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The beginning is always the most difficult part of any work. Whether an essay or a thesis, it is always overwhelming to start writing. The same issue relates to research paper writing. Multiple ideas arise in your head as soon as you are assigned the task.
But how do you start a research paper? How to make it engaging and interesting for the readers? How to present your research topic? These are the obvious questions, and we are here to answer them.
So follow on, and after reading the article, you will know every step of starting an introduction for a research paper.
The first thing worth mentioning in this how-to-start-a-research-paper guide is that your research introduction should cover some important points. It should:
The introduction is what hooks the reader and engages him to continue reading. But, at the same time, it should be very informative and well-structured. Making hints, inducing readers to analyze, and arising interest in the topics is what a successful research paper introduction should do. And you can easily make it if you follow the steps presented below.
When wondering about how to start a research paper, the first thing you should present is your topic. But the introduction should not just name the topic. Instead, it should prove that this topic is important in modern discoveries.
As you want to present your topic, you should prepare readers for it. Give them hints but don’t reveal your topic at once. As a hint, there can be a question, statistics, strong evidence, or some piece of information that will force readers to analyze.
In the how to start a research paper question, it is essential to note that the hook should not be necessarily as creative as the title of some social media post. The only requirement for a topic presentation is to justify its relevance.
In every how to start a research paper guide, you will find that there should be a background overview in a research paper introduction. And your approach to its writing will depend on the type of paper you are writing: argumentative or empirical. When writing argumentative research, you need to focus on the general background. In empirical research, you should discuss your research as a work that continues previous works.
As a background description in an argumentative research paper, you can give the general statistics of facts that support your topic. There is no need to go into detail and retell your topic’s history of discoveries and inventions. If you want to provide an in-depth background analysis, place it in the body paragraphs.
The empirical research paper is aimed to create new research in a particular field. Thus, the background should correspond to one or some study that has already been investigated. It is important to base actual research on powerful literature. You are also allowed to do a short literature review in your introduction.
As you think about how to write a research paper problem, mind that your problem should be relevant. It is not about finding some ideas you think you can support in your research paper. Instead, it is about solving the current problem in modern times. Learn how you can form a problem for argumentative and empirical research papers.
It should not cause any difficulty writing a problem for an argumentative research paper. In this case, you can identify the problem based on your preferences. Then, you can choose to discuss something creative or important for you.
If you write an empirical research paper, you should critically think about how your work will fit the investigations that have been conducted before on your topic. Your problem should either continue investigating a particular problem or supplement the problems that have not been covered sufficiently. It is not a place to fantasize about the most creative or attractive problem. The problem in empirical research should be connected with a previous study.
Your research will not be comprehensive if you don’t set the goals. And again, there is a difference in how to start a research paper objective for argumentative and empirical research papers.
The main task of an argumentative research paper is to support a thesis statement set at the beginning. That is to say, the objective here will be the thesis statement. And the task of a writer is to provide strong evidence to support this statement.
In the empirical research paper, you will develop a research paper question. It should be a straightforward question evoking investigation. You can also add hypotheses to your practical research objective. But mind that hypotheses have already been investigated, so they should be written in the past tense.
At the end of your research paper introduction, it is preferable to include a short overview of what you will cover in the next paragraphs. Even though it is not necessary, it will not be superfluous. As you decide to include an overview in your introduction, make it simple and concise. There is no need to describe all the steps of your research.
One sentence with short naming of the structure written in the present time will be enough. And here is how you can finish writing your research paper introduction.
Suppose you think: “How to start a research paper to hook the reader from the first words?” It is time to make it clear. Everything is simple: follow the structure, and your research paper introduction will succeed.
Mind that you have to introduce to your readers the research topic, overview a background, state the problem, write objectives and compose an overview of your research paper. Writing out these essential parts of the research induction will hook the reader and arouse interest in your paper.
Your writing journey begins as soon as you are assigned to write a research paper. And this is an introduction that means a lot. However, in the research paper intro, it is important to obey the rules and include the required information. Firstly, you should reveal the topic to your readers.
Then, you can slightly go to a background overview. You must identify your work’s problems and objectives as you move further. And finally, write the structure overview at the end of your introduction.
It is quite engaging when you intriguingly introduce your topic. When you induce readers to guess the topic they do, it is more memorable than simply naming it. You can reveal a subject through the questions or some statistics. However, try to be serious about that and don’t make it a social media post. A research paper should be written appropriately.
There are two approaches to writing a research paper: in the form of argumentative research and empirical one. Since you write argumentative research, you should make a statement and proceed with supporting it in the body paragraphs.
As for empirical research, it is important to analyze how your work will suit the number of previously written works. That is to say, and your problem should be a continuation or addition of the problem that has already been investigated.