3 Easy Tips for Writing an Amazing Introduction in a Scientific Manuscript

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: It doesn’t matter how important your scientific paper is if nobody reads it.

Like any other piece of writing, a scientific manuscript needs to be compelling and grab the reader quickly if you want them to read the rest. The most immediate way to grip an audience is a strong, descriptive title, is followed by an engaging abstract, which gives a better idea of the topic and findings. But what will compel a reader to stick with your paper is an awesome introduction.

Unlike titles and abstracts, introductions are not subject to the same tight word constraints. Introductions are the perfect place to invest your reader in the subject matter and believe in your manuscript’s value. Drafting an introduction might feel like a trivial part of the process, but using these tips will make that section as efficient and effective as possible.

Start Big and Narrow Down

I’ve heard English teachers use a pretty standard idea to imagine paragraphs as upside-down pyramids, or more aptly, as funnels. From beginning to end, you sharpen the focus from more general to highly specific; this is how the introduction should function in your scientific paper. You are taking your topic and placing it in the larger landscape of the topic. How broad you start will depend on your intended audience (the lay public or leading experts in the field will need different levels of explanation); however, the critical takeaway is to lead with the big picture.

For example, say I was studying the effect of a treatment for a specific kind of cancer. I would likely lead with an overview of that cancer’s nature and behavior, covering things like prevalence, aggression, and operability. With that background, I could then discuss treatment techniques and the benefits and limitations of each. From there, I can address the actual study. Just from that description, you can see a clear line from the general to the specific.

Keep it Relevant and Stay on Topic

Now I know I just said to start generally, but be aware that there are limits to generality; you need to know your audience and be as general as necessary. This is particularly true if your target journal has a word count for the introduction. Make every word count by staying relevant and staying focused. You don’t need to give a complete explanation of the manuscript topic, just the most significant aspects or history of the subject. An overly long introduction can fatigue the reader, leading them to abandon your paper before getting to the critical part.

Let’s go back to the previous example, but this time we’re talking about what I might avoid. Explaining what cancer is, in general, would likely be too broad a place to start. If the reader sought out my paper, chances are they already understand what cancer is and don’t need a detailed description. Likewise, going into an entire history of cancer treatment, even if it is relevant to my study, probably isn’t necessary. I should only talk about the cancer I’m focusing on and only discuss currently utilized treatments.

Establish Your Rationale, Significance, and Hypothesis

Now that we’ve covered writing the background in an introduction, it’s time to look at the actual study in question and why it matters. This function of the introduction is perhaps the most important, and it’s easy to overlook. It justifies to the reader why the study is essential and why you performed it; this is a natural extension of the upside-down pyramid from before. Applying this to our example, this would be the part after describing current techniques. I would describe the rationale for my new approach, describe my expectations from the study, and explain how this fills a gap in current knowledge.

An excellent place to start when writing this portion of the introduction is to ask the following questions:

• What is known in this field, and what is lacking?
• What gaps does this study address?
• What behavior did we expect to see?
• How was this behavior examined?

All of this leads to the hypothesis and how you tested it; this gives the reader context and direction while reading the rest of the study, keeping them engaged and on-track. One elegant way to connect these final sections is to break them into two sentences: the study’s objective and the action taken to reach that objective; this creates a strong connection between the gap filled by the study, the hypothesis, and the testing of that hypothesis. Here are some examples of that format:

• “To confirm this assumption, we studied…”
• “To assess whether x performed better than y, we..”
• “To form a better understanding of problem area z, we…”

From these three tips, you should understand the essential structure and purpose of an introduction section in a scientific paper and the best writing practices. Start with relevant background, define the field of study, and explain your paper’s contribution. Naturally, every paper will be different and catering to a particular audience, but the basics remain the same. Use these tips to improve your introductions in scientific manuscripts and engage your audience to read to the end.

To learn more about crafting an effective and engaging scientific paper, contact me.