introduction for the research paper

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How to Write a Research Paper Introduction (with Examples)

The research paper introduction section, along with the Title and Abstract, can be considered the face of any research paper. The following article is intended to guide you in organizing and writing the research paper introduction for a quality academic article or dissertation.

The research paper introduction aims to present the topic to the reader. A study will only be accepted for publishing if you can ascertain that the available literature cannot answer your research question. So it is important to ensure that you have read important studies on that particular topic, especially those within the last five to ten years, and that they are properly referenced in this section. 1 What should be included in the research paper introduction is decided by what you want to tell readers about the reason behind the research and how you plan to fill the knowledge gap. The best research paper introduction provides a systemic review of existing work and demonstrates additional work that needs to be done. It needs to be brief, captivating, and well-referenced; a well-drafted research paper introduction will help the researcher win half the battle.

The introduction for a research paper is where you set up your topic and approach for the reader. It has several key goals:

• Present your research topic
• Capture reader interest
• Summarize existing research
• Position your own approach
• Define your specific research problem and problem statement
• Highlight the novelty and contributions of the study
• Give an overview of the paper’s structure

The research paper introduction can vary in size and structure depending on whether your paper presents the results of original empirical research or is a review paper. Some research paper introduction examples are only half a page while others are a few pages long. In many cases, the introduction will be shorter than all of the other sections of your paper; its length depends on the size of your paper as a whole.

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Table of Contents

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The introduction in a research paper is placed at the beginning to guide the reader from a broad subject area to the specific topic that your research addresses. They present the following information to the reader

• Scope: The topic covered in the research paper
• Context: Background of your topic
• Importance: Why your research matters in that particular area of research and the industry problem that can be targeted

The research paper introduction conveys a lot of information and can be considered an essential roadmap for the rest of your paper. A good introduction for a research paper is important for the following reasons:

• It stimulates your reader’s interest: A good introduction section can make your readers want to read your paper by capturing their interest. It informs the reader what they are going to learn and helps determine if the topic is of interest to them.
• It helps the reader understand the research background: Without a clear introduction, your readers may feel confused and even struggle when reading your paper. A good research paper introduction will prepare them for the in-depth research to come. It provides you the opportunity to engage with the readers and demonstrate your knowledge and authority on the specific topic.
• It explains why your research paper is worth reading: Your introduction can convey a lot of information to your readers. It introduces the topic, why the topic is important, and how you plan to proceed with your research.
• It helps guide the reader through the rest of the paper: The research paper introduction gives the reader a sense of the nature of the information that will support your arguments and the general organization of the paragraphs that will follow. It offers an overview of what to expect when reading the main body of your paper.

What are the parts of introduction in the research?

A good research paper introduction section should comprise three main elements: 2

• What is known: This sets the stage for your research. It informs the readers of what is known on the subject.
• What is lacking: This is aimed at justifying the reason for carrying out your research. This could involve investigating a new concept or method or building upon previous research.
• What you aim to do: This part briefly states the objectives of your research and its major contributions. Your detailed hypothesis will also form a part of this section.

How to write a research paper introduction?

The first step in writing the research paper introduction is to inform the reader what your topic is and why it’s interesting or important. This is generally accomplished with a strong opening statement. The second step involves establishing the kinds of research that have been done and ending with limitations or gaps in the research that you intend to address. Finally, the research paper introduction clarifies how your own research fits in and what problem it addresses. If your research involved testing hypotheses, these should be stated along with your research question. The hypothesis should be presented in the past tense since it will have been tested by the time you are writing the research paper introduction.

The following key points, with examples, can guide you when writing the research paper introduction section:

• Highlight the importance of the research field or topic
• Describe the background of the topic
• Present an overview of current research on the topic

Example: The inclusion of experiential and competency-based learning has benefitted electronics engineering education. Industry partnerships provide an excellent alternative for students wanting to engage in solving real-world challenges. Industry-academia participation has grown in recent years due to the need for skilled engineers with practical training and specialized expertise. However, from the educational perspective, many activities are needed to incorporate sustainable development goals into the university curricula and consolidate learning innovation in universities.

• Reveal a gap in existing research or oppose an existing assumption
• Formulate the research question

Example: There have been plausible efforts to integrate educational activities in higher education electronics engineering programs. However, very few studies have considered using educational research methods for performance evaluation of competency-based higher engineering education, with a focus on technical and or transversal skills. To remedy the current need for evaluating competencies in STEM fields and providing sustainable development goals in engineering education, in this study, a comparison was drawn between study groups without and with industry partners.

• State the purpose of your study
• Highlight the key characteristics of your study
• Describe important results
• Highlight the novelty of the study.
• Offer a brief overview of the structure of the paper.

Example: The study evaluates the main competency needed in the applied electronics course, which is a fundamental core subject for many electronics engineering undergraduate programs. We compared two groups, without and with an industrial partner, that offered real-world projects to solve during the semester. This comparison can help determine significant differences in both groups in terms of developing subject competency and achieving sustainable development goals.

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You can use the same process to develop each section of your article, and finally your research paper in half the time and without any of the stress.

The purpose of the research paper introduction is to introduce the reader to the problem definition, justify the need for the study, and describe the main theme of the study. The aim is to gain the reader’s attention by providing them with necessary background information and establishing the main purpose and direction of the research.

The length of the research paper introduction can vary across journals and disciplines. While there are no strict word limits for writing the research paper introduction, an ideal length would be one page, with a maximum of 400 words over 1-4 paragraphs. Generally, it is one of the shorter sections of the paper as the reader is assumed to have at least a reasonable knowledge about the topic. 2 For example, for a study evaluating the role of building design in ensuring fire safety, there is no need to discuss definitions and nature of fire in the introduction; you could start by commenting upon the existing practices for fire safety and how your study will add to the existing knowledge and practice.

When deciding what to include in the research paper introduction, the rest of the paper should also be considered. The aim is to introduce the reader smoothly to the topic and facilitate an easy read without much dependency on external sources. 3 Below is a list of elements you can include to prepare a research paper introduction outline and follow it when you are writing the research paper introduction. Topic introduction: This can include key definitions and a brief history of the topic. Research context and background: Offer the readers some general information and then narrow it down to specific aspects. Details of the research you conducted: A brief literature review can be included to support your arguments or line of thought. Rationale for the study: This establishes the relevance of your study and establishes its importance. Importance of your research: The main contributions are highlighted to help establish the novelty of your study Research hypothesis: Introduce your research question and propose an expected outcome. Organization of the paper: Include a short paragraph of 3-4 sentences that highlights your plan for the entire paper

Cite only works that are most relevant to your topic; as a general rule, you can include one to three. Note that readers want to see evidence of original thinking. So it is better to avoid using too many references as it does not leave much room for your personal standpoint to shine through. Citations in your research paper introduction support the key points, and the number of citations depend on the subject matter and the point discussed. If the research paper introduction is too long or overflowing with citations, it is better to cite a few review articles rather than the individual articles summarized in the review. A good point to remember when citing research papers in the introduction section is to include at least one-third of the references in the introduction.

The literature review plays a significant role in the research paper introduction section. A good literature review accomplishes the following: Introduces the topic – Establishes the study’s significance – Provides an overview of the relevant literature – Provides context for the study using literature – Identifies knowledge gaps However, remember to avoid making the following mistakes when writing a research paper introduction: Do not use studies from the literature review to aggressively support your research Avoid direct quoting Do not allow literature review to be the focus of this section. Instead, the literature review should only aid in setting a foundation for the manuscript.

Remember the following key points for writing a good research paper introduction: 4

• Avoid stuffing too much general information: Avoid including what an average reader would know and include only that information related to the problem being addressed in the research paper introduction. For example, when describing a comparative study of non-traditional methods for mechanical design optimization, information related to the traditional methods and differences between traditional and non-traditional methods would not be relevant. In this case, the introduction for the research paper should begin with the state-of-the-art non-traditional methods and methods to evaluate the efficiency of newly developed algorithms.
• Avoid packing too many references: Cite only the required works in your research paper introduction. The other works can be included in the discussion section to strengthen your findings.
• Avoid extensive criticism of previous studies: Avoid being overly critical of earlier studies while setting the rationale for your study. A better place for this would be the Discussion section, where you can highlight the advantages of your method.
• Avoid describing conclusions of the study: When writing a research paper introduction remember not to include the findings of your study. The aim is to let the readers know what question is being answered. The actual answer should only be given in the Results and Discussion section.

To summarize, the research paper introduction section should be brief yet informative. It should convince the reader the need to conduct the study and motivate him to read further. If you’re feeling stuck or unsure, choose trusted AI academic writing assistants like Paperpal to effortlessly craft your research paper introduction and other sections of your research article.

1. Jawaid, S. A., & Jawaid, M. (2019). How to write introduction and discussion. Saudi Journal of Anaesthesia, 13(Suppl 1), S18.

2. Dewan, P., & Gupta, P. (2016). Writing the title, abstract and introduction: Looks matter!. Indian pediatrics, 53, 235-241.

3. Cetin, S., & Hackam, D. J. (2005). An approach to the writing of a scientific Manuscript1. Journal of Surgical Research, 128(2), 165-167.

4. Bavdekar, S. B. (2015). Writing introduction: Laying the foundations of a research paper. Journal of the Association of Physicians of India, 63(7), 44-6.

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• USC Libraries
• Research Guides

Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper

• 4. The Introduction
• Purpose of Guide
• Design Flaws to Avoid
• Independent and Dependent Variables
• Glossary of Research Terms
• Reading Research Effectively
• Narrowing a Topic Idea
• Broadening a Topic Idea
• Extending the Timeliness of a Topic Idea
• Academic Writing Style
• Applying Critical Thinking
• Choosing a Title
• Making an Outline
• Paragraph Development
• Research Process Video Series
• Executive Summary
• The C.A.R.S. Model
• Background Information
• The Research Problem/Question
• Theoretical Framework
• Citation Tracking
• Content Alert Services
• Evaluating Sources
• Primary Sources
• Secondary Sources
• Tiertiary Sources
• Scholarly vs. Popular Publications
• Qualitative Methods
• Quantitative Methods
• Insiderness
• Using Non-Textual Elements
• Limitations of the Study
• Common Grammar Mistakes
• Writing Concisely
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Footnotes or Endnotes?
• Further Readings
• Generative AI and Writing
• USC Libraries Tutorials and Other Guides
• Bibliography

The introduction leads the reader from a general subject area to a particular topic of inquiry. It establishes the scope, context, and significance of the research being conducted by summarizing current understanding and background information about the topic, stating the purpose of the work in the form of the research problem supported by a hypothesis or a set of questions, explaining briefly the methodological approach used to examine the research problem, highlighting the potential outcomes your study can reveal, and outlining the remaining structure and organization of the paper.

Key Elements of the Research Proposal. Prepared under the direction of the Superintendent and by the 2010 Curriculum Design and Writing Team. Baltimore County Public Schools.

Importance of a Good Introduction

Think of the introduction as a mental road map that must answer for the reader these four questions:

• What was I studying?
• Why was this topic important to investigate?
• What did we know about this topic before I did this study?
• How will this study advance new knowledge or new ways of understanding?

According to Reyes, there are three overarching goals of a good introduction: 1) ensure that you summarize prior studies about the topic in a manner that lays a foundation for understanding the research problem; 2) explain how your study specifically addresses gaps in the literature, insufficient consideration of the topic, or other deficiency in the literature; and, 3) note the broader theoretical, empirical, and/or policy contributions and implications of your research.

A well-written introduction is important because, quite simply, you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. The opening paragraphs of your paper will provide your readers with their initial impressions about the logic of your argument, your writing style, the overall quality of your research, and, ultimately, the validity of your findings and conclusions. A vague, disorganized, or error-filled introduction will create a negative impression, whereas, a concise, engaging, and well-written introduction will lead your readers to think highly of your analytical skills, your writing style, and your research approach. All introductions should conclude with a brief paragraph that describes the organization of the rest of the paper.

Hirano, Eliana. “Research Article Introductions in English for Specific Purposes: A Comparison between Brazilian, Portuguese, and English.” English for Specific Purposes 28 (October 2009): 240-250; Samraj, B. “Introductions in Research Articles: Variations Across Disciplines.” English for Specific Purposes 21 (2002): 1–17; Introductions. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; “Writing Introductions.” In Good Essay Writing: A Social Sciences Guide. Peter Redman. 4th edition. (London: Sage, 2011), pp. 63-70; Reyes, Victoria. Demystifying the Journal Article. Inside Higher Education.

Structure and Writing Style

I.  Structure and Approach

The introduction is the broad beginning of the paper that answers three important questions for the reader:

• What is this?
• Why should I read it?
• What do you want me to think about / consider doing / react to?

Think of the structure of the introduction as an inverted triangle of information that lays a foundation for understanding the research problem. Organize the information so as to present the more general aspects of the topic early in the introduction, then narrow your analysis to more specific topical information that provides context, finally arriving at your research problem and the rationale for studying it [often written as a series of key questions to be addressed or framed as a hypothesis or set of assumptions to be tested] and, whenever possible, a description of the potential outcomes your study can reveal.

These are general phases associated with writing an introduction: 1.  Establish an area to research by:

• Highlighting the importance of the topic, and/or
• Making general statements about the topic, and/or
• Presenting an overview on current research on the subject.

2.  Identify a research niche by:

• Opposing an existing assumption, and/or
• Revealing a gap in existing research, and/or
• Formulating a research question or problem, and/or
• Continuing a disciplinary tradition.

3.  Place your research within the research niche by:

• Stating the intent of your study,
• Outlining the key characteristics of your study,
• Describing important results, and
• Giving a brief overview of the structure of the paper.

NOTE:   It is often useful to review the introduction late in the writing process. This is appropriate because outcomes are unknown until you've completed the study. After you complete writing the body of the paper, go back and review introductory descriptions of the structure of the paper, the method of data gathering, the reporting and analysis of results, and the conclusion. Reviewing and, if necessary, rewriting the introduction ensures that it correctly matches the overall structure of your final paper.

II.  Delimitations of the Study

Delimitations refer to those characteristics that limit the scope and define the conceptual boundaries of your research . This is determined by the conscious exclusionary and inclusionary decisions you make about how to investigate the research problem. In other words, not only should you tell the reader what it is you are studying and why, but you must also acknowledge why you rejected alternative approaches that could have been used to examine the topic.

Obviously, the first limiting step was the choice of research problem itself. However, implicit are other, related problems that could have been chosen but were rejected. These should be noted in the conclusion of your introduction. For example, a delimitating statement could read, "Although many factors can be understood to impact the likelihood young people will vote, this study will focus on socioeconomic factors related to the need to work full-time while in school." The point is not to document every possible delimiting factor, but to highlight why previously researched issues related to the topic were not addressed.

Examples of delimitating choices would be:

• The key aims and objectives of your study,
• The research questions that you address,
• The variables of interest [i.e., the various factors and features of the phenomenon being studied],
• The method(s) of investigation,
• The time period your study covers, and
• Any relevant alternative theoretical frameworks that could have been adopted.

Review each of these decisions. Not only do you clearly establish what you intend to accomplish in your research, but you should also include a declaration of what the study does not intend to cover. In the latter case, your exclusionary decisions should be based upon criteria understood as, "not interesting"; "not directly relevant"; “too problematic because..."; "not feasible," and the like. Make this reasoning explicit!

NOTE:   Delimitations refer to the initial choices made about the broader, overall design of your study and should not be confused with documenting the limitations of your study discovered after the research has been completed.

ANOTHER NOTE: Do not view delimitating statements as admitting to an inherent failing or shortcoming in your research. They are an accepted element of academic writing intended to keep the reader focused on the research problem by explicitly defining the conceptual boundaries and scope of your study. It addresses any critical questions in the reader's mind of, "Why the hell didn't the author examine this?"

III.  The Narrative Flow

Issues to keep in mind that will help the narrative flow in your introduction :

• Your introduction should clearly identify the subject area of interest . A simple strategy to follow is to use key words from your title in the first few sentences of the introduction. This will help focus the introduction on the topic at the appropriate level and ensures that you get to the subject matter quickly without losing focus, or discussing information that is too general.
• Establish context by providing a brief and balanced review of the pertinent published literature that is available on the subject. The key is to summarize for the reader what is known about the specific research problem before you did your analysis. This part of your introduction should not represent a comprehensive literature review--that comes next. It consists of a general review of the important, foundational research literature [with citations] that establishes a foundation for understanding key elements of the research problem. See the drop-down menu under this tab for " Background Information " regarding types of contexts.
• Clearly state the hypothesis that you investigated . When you are first learning to write in this format it is okay, and actually preferable, to use a past statement like, "The purpose of this study was to...." or "We investigated three possible mechanisms to explain the...."
• Why did you choose this kind of research study or design? Provide a clear statement of the rationale for your approach to the problem studied. This will usually follow your statement of purpose in the last paragraph of the introduction.

IV.  Engaging the Reader

A research problem in the social sciences can come across as dry and uninteresting to anyone unfamiliar with the topic . Therefore, one of the goals of your introduction is to make readers want to read your paper. Here are several strategies you can use to grab the reader's attention:

• Open with a compelling story . Almost all research problems in the social sciences, no matter how obscure or esoteric , are really about the lives of people. Telling a story that humanizes an issue can help illuminate the significance of the problem and help the reader empathize with those affected by the condition being studied.
• Include a strong quotation or a vivid, perhaps unexpected, anecdote . During your review of the literature, make note of any quotes or anecdotes that grab your attention because they can used in your introduction to highlight the research problem in a captivating way.
• Pose a provocative or thought-provoking question . Your research problem should be framed by a set of questions to be addressed or hypotheses to be tested. However, a provocative question can be presented in the beginning of your introduction that challenges an existing assumption or compels the reader to consider an alternative viewpoint that helps establish the significance of your study. 
• Describe a puzzling scenario or incongruity . This involves highlighting an interesting quandary concerning the research problem or describing contradictory findings from prior studies about a topic. Posing what is essentially an unresolved intellectual riddle about the problem can engage the reader's interest in the study.
• Cite a stirring example or case study that illustrates why the research problem is important . Draw upon the findings of others to demonstrate the significance of the problem and to describe how your study builds upon or offers alternatives ways of investigating this prior research.

NOTE:   It is important that you choose only one of the suggested strategies for engaging your readers. This avoids giving an impression that your paper is more flash than substance and does not distract from the substance of your study.

Freedman, Leora  and Jerry Plotnick. Introductions and Conclusions. University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Introduction. The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper. Department of Biology. Bates College; Introductions. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Introductions. The Writer’s Handbook. Writing Center. University of Wisconsin, Madison; Introductions, Body Paragraphs, and Conclusions for an Argument Paper. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; “Writing Introductions.” In Good Essay Writing: A Social Sciences Guide . Peter Redman. 4th edition. (London: Sage, 2011), pp. 63-70; Resources for Writers: Introduction Strategies. Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies. Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Sharpling, Gerald. Writing an Introduction. Centre for Applied Linguistics, University of Warwick; Samraj, B. “Introductions in Research Articles: Variations Across Disciplines.” English for Specific Purposes 21 (2002): 1–17; Swales, John and Christine B. Feak. Academic Writing for Graduate Students: Essential Skills and Tasks . 2nd edition. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press, 2004 ; Writing Your Introduction. Department of English Writing Guide. George Mason University.

Writing Tip

Avoid the "Dictionary" Introduction

Giving the dictionary definition of words related to the research problem may appear appropriate because it is important to define specific terminology that readers may be unfamiliar with. However, anyone can look a word up in the dictionary and a general dictionary is not a particularly authoritative source because it doesn't take into account the context of your topic and doesn't offer particularly detailed information. Also, placed in the context of a particular discipline, a term or concept may have a different meaning than what is found in a general dictionary. If you feel that you must seek out an authoritative definition, use a subject specific dictionary or encyclopedia [e.g., if you are a sociology student, search for dictionaries of sociology]. A good database for obtaining definitive definitions of concepts or terms is Credo Reference .

Saba, Robert. The College Research Paper. Florida International University; Introductions. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina.

Another Writing Tip

When Do I Begin?

A common question asked at the start of any paper is, "Where should I begin?" An equally important question to ask yourself is, "When do I begin?" Research problems in the social sciences rarely rest in isolation from history. Therefore, it is important to lay a foundation for understanding the historical context underpinning the research problem. However, this information should be brief and succinct and begin at a point in time that illustrates the study's overall importance. For example, a study that investigates coffee cultivation and export in West Africa as a key stimulus for local economic growth needs to describe the beginning of exporting coffee in the region and establishing why economic growth is important. You do not need to give a long historical explanation about coffee exports in Africa. If a research problem requires a substantial exploration of the historical context, do this in the literature review section. In your introduction, make note of this as part of the "roadmap" [see below] that you use to describe the organization of your paper.

Introductions. The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; “Writing Introductions.” In Good Essay Writing: A Social Sciences Guide . Peter Redman. 4th edition. (London: Sage, 2011), pp. 63-70.

Yet Another Writing Tip

Always End with a Roadmap

The final paragraph or sentences of your introduction should forecast your main arguments and conclusions and provide a brief description of the rest of the paper [the "roadmap"] that let's the reader know where you are going and what to expect. A roadmap is important because it helps the reader place the research problem within the context of their own perspectives about the topic. In addition, concluding your introduction with an explicit roadmap tells the reader that you have a clear understanding of the structural purpose of your paper. In this way, the roadmap acts as a type of promise to yourself and to your readers that you will follow a consistent and coherent approach to addressing the topic of inquiry. Refer to it often to help keep your writing focused and organized.

Cassuto, Leonard. “On the Dissertation: How to Write the Introduction.” The Chronicle of Higher Education , May 28, 2018; Radich, Michael. A Student's Guide to Writing in East Asian Studies . (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Writing n. d.), pp. 35-37.

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• If you are writing in a new discipline, you should always make sure to ask about conventions and expectations for introductions, just as you would for any other aspect of the essay. For example, while it may be acceptable to write a two-paragraph (or longer) introduction for your papers in some courses, instructors in other disciplines, such as those in some Government courses, may expect a shorter introduction that includes a preview of the argument that will follow.  
• In some disciplines (Government, Economics, and others), it’s common to offer an overview in the introduction of what points you will make in your essay. In other disciplines, you will not be expected to provide this overview in your introduction.  
• Avoid writing a very general opening sentence. While it may be true that “Since the dawn of time, people have been telling love stories,” it won’t help you explain what’s interesting about your topic.  
• Avoid writing a “funnel” introduction in which you begin with a very broad statement about a topic and move to a narrow statement about that topic. Broad generalizations about a topic will not add to your readers’ understanding of your specific essay topic.  
• Avoid beginning with a dictionary definition of a term or concept you will be writing about. If the concept is complicated or unfamiliar to your readers, you will need to define it in detail later in your essay. If it’s not complicated, you can assume your readers already know the definition.  
• Avoid offering too much detail in your introduction that a reader could better understand later in the paper.
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How to Write a Research Introduction

Last Updated: December 6, 2023 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Megan Morgan, PhD . Megan Morgan is a Graduate Program Academic Advisor in the School of Public & International Affairs at the University of Georgia. She earned her PhD in English from the University of Georgia in 2015. There are 7 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 2,653,755 times.

The introduction to a research paper can be the most challenging part of the paper to write. The length of the introduction will vary depending on the type of research paper you are writing. An introduction should announce your topic, provide context and a rationale for your work, before stating your research questions and hypothesis. Well-written introductions set the tone for the paper, catch the reader's interest, and communicate the hypothesis or thesis statement.

Introducing the Topic of the Paper

• In scientific papers this is sometimes known as an "inverted triangle", where you start with the broadest material at the start, before zooming in on the specifics. [2] X Research source
• The sentence "Throughout the 20th century, our views of life on other planets have drastically changed" introduces a topic, but does so in broad terms.
• It provides the reader with an indication of the content of the essay and encourages them to read on.

• For example, if you were writing a paper about the behaviour of mice when exposed to a particular substance, you would include the word "mice", and the scientific name of the relevant compound in the first sentences.
• If you were writing a history paper about the impact of the First World War on gender relations in Britain, you should mention those key words in your first few lines.

• This is especially important if you are attempting to develop a new conceptualization that uses language and terminology your readers may be unfamiliar with.

• If you use an anecdote ensure that is short and highly relevant for your research. It has to function in the same way as an alternative opening, namely to announce the topic of your research paper to your reader.
• For example, if you were writing a sociology paper about re-offending rates among young offenders, you could include a brief story of one person whose story reflects and introduces your topic.
• This kind of approach is generally not appropriate for the introduction to a natural or physical sciences research paper where the writing conventions are different.

Establishing the Context for Your Paper

• It is important to be concise in the introduction, so provide an overview on recent developments in the primary research rather than a lengthy discussion.
• You can follow the "inverted triangle" principle to focus in from the broader themes to those to which you are making a direct contribution with your paper.
• A strong literature review presents important background information to your own research and indicates the importance of the field.

• By making clear reference to existing work you can demonstrate explicitly the specific contribution you are making to move the field forward.
• You can identify a gap in the existing scholarship and explain how you are addressing it and moving understanding forward.

• For example, if you are writing a scientific paper you could stress the merits of the experimental approach or models you have used.
• Stress what is novel in your research and the significance of your new approach, but don't give too much detail in the introduction.
• A stated rationale could be something like: "the study evaluates the previously unknown anti-inflammatory effects of a topical compound in order to evaluate its potential clinical uses".

Specifying Your Research Questions and Hypothesis

• The research question or questions generally come towards the end of the introduction, and should be concise and closely focused.
• The research question might recall some of the key words established in the first few sentences and the title of your paper.
• An example of a research question could be "what were the consequences of the North American Free Trade Agreement on the Mexican export economy?"
• This could be honed further to be specific by referring to a particular element of the Free Trade Agreement and the impact on a particular industry in Mexico, such as clothing manufacture.
• A good research question should shape a problem into a testable hypothesis.

• If possible try to avoid using the word "hypothesis" and rather make this implicit in your writing. This can make your writing appear less formulaic.
• In a scientific paper, giving a clear one-sentence overview of your results and their relation to your hypothesis makes the information clear and accessible. [10] X Trustworthy Source PubMed Central Journal archive from the U.S. National Institutes of Health Go to source
• An example of a hypothesis could be "mice deprived of food for the duration of the study were expected to become more lethargic than those fed normally".

• This is not always necessary and you should pay attention to the writing conventions in your discipline.
• In a natural sciences paper, for example, there is a fairly rigid structure which you will be following.
• A humanities or social science paper will most likely present more opportunities to deviate in how you structure your paper.

Research Introduction Help

Community Q&A

• Use your research papers' outline to help you decide what information to include when writing an introduction. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 1
• Consider drafting your introduction after you have already completed the rest of your research paper. Writing introductions last can help ensure that you don't leave out any major points. Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• Avoid emotional or sensational introductions; these can create distrust in the reader. Thanks Helpful 50 Not Helpful 12
• Generally avoid using personal pronouns in your introduction, such as "I," "me," "we," "us," "my," "mine," or "our." Thanks Helpful 31 Not Helpful 7
• Don't overwhelm the reader with an over-abundance of information. Keep the introduction as concise as possible by saving specific details for the body of your paper. Thanks Helpful 24 Not Helpful 14

You Might Also Like

• ↑ https://library.sacredheart.edu/c.php?g=29803&p=185916
• ↑ https://www.aresearchguide.com/inverted-pyramid-structure-in-writing.html
• ↑ https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/introduction
• ↑ https://writing.wisc.edu/Handbook/PlanResearchPaper.html
• ↑ https://dept.writing.wisc.edu/wac/writing-an-introduction-for-a-scientific-paper/
• ↑ https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/assignments/planresearchpaper/
• ↑ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3178846/

About This Article

To introduce your research paper, use the first 1-2 sentences to describe your general topic, such as “women in World War I.” Include and define keywords, such as “gender relations,” to show your reader where you’re going. Mention previous research into the topic with a phrase like, “Others have studied…”, then transition into what your contribution will be and why it’s necessary. Finally, state the questions that your paper will address and propose your “answer” to them as your thesis statement. For more information from our English Ph.D. co-author about how to craft a strong hypothesis and thesis, keep reading! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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Home → Academic Writing → How to Write a Research Paper Introduction: Hook, Line, and Sinker

How to Write a Research Paper Introduction: Hook, Line, and Sinker

Jordan Kruszynski

• January 4, 2024

Want to know how to write a research paper introduction that dazzles?

Struggling to hook your reader in with your opening sentences?

Crafting a captivating research paper introduction can be the difference between a mediocre paper and an outstanding one. The introduction sets the tone for the entire paper, and if it fails to capture the reader’s attention, your hard work may go unnoticed. In this post, we’ll explore some techniques for crafting a compelling introduction that will hook your reader from the very beginning. From using statistics to posing thought-provoking questions, we’ll show you how to reel in your reader hook, line, and sinker.

So, grab your pen and paper, and let’s get started!

What Makes a Captivating Introduction?

When it comes to writing a research paper, the introduction is everything. It’s the first glimpse your audience gets of what’s to come and the determining factor as to whether they continue reading or move on. A captivating introduction should immediately grab the reader’s attention and draw them in, enticing them to learn more about your unique research. It should be thought-provoking, relevant and informative.

By connecting with your audience and allowing them to identify with your work, you create an emotional investment from the start. You might be thinking that a research paper introduction only needs to provide cold, hard information, but this is missing half of the picture. If you can blend quality information with skilful writing, you’ll ensure that your reader remains engaged and open to your argument throughout the entirety of your paper. So, when crafting your introduction, strive to be engaging and focus on making a strong impression.

Pre-Writing Strategies for Crafting an Effective Introduction

Crafting that quality introduction begins even before you put pen to paper (or finger to keyboard). Start planning mentally with the following tips:

• Try to ‘visualise’ your research from beginning to end. Your paper is your means of guiding the reader through that research. Imagine that you’re going to take the reader by the hand and walk them through it. What do they need to know before you set off? What’s going to convince them to take the journey? Thinking along these lines will set you in the right frame of mind for writing.
• Remember that your introduction acts as a roadmap, directing readers towards your key points and arguments and letting them know what to expect. Thinking in terms of providing a map will clarify your writing decisions.
• Think clearly and with confidence. If your introduction is vague, lacks sufficient information or is otherwise unconvincing, your reader may become disengaged from the outset.

How to Write a Research Paper Introduction with Clarity and Style

With your thoughts flowing, you can now turn to the act of writing your introduction, Each of the sections outlined below will typically take up one paragraph of your intro, with the exception of the literature review, which is likely to occupy several.

• Always keep in mind that anyone can read your paper, not just an academically literate audience. With this in mind, begin by introducing your subject generally, ideally in a way that a layperson could understand. If you overwhelm your reader with technical language from the outset, they may become frustrated and stop reading.
• Your subject introduction might include some historical context, or a brief overview of the significance of your field. Either way, prepare to narrow down that general overview to your specific research. Let the reader know what you’re working on.
• More importantly, explain why your research is important. Perhaps you’re seeking to fill in a gap in the historical record, or are working on medication that could help people with a specific illness. Be clear about why your research could make a difference and why the reader should pay attention to it.

Literature Review

• At this point, you can go into more detail on existing research efforts in your field with a literature review. Find out all about these and how to construct them in our complete guide . (Add link to lit. review post once it’s published)

Research Intention

• Here, go into detail on the intention of your research. If you have a hypothesis, state it, or if you’re approaching your work with a broader, more open research question, then set it out.
• Briefly discuss your research methods, keeping in mind that you’ll probably be writing a complete methodology section later.

Paper Overview

• In this optional section, provide a brief overview of your whole paper by section, outlining what you intend to do in each of them – for example ‘In Section 4 we describe our methodology in detail. In Section 5 we present our data without analysis. In Section 6 we conduct an analysis of the data.’

As we mentioned before, balancing quality information with skilful, engaging writing can grab your reader’s attention right from the start. One way to do this is through a hook. But what makes a good hook?

• It could be a statistic, taken either from your own research or elsewhere. Naturally, it should be relevant to your topic, as well as thought-provoking – a figure that makes your reader sit up and take notice of what you’re about to say. For example, if your paper focuses on marine plastics, then consider using a statistic to illustrate just how prevalent the problem is.
• It might be a reference to a current event that is garnering a lot of attention. If you can connect that event to your research, and prove its social relevance, you can potentially earn more readers than you might expect.
• You could even use a quotation, for example from a respected academic in your field. This can act as a point of inspiration for both you and your reader. There’s nothing stopping you from being creative in your introduction, and if your hook is directly relevant to your research, then it can take whatever shape you like.

Final Thoughts

The introductory paragraphs of your research paper are your chance to make a great first impression. By crafting a captivating introduction, you can draw your reader in and set the stage for an outstanding paper. From using powerful statistics to posing thought-provoking questions, there are many techniques you can use to hook your reader from the very beginning. So don’t be afraid to get creative and experiment with different approaches until you find one that works for you.

With these tips in mind, you’ll know how to write a research paper introduction that will leave your audience hooked, lined, and sunk!

Looking for introduction inspiration? Check out the array of papers available on Audemic , where you can listen to your heart’s content until you find the one that hits right!

Keep striving, researchers! ✨

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Introductions

What this handout is about.

This handout will explain the functions of introductions, offer strategies for creating effective introductions, and provide some examples of less effective introductions to avoid.

The role of introductions

Introductions and conclusions can be the most difficult parts of papers to write. Usually when you sit down to respond to an assignment, you have at least some sense of what you want to say in the body of your paper. You might have chosen a few examples you want to use or have an idea that will help you answer the main question of your assignment; these sections, therefore, may not be as hard to write. And it’s fine to write them first! But in your final draft, these middle parts of the paper can’t just come out of thin air; they need to be introduced and concluded in a way that makes sense to your reader.

Your introduction and conclusion act as bridges that transport your readers from their own lives into the “place” of your analysis. If your readers pick up your paper about education in the autobiography of Frederick Douglass, for example, they need a transition to help them leave behind the world of Chapel Hill, television, e-mail, and The Daily Tar Heel and to help them temporarily enter the world of nineteenth-century American slavery. By providing an introduction that helps your readers make a transition between their own world and the issues you will be writing about, you give your readers the tools they need to get into your topic and care about what you are saying. Similarly, once you’ve hooked your readers with the introduction and offered evidence to prove your thesis, your conclusion can provide a bridge to help your readers make the transition back to their daily lives. (See our handout on conclusions .)

Note that what constitutes a good introduction may vary widely based on the kind of paper you are writing and the academic discipline in which you are writing it. If you are uncertain what kind of introduction is expected, ask your instructor.

Why bother writing a good introduction?

You never get a second chance to make a first impression. The opening paragraph of your paper will provide your readers with their initial impressions of your argument, your writing style, and the overall quality of your work. A vague, disorganized, error-filled, off-the-wall, or boring introduction will probably create a negative impression. On the other hand, a concise, engaging, and well-written introduction will start your readers off thinking highly of you, your analytical skills, your writing, and your paper.

Your introduction is an important road map for the rest of your paper. Your introduction conveys a lot of information to your readers. You can let them know what your topic is, why it is important, and how you plan to proceed with your discussion. In many academic disciplines, your introduction should contain a thesis that will assert your main argument. Your introduction should also give the reader a sense of the kinds of information you will use to make that argument and the general organization of the paragraphs and pages that will follow. After reading your introduction, your readers should not have any major surprises in store when they read the main body of your paper.

Ideally, your introduction will make your readers want to read your paper. The introduction should capture your readers’ interest, making them want to read the rest of your paper. Opening with a compelling story, an interesting question, or a vivid example can get your readers to see why your topic matters and serve as an invitation for them to join you for an engaging intellectual conversation (remember, though, that these strategies may not be suitable for all papers and disciplines).

Strategies for writing an effective introduction

Start by thinking about the question (or questions) you are trying to answer. Your entire essay will be a response to this question, and your introduction is the first step toward that end. Your direct answer to the assigned question will be your thesis, and your thesis will likely be included in your introduction, so it is a good idea to use the question as a jumping off point. Imagine that you are assigned the following question:

Drawing on the Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass , discuss the relationship between education and slavery in 19th-century America. Consider the following: How did white control of education reinforce slavery? How did Douglass and other enslaved African Americans view education while they endured slavery? And what role did education play in the acquisition of freedom? Most importantly, consider the degree to which education was or was not a major force for social change with regard to slavery.

You will probably refer back to your assignment extensively as you prepare your complete essay, and the prompt itself can also give you some clues about how to approach the introduction. Notice that it starts with a broad statement and then narrows to focus on specific questions from the book. One strategy might be to use a similar model in your own introduction—start off with a big picture sentence or two and then focus in on the details of your argument about Douglass. Of course, a different approach could also be very successful, but looking at the way the professor set up the question can sometimes give you some ideas for how you might answer it. (See our handout on understanding assignments for additional information on the hidden clues in assignments.)

Decide how general or broad your opening should be. Keep in mind that even a “big picture” opening needs to be clearly related to your topic; an opening sentence that said “Human beings, more than any other creatures on earth, are capable of learning” would be too broad for our sample assignment about slavery and education. If you have ever used Google Maps or similar programs, that experience can provide a helpful way of thinking about how broad your opening should be. Imagine that you’re researching Chapel Hill. If what you want to find out is whether Chapel Hill is at roughly the same latitude as Rome, it might make sense to hit that little “minus” sign on the online map until it has zoomed all the way out and you can see the whole globe. If you’re trying to figure out how to get from Chapel Hill to Wrightsville Beach, it might make more sense to zoom in to the level where you can see most of North Carolina (but not the rest of the world, or even the rest of the United States). And if you are looking for the intersection of Ridge Road and Manning Drive so that you can find the Writing Center’s main office, you may need to zoom all the way in. The question you are asking determines how “broad” your view should be. In the sample assignment above, the questions are probably at the “state” or “city” level of generality. When writing, you need to place your ideas in context—but that context doesn’t generally have to be as big as the whole galaxy!

Try writing your introduction last. You may think that you have to write your introduction first, but that isn’t necessarily true, and it isn’t always the most effective way to craft a good introduction. You may find that you don’t know precisely what you are going to argue at the beginning of the writing process. It is perfectly fine to start out thinking that you want to argue a particular point but wind up arguing something slightly or even dramatically different by the time you’ve written most of the paper. The writing process can be an important way to organize your ideas, think through complicated issues, refine your thoughts, and develop a sophisticated argument. However, an introduction written at the beginning of that discovery process will not necessarily reflect what you wind up with at the end. You will need to revise your paper to make sure that the introduction, all of the evidence, and the conclusion reflect the argument you intend. Sometimes it’s easiest to just write up all of your evidence first and then write the introduction last—that way you can be sure that the introduction will match the body of the paper.

Don’t be afraid to write a tentative introduction first and then change it later. Some people find that they need to write some kind of introduction in order to get the writing process started. That’s fine, but if you are one of those people, be sure to return to your initial introduction later and rewrite if necessary.

Open with something that will draw readers in. Consider these options (remembering that they may not be suitable for all kinds of papers):

• an intriguing example —for example, Douglass writes about a mistress who initially teaches him but then ceases her instruction as she learns more about slavery.
• a provocative quotation that is closely related to your argument —for example, Douglass writes that “education and slavery were incompatible with each other.” (Quotes from famous people, inspirational quotes, etc. may not work well for an academic paper; in this example, the quote is from the author himself.)
• a puzzling scenario —for example, Frederick Douglass says of slaves that “[N]othing has been left undone to cripple their intellects, darken their minds, debase their moral nature, obliterate all traces of their relationship to mankind; and yet how wonderfully they have sustained the mighty load of a most frightful bondage, under which they have been groaning for centuries!” Douglass clearly asserts that slave owners went to great lengths to destroy the mental capacities of slaves, yet his own life story proves that these efforts could be unsuccessful.
• a vivid and perhaps unexpected anecdote —for example, “Learning about slavery in the American history course at Frederick Douglass High School, students studied the work slaves did, the impact of slavery on their families, and the rules that governed their lives. We didn’t discuss education, however, until one student, Mary, raised her hand and asked, ‘But when did they go to school?’ That modern high school students could not conceive of an American childhood devoid of formal education speaks volumes about the centrality of education to American youth today and also suggests the significance of the deprivation of education in past generations.”
• a thought-provoking question —for example, given all of the freedoms that were denied enslaved individuals in the American South, why does Frederick Douglass focus his attentions so squarely on education and literacy?

Pay special attention to your first sentence. Start off on the right foot with your readers by making sure that the first sentence actually says something useful and that it does so in an interesting and polished way.

How to evaluate your introduction draft

Ask a friend to read your introduction and then tell you what they expect the paper will discuss, what kinds of evidence the paper will use, and what the tone of the paper will be. If your friend is able to predict the rest of your paper accurately, you probably have a good introduction.

Five kinds of less effective introductions

1. The placeholder introduction. When you don’t have much to say on a given topic, it is easy to create this kind of introduction. Essentially, this kind of weaker introduction contains several sentences that are vague and don’t really say much. They exist just to take up the “introduction space” in your paper. If you had something more effective to say, you would probably say it, but in the meantime this paragraph is just a place holder.

Example: Slavery was one of the greatest tragedies in American history. There were many different aspects of slavery. Each created different kinds of problems for enslaved people.

2. The restated question introduction. Restating the question can sometimes be an effective strategy, but it can be easy to stop at JUST restating the question instead of offering a more specific, interesting introduction to your paper. The professor or teaching assistant wrote your question and will be reading many essays in response to it—they do not need to read a whole paragraph that simply restates the question.

Example: The Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass discusses the relationship between education and slavery in 19th century America, showing how white control of education reinforced slavery and how Douglass and other enslaved African Americans viewed education while they endured. Moreover, the book discusses the role that education played in the acquisition of freedom. Education was a major force for social change with regard to slavery.

3. The Webster’s Dictionary introduction. This introduction begins by giving the dictionary definition of one or more of the words in the assigned question. Anyone can look a word up in the dictionary and copy down what Webster says. If you want to open with a discussion of an important term, it may be far more interesting for you (and your reader) if you develop your own definition of the term in the specific context of your class and assignment. You may also be able to use a definition from one of the sources you’ve been reading for class. Also recognize that the dictionary is also not a particularly authoritative work—it doesn’t take into account the context of your course and doesn’t offer particularly detailed information. If you feel that you must seek out an authority, try to find one that is very relevant and specific. Perhaps a quotation from a source reading might prove better? Dictionary introductions are also ineffective simply because they are so overused. Instructors may see a great many papers that begin in this way, greatly decreasing the dramatic impact that any one of those papers will have.

Example: Webster’s dictionary defines slavery as “the state of being a slave,” as “the practice of owning slaves,” and as “a condition of hard work and subjection.”

4. The “dawn of man” introduction. This kind of introduction generally makes broad, sweeping statements about the relevance of this topic since the beginning of time, throughout the world, etc. It is usually very general (similar to the placeholder introduction) and fails to connect to the thesis. It may employ cliches—the phrases “the dawn of man” and “throughout human history” are examples, and it’s hard to imagine a time when starting with one of these would work. Instructors often find them extremely annoying.

Example: Since the dawn of man, slavery has been a problem in human history.

5. The book report introduction. This introduction is what you had to do for your elementary school book reports. It gives the name and author of the book you are writing about, tells what the book is about, and offers other basic facts about the book. You might resort to this sort of introduction when you are trying to fill space because it’s a familiar, comfortable format. It is ineffective because it offers details that your reader probably already knows and that are irrelevant to the thesis.

Example: Frederick Douglass wrote his autobiography, Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, An American Slave , in the 1840s. It was published in 1986 by Penguin Books. In it, he tells the story of his life.

And now for the conclusion…

Writing an effective introduction can be tough. Try playing around with several different options and choose the one that ends up sounding best to you!

Just as your introduction helps readers make the transition to your topic, your conclusion needs to help them return to their daily lives–but with a lasting sense of how what they have just read is useful or meaningful. Check out our handout on  conclusions for tips on ending your paper as effectively as you began it!

Works consulted

We consulted these works while writing this handout. This is not a comprehensive list of resources on the handout’s topic, and we encourage you to do your own research to find additional publications. Please do not use this list as a model for the format of your own reference list, as it may not match the citation style you are using. For guidance on formatting citations, please see the UNC Libraries citation tutorial . We revise these tips periodically and welcome feedback.

Douglass, Frederick. 1995. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass, an American Slave, Written by Himself . New York: Dover.

You may reproduce it for non-commercial use if you use the entire handout and attribute the source: The Writing Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

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How to Write the Introduction to a Scientific Paper?

• Open Access
• First Online: 24 October 2021

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• Samiran Nundy 4 ,
• Atul Kakar 5 &
• Zulfiqar A. Bhutta 6  

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An Introduction to a scientific paper familiarizes the reader with the background of the issue at hand. It must reflect why the issue is topical and its current importance in the vast sea of research being done globally. It lays the foundation of biomedical writing and is the first portion of an article according to the IMRAD pattern ( I ntroduction, M ethodology, R esults, a nd D iscussion) [1].

I once had a professor tell a class that he sifted through our pile of essays, glancing at the titles and introductions, looking for something that grabbed his attention. Everything else went to the bottom of the pile to be read last, when he was tired and probably grumpy from all the marking. Don’t get put at the bottom of the pile, he said. Anonymous

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The Introduction Section

Abstract and Keywords

Writing and publishing a scientific paper

1 what is the importance of an introduction.

An Introduction to a scientific paper familiarizes the reader with the background of the issue at hand. It must reflect why the issue is topical and its current importance in the vast sea of research being done globally. It lays the foundation of biomedical writing and is the first portion of an article according to the IMRAD pattern ( I ntroduction, M ethodology, R esults, a nd D iscussion) [ 1 ].

It provides the flavour of the article and many authors have used phrases to describe it for example—'like a gate of the city’ [ 2 ], ‘the beginning is half of the whole’ [ 3 ], ‘an introduction is not just wrestling with words to fit the facts, but it also strongly modulated by perception of the anticipated reactions of peer colleagues’, [ 4 ] and ‘an introduction is like the trailer to a movie’. A good introduction helps captivate the reader early.

2 What Are the Principles of Writing a Good Introduction?

A good introduction will ‘sell’ an article to a journal editor, reviewer, and finally to a reader [ 3 ]. It should contain the following information [ 5 , 6 ]:

The known—The background scientific data

The unknown—Gaps in the current knowledge

Research hypothesis or question

Methodologies used for the study

The known consist of citations from a review of the literature whereas the unknown is the new work to be undertaken. This part should address how your work is the required missing piece of the puzzle.

3 What Are the Models of Writing an Introduction?

The Problem-solving model

First described by Swales et al. in 1979, in this model the writer should identify the ‘problem’ in the research, address the ‘solution’ and also write about ‘the criteria for evaluating the problem’ [ 7 , 8 ].

The CARS model that stands for C reating A R esearch S pace [ 9 , 10 ].

The two important components of this model are:

Establishing a territory (situation)

Establishing a niche (problem)

Occupying a niche (the solution)

In this popular model, one can add a fourth point, i.e., a conclusion [ 10 ].

4 What Is Establishing a Territory?

This includes: [ 9 ]

Stating the general topic and providing some background about it.

Providing a brief and relevant review of the literature related to the topic.

Adding a paragraph on the scope of the topic including the need for your study.

5 What Is Establishing a Niche?

Establishing a niche includes:

Stating the importance of the problem.

Outlining the current situation regarding the problem citing both global and national data.

Evaluating the current situation (advantages/ disadvantages).

Identifying the gaps.

Emphasizing the importance of the proposed research and how the gaps will be addressed.

Stating the research problem/ questions.

Stating the hypotheses briefly.

Figure 17.1 depicts how the introduction needs to be written. A scientific paper should have an introduction in the form of an inverted pyramid. The writer should start with the general information about the topic and subsequently narrow it down to the specific topic-related introduction.

Flow of ideas from the general to the specific

6 What Does Occupying a Niche Mean?

This is the third portion of the introduction and defines the rationale of the research and states the research question. If this is missing the reviewers will not understand the logic for publication and is a common reason for rejection [ 11 , 12 ]. An example of this is given below:

Till date, no study has been done to see the effectiveness of a mesh alone or the effectiveness of double suturing along with a mesh in the closure of an umbilical hernia regarding the incidence of failure. So, the present study is aimed at comparing the effectiveness of a mesh alone versus the double suturing technique along with a mesh.

7 How Long Should the Introduction Be?

For a project protocol, the introduction should be about 1–2 pages long and for a thesis it should be 3–5 pages in a double-spaced typed setting. For a scientific paper it should be less than 10–15% of the total length of the manuscript [ 13 , 14 ].

8 How Many References Should an Introduction Have?

All sections in a scientific manuscript except the conclusion should contain references. It has been suggested that an introduction should have four or five or at the most one-third of the references in the whole paper [ 15 ].

9 What Are the Important Points Which Should be not Missed in an Introduction?

An introduction paves the way forward for the subsequent sections of the article. Frequently well-planned studies are rejected by journals during review because of the simple reason that the authors failed to clarify the data in this section to justify the study [ 16 , 17 ]. Thus, the existing gap in knowledge should be clearly brought out in this section (Fig. 17.2 ).

How should the abstract, introduction, and discussion look

The following points are important to consider:

The introduction should be written in simple sentences and in the present tense.

Many of the terms will be introduced in this section for the first time and these will require abbreviations to be used later.

The references in this section should be to papers published in quality journals (e.g., having a high impact factor).

The aims, problems, and hypotheses should be clearly mentioned.

Start with a generalization on the topic and go on to specific information relevant to your research.

10 Example of an Introduction

11 Conclusions

An Introduction is a brief account of what the study is about. It should be short, crisp, and complete.

It has to move from a general to a specific research topic and must include the need for the present study.

The Introduction should include data from a literature search, i.e., what is already known about this subject and progress to what we hope to add to this knowledge.

Moore A. What’s in a discussion section? Exploiting 2-dimensionality in the online world. Bioassays. 2016;38(12):1185.

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Nundy, S., Kakar, A., Bhutta, Z.A. (2022). How to Write the Introduction to a Scientific Paper?. In: How to Practice Academic Medicine and Publish from Developing Countries?. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5248-6_17

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Organizing Academic Research Papers: 4. The Introduction

• Purpose of Guide
• Design Flaws to Avoid
• Glossary of Research Terms
• Narrowing a Topic Idea
• Broadening a Topic Idea
• Extending the Timeliness of a Topic Idea
• Academic Writing Style
• Choosing a Title
• Making an Outline
• Paragraph Development
• Executive Summary
• Background Information
• The Research Problem/Question
• Theoretical Framework
• Citation Tracking
• Content Alert Services
• Evaluating Sources
• Primary Sources
• Secondary Sources
• Tertiary Sources
• What Is Scholarly vs. Popular?
• Qualitative Methods
• Quantitative Methods
• Using Non-Textual Elements
• Limitations of the Study
• Common Grammar Mistakes
• Avoiding Plagiarism
• Footnotes or Endnotes?
• Further Readings
• Annotated Bibliography
• Dealing with Nervousness
• Using Visual Aids
• Grading Someone Else's Paper
• How to Manage Group Projects
• Multiple Book Review Essay
• Reviewing Collected Essays
• About Informed Consent
• Writing Field Notes
• Writing a Policy Memo
• Writing a Research Proposal
• Acknowledgements

The introduction serves the purpose of leading the reader from a general subject area to a particular field of research. It establishes the context of the research being conducted by summarizing current understanding and background information about the topic, stating the purpose of the work in the form of the hypothesis, question, or research problem, briefly explaining your rationale, methodological approach, highlighting the potential outcomes your study can reveal, and describing the remaining structure of the paper.

Key Elements of the Research Proposal. Prepared under the direction of the Superintendent and by the 2010 Curriculum Design and Writing Team. Baltimore County Public Schools.

Importance of a Good Introduction

Think of the introduction as a mental road map that must answer for the reader these four questions:

• What was I studying?
• Why was this topic important to investigate?
• What did we know about this topic before I did this study?
• How will this study advance our knowledge?

A well-written introduction is important because, quite simply, you never get a second chance to make a good first impression. The opening paragraph of your paper will provide your readers with their initial impressions about the logic of your argument, your writing style, the overall quality of your research, and, ultimately, the validity of your findings and conclusions. A vague, disorganized, or error-filled introduction will create a negative impression, whereas, a concise, engaging, and well-written introduction will start your readers off thinking highly of your analytical skills, your writing style, and your research approach.

Introductions . The Writing Center. University of North Carolina.

Structure and Writing Style

I. Structure and Approach

The introduction is the broad beginning of the paper that answers three important questions for the reader:

• What is this?
• Why am I reading it?
• What do you want me to think about / consider doing / react to?

Think of the structure of the introduction as an inverted triangle of information. Organize the information so as to present the more general aspects of the topic early in the introduction, then narrow toward the more specific topical information that provides context, finally arriving at your statement of purpose and rationale and, whenever possible, the potential outcomes your study can reveal.

These are general phases associated with writing an introduction:

• Highlighting the importance of the topic, and/or
• Making general statements about the topic, and/or
• Presenting an overview on current research on the subject.
• Opposing an existing assumption, and/or
• Revealing a gap in existing research, and/or
• Formulating a research question or problem, and/or
• Continuing a disciplinary tradition.
• Stating the intent of your study,
• Outlining the key characteristics of your study,
• Describing important results, and
• Giving a brief overview of the structure of the paper.

NOTE: Even though the introduction is the first main section of a research paper, it is often useful to finish the introduction very late in the writing process because the structure of the paper, the reporting and analysis of results, and the conclusion will have been completed and it ensures that your introduction matches the overall structure of your paper.

II.  Delimitations of the Study

Delimitations refer to those characteristics that limit the scope and define the conceptual boundaries of your study . This is determined by the conscious exclusionary and inclusionary decisions you make about how to investigate the research problem. In other words, not only should you tell the reader what it is you are studying and why, but you must also acknowledge why you rejected alternative approaches that could have been used to examine the research problem.

Obviously, the first limiting step was the choice of research problem itself. However, implicit are other, related problems that could have been chosen but were rejected. These should be noted in the conclusion of your introduction.

Examples of delimitating choices would be:

• The key aims and objectives of your study,
• The research questions that you address,
• The variables of interest [i.e., the various factors and features of the phenomenon being studied],
• The method(s) of investigation, and
• Any relevant alternative theoretical frameworks that could have been adopted.

Review each of these decisions. You need to not only clearly establish what you intend to accomplish, but to also include a declaration of what the study does not intend to cover. In the latter case, your exclusionary decisions should be based upon criteria stated as, "not interesting"; "not directly relevant"; “too problematic because..."; "not feasible," and the like. Make this reasoning explicit!

NOTE: Delimitations refer to the initial choices made about the broader, overall design of your study and should not be confused with documenting the limitations of your study discovered after the research has been completed.

III. The Narrative Flow

Issues to keep in mind that will help the narrative flow in your introduction :

• Your introduction should clearly identify the subject area of interest . A simple strategy to follow is to use key words from your title in the first few sentences of the introduction. This will help focus the introduction on the topic at the appropriate level and ensures that you get to the primary subject matter quickly without losing focus, or discussing information that is too general.
• Establish context by providing a brief and balanced review of the pertinent published literature that is available on the subject. The key is to summarize for the reader what is known about the specific research problem before you did your analysis. This part of your introduction should not represent a comprehensive literature review but consists of a general review of the important, foundational research literature (with citations) that lays a foundation for understanding key elements of the research problem. See the drop-down tab for "Background Information" for types of contexts.
• Clearly state the hypothesis that you investigated . When you are first learning to write in this format it is okay, and actually preferable, to use a past statement like, "The purpose of this study was to...." or "We investigated three possible mechanisms to explain the...."
• Why did you choose this kind of research study or design? Provide a clear statement of the rationale for your approach to the problem studied. This will usually follow your statement of purpose in the last paragraph of the introduction.

IV. Engaging the Reader

The overarching goal of your introduction is to make your readers want to read your paper. The introduction should grab your reader's attention. Strategies for doing this can be to:

• Open with a compelling story,
• Include a strong quotation or a vivid, perhaps unexpected anecdote,
• Pose a provocative or thought-provoking question,
• Describe a puzzling scenario or incongruity, or
• Cite a stirring example or case study that illustrates why the research problem is important.

NOTE:   Only choose one strategy for engaging your readers; avoid giving an impression that your paper is more flash than substance.

Freedman, Leora  and Jerry Plotnick. Introductions and Conclusions . University College Writing Centre. University of Toronto; Introduction . The Structure, Format, Content, and Style of a Journal-Style Scientific Paper. Department of Biology. Bates College; Introductions . The Writing Center. University of North Carolina; Introductions . The Writer’s Handbook. Writing Center. University of Wisconsin, Madison; Introductions, Body Paragraphs, and Conclusions for an Argument Paper. The Writing Lab and The OWL. Purdue University; Resources for Writers: Introduction Strategies . Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies. Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Sharpling, Gerald. Writing an Introduction . Centre for Applied Linguistics, University of Warwick; Writing Your Introduction. Department of English Writing Guide. George Mason University.

Writing Tip

Avoid the "Dictionary" Introduction

Giving the dictionary definition of words related to the research problem may appear appropriate because it is important to define specific words or phrases with which readers may be unfamiliar. However, anyone can look a word up in the dictionary and a general dictionary is not a particularly authoritative source. It doesn't take into account the context of your topic and doesn't offer particularly detailed information. Also, placed in the context of a particular discipline, a term may have a different meaning than what is found in a general dictionary. If you feel that you must seek out an authoritative definition, try to find one that is from subject specific dictionaries or encyclopedias [e.g., if you are a sociology student, search for dictionaries of sociology].

Saba, Robert. The College Research Paper . Florida International University; Introductions . The Writing Center. University of North Carolina.

Another Writing Tip

When Do I Begin?

A common question asked at the start of any paper is, "where should I begin?" An equally important question to ask yourself is, "When do I begin?" Research problems in the social sciences rarely rest in isolation from the history of the issue being investigated. It is, therefore, important to lay a foundation for understanding the historical context underpinning the research problem. However, this information should be brief and succinct and begin at a point in time that best informs the reader of study's overall importance. For example, a study about coffee cultivation and export in West Africa as a key stimulus for local economic growth needs to describe the beginning of exporting coffee in the region and establishing why economic growth is important. You do not need to give a long historical explanation about coffee exportation in Africa. If a research problem demands a substantial exploration of historical context, do this in the literature review section; note in the introduction as part of your "roadmap" [see below] that you covering this in the literature review.

Yet Another Writing Tip

Always End with a Roadmap

The final paragraph or sentences of your introduction should forecast your main arguments and conclusions and provide a description of the rest of the paper [a "roadmap"] that let's the reader know where you are going and what to expect.

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Computer Science > Cryptography and Security

Title: sok: leveraging transformers for malware analysis.

Abstract: The introduction of transformers has been an important breakthrough for AI research and application as transformers are the foundation behind Generative AI. A promising application domain for transformers is cybersecurity, in particular the malware domain analysis. The reason is the flexibility of the transformer models in handling long sequential features and understanding contextual relationships. However, as the use of transformers for malware analysis is still in the infancy stage, it is critical to evaluate, systematize, and contextualize existing literature to foster future research. This Systematization of Knowledge (SoK) paper aims to provide a comprehensive analysis of transformer-based approaches designed for malware analysis. Based on our systematic analysis of existing knowledge, we structure and propose taxonomies based on: (a) how different transformers are adapted, organized, and modified across various use cases; and (b) how diverse feature types and their representation capabilities are reflected. We also provide an inventory of datasets used to explore multiple research avenues in the use of transformers for malware analysis and discuss open challenges with future research directions. We believe that this SoK paper will assist the research community in gaining detailed insights from existing work and will serve as a foundational resource for implementing novel research using transformers for malware analysis.

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• Published: 27 May 2024

Research on domain ontology construction based on the content features of online rumors

• Jianbo Zhao 1 ,
• Huailiang Liu 1 ,
• Weili Zhang 1 ,
• Tong Sun 1 ,
• Qiuyi Chen 1 ,
• Yuehai Wang 2 ,
• Jiale Cheng 2 ,
• Yan Zhuang 1 ,
• Xiaojin Zhang 1 ,
• Shanzhuang Zhang 1 ,
• Bowei Li 3 &
• Ruiyu Ding 2  

Scientific Reports volume  14 , Article number:  12134 ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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• Computational neuroscience
• Computer science
• Data acquisition
• Data integration
• Data mining
• Data processing
• Human behaviour
• Information technology
• Literature mining
• Machine learning
• Scientific data

Online rumors are widespread and difficult to identify, which bring serious harm to society and individuals. To effectively detect and govern online rumors, it is necessary to conduct in-depth semantic analysis and understand the content features of rumors. This paper proposes a TFI domain ontology construction method, which aims to achieve semantic parsing and reasoning of the rumor text content. This paper starts from the term layer, the frame layer, and the instance layer, and based on the reuse of the top-level ontology, the extraction of core literature content features, and the discovery of new concepts in the real corpus, obtains the core classes (five parent classes and 88 subclasses) of the rumor domain ontology and defines their concept hierarchy. Object properties and data properties are designed to describe relationships between entities or their features, and the instance layer is created according to the real rumor datasets. OWL language is used to encode the ontology, Protégé is used to visualize it, and SWRL rules and pellet reasoner are used to mine and verify implicit knowledge of the ontology, and judge the category of rumor text. This paper constructs a rumor domain ontology with high consistency and reliability.

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Introduction.

Online rumors are false information spread through online media, which have the characteristics of wide content 1 , hard to identify 2 , 3 . Online rumors can mislead the public, disrupt social order, damage personal and collective reputations, and pose a great challenge to the governance of internet information content. Therefore, in order to effectively detect and govern online rumors, it is necessary to conduct an in-depth semantic analysis and understanding of the rumor text content features.

The research on the content features of online rumors focuses on the lexical, syntactic and semantic features of the rumor text, including lexical, syntactic and semantic features 4 , syntactic structure and functional features 5 , source features 5 , 6 , rhetorical methods 7 , narrative structure 6 , 7 , 8 , language style 6 , 9 , 10 , corroborative means 10 , 11 and emotional features 10 , 12 , 13 , 14 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 . Most of the existing researches on rumor content features are feature mining under a single domain topic type, and lack of mining the influence relationship between multiple features. Therefore, this paper proposes to build an online rumor domain ontology to realize fine-grained hierarchical modeling of the relationship between rumor content features and credible verification of its effectiveness. Domain ontology is a systematic description of the objective existence in a specific discipline 19 . The construction methods mainly include TOVE method 20 , skeleton method 21 , IDEF-5 method 22 , 23 , methontology method 24 , 25 and seven-step method 26 , 27 , among which seven-step method is the most mature and widely used method at present 28 , which has strong systematicness and applicability 29 , but it does not provide quantitative indicators and methods about the quality and effect of ontology. The construction technology can be divided into the construction technology based on thesaurus conversion, the construction technology based on existing ontology reuse and the semi-automatic and automatic construction technology based on ontology engineering method 30 . The construction technology based on thesaurus conversion and the construction technology based on existing ontology reuse can save construction time and cost, and improve ontology reusability and interoperability, but there are often differences in structure, semantics and scene. Semi-automatic and automatic construction technology based on ontology engineering method The application of artificial intelligence technology can automatically extract ontology elements and structures from data sources with high efficiency and low cost, but the quality and accuracy are difficult to guarantee. Traditional domain ontology construction methods lack effective quality evaluation support, and construction technology lacks effective integration application. Therefore, this paper proposes an improved TFI network rumor domain ontology construction method based on the seven-step method. Starting from the terminology layer, the framework layer and the instance layer, it integrates the top-level ontology and core document content feature reuse technology, the bottom-up semi-automatic construction technology based on N-gram new word discovery algorithm and RoBERTa-Kmeans clustering algorithm, defines the fine-grained features of network rumor content and carries out hierarchical modeling. Using SWRL rules and pellet inference machine, the tacit knowledge of ontology is mined, and the quality of ontology validity and consistency is evaluated and verified.

The structure of this paper is as follows: Sect “ Related work ” introduces the characteristics of rumor content and the related work of domain ontology construction.; Sect “ Research method ” constructs the term layer, the frame layer and the instance layer of the domain ontology; Sect “ Domain ontology construction ” mines and verifies the implicit knowledge of the ontology based on SWRL rules and Pellet reasoner; Sect “ Ontology reasoning and validation ” points out the research limitations and future research directions; Sect “ Discussion ” summarizes the research content and contribution; Sect “ Conclusion ” summarizes the research content and contribution of this paper.

Related Work

Content features of online rumors.

The content features of online rumors refer to the adaptive description of vocabulary, syntax and semantics in rumor texts. Fu et al. 5 have made a linguistic analysis of COVID-19’s online rumors from the perspectives of pragmatics, discourse analysis and syntax, and concluded that the source of information, the specific place and time of the event, the length of the title and statement, and the emotions aroused are the important characteristics to judge the authenticity of the rumors; Zhang et al. 6 summarized the narrative theme, narrative characteristics, topic characteristics, language style and source characteristics of new media rumors; Li et al. 7 found that rumors have authoritative blessing and fear appeal in headline rhetoric, and they use news and digital headlines extensively, and the topic construction mostly uses programmed fixed structure; Yu et al. 8 analyzed and summarized the content distribution, narrative structure, topic scene construction and title characteristics of rumors in detail; Mourao et al. 9 found that the language style of rumors is significantly different from that of real texts, and rumors tend to use simpler, more emotional and more radical discourse strategies; Zhou et al. 10 analyzed the rumor text based on six analysis categories, such as content type, focus object and corroboration means, and found that the epidemic rumors were mostly “infectious” topics, with narrative expression being the most common, strong fear, and preference for exaggerated and polarized discourse style. Huang et al. 11 conducted an empirical study based on WeChat rumors, and found that the “confirmation” means of rumors include data corroboration and specific information, hot events and authoritative release; Butt et al. 12 analyzed the psycholinguistic features of rumors, and extracted four features from the rumor data set: LIWC, readability, senticnet and emotions. Zhou et al. 13 analyzed the semantic features of fake news content in theme and emotion, and found that the distribution of fake news and real news is different in theme features, and the overall mood, negative mood and anger of fake news are higher; Tan et al. 14 divided the content characteristics of rumors into content characteristics with certain emotional tendency and social characteristics that affect credibility; Damstra et al. 15 identified the elements as a consistent indicator of intentionally deceptive news content, including negative emotions causing anger or fear, lengthy sensational headlines, using informal language or swearing, etc. Lai et al. 16 put forward that emotional rumors can make the rumor audience have similar positive and negative emotions through emotional contagion; Yuan et al. 17 found that multimedia evidence form and topic shaping are important means to create rumors, which mostly convey negative emotions of fear and anger, and the provision of information sources is related to the popularity and duration of rumors; Ruan et al. 18 analyzed the content types, emotional types and discourse focus of Weibo’s rumor samples, and found that the proportion of social life rumors was the highest, and the emotional types were mainly hostile and fearful, with the focus on the general public and the personnel of the party, government and military institutions.

The forms and contents of online rumors tend to be diversified and complicated. The existing research on the content features of rumors is mostly aimed at the mining of content characteristics under specific topics, which cannot cover various types of rumor topics, and lacks fine-grained hierarchical modeling of the relationship between features and credible verification of their effectiveness.

Domain ontology construction

Domain ontology is a unified definition, standardized organization and visual representation of the concepts of knowledge in a specific domain 31 , 32 , and it is an important source of information for knowledge-based systems 19 , 33 . Theoretical methods include TOVE method 20 , skeleton method 21 , IDEF-5 method 22 , 23 , methontology method 24 , 25 and seven-step method 26 , 27 . TOVE method transforms informal description into formal ontology, which is suitable for fields that need accurate knowledge, but it is complex and time-consuming, requires high-level domain knowledge and is not easy to expand and maintain. Skeleton method forms an ontology skeleton by defining the concepts and relationships of goals, activities, resources, organizations and environment, which can be adjusted according to needs and is suitable for fields that need multi-perspective and multi-level knowledge, but it lacks formal semantics and reasoning ability. Based on this method, Ran et al. 34 constructed the ontology of idioms and allusions. IDEF5 method uses chart language and detailed description language to construct ontology, formalizes and visualizes objective knowledge, and is suitable for fields that need multi-source data and multi-participation, but it lacks a unified ontology representation language. Based on this method, Li et al. 35 constructed the business process activity ontology of military equipment maintenance support, and Song et al. 36 established the air defense and anti-missile operation process ontology. Methontology is a method close to software engineering. It systematically develops ontologies through the processes of specification, knowledge acquisition, conceptualization, integration, implementation, evaluation and document arrangement, which is suitable for fields that need multi-technology and multi-ontology integration, but it is too complicated and tedious, and requires a lot of resources and time 37 . Based on this method, Yang et al. 38 completed the ontology of emergency plan, Duan et al. 39 established the ontology of high-resolution images of rural residents, and Chen et al. 40 constructed the corpus ontology of Jiangui. Seven-step method is the most mature and widely used method at present 28 . It is systematic and applicable to construct ontology by determining its purpose, scope, terms, structure, attributes, limitations and examples 29 , but it does not provide quantitative indicators and methods about the quality and effect of ontology. Based on this method, Zhu et al. 41 constructed the disease ontology of asthma, Li et al. 42 constructed the ontology of military events, the ontology of weapons and equipment and the ontology model of battlefield environment, and Zhang et al. 43 constructed the ontology of stroke nursing field, and verified the construction results by expert consultation.

Domain ontology construction technology includes thesaurus conversion, existing ontology reuse and semi-automatic and automatic construction technology based on ontology engineering method 30 . The construction technology based on thesaurus transformation takes the existing thesaurus as the knowledge source, and transforms the concepts, terms and relationships in the thesaurus into the entities and relationships of domain ontology through certain rules and methods, which saves the time and cost of ontology construction and improves the quality and reusability of ontology. However, it is necessary to solve the structural and semantic differences between thesaurus and ontology and adjust and optimize them according to the characteristics of different fields and application scenarios. Wu et al. 44 constructed the ontology of the natural gas market according to the thesaurus of the natural gas market and the mapping of subject words to ontology, and Li et al. 45 constructed the ontology of the medical field according to the Chinese medical thesaurus. The construction technology based on existing ontology reuse uses existing ontologies or knowledge resources to generate new domain ontologies through modification, expansion, merger and mapping, which saves time and cost and improves the consistency and interoperability of ontologies, but it also needs to solve semantic differences and conflicts between ontologies. Chen et al. 46 reuse the top-level framework of scientific evidence source information ontology (SEPIO) and traditional Chinese medicine language system (TCMLS) to construct the ontology of clinical trials of traditional Chinese medicine, and Xiao et al. 47 construct the domain ontology of COVID-19 by extracting the existing ontology and the knowledge related to COVID-19 in the diagnosis and treatment guide. Semi-automatic and automatic construction technology based on ontology engineering method semi-automatically or automatically extracts the elements and structures of ontology from data sources by using natural language processing, machine learning and other technologies to realize large-scale, fast and low-cost domain ontology construction 48 , but there are technical difficulties, the quality and accuracy of knowledge extraction can not be well guaranteed, and the quality and consistency of different knowledge sources need to be considered. Suet al. 48 used regular templates and clustering algorithm to construct the ontology of port machinery, Zheng et al. 49 realized the automatic construction of mobile phone ontology through LDA and other models, Dong et al. 50 realized the automatic construction of ontology for human–machine ternary data fusion in manufacturing field, Linli et al. 51 proposed an ontology learning algorithm based on hypergraph, and Zhai et al. 52 learned from it through part-of-speech tagging, dependency syntax analysis and pattern matching.

At present, domain ontology construction methods are not easy to expand, lack of effective quality evaluation support, lack of effective integration and application of construction technology, construction divorced from reality can not guide subsequent practice, subjective ontology verification and so on. Aiming at the problems existing in the research of content characteristics and domain ontology construction of online rumors, this paper proposes an improved TFI network rumor domain ontology construction method based on seven-step method, which combines top-down existing ontology reuse technology with bottom-up semi-automatic construction technology, and establishes rumor domain ontology based on top-level ontology reuse, core document content feature extraction and new concept discovery in the real corpus from the terminology layer, framework layer and instance layer. Using Protégé as a visualization tool, the implicit knowledge mining of ontology is carried out by constructing SWRL rules to verify the semantic parsing ability and consistency of domain ontology.

Research method

This paper proposes a TFI online rumor domain ontology construction method based on the improvement of the seven-step method, which includes the term layer, the frame layer and the instance layer construction.

Term layer construction

Determine the domain and scope: the purpose of constructing the rumor domain ontology is to support the credible detection and governance of online rumors, and the domain and scope of the ontology are determined by answering questions.

Three-dimensional term set construction: investigate the top-level ontology and related core literature, complete the mapping of reusable top-level ontology and rumor content feature concept extraction semi-automatically from top to bottom; establish authoritative real rumor datasets, and complete the domain new concept discovery automatically from bottom to top; based on this, determine the term set of the domain ontology.

Frame layer construction

Define core classes and hierarchical relationships: combine the concepts of the three-dimensional rumor term set, based on the data distribution of the rumor dataset, define the parent class, summarize the subclasses, design hierarchical relationships and explain the content of each class.

Define core properties and facets of properties: in order to achieve deep semantic parsing of rumor text contents, define object properties, data properties and property facets for each category in the ontology.

Instance layer construction

Create instances: analyze the real rumor dataset, extract instance data, and add them to the corresponding concepts in the ontology.

Encode and visualize ontology: use OWL language to encode ontology, and use Protégé to visualize ontology, so that ontology can be understood and operated by computer.

Ontology verification: use SWRL rules and pellet reasoner to mine implicit knowledge of ontology, and verify its semantic parsing ability and consistency.

Ethical statements

This article does not contain any studies with human participants performed by any of the authors.

Determine the professional domain and scope of the ontology description

This paper determines the domain and scope of the online rumor domain ontology by answering the following four questions:

(1) What is the domain covered by the ontology?

The “Rumor Domain Ontology” constructed in this paper only considers content features, not user features and propagation features; the data covers six rumor types of politics and military, disease prevention and treatment, social life, science and technology, nutrition and health, and others involved in China’s mainstream internet rumor-refuting websites.

(2) What is the purpose of the ontology?

To perform fine-grained hierarchical modeling of the relationships among the features of multi-domain online rumor contents, realize semantic parsing and credibility reasoning verification of rumor texts, and guide fine-grained rumor detection and governance. It can also be used as a guiding framework and constraint condition for online rumor knowledge graph construction.

(3) What kind of questions should the information in the ontology provide answers for?

To provide answers for questions such as the fine-grained rumor types of rumor instances, the valid features of rumor types, etc.

(4) Who will use the ontology in the future?

Users of online rumor detection and governance, users of online rumor knowledge graphs construction.

Three-dimensional term set construction

Domain concepts reused by top-level ontology.

As a mature and authoritative common ontology, top-level ontology can be shared and reused in a large range, providing reference and support for the construction of domain ontology. The domain ontology of online rumors established in this paper focuses on the content characteristics, mainly including the content theme, events and emotions of rumor texts. By reusing the terminology concepts in the existing top-level ontology, the terminology in the terminology set can be unified and standardized. At the same time, the top-level concept and its subclass structure can guide the framework construction of domain ontology and reduce the difficulty and cost of ontology construction. Reusable top-level ontologies include: SUMO, senticnet and ERE after screening.

SUMO ontology: a public upper-level knowledge ontology containing some general concepts and relations for describing knowledge in different domains. The partial reusable SUMO top-level concepts and subclasses selected in this paper are shown in Table 1 , which provides support for the sub-concept design of text topics in rumor domain ontology.

Senticnet: a knowledge base for concept-based sentiment analysis, which contains semantic, emotional, and polarity information related to natural language concepts. The partial reusable SenticNet top-level concepts and subclasses selected in this paper are shown in Table 2 , which provides support for the sub-concept design of text topics in rumor domain ontology.

Entities, relations, and events (ERE): a knowledge base of events and entity relations. The partial reusable ERE top-level concepts and subclasses selected in this paper are shown in Table 3 , which provides support for the sub-concept design of text elements in the rumor domain ontology.

Extracting domain concepts based on core literature content features

Domain core literature is an important source for extracting feature concepts. This paper uses ‘rumor detection’ as the search term to retrieve 274 WOS papers and 257 CNKI papers from the WOS and CNKI core literature databases. The content features of rumor texts involved in the literature samples are extracted, the repetition content features are eliminated, the core content features are screened, and the canonical naming of synonymous concepts from different literatures yields the domain concepts as shown in Table 4 . Among them, text theme, text element, text style, text feature and text rhetoric are classified as text features; emotional category, emotional appeal and rumor motive are classified as emotional characteristics; source credibility, evidence credibility and testimony method are classified as information credibility characteristics; social context is implicit.

Extracting domain concepts based on new concept discovery

This paper builds a general rumor dataset based on China’s mainstream rumor-refuting websites as data sources, and proposes a domain new concept discovery algorithm to discover domain new words in the dataset, add them to the word segmentation dictionary to improve the accuracy of word segmentation, and cluster them according to rumor type, resulting in a concept subclass dictionary based on the real rumor dataset, which provided realistic basis and data support for the conceptual design of each subclass in domain ontology.

Building a general rumor dataset

The rumor dataset constructed in this paper contains 12,472 texts, with 6236 rumors and 6236 non-rumors; the data sources are China’s mainstream internet rumor-refuting websites: 1032 from the internet rumor exposure platform of China internet joint rumor-refuting platform, 270 from today’s rumor-refuting of China internet joint rumor-refuting platform, 1852 from Tencent news Jiaozhen platform, 1744 from Baidu rumor-refuting platform, 7036 from science rumor-refuting platform, and 538 from Weibo community management center. This paper invited eight researchers to annotate the labels (rumor, non-rumor), categories (politics and military, disease prevention and treatment, social life, science and technology, nutrition and health, others) of the rumor dataset. Because data annotation is artificial and subjective, in order to ensure the effectiveness and consistency of annotation, before inviting researchers to annotate, this paper formulates annotation standards, including the screening method, trigger words and sentence break identification of rumor information and corresponding rumor information, and clearly explains and exemplifies the screening method and trigger words of rumor categories, so as to reduce the understanding differences among researchers; in view of this standard, researchers are trained in labeling to familiarize them with labeling specifications, so as to improve their labeling ability and efficiency. The method of multi-person cross-labeling is adopted when labeling, and each piece of data is independently labeled by at least two researchers. In case of conflicting labeling results, the labeling results are jointly decided by the data annotators to increase the reliability and accuracy of labeling. After labeling, multi-person cross-validation method is used to evaluate the labeling results. Each piece of data is independently verified by at least two researchers who did not participate in labeling, and conflicting labeling results are jointly decided by at least five researchers to ensure the consistency of evaluation results. Examples of the results are shown in Table 5 .

N-gram word granularity rumor text new word discovery algorithm

Existing neologism discovery algorithms are mostly based on the granularity of Chinese characters, and the time complexity of long word discovery is high and the accuracy rate is low. The algorithm’s usefulness is low, and the newly discovered words are mostly already found in general domain dictionaries. To solve these problems, this paper proposes an online rumor new word discovery algorithm based on N-gram word granularity, as shown in Fig.  1 .

Flowchart of domain new word discovery algorithm.

First, obtain the corpus to be processed \({\varvec{c}}=\{{{\varvec{s}}}_{1},{{\varvec{s}}}_{2},...,{{\varvec{s}}}_{{{\varvec{n}}}_{{\varvec{c}}}}\}\) , and perform the first preprocessing on the corpus to be processed, which includes: sentence segmentation, Chinese word segmentation and punctuation removal for the corpus to be processed. Obtain the first corpus \({{\varvec{c}}}^{{\varvec{p}}}=\{{{\varvec{s}}}_{1}^{{\varvec{p}}},{{\varvec{s}}}_{2}^{{\varvec{p}}},...,{{\varvec{s}}}_{{{\varvec{n}}}_{{\varvec{c}}}}^{{\varvec{p}}}\}\) ; where \({s}_{i}\) represents the \(i\) -th sentence in the corpus to be processed, \({n}_{c}\) represents the number of sentences in the corpus to be processed, and \({s}_{i}^{p}\) is the i-th sentence in the first corpus; perform N-gram operation on each sentence in the first corpus separately, and obtain multiple candidate words \(n=2\sim 5\) ; count the word frequency of each candidate word in the first corpus, and remove the candidate words with word frequency less than the first threshold, and obtain the first class of candidate word set;calculate the cohesion of each candidate word in the first class of candidate word set according to the following formula:

In the formula, \(P(\cdot )\) represents word frequency.Then filter according to the second threshold corresponding to N-gram operation, and obtain the second class of candidate word set; after loading the new words in the second class of candidate word set into LTP dictionary, perform the second preprocessing on the corpus to be processed \({\varvec{c}}=\{{{\varvec{s}}}_{1},{{\varvec{s}}}_{2},...,{{\varvec{s}}}_{{{\varvec{n}}}_{{\varvec{c}}}}\}\) ; and obtain the second corpus \({{\varvec{c}}}^{{\varvec{p}}\boldsymbol{^{\prime}}}=\{{{\varvec{s}}}_{1}^{{\varvec{p}}\boldsymbol{^{\prime}}},{{\varvec{s}}}_{2}^{{\varvec{p}}\boldsymbol{^{\prime}}},...,{{\varvec{s}}}_{{{\varvec{n}}}_{{\varvec{c}}}}^{{\varvec{p}}\boldsymbol{^{\prime}}}\}\) ; where the second preprocessing includes: sentence segmentation, Chinese word segmentation and stop word removal for the corpus to be processed; after obtaining the vector representation of each word in the second corpus, determine the vector representation of each new word in the second class of candidate word set; according to the vector representation of each new word, use K-means algorithm for clustering; according to the clustering results and preset classification rules, classify each new word to the corresponding domain. The examples of new words discovered are shown in Table 6 :

RoBERTa-Kmeans rumor text concepts extraction algorithm

After adding the new words obtained by the new word discovery to the LTP dictionary, the accuracy of LTP word segmentation is improved. The five types of rumor texts established in this paper are segmented by using the new LTP dictionary, and the word vectors are obtained by inputting them into the RoBERTa word embedding layer after removing the stop words. The word vectors are clustered by k-means according to rumor type to obtain the concept subclass dictionary. The main process is as follows:

(1) Word embedding layer

The RoBERTa model uses Transformer-Encode for computation, and each module contains multi-head attention mechanism, residual connection and layer normalization, feed-forward neural network. The word vectors are obtained by representing the rumor texts after accurate word segmentation through one-hot encoding, and the position encoding represents the relative or absolute position of the word in the sequence. The word embedding vectors generated by superimposing the two are used as input X. The multi-head attention mechanism uses multiple independent Attention modules to perform parallel operations on the input information, as shown in formula ( 2 ):

where \(\left\{{\varvec{Q}},{\varvec{K}},{\varvec{V}}\right\}\) is the input matrix, \({{\varvec{d}}}_{{\varvec{k}}}\) is the dimension of the input matrix. After calculation, the hidden vectors obtained after computation are residual concatenated with layer normalization, and then calculated by two fully connected layers of feed-forward neural network for input, as shown in formula ( 3 ):

where \(\left\{{{\varvec{W}}}_{{\varvec{e}}},{{\varvec{W}}}_{0}\boldsymbol{^{\prime}}\right\}\) are the weight matrices of two connected layers, \(\left\{{{\varvec{b}}}_{{\varvec{e}}},{{\varvec{b}}}_{0}\boldsymbol{^{\prime}}\right\}\) are the bias terms of two connected layers.

After calculation, a bidirectional association between word embedding vectors is established, which enables the model to learn the semantic features contained in each word embedding vector in different contexts. Through fine-tuning, the learned knowledge is transferred to the downstream clustering task.

(2) K-means clustering

Randomly select k initial points to obtain k classes, and iterate until the loss function of the clustering result is minimized. The loss function can be defined as the sum of squared errors of each sample point from its cluster center point, as shown in formula ( 4 ).

where \({x}_{i}\) represents the \(i\) sample, \({a}_{i}\) is the cluster that \({x}_{i}\) belongs to, \({u}_{{a}_{i}}\) represents the corresponding center point, \(N\) is the total number of samples.

After RoBERTa-kmeans calculation, the concept subclasses obtained are manually screened, merged repetition items, deleted invalid items, and finally obtained 79 rumor concept subclasses, including 14 politics and military subclasses, 23 disease prevention and treatment subclasses, 15 social life subclasses, 13 science and technology subclasses, and 14 nutrition and health subclasses. Some statistics are shown in Table 7 .

Each concept subclass is obtained by clustering several topic words. For example, the topic words that constitute the subclasses of body part, epidemic prevention and control, chemical drugs, etc. under the disease prevention and treatment topic are shown in Table 8 .

(3) Determining the terminology set

This paper constructs a three-dimensional rumor domain ontology terminology set based on the above three methods, and unifies the naming of the terms. Some of the terms are shown in Table 9 .

Framework layer construction

Define core classes and hierarchy, define parent classes.

This paper aims at fine-grained hierarchical modeling of the relationship between the content characteristics of multi-domain network rumors. Therefore, the top-level parent class needs to include the rumor category and the main content characteristics of a sub-category rumor design. The main content characteristics are the clustering results of domain concepts extracted based on the content characteristics of core documents, that is, rumor text feature, rumor emotional characteristic, rumor credibility and social context. The specific contents of the five top parent classes are as follows:

Rumor type: the specific classification of rumors under different subject categories; Rumor text feature, the common features of rumor texts in terms of theme, style, rhetoric, etc. Rumor emotional characteristic: the emotional elements of rumor texts, the Rumor motive of the publisher, and the emotional changes they hope to trigger in the receiver. Rumor credibility: the authority of the information source, the credibility of the evidence material provided by the publisher, and the effectiveness of the testimony method. Social context: the relevant issues and events in the society when the rumor is published.

Induce subclasses and design hierarchical relationships

In this paper, under the top-level parent class, according to the top-level concepts of top-level ontologies such as SUMO, senticnet and ERE and their subclass structures, and the rumor text features of each category extracted from the real rumor text dataset, we summarize its 88 subclasses and design the hierarchical relationships, as shown in Fig.  2 , which include:

(1) Rumor text feature

Diagram of the core classes and hierarchy of the rumor domain ontology.

① Text theme 6 , 8 , 13 , 18 , 53 : the theme or topic that the rumor text content involves. Based on the self-built rumor dataset, it is divided into politics and military 54 , involving information such as political figures, political policies, political relations, political activities, military actions, military events, strategic objectives, politics and military reviews, etc.; nutrition and health 55 , involving information such as the relationship between human health and nutrition, the nutritional components and value of food, the plan and advice for healthy eating, health problems and habits, etc.; disease prevention and treatment 10 , involving information such as the definition of disease, vaccine, treatment, prevention, data, etc.; social life 56 , involving information such as social issues, social environment, social values, cultural activities, social media, education system, etc.; science and technology 57 , involving information such as scientific research, scientific discovery, technological innovation, technological application, technological enterprise, etc.; other categories.

② Text element 15 : the structured information of the rumor text contents. It is divided into character, political character, public character, etc.; geographical position, city, region, area, etc.; event, historical event, current event, crisis event, policy event, etc.; action, protection, prevention and control, exercise, fighting, crime, eating, breeding, health preservation, rest, exercise, education, sports, social, cultural, ideological, business, economic, transportation, etc.; material, food, products (food, medicine, health products, cosmetics, etc.) and the materials they contain and their relationship with human health. effect, nutrition, health, harm, natural disaster, man-made disaster, guarantee, prevention, treatment, etc.; institution, government, enterprise, school, hospital, army, police, social group, etc.; nature, weather, astronomy, environment, agriculture, disease, etc.

③ Text style 7 , 10 : the discourse style of the rumor text contents, preferring exaggerated and emotional expression. It is divided into gossip style, creating conflict or entertainment effect; curious style, satisfying people’s curiosity and stimulation; critical style, using receivers’ stereotypes or preconceptions; lyrical style, creating resonance and influencing emotion; didactic style influencing receivers’ thought and behavior from an authoritative perspective; plain style concise objective arousing resonance etc.

④ Text feature 7 , 58 : special language means in the rumor text contents that can increase the transmission and influence of the rumor. It is divided into extensive punctuation reminding or attracting receivers’ attention; many mood words enhancing emotional color and persuasiveness; many emoji conveying attitude; induce forwarding using @ symbol etc. to induce receivers to forward etc.

⑤ Text rhetoric 15 : common rhetorical devices in rumor contents. It is divided into metaphor hyperbole repetition personification etc.

(2) Rumor emotional characteristic

① Emotion category 17 , 59 , 60 : the emotional tendency and intensity expressed in the rumor texts. It is divided into positive emotion happy praise etc.; negative emotion fear 10 anger sadness anxiety 61 dissatisfaction depression etc.; neutral emotion no preference plain objective etc.

② Emotional appeal 16 , 62 , 63 : the online rumor disseminator hopes that the rumor they disseminate can trigger some emotional changes in the receiver. It is divided into “joy” happy pleasant satisfied emotions that prompt receivers to spread or believe some rumors that are conducive to social harmony; “love” love appreciation admiration emotions that prompt receivers to spread or believe some rumors that are conducive to some people or group interests; “anger” angry annoyed dissatisfied emotions that prompt receivers to spread or believe some rumors that are anti-social or intensify conflicts; “fear” fearful afraid nervous emotions that prompt receivers to spread or believe some rumors that have bad effects deliberately exaggerated; “repugnance” disgusted nauseous emotions that prompt receivers to spread or believe some rumors that are detrimental to social harmony; “surprise” surprised shocked amazed emotions that prompt receivers to spread or believe some rumors that deliberately attract traffic exaggerated fabricated etc.

③ Rumor motive 17 , 64 , 65 , 66 : the purpose and need of the rumor publisher to publish rumors and the receiver to forward rumors. Such as profit-driven seeking fame and fortune deceiving receivers; emotional catharsis relieving dissatisfaction emotions by venting; creating panic creating social unrest and riots disrupting social order; entertainment fooling receivers seeking stimulation; information verification digging out the truth of events etc.

(3) Rumor credibility

① source credibility 7 , 17 : the degree of trustworthiness that the information source has. Such as official institutions and authoritative experts and scholars in the field with high credibility; well-known encyclopedias and large-scale civil organizations with medium credibility; small-scale civil organizations and personal hearsay personal experience with low credibility etc.

② evidence credibility 61 : the credibility of the information proof material provided by the publisher. Data support such as scientific basis based on scientific theory or method; related feature with definite research or investigation result in data support; temporal background with clear time place character event and other elements which related to the information content; the common sense of life in line with the facts and scientific common sense that are widely recognized.

③ testimony method 10 , 11 , 17 : the method to support or refute a certain point of view. Such as multimedia material expressing or fabricating content details through pictures videos audio; authority endorsement policy documents research papers etc. of authorized institutions or persons; social identity identity of social relation groups.

(4) Social context

① social issue 67 : some bad phenomena or difficulties in society such as poverty pollution corruption crime government credibility decline 68 etc.

② public attention 63 : events or topics that arouse widespread attention or discussion in the society such as sports events technological innovation food safety religious beliefs Myanmar fraud nuclear wastewater discharge etc.

③ emergency(public sentiment) 69 : some major or urgent events that suddenly occur in society such as earthquake flood public safety malignant infectious disease outbreaks etc.

(5) Rumor type

① Political and military rumor:

Political image rumor: rumors related to images closely connected to politics and military, such as countries, political figures, institutions, symbols, etc. These include positive political image smear rumor, negative political image whitewash rumor, political image fabrication and distortion rumor, etc.

Political event rumor: rumors about military and political events, such as international relations, security cooperation, military strategy, judicial trial, etc. These include positive political event smear rumor, negative political event whitewash rumor, political event fabrication and distortion rumor, etc.

② Nutrition and health rumor:

Food product rumor: rumors related to food, products (food, medicine, health products, cosmetics, etc.), the materials they contain and their association with human health. These include positive effect of food product rumor, negative effect of food product rumor, food product knowledge rumor, etc.

Living habit rumor: rumors related to habitual actions in life and their association with human health. These include positive effect of living habit rumor, negative effect of living habit rumor, living habit knowledge rumor, etc.

③ Disease prevention and treatment rumor:

Disease management rumor: rumors related to disease management and control methods that maintain and promote individual and group health. These include positive prevention and treatment rumor, negative aggravating disease rumor, disease management knowledge rumor, etc.

Disease confirmed transmission rumor: rumors about the confirmation, transmission, and immunity of epidemic diseases at the social level in terms of causes, processes, results, etc. These include local confirmed cases rumor, celebrity confirmed cases rumor, transmission mechanism rumor, etc.

Disease notification and advice rumor: rumors that fabricate or distort the statements of authorized institutions or experts in the field, and provide false policies or suggestions related to diseases. These include institutional notification rumor, expert advice rumor, etc.

④ Social life rumor:

Public figure public opinion rumor: rumors related to public figures’ opinions, actions, private lives, etc. These include positive public figure smear rumor, negative public figure whitewash rumor, public figure life exposure rumor, etc.

Social life event rumor: rumors related to events, actions, and impacts on people's social life. These include positive event sharing rumor, negative event exposure rumor, neutral event knowledge rumor, etc.

Disaster occurrence rumor: rumors related to natural disasters or man-made disasters and their subsequent developments. These include natural disaster occurrence rumor, man-made disaster occurrence rumor, etc.

⑤ Science and technology rumor:

Scientific knowledge rumor: rumors related to natural science or social science theories and knowledge. These include scientific theory rumor, scientific concept rumor, etc.

Science and technology application rumor: rumors related to the research and development and practical application of science and technology and related products. These include scientific and technological product rumor, scientific and technological information rumor, etc.

⑥ Other rumor: rumors that do not contain elements from the above categories.

Definition of core properties and facets of properties

Properties in the ontology are used to describe the relationships between entities or the characteristics of entities. Object properties are relationships that connect two entities, describing the interactions between entities; data properties represent the characteristics of entities, usually in the form of some data type. Based on the self-built rumor dataset, this paper designs object properties, data properties and facets of properties for the parent classes and subclasses of the rumor domain ontology.

Object properties

A partial set of object properties is shown in Table 10 .

Data attributes

The partial data attribute set is shown in Table 11 .

Creating instances

Based on the defined core classes and properties, this paper creates instances according to the real rumor dataset. An example is shown in Table 12 .

This paper selects the online rumor that “Lin Chi-ling was abused by her husband Kuroki Meisa, the tears of betrayal, the shadow of gambling, all shrouded her head. Even if she tried to divorce, she could not get a solution…..” as an example, and draws a structure diagram of the rumor domain ontology instance, as shown in Fig.  3 . This instance shows the seven major text features of the rumor text: text theme, text element, text style, emotion category, emotional appeal, rumor motivation, and rumor credibility, as well as the related subclass instances, laying a foundation for building a multi-source rumor domain knowledge graph.

Schematic example of the rumor domain ontology.

Encoding ontology and visualization

Encoding ontology.

This paper uses OWL language to encode the rumor domain ontology, to accurately describe the entities, concepts and their relationships, and to facilitate knowledge reasoning and semantic understanding. Classes in the rumor domain ontology are represented by the class “Class” in OWL and the hierarchical relationship is represented by subclassof. For example, in the creation of the rumor emotional characteristic class and its subclasses, the OWL code is shown in Fig.  4 :

Partial OWL codes of the rumor domain ontology.

The ontology is formalized and stored as a code file using the above OWL language, providing support for reasoning.

Ontology visualization

This paper uses protégé5.5 to visualize the rumor domain ontology, showing the hierarchical structure and relationship of the ontology parent class and its subclasses. Due to space limitations, this paper only shows the ontology parent class “RumorEmotionalFeatures” and its subclasses, as shown in Fig.  5 .

Ontology parent class “RumorEmotionalFeatures” and its subclasses.

Ontology reasoning and validation

Swrl reasoning rule construction.

SWRL reasoning rule is an ontology-based rule language that can be used to define Horn-like rules to enhance the reasoning and expressive ability of the ontology. This paper uses SWRL reasoning rules to deal with the conflict relationships between classes and between classes and instances in the rumor domain ontology, and uses pellet reasoner to deeply mine the implicit semantic relationships between classes and instances, to verify the semantic parsing ability and consistency of the rumor domain ontology.

This paper summarizes the object property features of various types of online rumors based on the self-built rumor dataset, maps the real rumor texts with the rumor domain ontology, constructs typical SWRL reasoning rules for judging 32 typical rumor types, as shown in Table 13 , and imports them into the protégé rule library, as shown in Fig.  6 . In which x, n, e, z, i, t, v, l, etc. are instances of rumor types, text theme, emotion category, effect, institution, event, action, geographical position, etc. in the ontology. HasTheme, HasEmotion, HasElement, HasSource, HasMood and HasSupport are object property relationships. Polarity value is a data property relationship.

Partial SWRL rules for the rumor domain ontology.

Implicit knowledge mining and verification based on pellet reasoner

This paper extracts corresponding instances from the rumor dataset, imports the rumor domain ontology and SWRL rule description into the pellet reasoner in the protégé software, performs implicit knowledge mining of the rumor domain ontology, judges the rumor type of the instance, and verifies the semantic parsing ability and consistency of the ontology.

Positive prevention and treatment of disease rumors are mainly based on the theme of disease prevention and treatment, usually containing products to be sold (including drugs, vaccines, equipment, etc.) and effect of disease names, claiming to have positive effects (such as prevention, cure, relief, etc.) on certain diseases or symptoms, causing positive emotions such as surprise and happiness among patients and their families, thereby achieving the purpose of selling products. The text features and emotional features of this kind of rumors are relatively clear, so this paper takes the rumor text “Hong Kong MDX Medical Group released the ‘DCV Cancer Vaccine’, which can prevent more than 12 kinds of cancers, including prostate cancer, breast cancer and lung cancer.” as an example to verify the semantic parsing ability of the rumor domain ontology. The analysis result of this instance is shown in Fig.  7 . The text theme is cancer prevention in disease prevention and treatment, the text style is plain narrative style, and the text element includes product-DCV cancer vaccine, positive effect-prevention, disease name-prostate cancer, disease name-breast cancer, disease name-lung cancer; the emotion category of this instance is a positive emotion, emotional appeal is joy, love, surprise; The motive for releasing rumors is profit-driven in selling products, the information source is Hong Kong MDX medical group, and pictures and celebrity endorsements are used as testimony method. This paper uses a pellet reasoner to reason on the parsed instance based on SWRL rules, and mines out the specific rumor type of this instance as positive prevention and treatment of disease rumor. This paper also conducted similar instance analysis and reasoning verification for other types of rumor texts, and the results show that the ontology has high consistency and reliability.

Implicit relationship between rumor instance parsing results and pellet reasoner mining.

Comparison and evaluation of ontology performance

In this paper, the constructed ontology is compared with the representative rumor index system in the field. By inviting four experts to make a comprehensive evaluation based on the self-built index system 70 , 71 , 72 , their performance in the indicators of reliability, coverage and operability is evaluated. According to the ranking order given by experts, they are given 1–4 points, and the first place in each indicator item gets four points. The average value given by three experts is taken as the single indicator score of each subject, and the total score of each indicator item is taken as the final score of the subject.

As can be seen from Table 14 , the rumor domain ontology constructed in this paper constructs a term set through three ways: reusing the existing ontology, extracting the content features of core documents and discovering new concepts based on real rumor data sets, and the ontology structure has been verified by SWRL rule reasoning of pellet inference machine, which has high reliability; ontology covers six kinds of Chinese online rumors, including the grammatical, semantic, pragmatic and social characteristics of rumor text characteristics, emotional characteristics, rumor credibility and social background, which has a high coverage; ontology is coded by OWL language specification and displayed visually on protege, which is convenient for further expansion and reuse of scholars and has high operability.

The construction method of TFI domain ontology proposed in this paper includes terminology layer, framework layer and instance layer. Compared with the traditional methods, this paper adopts three-dimensional data set construction method in terminology layer construction, investigates top-level ontology and related core documents, and completes the mapping of reusable top-level ontology from top to bottom and the concept extraction of rumor content features in existing literature research. Based on the mainstream internet rumor websites in China, the authoritative real rumor data set is established, and the new word discovery algorithm of N-gram combined with RoBERTa-Kmeans clustering algorithm is used to automatically discover new concepts in the field from bottom to top; determine the terminology set of domain ontology more comprehensively and efficiently. This paper extracts the clustering results of domain concepts based on the content characteristics of core documents in the selection of parent rumors content characteristics in the framework layer construction, that is, rumors text characteristics, rumors emotional characteristics, rumors credibility characteristics and social background characteristics; based on the emotional characteristics and the entity categories of real rumor data sets, the characteristics of rumor categories are defined. Sub-category rumor content features combine the concept of three-dimensional rumor term set and the concept distribution based on real rumor data set, define the sub-category concept and hierarchical relationship close to the real needs, and realize the fine-grained hierarchical modeling of the relationship between multi-domain network rumor content features. In this paper, OWL language is used to encode the rumor domain ontology in the instance layer construction, and SWRL rule language and Pellet inference machine are used to deal with the conflict and mine tacit knowledge, judge the fine-grained categories of rumor texts, and realize the effective quality evaluation of rumor ontology. This makes the rumor domain ontology constructed in this paper have high consistency and reliability, and can effectively analyze and reason different types of rumor texts, which enriches the knowledge system in this field and provides a solid foundation for subsequent credible rumor detection and governance.

However, the study of the text has the following limitations and deficiencies:

(1) The rumor domain ontology constructed in this paper only considers the content characteristics, but does not consider the user characteristics and communication characteristics. User characteristics and communication characteristics are important factors affecting the emergence and spread of online rumors, and the motivation and influence of rumors can be analyzed. In this paper, these factors are not included in the rumor feature system, which may limit the expressive ability and reasoning ability of the rumor ontology and fail to fully reflect the complexity and multidimensional nature of online rumors.

(2) In this paper, the mainstream Internet rumor-dispelling websites in China are taken as the data source of ontology instantiation. The data covers five rumor categories: political and military, disease prevention, social life, science and technology, and nutrition and health, and the data range is limited. And these data sources are mainly official or authoritative rumor websites, and their data volume and update frequency may not be enough to reflect the diversity and variability of online rumors, and can not fully guarantee the timeliness and comprehensiveness of rumor data.

(3) The SWRL reasoning rules used in this paper are based on manual writing, which may not cover all reasoning scenarios, and the degree of automation needs to be improved. The pellet inference engine used in this paper is an ontology inference engine based on OWL-DL, which may have some computational complexity problems and lack of advanced reasoning ability.

The following aspects can be considered for optimization and improvement in the future:

(1) This paper will introduce user characteristics into the rumor ontology, and analyze the factors that cause and accept rumors, such as social attributes, psychological state, knowledge level, beliefs and attitudes, behavioral intentions and so on. This paper will introduce the characteristics of communication, and analyze the propagation dynamic factors of various types of rumors, such as propagation path, propagation speed, propagation range, propagation period, propagation effect, etc. This paper hopes to introduce these factors into the rumor feature system, increase the breadth and depth of the rumor domain ontology, and provide more credible clues and basis for the detection, intervention and prevention of rumors.

(2) This paper will expand the data sources, collect the original rumor data directly from social media, news media, authoritative rumor dispelling institutions and other channels, and build a rumor data set with comprehensive types, diverse expressions and rich characteristics; regularly grab the latest rumor data from these data sources and update and improve the rumor data set in time; strengthen the expressive ability of rumor ontology instance layer, and provide full data support and verification for the effective application of ontology.

(3) The text will introduce GPT, LLaMA, ChantGLM and other language models, and explore the automatic generation algorithm and technology of ontology inference rules based on rumor ontology and dynamic Prompt, so as to realize more effective and intelligent rumor ontology evaluation and complex reasoning.

This paper proposed a method of constructing TFI network rumor domain ontology. Based on the concept distribution of three-dimensional term set and real rumor data set, the main features of network rumors are defined, including text features, emotional features, credibility features, social background features and category features, and the relationships among these multi-domain features are modeled in a fine-grained hierarchy, including five parent classes and 88 subcategories. At the instance level, 32 types of typical rumor category judgment and reasoning rules are constructed, and the ontology is processed by using SWRL rule language and pellet inference machine for conflict processing and tacit knowledge mining, so that the semantic analysis and reasoning of rumor text content are realized, which proves its effectiveness in dealing with complex, fuzzy and uncertain information in online rumors and provides a new perspective and tool for the interpretable analysis and processing of online rumors.

Data availability

The datasets generated during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by Xi'an Major Scientific and Technological Achievements Transformation and Industrialization Project (20KYPT0003-10).

This work was supported by Xi’an Municipal Bureau of Science and Technology, 20KYPT0003-10.

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Jianbo Zhao, Huailiang Liu, Weili Zhang, Tong Sun, Qiuyi Chen, Yan Zhuang, Xiaojin Zhang & Shanzhuang Zhang

School of Artificial Intelligence, Xidian University, 266 Xifeng Road, Xi’an, 710071, China

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H.L. formulated the overall research strategy and guided the work. J.Z kept the original data on which the paper was based and verified whether the charts and conclusions accurately reflected the collected data. J.Z. W.Z. and T.S. wrote the main manuscript text. W.Z. Y.W. and Q.C. finished collecting and sorting out the data. J.C. Y.Z. and X.Z. prepared Figs.  1 – 7 , S.Z. B.L. and R.D. prepared Tables 1 – 14 . All authors reviewed the manuscript.

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Zhao, J., Liu, H., Zhang, W. et al. Research on domain ontology construction based on the content features of online rumors. Sci Rep 14 , 12134 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-62459-4

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Published : 27 May 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-62459-4

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