Writing an introduction for a research paper

Incorporating sources
Astana IT University
Department of General Education Disciplines
Academic Writing
Week 4 Lecture 1
Week outline
• Lecture 1 Writing an introduction for a research paper. Incorporating Sources.
• Lecture 2 Revising the key elements of the APA and IEEE citation styles
• Seminars 1-2 Research context, problem, question(s), aim(s) submission
• Seminar 3 Language focus: Summarising information from texts
Lecture 1 objectives

1 2
Recognizing and describing the Developing the ability to
essential elements of an critically evaluate and analyze
effective introduction what makes certain
introductions successful
The table shows the main purposes of a research article introduction and elements that contribute to
these purposes. Complete the table with these elements:
• Outline of how the research article is organized
• Brief review of the previous studies on the topic
• Explanation of how the study will fill a gap, overcome limitations, or solve a problem

Purposes of the introduction section Elements of the introduction section

a. Describe the context of the study • Description of the general area of study (a.1)
• Background information relevant to the study (a.2)
• Definition of key terms (a.3)
• _______________________________________(a.4)

b. To identify a specific problem to be studied • Identification of gaps and/or limitations in previous

studies (b.1)
• _______________________________________(b.2)
c. To specify how the study will address the • Description of the aims of the study (c.1)
problem • Research question (s) (c.2)
• _______________________________________(c.3)

(Hewings & Thaine, 2012)

 Brief review of the previous studies on the topic

Explanation of how the study will fill a gap,

overcome limitations, or solve a problem

Outline of how the research article is organized

1. Will all research articles have all of the elements listed?

2. Can you think of any other elements that might be
included in an introduction?
3. Will the elements always come in the order in which they
are listed in the table? This Photo by Unknown Author is
licensed under CC BY-SA-NC
1. Not all research articles will have all these elements; it depends on the topic and
the nature of the research being reported. For example, it may be that it is
unnecessary to define key terms, or it is more appropriate to define key terms in
another part of the paper.
2. Other elements that might be included in a paper introduction include a
statement of how you came to be interested in the research topic; a list of
specific research questions or hypotheses; and an explanation of what is not
going to be included in the work.
3. Although there may be some variation, the order of the elements given in the
table has a logic to it, moving from the general area of the work towards the
specific topic of this particular piece of research. However, some elements may
be moved (e.g. definition of key terms) to other positions, without disturbing
this progression.
a. Describe the context of the study
How to start?
Step 1. Introduce your topic
The first job of the introduction is to tell the reader what your research topic is and why
it’s interesting or important. This is generally accomplished with a strong opening hook.
Don’t feel that your hook necessarily has to be deeply impressive or creative. Clarity and
relevance are still more important than catchiness. The key thing is to guide the reader
into your topic and situate your ideas.
An empirical paper investigating the relationship of Instagram use with body image
issues in adolescent girls might use the following hook:

The rise of social media has been accompanied by a sharp increase in the prevalence of
body image issues among women and girls.
Caulfield, 2023
Task 1. Compare
how these two
studies have
introduced their
topic

Article 1 Article 2
https://doi.org/10.1186/s4056
https://doi.org/10.1186/s4056 1-023-00237-x
1-023-00234-0
What if the devil is my guardian angel: ChatGPT Reimagining how to understand learning game
as a case study of using chatbots in education experiences: a qualitative and exploratory case study

Introductions can start with a description of the general area

of study moving from the “general” (description of the
general topic area) to the “specific” (the particular aspect of
this topic to be looked at in this study).
a. Describe the context of the study
Step 2. Provide a brief review of the previous research
• For a paper describing original research, you’ll instead provide an
overview of the most relevant research that has already been
conducted. This is a sort of miniature literature review—a sketch of
the current state of research into your topic, boiled down to a few
sentences.
• This should be informed by genuine engagement with the literature.
Your search can be less extensive than in a full literature review, but a
clear sense of the relevant research is crucial to inform your own
work.

Caulfield, 2023
 Article 1.
Following increased popularity, an increasing body of research illuminates learning
conditions in games, emphasizing the role of engagement and motivation (Westera,
2019; Zhonggen, 2019).
In a recent review of computer-based technology in higher education Schindler et al.
(2017) found that digital games seem to foster cognitive engagement through greater
content understanding, higher-order thinking skills, and critical thinking.
This seems to be supported by a positive effect on emotional engagement, specifically
on learning attitudes, as games are commonly reported to be engrossing, interesting,
Task 2. Work with the and enjoyable (Anastasiadis et al., 2018; Schindler et al., 2017)
same articles and
Article 2
highlight the phrases Several preprints of studies and numerous blog posts and media outlets have reported the
that were used to advantages of ChatGPT in education (Zhai, 2022); some have even provided guidelines on
refer to previous using it in classrooms (Lieberman, 2023; Mollick & Mollick, 2022; Ofgang, 2022)
studies. Janssen et al. (2021) described reasons for chatbots’ failure in practice, including not having
enough resources, wrong use case (i.e., the basic chatbot technology did not match the
required task), poor law regulations, data security, and liability concerns, ignorance of user
expectation and bad conversation design, or simply poor content. Haque et al. (2022) did a
Twitter sentiment analysis about ChatGPT adoption as a technology in general (not in
education), and they found that users have divided attitudes about it. However, concerns
coming from an advanced chatbot, such as ChatGPT, were not well investigated in the
education field.
 Language for referring to sources
Put the words in the correct order to form a language chunk.

1. several has X The on literature highlighted...

2. the current on X pays to attention particular Much of literature
3. to show evidence has considerable accumulated Recently that
4. now established well is It from studies that of a variety

1. The literature on X has highlighted several

Task 3. Go through the link and note
down 5 language chunks that you
might use in your writing.
• https://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/re
ferring-to-sources/
2. Much of the current literature on X pays particular attention
to …
3. Recently, considerable evidence has accumulated to show
that …
4. It is now well established from a variety of studies that …
What tenses should be
used when providing an
overview of the most
relevant research?
b. Identify a specific problem to be studied
Step 3. Explain how the study will fill a gap, overcome limitations,
or solve a problem
In an empirical research paper, try to lead into the problem on the basis
of your discussion of the literature. Think in terms of these questions:
• What research gap is your work intended to fill?
• What limitations in previous work does it address?
• What contribution to knowledge does it make?
You can make the connection between your problem and the existing
research using phrases like the following.

Caulfield, 2023
 Article 2. However, the majority of current research tends to quantify engagement or
motivation and learning (Klabbers, 2018; Wouters & van Oostendorp, 2017) to measure
realization of intended learning outcomes (Biggs & Tang, 2009), promoting a one-sided
focus on the cognitive dimension of learning (Bond et al., 2020; Castañeda & Selwyn, 2018;
Järvelä et al., 2021; Wong & Csikszentmihalyi, 1991). This tendency has created signifcant
knowledge gaps pertaining to experiential and social aspects of learning in games
Task 3. Scan (Klabbers, 2018), and their motivational and affective foundations (Bond et al., 2020; Boyle
the articles and et al., 2016; Wong & Csikszentmihalyi, 1991). Especially behavioral engagement and the
find the phrases emotional engagement indicator sense of belonging are understudied areas in the context
of games in higher education (Schindler et al., 2017), and limited research effort has been
that refer to afforded the topic altogether (Bond et al., 2020). Filling these knowledge gaps regarding
research gaps or learning, engagement, and their relationship is necessary to improve the understanding of
limitations of how and why digital learning games may reform current instructional practices by fostering
previous studies engagement and learning.
Article 2. However, the potential concerns of chatbots haven’t been investigated as much.
However, concerns coming from an advanced chatbot, such as ChatGPT, were not well
investigated in the education field. Therefore, it is not clear if ChatGPT will overcome the
concerns found in previous chatbots or will even deepen them. Consequently, this may lead to a
serious and quick protective reaction to a potential opportunity, such as New York City and Los
Angeles Unified schools’ banning of ChatGPT from educational networks due to the risk of using
it to cheat in assignments (Shen-Berro, 2023; The Guardian, 2023). It is therefore important to
investigate the concerns of using this technology, ChatGPT, in education to ensure safe use.
c. Specify how the study will address the
problem
Step 4. Specify your research aim and questions
Present your research aim and question(s) clearly and directly, with a minimum of
discussion at this point. The rest of the paper will be taken up with discussing and
investigating this question; here you just need to express it.
Step 5. The final part of the introduction is often dedicated to a brief overview of the rest
of the paper.
• In a paper structured using the standard scientific “introduction, methods, results,
discussion” format, this isn’t always necessary. But if your paper is structured less
predictably, it’s important to describe the shape of it for the reader.
If included, the overview should be concise, direct, and written in the present tense.

Caulfield, 2023
 Article 1. The current study aims to ameliorate these knowledge gaps
and improve understanding of learning games through exploring
individually experienced drivers and barriers of engagement and
learning. To achieve this, a digital board game played online in a
university learning environment is investigated, exploring
engagement and learning experiences during play (Fredricks et al.,
Task 4. What language is 2004; Järvelä et al., 2016; Nkomo, 2021)
In pursuit of these aims, the guiding research question applied is
used to state the purpose “How is engagement and learning experienced in a collaborative
of the articles? How the learning game?”
research questions are
introduced?
Article 2. The purpose of this study is, therefore, to
examine chatbots in education and for this purpose, the
study approaches ChatGPT as a representative case of an
advanced chatbot among early adopters. In this regard,
this study answers the following research question: What
are the concerns of using chatbots, specifically ChatGPT, in
education.
As you write, follow these tips:
• Summarize and synthesize: give an overview of the main points of
each source and combine them into a coherent whole.
• Analyze and interpret: don’t just paraphrase other researchers—add
your own interpretations where possible, discussing the significance
of findings in relation to the literature as a whole.
• Critically evaluate: mention the strengths and weaknesses of your
sources.
• Write in well-structured paragraphs: use transition words and topic
sentences to draw connections, comparisons and contrasts.
McCombes, 2023
Type of transition Examples

Additional comments or additionally; also; moreover; furthermore; again; further; then;

ideas besides; too; similarly; correspondingly; indeed; regarding.

therefore; accordingly; the consequence is; resulting from;

Analysing results consequently; evidence illustrates that; thus; hence; for this reason;
this suggests that; it follows that; that implies;

Emphasising earlier however; nonetheless; furthermore; in the final analysis; despite x;

statements notwithstanding x; in spite of x

Introducing examples for instance; namely; as follows; as exemplified by; including;

especially; particularly; in particular; notably

Re-phrasing in other terms; rather; or; better; in view of this; in contrast

whereas; conversely; in comparison; by contrast; another view is…;

Alternatives
alternatively; although; otherwise

More phrases can be found: Academic writing for Graduate students (p. 225-226)
 References
• Almås, H., Pinkow, F. & Giæver, F. Reimagining how to understand learning game
experiences: a qualitative and exploratory case study. Smart Learn. Environ. 10, 14 (2023).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-023-00234-0
• Caulfield, J. (2023, March 27). Writing a Research Paper Introduction | Step-by-Step
Guide. Scribbr. Retrieved December 18, 2023, from
https://www.scribbr.com/research-paper/research-paper-introduction/
• Hewings, M. & Thaine, C. (2012). Cambridge academic English: An integrated skills course for
EAP, Advanced. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
• McCombes, S. (2023, September 11). How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, &
Templates. Scribbr. Retrieved December 18, 2023, from
https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/literature-review/
• Tlili, A., Shehata, B., Adarkwah, M.A. et al. What if the devil is my guardian angel: ChatGPT
as a case study of using chatbots in education. Smart Learn. Environ. 10, 15 (2023).
https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-023-00237-x