Research articles: Analysis of the introduction section

Writing in the academic world requires composing skills in order to follow standard conventions for the presentation of pieces of work in a field of study. These requirements help to shape the structure of academic papers. The Introduction section outstands as an important component since it not only attracts the reader’s attention (Swales & Feak, 1994, cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010) but it describes the problem the article addresses.
The purpose of this paper is to analyze the main features in the Introduction section of a medicine research article within the parameters set by Swales and Feak’s (1994) description of introductions (cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010) and the academic style guidelines in the American Psychological Association manual (APA guidelines 2010).
Swales and Feak (1994, cited in Pintos & Crimi, 2010) outlined that the structure of introductions follow an organizational pattern that involves three main moves: Move 1, setting the area of research within a theoretical context; Move 2, indicating the present area of exploration/study and Move 3, describing the aims of the study.
For example, the article analyzed fulfills some of the requirements of Move 1 pattern, present perfect tense seems to indicate the writer’s intention to focus on the contemporary relevance of the present study; i.e.: “Comprehensive systematic reviews (…) have estimated that mammography reduces breast cancer mortality by 15-16%” (Jorgensen, Zahl, & Gotzsche, 2010). A sense of detachment appears to be conveyed by the use of impersonal language.
It can also be observed the use of numerals to introduce raw data corresponding to previous research information, which signals that the literature review is also “embedded in Move 1” (Pintos & Crimi, 2010, p.30). Conceivably, the choice of passive voice instead of past tenses suggests the purpose to compose the manuscript using a scientific discursive style. More information is presented via the insertion of a connector.
Move 2 is indicated by a contrastive connector “However, there are (…) about this result” (Jorgensen et al, 2010) which links the problem posed and the literature review with Move 3. This statement focuses on the most interesting part of the Introduction section since it expresses the author’s concern for the study developed and challenges further reading.
Also, listing connectors have been used to complete the description of the data collected up to the present study. Use of numerals is not always consistent, for some numbers have been written in letters. Use of hyphenation can be noted too. The pattern for in-text citations does seems to follow APA guidelines (2010) but a different format, perhaps one that can be adopted by researchers in the medicine field.
Move 3 evidences the purpose of the study in a non-standard pattern; i.e.: “We hypothesized that (…)” (Jorgensen et al, 2010). This can be regarded as a purposive move (Pintos & Crimi, 2009) because it possibly mentions the general aim of the researchers. However, it does not employ present or past tenses, as required in Swales and Feak’s (1994) description, but present perfect tense to suggest that the conclusions of the study provided negative results.
All in all, the article has been analyzed under the guidelines followed for education papers. As Jorgensen et al’s (2010) paper, in particular, belongs to the medicine field some differences have been encountered. For example, the presentation of data embedded in the literature review looks like supporting the authors’ arguments. The fact that sources have been acknowledged differently indicates a different ruling convention to cite sources. The choice of tenses in the moves indicates the authors’ distinct discursive intention and academic style.






References
Jorgensen, K. J., Zahl, P.H., & Gotzsche, P.C. (2010). Breast cancer mortality in organised mammography screening in Denmark: Comparative study. British Medical Journal, 340 (c1241), 1-6. doi: 10.1136/bmj.c1241
Pintos, V., & Crimi, Y. (2009). Unit 2: The Research Article: Introduction, Literature Review and Methods Section. Universidad CAECE: Buenos Aires, Argentina. Retrieved April 3, 2010 from: http://caece.campusuniversidad.com.ar/mod/resource/view.php?id=4691
Purdue University Online Writing Lab (OWL) (2010). In text citations: the basics. Retrieved May 22, 2010 from http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/560/01/

(ESP mid-term test)