Research Papers: How To Write An Introduction In it

For every piece of writing, an introduction is necessary for introducing the entire theme of the paper. Likewise, writing an introduction in a research paper requires effort to present the research papers effectively. The introduction must be present in a way that keeps the readers engaged throughout the entire paper. After the title of the paper and abstract, the introduction is the next thing the readers are going to concentrate on in your paper. By writing an impressive introduction, you can show how effective your research is and how effectively you have written the entire paper. In this blog, we will see how to write an introduction in a research paper that grabs your reader’s attention. 

What is an introduction in a research paper? Why is it important?

An introduction is the first and initial part of any research papers and the readers will first notice the introduction before going to read the entire paper. The introduction of a research paper should contain the context of your entire paper. It is the most important part to be taken care of. It should convince the readers and answer the question that why are they reading the entire paper from beginning to the end. 

The introductory part should be interesting and engaging from the first line itself. This is how you can make sure that readers are going to read the paper. You can also include a hypothesis in the introduction. So how to write an interesting introduction to your research paper? There are some rules and guidelines to follow for effectively writing an introduction. 

Guidelines to follow for writing an introduction in a research paper

There are five simple steps to follow for creating an impressive introduction for your research papers. They include

1. Introduce your paper’s topic: The main focus of the introduction should be telling the readers about your topic. What your topic is about and why you are researching it. The introduction should also contain a hook associated with it. The hook helps in clearly conveying the relevance of the topic. Adding interesting facts, statements, questions may help in grabbing the reader’s attention faster. 

2. Explain the background: After explaining the topic in the introduction, the next part is describing the background. This part depends on the nature of your research paper. If your paper is argumentative, provide some background information that is most relevant to your paper. If your paper is empirical, provide some details about relevant research conducted. It should be explaining the current state of your topic’s research, compiled in a few sentences. 

3. Research problem: The next step is to explain the problem your paper addresses and how the research fits it. In an argumentative paper, you can directly state the problem and the information related to it. If it is an empirical paper, try to make a connection between the problem and the current research you are doing. 

4. Objectives: Now, it is time to explain the specifics of what your research paper is going to find out in the research papers. The nature of the paper determines how you are going to specify the objectives. It is specified using a thesis statement if it is an argumentative paper. The thesis expresses the arguments and evidence that are related to your research. If it is an empirical paper, you might include the research question and that question should be clear and direct with few discussions about your paper. 

5. Mapping out the paper: After clearly explaining the objectives in your paper, the next step is to provide an effective overview of the rest of the paper. The overview should say what is upcoming in your research paper and it should be written in the present tense.

Important tips to consider while writing the introduction 

There are some tips to keep in mind while writing the introduction in the research papers. They are:

1. The introduction should be present in a way that describes the research broadly and then narrowed down to focus on the particular issue. 

2. The importance of the paper/ topic should be clearly mentioned for avoiding the rejection of the paper. State the importance of the topic and mention the motives of the research.

3. Mention the recent and relevant literature in the paper and it should not be too long. It should be short and informative. Don’t give too many citations for a single point.

4. Your hypothesis or the research question should be clearly stated as it is the one that gives shape to your paper and makes your readers engaged to the paper.

5. Don’t forget to give a section-by-section overview of the paper as the last part of the introduction. 

6. Don’t make it too short or too long. Always aim for providing an introduction at a decent length and make it informative. 

Conclusion

In this blog, we have seen how to write an introduction in a research papers. The introduction is the necessary part of every research paper that serves as the roadmap for the entire paper. You can have your readers engaged throughout the paper by clearly explaining the background, hypothesis/research question, overview- every essential part of the introduction.