ABSTRACT

The first basic claim, the importance of and need for your research, is supported in the Introduction division. In English writing (far more than Asian writing), both the research gap and the research goal need to be stated clearly. In IMRD the research goal is commonly stated in the last paragraph of the Introduction, but in IPTC it may be in the penultimate paragraph, the first paragraph of the Process division, or elsewhere. This chapter teaches readers to identify common component markers, words, or phrases that indicate three common components of Introductions–importance of the research, need for the research, and research goal. Recognizing these markers quickly will speed reading and comprehension of research articles, and similar sentence patterns can be used when writing. The fourth component, framework, is often indicated by the stance toward previous research in IMRD, but frequently found in the second division in IPTC. The Introduction division is more standard across fields than other divisions, but the first component (importance) is more prominent in science, and the second (need) in engineering. Comparison of the component model with standard models such as CARS is presented in the Notes.