How you begin your study’s introduction often depends on both what you are studying (the seriousness of the topic, its presence in public consciousness) and the research design (review/original paper/theory paper). But there are a few different tried-and-tested ways of grabbing readers’ attention:
1. Giving the latest statistic. This is arguably the most popular way of starting your study. It helps highlight just how important the topic is (e.g., percentage of people with a certain diagnosis or increase in number of people engaging in a particular behavior).
2. Provide context. It often goes hand in hand with statistic, but talks about the larger context of variable (e.g., ‘change in trend from offline to online’ or ‘in recent years, Xyz has gained much attention in the field of Abc’)
3. Introducing/defining variables of interest. This often happens with the central variables of interest in a review paper or theory paper.
4. Provide an example, preferably one which readers are likely to be aware of. You can mention a news item in the first paragraph as part of the setup, as long as it leads into the research problem naturally. For example, if your paper is on teenagers and problematic AI use, you can mention recent surge in instances of AI leading to teen suicide and follow that up with supporting figures.
Call for Papers
Emotion (APA): Bridging the gap between emotion and clinical science (Letter of Intent deadline Aug 31 2026)
Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science (APA): Advancing scientific and clinical understanding of medical assistance in dying (Sept 1 2026)
Psychology of Violence (APA): Risk and resilience of bullying across the globe (Sept 1 2026)
The Journal of Psychology (Taylor & Francis): Psychology in the service of the disabled, the ill and the dying (Sept 30 2026)
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