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The first paragraph is where you want to get your reader excited by a research paper and draw them into

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your paper.

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And the key here is to start with something bigger than your research.

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Something that feels broad and more important than your research by itself.

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So for example if your research is about depression treatment then the first paragraph could be about

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the devastating consequences of depression. Or if your research is about understanding the motor areas

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in the brain,

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then you could talk about the amazing motor abilities that human beings have and that we don't understand

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yet.

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So it's good to start with something bigger than your research. Something that will get your reader excited

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and that will draw your reader into your paper.

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Okay so that's the goal.

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But how do you actually write this down?

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And a good strategy that is also very often used is to use the first sentence to make clear that you

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are in a very hot research topic and then to use the subsequent sentences to make clear why it is a

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hot topic.

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So to give you an idea here are some expressions that you could use to start your first paragraph.

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Understanding "something" is one of the primary objectives of... and so on.

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Numerous studies have been conducted on... and so on. Decades of research have focused on the question... and

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so on.

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Or: There has been a long standing interest in... and so on.

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So the first sentence usually just signals that the topic is very very hot.

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And then in the subsequent sentences you make clear why it's actually a hot topic. OK.

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To give you an idea what this can look like in text,

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I wrote a little example of a first paragraph of a research paper.

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So let me walk you through it.

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Depression is a widespread problem which impairs both people's well-being and ability to function according

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to the XY survey.

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Major depression is one of the most common mental disorders in the United States with 7.1%

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of all U.S. adults having at least one major depressive episode in their life.

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In addition it is estimated that depression plays a role in more than half of all suicide attempts.

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So notice here that the paragraph starts with "depression is a widespread problem".

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So right at the beginning the paragraph makes clear that depression is a hot or at least important topic.

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And then the paragraph gives more examples why this is an important topic. For one, because depression

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is one of the most common mental disorders and it is also probably a major cause of suicide.

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Now I want to add that it's not always necessary that you write a whole paragraph on this.

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That depends a little bit on your target audience.

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If your target audience is very familiar with depression then it's probably enough to just remind them

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quickly in one sentence.

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So in that case the first sentence of this paragraph may already be enough. But if there are people in

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your target audience who are not that familiar with depression then you probably want to write a whole

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paragraph on the importance of your topic.

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So that is how you start your paper. First, you explain that your topic is a hot topic and then you give

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some examples why it is a hot topic.

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All right that's it for his lecture and I see you in the next one.