The introduction convinces readers that your study was needed. It is not a summary of everything written on the topic: it is an argument that moves from the general to the specific and ends with your aim (Jawaid & Jawaid, 2019). Swales (1990) described it as “creating a research space”: establish the territory, show the niche that is missing and occupy it.
What it should contain
It is written as continuous prose, without subheadings, in four moves:
- 1 · Size of the problemRecent data showing why the topic matters: prevalence, costs, population affected.
- 2 · Theory and evidenceThe model guiding the study, the definition of the constructs and what other studies have found.
- 3 · GapWhat is still unknown or what previous studies left unresolved.
- 4 · Aim and hypothesesWhat your study will do to fill that gap and what you expect to find.
How it should sound
- Synthesize, don’t list. Instead of one paragraph per study, group them: where they agree, where they disagree and why.
- Every claim with its source. Anything that is not common knowledge needs a citation, preferably to the original source.
- An explicit gap. Name what is missing: another population, an instrument not validated in your context, a variable nobody has tested.
- Precise verbs in the aim. Determine, compare or analyze the relationship between…; avoid “know” or “study”.
Before and after
| Weak version | Problem | Improved version |
|---|---|---|
| Since the dawn of humanity, stress has accompanied human beings. | An opening that says nothing | About 40% of university students report high levels of academic stress (Author, year). |
| García (2020) found… López (2021) found… Pérez (2022) found… | A list of studies with no synthesis | Three studies agree on a negative relationship with performance, although none included Central American students (García, 2020; López, 2021; Pérez, 2022). |
| The aim is to know students’ stress. | Vague verb, no relationship between variables | The aim was to determine the relationship between academic stress and performance. A negative relationship was hypothesized. |
What each journal decides. Length, whether subheadings are allowed in the introduction and whether aims and hypotheses go at its end or in a section of their own change from one journal or conference to another. Check their author guidelines.
Before you call it done
- Does the first paragraph show with data why the problem matters?
- Does it present the theory guiding the study and define the constructs?
- Does it synthesize the background instead of listing it?
- Does it explicitly name the gap that justifies the study?
- Does it end with a precise aim and, where relevant, hypotheses?
The Manuscript Diagnosis checks that every citation is in the reference list and that the manuscript states its hypotheses.
References
Jawaid, S. A., & Jawaid, M. (2019). How to write introduction and discussion. Saudi Journal of Anaesthesia, 13(Suppl. 1), S18–S19. https://doi.org/10.4103/sja.SJA_584_18
Swales, J. M. (1990). Genre analysis: English in academic and research settings. Cambridge University Press.
von Elm, E., Altman, D. G., Egger, M., Pocock, S. J., Gøtzsche, P. C., & Vandenbroucke, J. P. (2007). The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (STROBE) statement: Guidelines for reporting observational studies. PLoS Medicine, 4(10), e296. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0040296