ABSTRACT
There is something deceptive about a well-written research paper. The introduction highlights an important issue (often one that somehow had previously escaped your attention!) and makes it seem obvious how to think about it. A theoretical section explains lucidly what is already known and/or can be deduced about the issue. If the paper is empirical, it lays out experimental or data collection procedures that seem obvious and appropriate. Then new conclusions are derived in a compelling manner. It all seems to flow logically.
