Examples of how to answer the readers' questions in your introduction

In the previous post, we looked at the characteristics of a good introduction to a scientific research article. Good introductions should answer 3-4 questions for the readers (e.g. Zeiger 2000, 107-109; Booth et al. 2003, 224; Swales and Feak 2004, 244; Schultz 2009, 34; Valiela 2009, 139-140; Harmon and Gross 2010, 3-13: Schimel 2012, 35-65):


1) What is the current state of knowledge about your research topic?
     
     1a) Why is this topic important, interesting, or both?
2) What is unknown about your topic? What is a gap in current knowledge, or a problem, or an inconsistency? 

3) How did you attempt to fill the gap, solve the problem, or resolve the inconsistency?

Today we will start to look more closely at the language you can use to answer these questions. To help us do this, I have made a collection of sentences from articles that my students and editing clients have been reading recently.

EXERCISE:
Please sort the following sentences. Does each sentence answer question 1, 1a, 2, or 3? Or does it answer some combination of questions, for example, 1 and 1a? Make a note on a piece of paper as you read each sentence, for example: A – 2, B – …

A) "However, there are no scientific reports comparing the use of these three freely available Excel-based tools for evaluation of the stability of reference genes in Hymenoptera." (Scharlaken et al. 2008)
B) "Analyzing the thermal balance with a range of aeration rates would thus prove useful in designing and operating a composting system efficiently and controlling heat loss." (Ahn et al. 2007)
C) "In column leaching processes, kinetics of HM [heavy metal] desorption/dissolution may become a more important factor than under batch extraction conditions; yet few studies have addressed this aspect." (Sun et al. 2001)
D) "In this study, we carried out an intensive evaluation of 10 commonly used housekeeping genes in 13 different human tissues, and outlined a procedure for calculating a normalization factor based on multiple control genes for more accurate and reliable normalization of gene-expression date." (Vandesompele et al. 2002)
E) "Investigations of optimal operational factors and proper control of the composting process have been reported by several researchers, but studies investigating the thermal balance of this process are rare." (Ahn et al. 2007)
F) "Most studies have been conducted in small samples of women and few have compared the upper genital tract frequency of nongonococcal/non-chlamydial microorganisms between women with and those without endometritis or salpingitis." (Haggerty et al. 2004)
G) "Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), the infection and inflammation of a woman's fallopian tubes (salpingitis) and uterine lining (endometritis), is a frequent and morbid condition among young women." (Haggerty et al. 2004)
H) "Preterm birth (PTB), defined as delivery at less than 37 weeks of gestation, continues to be one of the major unsolved problems in obstetrics." (Stout et al. 2013)
I) "The present study was carried out to examine the mass and energy balance under two different aeration rates, which were set to maintain oxygen levels in exhaust air above 10 and 15%." (Ahn et al. 2007)
J) "The aim of the present study was to investigate the efficiency of EDTA extraction of Zn, Cd, Cu and Pb." (Sun et al. 2001)
K) "Previous researchers recommended a variety of aeration rate ranges to optimize the composting process." (Ahn et al. 2007)
L) "Statistical algorithms such as geNorm, Normfinder, and BestKeeper have been developed to assess the appropriateness of reference genes." (Scharlaken et al. 2008)
M) "The aims of this study were to monitor bioavailability and toxicity from a range of Cu- and Ni- amended soils by measuring the activity of a bioluminescent microbial biosensor Escherichia coli HB101 pUCD607." (Maderova et al. 2010)
N) "The use of artificial media and amended soils in ecotoxicity studies remains a subject of debate." (Maderova et al. 2010)
O) "We tested the hypotheses that bacterial vaginosis and bacterial vaginosis-associated microorganisms are independently associated with endometritis in the PID [pelvic inflammatory disease] Evaluation and Clinical Health (PEACH) Study, a multicenter randomized clinical trial designed to compare the effectiveness of inpatient and outpatient treatment for mild to moderate PID." (Haggerty et al. 2004)


Keep reading to find the answers.

Question 1
K) "Previous researchers recommended a variety of aeration rate ranges to optimize the composting process." (Ahn et al. 2007)
L) "Statistical algorithms such as geNorm, Normfinder, and BestKeeper have been developed to assess the appropriateness of reference genes." (Scharlaken et al. 2008)

Questions 1 and 1a
G) "Pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), the infection and inflammation of a woman's fallopian tubes (salpingitis) and uterine lining (endometritis), is a frequent and morbid condition among young women. (Haggerty et al. 2004)
[Question 1 because we learn what PID is. Question 1a because it is a frequent condition.]

Questions 1, 1a and 2
H) "Preterm birth (PTB), defined as delivery at less than 37 weeks of gestation, continues to be one of the major unsolved problems in obstetrics." (Stout et al. 2013)
[This was the first sentence from the article by Stout et al. It is an excellent beginning, because it helps to answer three questions for the reader. In addition to giving general information about PTB (its definition), it interests the readers. They are interested because this is a major problem (therefore, it is important), and it is unsolved (which helps make them feel curious about what is unknown).]

Questions 1a and 2
B) "Analyzing the thermal balance with a range of aeration rates would thus prove useful in designing and operating a composting system efficiently and controlling heat loss." (Ahn et al. 2007)
[Question 1a because it would be useful. Question 2, because it has not been done yet.]

Question 2
A) "However, there are no scientific reports comparing the use of these three freely available Excel-based tools for evaluation of the stability of reference genes in Hymenoptera." (Scharlaken et al. 2008)
C) "In column leaching processes, kinetics of HM [heavy metal] desorption/dissolution may become a more important factor than under batch extraction conditions; yet few studies have addressed this aspect." (Sun et al. 2001)
E) "Investigations of optimal operational factors and proper control of the composting process have been reported by several researchers, but studies investigating the thermal balance of this process are rare." (Ahn et al. 2007)
F) "Most studies have been conducted in small samples of women and few have compared the upper genital tract frequency of nongonococcal/non-chlamydial microorganisms between women with and those without endometritis or salpingitis." (Haggerty et al. 2004)
N) "The use of artificial media and amended soils in ecotoxicity studies remains a subject of debate." (Maderova et al. 2010)

Question 3
D) "In this study, we carried out an intensive evaluation of 10 commonly used housekeeping genes in 13 different human tissues, and outlined a procedure for calculating a normalization factor based on multiple control genes for more accurate and reliable normalization of gene-expression date." (Vandesompele et al. 2002)
I) "The present study was carried out to examine the mass and energy balance under two different aeration rates, which were set to maintain oxygen levels in exhaust air above 10 and 15%." (Ahn et al. 2007)
J) "The aim of the present study was to investigate the efficiency of EDTA extraction of Zn, Cd, Cu and Pb." (Sun et al. 2001)
M) "The aims of this study were to monitor bioavailability and toxicity from an range of Cu- and Ni- amended soils by measuring the activity of a bioluminescent microbial biosensor Escherichia coli HB101 p UCD607." (Maderova et al. 2010)
O) "We tested the hypotheses that bacterial vaginosis and bacterial vaginosis-related compounds are independently associated with endometritis in the PID [pelvic inflammatory disease] Evaluation and Clinical Health (PEACH) Study, a multicenter randomized clinical trial designed to compare the effectiveness of inpatient and outpatient treatment for mild to moderate PID." (Haggerty et al. 2004)

Have you started to notice some patterns in the language used in these sentences? Good! In my next post, we will look at some of these patterns, and you will learn some useful grammar and words that you can use to organize and present your ideas.

SOURCES
Ahn, H. K., T. L. Richard, and H. L. Choi. "Mass and thermal balance during composting of a poultry manure—Wood shavings mixture at different aeration rates." Process Biochemistry 42 (2007): 215-223.
Haggerty, Catherine L., Sharon L. Hillier, Debra C. Bass, and Roberta B. Ness. "Bacterial vaginosis and anaerobic bacteria are associated with endometritis." Clinical Infectious Diseases 39, no. 7 (2004): 990-995.
Maderova, Lenka, Julian JC Dawson, and Graeme I. Paton. "Cu and Ni mobility and bioavailability in sequentially conditioned soils." Water, Air, & Soil Pollution 210, (2010): 63-73.
Scharlaken, Bieke, Dirk C. de Graaf, Karen Goossens, Marleen Brunain, Luc J. Peelman, and Frans J. Jacobs. "Reference gene selection for insect expression studies using quantitative real-time PCR: The head of the honeybee, Apis mellifera, after a bacterial challenge." Journal of insect Science 8 (2008), available online: insectscience.org/8.33
Stout, M. J., K. R. Goetzinger, M. G. Tuuli, A. G. Cahill, G. A. Macones, and A. O. Odibo. "First trimester serum analytes, maternal characteristics and ultrasound markers to predict pregnancies at risk for preterm birth." Placenta 34 (2013): 14-19.
Vandesompele, Jo, Katleen De Preter, Filip Pattyn, Bruce Poppe, Nadine Van Roy, Anne De Paepe, and Frank Speleman. "Accurate normalization of real-time quantitative RT-PCR data by geometric averaging of multiple internal control genes." Genome biology 3, no. 7 (2002): research 0034.1–0034.11
Sun, B., F. J. Zhao, E. Lombi, and S. P. McGrath. "Leaching of heavy metals from contaminated soils using EDTA." Environmental pollution 113, no. 2 (2001): 111-120.

REFERENCES:
Booth, Wayne C., Gregory G. Colomb, and Joseph M. Williams. The craft of research. University of Chicago Press, 2003.
Harmon, Joseph E., and Alan G. Gross. The craft of scientific communication. University of Chicago Press, 2010.
Schimel, Joshua. Writing science: how to write papers that get cited and proposals that get funded. Oxford University Press, 2012.
Schultz, David M. Eloquent Science: A practical guide to becoming a better writer, speaker & atmospheric scientist. American Meteorological Society, 2009.
Swales, John M. and Christine B. Feak. Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential Tasks and Skills. The University of Michigan Press, 2004.
Valiela, Ivan. Doing Science: Design, Analysis, and Communication of Scientific Research. Oxford University Press, 2009.
Zeiger, Mimi. Essentials of writing biomedical research papers. McGraw-Hill, 2000.