A good introduction of a research paper must have a general statement, research description, and problem statement. We have prepared tips on how to write a general statement for the introduction in the previous post. Now we want to continue to the next subsection of the introduction, which is the research description.
In brief, the research description is a mini-review of a specific research field. It has to be specific because the general information was included in the earlier subsection (general statement). Let’s continue with the research title we prepared in the previous post;
“Kinetic Study of the enzyme-catalyzed reaction in the deep eutectic solvents”
State niche of research in the research description
For start we can state the niche or the context of research. Use the title as guide. For example;
“The kinetic behaviour of enzyme-catalyzed reaction in the deep eutectic solvent has not widely established.”
Write a mini-review
Afterward, you can start writing a mini-review on the topic. It could be about the finding from the past or the ongoing research. You could add a comparison based review as well. On top of that, you could include issues raised by the previous researchers and how to overcome them. If you be able to provide your own opinion and support the previous finding with a hypothesis or fact, it even better. Because it reflects your competency in the field. For example;
“To date, enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis and transesterification reaction in deep eutectic solvent have been investigated. According to the report, the kinetic behavior of the reaction is depending on the origin of the enzyme. This is expected as the unit activity of enzymes are differ depending on the type of enzyme used. It also found that the value of Michaelis constant for hydrolysis reaction is lower than the transesterification reaction. This behavior may indicate a deep eutectic solvent to be a suitable solvent for an enzyme-catalyzed hydrolysis reaction. However, the further study still required to confirm this claim.”
“Regardless, the kinetic performance was not better than a reaction in an organic or aqueous phase. The possible reason is due to the viscosity of the deep eutectic solvent. In a separate investigation on the properties of the deep eutectic solvents, most of them were found to be highly viscous. Lower viscosity is required for a solvent to allow a better mass transfer or molecules movement within the media. Especially during the reaction and separation processes.”
Make sure the research description is coherent
Remember to keep the review closely related to your title, keywords, or keyphrases. This practice shall make your introduction coherent and fluid. Then, separate the paragraph based on the topic reviewed. Importantly, use the linking sentence between the paragraph. The above example is separated into two paragraphs; the first paragraph is about the “kinetic” whereas the second paragraph is about “viscosity”. As can be noticed “Regardless, the kinetic performance was not better than a reaction in organic or aqueous phase” is used as a linking sentence between the first and second paragraphs. This sentence gives clues on the next topic while retaining some keyword from the previous paragraph. As a result, your research description is in unity.