The introduction provides context for your experiment and establishes your objectives and hypotheses. The structure of the introduction can be thought of as an inverted triangle, moving from the most general information down to the specific problem you studied.
- Begin by clearly describing the broad subject area of interest. (e.g., natural selection, competition, etc.) and remember to cite your sources.
- Summarize the current understanding of the problem that you are investigating, using relevant primary research literature.
- Briefly explain your rationale and approach for your study. Here, you often may refer to a gap in knowledge about the topic and how your investigation serves to fill that gap.
- State the purpose of the work/question your are investigating. If you are testing a hypothesis, also state your hypothesis/what you expect to find based on previous studies.
See also Introduction from Bates College
**Note that each discipline within biology may have specific stylistic approaches to paper sections. See Prof. Trapaini’s site for information on writing in neuroscience.