Writing the introduction to an academic paper is challenging. In addition to providing summary details about the paper’s purpose (including motivation), methodology and findings, it also needs to be written in a way appealing to both technical and non-technical readers. The introduction also needs to meet the expectations of the journal in terms of key components (which do vary) and length. Given this, the introduction is often the most re-written aspect of a journal article.
Given this, I was excited to see a recent paper by Huemann and Pesamaa (2022) in the International Journal of Project Management – The first impression counts: The essentials of writing and convincing introduction. In addition to identifying a basic structure to introductions (which do vary from journal to journal) the authors identify the importance of the opening paragraph. This provides the mental model the reader then builds on when reading the rest of the paper. But really, the opening sentence needs to capture the reader from the very beginning.
The authors highlight how little time people spend initially reading academic papers and therefore the importance of the introduction being the ‘hook’ for the reader to continue to read in more detail. A good reminder for us all.
If you are struggling with your introduction, I recommend modelling the structure on a recent paper or two from the target journal in terms of components (by paragraph), language and length. To check your work, I would also recommend using reverse outlines (or bolding the first sentence of each paragraph) to check logic and flow, and then asking a colleague who is unfamiliar with your paper to read through it to see whether it captures their attention.
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