引言写法及审稿

科研论文引言部分的“公式化”写法

良好的开头是成功的一半。如果能写好引言部分，作者对于审稿人来说就有置信度（credibility）和好的第一印象；而如果引言部分没有写好，整篇文章都会被拖累。

写引言部分的核心目的和基本功能（底线）是向读者和审稿人说清楚“我为什么要做这个研究”，能够自圆其说。而为了达到这个目的，有一个“基本公式”：

首先说这个课题引起广泛兴趣，有重要的理论和应用价值；

其次说谁谁谁做了什么，他们发现了什么，但是什么什么还不清楚，效果还不理想。

再次说有鉴于存在的问题，我们在本文中用了什么方法做了什么，得到什么结果。

老练的作者写引言部分都是按照这个思路去写的，用三、四段话就能把引言部分给构建好，每一段话功能突出、点到为止。相反，不老练的作者写引言部分显得没有章法，沿着“意识流”，想到什么地方说到什么地方，每一段话没有功能也没有结构。为什么有的文章眉毛胡子一把抓？为什么有的文章读也读不懂？是因为根本就没有按照“公式”去写！

也许有的人会说我误导研究生，但是事实上这种对科研写作有益的“八股文”被写进正宗教科书呢！2008年牛津大学出版社出版了一本Write Like a Chemist，里面说到表演喜剧、电视里面做卖车的广告，都是有一定套路的，不按照套路出牌就吸引不了观众，就没有人来看戏、买车。同理，书中介绍了写引言部分的“公式”：

1. Introduce the Research Area

1.1. Identify the research area

1.2. Establish the importance of the research area

1.3. Provide essential background information about the research area

2. Identify a Gap (or Gaps)

3. Fill the Gap

3.1. Introduce the current work

3.2. Preview key findings of the current work (optional)

The first move, with three submoves, has the broad purpose of describing the general resarch area. Submove 1.1 identifies the research topic, and submove 1.2 stresses its importance. Together, these two submoves are frequently accomplished in the first few sentences of the paper. Note that only the general topic is mentioned

at this point, not the specific work that is presented in the paper. Submove 1.3 is where authors summarize essential works in the field and situate the current work in its appropriate context. This submove does not provide an exhaustive review of the literature but rather includes "sound bites" that alert readers to works that critically influenced the current work or led to fundamental knowledge in the field. The entire move is usually accomplished in a few paragraphs, with most attention devoted to submove 1.3. All three submoves are strengthened by citations to the literature. Works by other authors are cited as well as previous, relevant works by the current authors.

The second move in the Introduction section (Identify a Gap) shifts the reader's attention from what has been done (or learned or understood) to what still needs to be done (or learned or understood). The essence of this move is capyured in the sentence, "Although much is known about X, little is known about Y." Of course, to correctly identify a gap, the authors must have throughly reviewed the literature; hence, cotations to the literature are common in this move, too.

After a gap has been identified, the third and final move of the Introduction section is to fill the gap. This move typically comprises a short paragraph at the end of the Introduction and begins with a phrase like "In this paper, we..." At last, the authors can refer to the current work, and many use the personal pronoun we to accomplish this task. The authors give a short description of the current work (typically a few sentences), highlighting how the work fills the identified gas (submove 3.1). The Introduction can end here, or the authors can elect to preview their principal findings (submove 3.2). If the authors do the latter, care must be taken not to repeat sentences verbatim that appear elsewhere in the paper.

以上说了写引言的“基本公式”。结合我自己的体会，写引言部分的注意事项为：

1. 引言结构如“倒金字塔”，即从一个“宽泛的研究领域”到一个“本文要做的特定的东西”。结构不能颠倒，而且“倒金字塔”的“基底”不能无限宽广，即：不能从漫无边际的地方说起。比如写催化科研论文，如果有的人首先介绍说：“催化在国民生产中多么多么重要，80%的化工流程都有赖于催化。氧化在催化中很重要。选择氧化在氧化中很重要。使用空气作为氧化剂的选择氧化很重要。使用无毒催化剂的空气选择氧化很重要。”，那么这样引言的开场白就扯得太远了，没有直奔主题。