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Scientific Writing for Beginners (5): Introduction
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Introduction is where the author reviews what has been published by himself as well as by other people on the same (or a closely related) topic. To many people, introduction is the most difficult part of the paper to write. Therefore, one may want to outline it first (including a list of papers to be cited) and write it last (after you finish other parts of your manuscript).
An introduction should answer the following questions:
- What exactly is the study about?
- Why is the study important?
- What is needed to understand the (new) work?
- How will the (new) work be presented?
Note: If you need an abbreviation, define it first. (The one defined in the abstract does not count.)
It is very important to clearly state which result was obtained by whom and when. As a reviewer and English editor of many journal manuscripts, there is nothing more confusing (and sometimes upsetting) when I cannot tell who did what. Many colleagues I talk to share the same view. So, unless you want to confuse (and even upset) your reviewers and readers, please write explicitly and give credit to yourself as well as to your colleagues where credit is due.
Avoid introducing too many new citations after the introduction. So, collect as many citations as appropriate in the introduction, and group them using an outline (to make sure the ideas flow smoothly).
Before you start the research project, you should have read all is available on the topic (to avoid repeating what has been done). Since some project may take more than a year or two, you need to do another round of quick literature research before you finalize your manuscript for submission. As a reviewer or English editor, I actually check the reference list to see if there is a lack of new publications.
For more information, please visit 任胜利的博客 on
References: The craft of scientific writing by Michael Alley (1987, 1996)
https://wap.sciencenet.cn/blog-306792-258111.html
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