In academic writing, a useful way to begin your essay or article is to use the "moves" identified by John Swales. Swales researched the structure of introductions found in academic articles and came up with a process of "moves" that enable the introduction to be succinct, well-formatted and clear. Here are some simplified steps to assist you to use this formula.
Step 1 Establish the field in which you are writing
You must state why the field of study is important and move from the general statement to specificities.
Step 2 Summarize related research
At this point you may also introduce reviews of previous research undertaken in the field.
Step 3 Define a research issue in one of four ways:
- Create a "niche" by identifying the gap. The gap refers to an area where little research has been done or maybe none at all. Identify how this is the case by reviewing work done so far in the field and show the ways in which this work has missed the niche you intend to concentrate on; or
- Raise a question. If there is no gap, instead ask a question about the topic you are researching. The answer should be unknown as that is the reason for your argument or research work; or
- Continue developing your own line of inquiry into a topic. Basically, you are building on work that you have already done by introducing new aspects or it or expanding upon it; or
- Counter-claim. Hop right in there and argue! In this approach, you disagree with an existing approach to an issue or field of study and put forward your conflicting approach, theory or claim.
Step 4 Provide the answers
The point of your research is to show your theories and thoughts on solving the problems, gaps or issues that you have identified. The ways of going about this are:
- Outline your objectives. This helps to identify your purpose and will help a reader to follow your argument and make up his or her mind if you achieved the objectives;
- Explain the methodology used to reach your results. Do this succinctly and without details; it is just an explanation to ground the reader in what to expect as he or she reads.
Step 5 Identify the structure of your writing
It is helpful to detail the organizational flow of your work. For example:
- "The article is set out in the following way. Part one discusses the unreliability of XXX. Part two explores the issue of YYY technology relating to XXX in detail. Part three describes a new technique for fixing the unreliability of XXX by changing the parameters of YYY. Part four presents the results of the research in the new field of XXXYYY. Part five shows how the future will be very different."
Step 6 Complete your introduction
Tell how your work contributes to the field and how it will make a difference.
Tips
- Aim for flow that is logical and to keep your introduction as concise and clear as possible. This is especially important where you are under word limits; don't waste your words in the introduction!
- Some academic disciplines and academic journals will have their own variations of this simplified Swalesian introduction; it is important to check the style guides and pronouncements related to your field of writing.
