Introduction. The introduction gives the general context of the research, to answer questions like:
What is this research about?
Who is it by?
Why was it done?
How did it originate?
Who is it for?
While some people read only the title and some only the abstract, many use the introduction to decide whether to read on. The introduction is like a “business plan”, that presents a case to the reader that this paper is worth reading. The introductory parts of a research paper include the following:
- Title. The name of the research.
- Author(s). Who carried out the research.
- Abstract. A brief summary of the whole paper.
- Topic. The research topic area and its background history.
- Purpose. The research purpose and the problem it addresses.
- Research Contribution. How the research adds value to what exists already.
- Target Audience. The target audience for this publication.
- Publication Type. The publication type tells the reader the paper’s structure.
To repeat, the above are not required headings, nor is the order critical. They are just what an introduction usually covers.