's rejection. It is the section where the author points out the lack of research, limitations of previous studies, or a specific problem that needs solving. The paragraph explains how to articulate the research gap effectively, often starting with a statement about the extensive research that has been conducted, followed by the revelation of what remains unexplored or unresolved. The speaker also mentions that after identifying the research gap, the next step is to state the aim of the study concisely, which should be done in one or two sentences.
📚 Structuring the Introduction
The final paragraph discusses the structure of a research paper's introduction, which remains consistent across different fields and types of papers. The speaker outlines the typical structure: starting with the importance of the topic and possibly defining key concepts, followed by a brief literature review that narrows down to the research gap. The paragraph also touches on the importance of stating the aim of the study clearly. Additionally, the speaker mentions two optional elements that can be included in some introductions: a brief summary of the paper's results and main contributions, and an outline of the paper's structure. The speaker concludes by offering personal consultation for those interested in publishing in top journals, providing a link for scheduling a call.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Introduction
💡Research Gap
💡Literature Review
💡Key Concepts
💡Importance of the Topic
💡Research Contribution
💡Brief Literature Review
💡Novelty
💡Aims of the Study
💡Structure of the Paper
Highlights
The introduction is crucial as it is the first thing reviewers or readers see and it sets the stage for the research.
A well-written introduction highlights the research gap, contribution, and novelty, which can determine whether a paper is accepted or rejected.
80% of research paper introductions follow the same structure across disciplines, focusing on similarities rather than differences.
Two common ways to start an introduction: by presenting the importance of the topic and by defining key concepts related to the research.
The importance of the topic can relate to its significance in the research field or its broader societal implications.
The second important element in an introduction is a brief literature review, which identifies 2-4 key topics, structured from general to specific.
The research gap is the most critical part of the introduction, and failing to articulate it well often leads to rejection.
Identifying the research gap involves highlighting a lack of research, limitations of previous studies, or practical problems that need solving.
The aim of the study should be stated clearly, typically in one or two sentences, without listing research questions or objectives.
Optional elements in some introductions include a summary of results and the main contribution of the paper.
Another optional element is presenting the structure of the paper, outlining how the sections are organized.
Examples from social sciences and exact sciences show different lengths of introductions but follow the same structural pattern.
In some journals, the literature review section is separate, making the introduction more concise.
Across disciplines, research papers start by establishing the topic's importance, reviewing literature, identifying the research gap, and stating the study's aim.
Following a predictable structure for introductions increases the clarity and chances of acceptance, regardless of the research field.
Transcripts
one key element of a research paper is
the introduction why is it so important
well it's one of the first things that
the reviewers or your future readers are
going to read so if the introduction
isn't well written if you haven't
highlighted the research Gap if the
contribution and the novelty of your
paper aren't clear in the introduction
it's very likely that your paper will
get rejected so that's why in this video
I want to show you step by step how to
write the introduction for a research
paper so let's dive in and see how this
is done if you're new here my name
iskovic and I run academic English now
where I help PhD students and
researchers regularly write research
papers for scopus index journals and in
this video we're going to be
specifically focusing on the first
element of a research paper which is the
introduction and I know a lot of people
really struggle writing the
introductions we get stuck they don't
know what to right you know that there
is this idea as well that every
introduction is completely different and
it's just you know depends a lot on the
discipline and so on I mean granted you
know there are differences between
different researchers disciplines and so
on but they are really superficial it's
kind of like the iceberg so those
differences are the small that small tip
of the iceberg above the water and
everything else 80 of the introduction
is the same but because the differences
are above water this is what people
focus on but we want to be focusing on
the similarities because you know 80 90
of introductions across the fields and
really across research papers whether
this is a systematic review experimental
paper more theoretical paper is almost
exactly the same so what are these
elements of a research paper I'm gonna
explain them one by one to you and show
you as well on examples from real
research papers from different
disciplines how these elements are
applied
so what is the first one typically there
are two ways of starting a research
paper number one you present the
importance of the topic so you basically
tell the reader why on Earth should they
care about your study at all I know your
study is important to you your topic is
important to you I mean my topic is the
most important topic in the world for me
but why should other people care you
want to state that right at the very
beginning you know using phrases like a
considerable amount of research has been
devoted to so the importance can be for
your research field the importance of
the topic can be for the society in
general as well right it can be an
important problem that needs solving but
this needs to be stated right away and
the second way of starting the paper
that often goes together is the
definition of the key concept so very
often you know if the importance of the
topic is connected to the key concept
the researcher introduces the importance
and and defines the key concept so for
example if we think about medicine and a
disease like Alzheimer you know we could
State the importance of for the society
you know that you know millions of
people every day well you would have to
give a specific number are suffering
from Alzheimer's disease and this
disease is characterized by and then you
provide a definition right or you can
separate these two elements have the
importance of the topic and then a
definition right this is the usual way
of starting a paper number two the
second really important element is a
brief literature review and I stress the
word brief how brief it is can differ
from field to field in some Fields it
can be very short like one paragraph or
maybe two paragraphs in other fields it
can be slightly longer like maybe three
or five paragraphs but it's brief right
what you need to do here is identify
between two and maybe four any topics
that need to be introduced to the reader
before we can identify the research Gap
and stay at the end and you want to
organize these topics from General to
specific think about that as sort of the
inverted pyramid you know you have
General and then you go more and more
specific with these topics and basically
each paragraph in your literature review
will be devoted to one of these topics
right so you want to have between two
and maybe four paragraphs for this brief
literature review element number three
is the research Gap and if there's like
one element that is the most important
it is this one it's the research Gap I
can't tell you you know the number of
examples that I have where this was the
element that made the paper be rejected
you know even very recently on my
program when I was helping
um two different researchers from two
different disciplines both of them one
of their papers got rejected and the
other one came back with major
Corrections and you know when we read
the reviewers comments it seemed like
you know the paper was a total mess and
it they needed to start from scratch but
really the main problem was that the
contribution the novelty of the paper
just wasn't that like that the research
Gap wasn't there either so this is a
crucial element stating the research
graph this can be done in numerous
different ways right and I have another
video when I talk about the different
types of a research Camp but you know
you can point out the lack of research
limitations of previous studies you know
a specific problem that needs solving a
practical problem that needs solving
right and you want to do it in one nice
paragraph typically you start with
something like you know numerous studies
on XY and that have been conducted
however there is a lack of research on X
Y and Z in addition the previous studies
are limited because X Y and Z right and
then you explain what the problem is
once you've pointed out the research Gap
and it is clear why you're doing your
study well now you can tell us what your
study is about and state the aim of your
study please don't you know State the
AIM research questions objectives and
stuff like this you know just in one
maximum two sentences say what the aim
of your study is simply and and that's
it right now very often this is where
introductions end however there are two
optional elements that can sometimes be
useful and are sometimes used in
different fields and in different
journals the first one right after the
research Gap is you know kind of a quick
recap like a summary of the results in
like one or two sentences you know what
this paper shows you know and then also
connected to that what is the main
contribution of your paper most of the
time you know this is just said in the
conclusion section but in some journals
and some researchers like to say it
right in the introduction so it's clear
to the reviewers as well what novelty
your paper brings right so feel free to
do that right after the introduction in
one paragraph and say what the main
contribution is now the second optional
element which would end the introduction
is to present the structure of your
paper and this is common in some Fields
I wouldn't say it's very common across
different fields but you can do it if
you want to especially if you notice
that other people in your field are
doing it very simply you know in one
paragraph States how the paper is
organized that this paper is organized
into six sections and then in each
following sentence you can tell us what
each section is about
so now let me show you exactly how this
is actually done on an example of a
research paper and we'll look at each of
the sections that I've just mentioned to
you and we'll see how the writers
presented so let me show you two
examples in here from two different
fields so you have an idea how you know
the introduction is structured written
in slightly different fields so the
first example is actually from a paper
that I published a couple of years ago
so it's kind of social sciences teaching
English and the introduction is much
shorter the other paper is going to be
from psychology medicine that sort of
thing so much more sort of exact
sciences and the introduction is going
to be much longer so you're going to see
two very different ways of approaching
it which nevertheless follow a very
similar pattern
so this one starts with you know
establishing the importance of the topic
and defining the topic in here it's one
of and the same thing so we Define the
thing that we're going to talk about
because this thing is very important
right so you kind of kill two birds with
one stone and therefore make your
introduction shorter right so that's the
first element right importance of the
topic and defining any key Concepts and
number two we've got literature review
right and in here it's rather short it's
just one paragraph really right but it's
enough to kind of
present us what we need and the reason
why it's so short in here as well just
so you know is because in this
particular Journal they like having a
separate literature review section right
so that's why there is a um the one in
the introduction is very short
and then after that what we've got is
the research Gap basically right so
we've got nevertheless despite all this
literature we've got a lack of studies
right and we've got limitations of these
studies in terms of whether we're
conducted right and then this ends with
presenting the aim of the study right so
a very short introduction just three
paragraphs but notice that it follows
the same pattern that we've discussed
now moving to the other introduction
this one is slightly longer but well
actually much longer probably twice the
length but it still follows the same
pattern so we've got the importance of
the topic right and the definition of
the topic as well and then we continue
discussing that importance of the topic
right the growing complexity so we
basically talk about the importance of
the topic for the discipline right and
this is further explored here again why
is this topic so crucial for this
discipline right now right and then
we've got a literature review in here
you'll see that the literature review is
much longer right so we basically
reviewing and reviewing the the
literature leading to the problem and
first we've got a more practical problem
in here right despite all this progress
and all these that is there is this
problem in practice in medical education
right and then afterwards we also have
the research Gap right so we've got a
lack of understanding that there's
uncertainty about something right and
there is a lack of research so there are
different research gaps combined here
which makes it much stronger right and
then we've got the aim of the study and
specifically what was done and they also
present that hypothesis right in here
um as well notice that none of the two
papers that I showed here present the
kind of the main contributions and the
structure of the paper which as I
mentioned are optional and they're not
really that common across disciplines so
as you can see an introduction to the
research paper follows a very
predictable structure that is almost
exactly the same regardless of the field
that you're in and regardless of the
type of the paper that you're actually
writing so start with the importance of
the top topic and maybe the definition
of a key concept then briefly review the
literature present the research Gap and
this is crucial super important don't
forget to present the research Gap State
the aim and then optionally State the
main contributions of your paper and
present the organization of the paper
now if you want to work with me more
personally to help you to publish papers
in top journals in your field then
schedule a free one-to-one consultation
we're going to get on a call and help
you to identify the key challenges that
you're facing and will outline a
personalized strategy that will help you
to achieve your goals faster if this is
something that interests you then the
link to schedule that call is right
below this video
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