By Fatu Badiane Markey
For those of you who recently read my post on how to write a results section, we will continue with this scientific writing series to examine writing an introduction.
Introductions are impossible to take back; we have all made a mistake, here or there, with regards to this well-understood truth. The one area where we should avoid a bad introduction, however, is in presenting our work. One of the first encounters a reader will have with your published data is in the introduction̶̶― make sure to make it count!
The primary function of an introduction is to grab the reader’s attention and provide enough background information for the reader to understand the paper. When writing an introduction, there are three main questions that need to be addressed:
- What do we know? The author must provide context and background to orient the reader.
- What do we not know? This provides motivation for the reader by introducing a problem or gap in knowledge in the field.
- How do we address the gap in knowledge? The author states the hypothesis and approach of the paper.
When moving through the multiple stages of the introduction, there are a few formatting tips to consider that will help maintain flow and orient the reader. First, signal words are used to highlight the gap in knowledge and experimental approach mentioned in the introduction. Below are examples of a few signal words that are often used.
- Signal gap in knowledge: although, limited, poorly defined
- Signal of experimental approach: here we report, we have developed, here we present
These examples are not the only signal words, and as an author you should experiment with words that work best to get your point across and embrace your style as a writer. Second, verb tenses will change throughout the introduction to also indicate transitioning from the background to the question at hand and finally to the experimental approach. The first two sections of the introduction are written in the present tense with the experimental approach in the past tense.
Although the introduction provides a lot of information, it should not be unnecessarily long. As mentioned with the results section, stay clear and concise. An introduction should be on average about 500 words in length and clearly express the topic at hand. Finally, when writing and revising your introduction, always remember to look at things from the reader’s perspective. Don’t leave the reader with a bad first impression!
The information in this post was originally presented by Erika Shor, PhD (es783@rutgers.edu) in the Scientific Writing Workshop at Rutgers University, Newark, NJ.