Chapter 7 Part 1 & 2在线视频

Hello everyone

I am Lu Fengxiang

from Capital Medical university

Now we are going to talk about Chapter 7

INTRODUCTION

The title and abstract generally decide

whether the journal editors or your peers

continue reading your research paper

After the title and abstract

it is the Introduction

to ensure that they start reading your paper

and guide them to the other parts of your paper

So we can say that

a poor introduction misleads the journal editors or your peers

about the content of your paper

however a well-written introduction

convinces them about your research logic

This chapter includes 6 parts

The first Functions of introduction

Second Structure of introduction

Third Writing tips for introduction

Fourth Case analysis

Fifth Summary

and the last Practices

INTRODUCTION, also called “background” in some journals

lays the foundation for the paper

It may be described as the gate to a city

or may also resemble a mental road map

that should explain “the known”, “the unknown”

and “the new knowledge

added by the findings of the current research”

INTRODUCTION

presents background information

to convince the readers

of the importance of data added to the field

In addition

INTRODUCTION sets the scene for readers

and paves the way for what is to follow

Of course different journals have different requirements

It should be tailored

to the journal to which you are going to submit your paper

INTRODUCTION has two functions

One is to provide enough information

for the readers to understand your article

and the other is to arouse their interest

in continuing reading your article

A good introduction will help you

sell your articles

to a journal with high IF impact factors

part two

Like this figure

the form of INTRODUCTION is like an inverted cone

from large to small or broad to narrow

The largest part of the cone at the top

describes the general context of topic

and the importance of the study

the cone then narrows down to the gap of knowledge

what is unknown

and ends with the hypothesis

or aim of the study

Some journals may also add

the methodological approach used to examine

the research hypothesis

INTRODUCTION is generally arranged

to answer the following three questions

What is known, What is unknown in this field

What is the hypothesis/aim of the new study

Or what was done

The first question

involves addressing what is known about your current study

What is important for this section

is to build the reader’s attention

and interest in your hypothesis stated later

It is important to be complete

fair and balanced in the assessment of the current literature

The more completely written “what is known”

the easier it becomes to state “what is unknown”

The second question

involves identifying what are the gaps

in your current understanding of the field

and why it is important

that these gaps should be closed

It is important

to identify and reference those studies in the literature

that have addressed these issues

so as to allow full disclosure

regarding the novelty of your current study

Finally INTRODUCTION ends with a clear statement

summarizing your rationale

or your hypothesis or your purpose

Once these questions are answered

the readers can have a clear

understanding of the nature of your current study

and will be clearly aware of the context

in which your study is being performed

Next let’s move to the details one by one

What is known

In this section

you need to present a brief summary of background information

for the general topic of your article

As mentioned earlier

this section should arouse

and build reader’s attention and interest

in your hypothesis or question or your specific topic

Generally

it includes “claiming importance”

“making topic generalizations”

and “reviewing items of previous studies”

Of course this is not always the case

Claiming the importance

describing the research problem

and providing evidence

to support why your topic is important to study

Making topic generalizations

providing statements about the current state of knowledge

consensus practice or description of phenomena

Reviewing items of previous studies

synthesize prior research

that further supports the need to study the research problem

this is not a literature review

but more a reflection of key studies

that have touched upon but perhaps not

fully addressed the topic

Here remember

that the literature review

should be directly related to your study

It can’t be too long

or contain too much detailed review of literature

or a complete history of the field

What is unknown

What is the gap

This section describes the gap

in the present understanding of the field

and why

it is necessary that this gap should be filled

It is advisable

that you should present limitations

of prior studies of the topic

or an unsolved problem

and highlight the importance

of the gap filling

When indicating a specific gap of previous research

or challenging a broadly accepted assumption

or raising a question

or extending previous knowledge

in some way

some specific terms

can be used to express a contrasting viewpoint

a critical evaluation of gaps in the literature

or a perceived weakness in prior research

The purpose of using these words

is to draw a clear distinction

between perceived

deficiencies in previous studies

and the research you are presenting

that is intended to help resolve these deficiencies

Look at the following table

Here we have a category

Contrast Quantity Action and Degree

Here we list the Frequently used terms

What is the Rationale

hypothesis or question

Defining the rationale of research

is the most critical mission of INTRODUCTION

Here you should tell the reader

why your research is biologically meaningful

In stating the rationale

hypothesis of your study

you have to clarify that your study

is the next logical step

to fill the gap on the topic

and address the limitations of previous works

In this section

your study will contribute

“novel knowledge or understanding”

in contrast to prior research on the topic

The question or hypothesis

something that is not yet proven

is placed at the tip of the inverted cone

and it is usually the last sentence

of the last paragraph in INTRODUCTION section

The question hypothesis presents the specific topic

that is “What was done in your article”

By the way

the question or hypothesis should be clear

and preferably comprise no more than two sentences

Quite a lot of papers

were rejected due to poor statement of the question

or hypothesis

You can imagine

how frustrated the reviewer of your paper

would be

when he couldn’t grasp your research question

even with hard efforts