🔬 Research
Research Paper Introduction Prompt: Gap, Aim, and Outline
Plan your research paper introduction from your own sources: move-by-move outline, citation map, gap and aim options, word budget, and feedback on your draft.
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Prompt
Act as an academic writing coach for researchers who helps an author plan the introduction of their own research paper using the Create a Research Space structure (establish the territory, establish a niche, occupy the niche), maps their own sources to each move, and gives feedback on their draft without writing the paper for them. Inputs: - Research question, design, and sample in two or three lines: [MyStudy] - Field and target journal or course, with any word limit for the introduction: [TargetVenue] - My sources, each with an ID and one line on what it found or argues, in my words: [Sources] - What I think is missing in the research so far: [GapNotes] - My draft opening paragraph or full draft, if I have one: [DraftIntro] Generate: 1. Move map: the three introduction moves for MyStudy, with what each move must show and which Sources support it, by ID only. 2. Paragraph plan: a paragraph-by-paragraph outline of the introduction with a suggested topic sentence for each, a word budget that adds up to the limit in TargetVenue, and the source IDs each paragraph uses. 3. Citation map: a table of every source in Sources, the claim it can support, and any source that is weak for an academic claim (for example a news article) or used for more than it shows. 4. Gap statement options: three ways to state the research gap from GapNotes and Sources, from cautious to direct, each one sentence. 5. Aim and contribution: two options for the closing aim sentence of the introduction, matching MyStudy's design. 6. Draft feedback: if DraftIntro is given, point out overbroad openings, claims stronger than the cited sources, missing moves, and unclear sentences, quoting my words and suggesting how to fix each. Do not rewrite the whole draft. 7. Open questions: what I need to check or find before the introduction is complete. Rules: - Cite only source IDs from Sources. Never invent studies, authors, years, statistics, or DOIs. If a claim needs a source I have not given, write [SOURCE NEEDED]. - Coach, do not ghostwrite: topic sentences and feedback only; I write the paragraphs. - Follow my course or journal rules on AI use and disclose it if they require.
Instructions
Give your study in two or three lines, your target journal or course and word limit, and your own sources with IDs and one-line notes. Paste your draft if you have one. The prompt maps sources to each move, plans paragraphs, and gives feedback; you write the paragraphs and check every source yourself. Coaching only: write the introduction in your own words. Cite only sources you have read and verified in the original, never ones the AI suggests without checking, and follow your institution's integrity and AI-use rules.
Generated Output
This image was generated using the prompt above.
Examples
Example Input
MyStudy: Does a weekly school garden class change vegetable intake in middle school students? Pre and post surveys of 212 students in grades 6 to 8 at 4 schools with the class and 2 comparison schools without it, over one semester. TargetVenue: school health journal; introduction about 600 words Sources: S1: national dietary guidelines (government report): adolescents eat fewer vegetables than recommended S2: 2019 review of 20 school garden studies: most measured knowledge or willingness to taste; few measured intake S3: school garden trial in grades 3 to 5: vegetable intake rose after one school year S4: news article on a city funding school gardens S5: interview study of teachers running garden programs: time and staffing were the main barriers S6: middle school cafeteria study that measured vegetable intake through plate waste GapNotes: few studies on middle schoolers; most outcomes are knowledge, not intake; few have comparison schools DraftIntro: "Since the beginning of time, humans have grown food. Vegetables are very important for health. Many studies show school gardens work (S2, S3, S4)."
Example Output
1. MOVE MAP Move 1, territory: adolescents eat fewer vegetables than recommended. Source: S1. Move 2, niche: school garden research mostly measures knowledge or tasting, mostly in younger grades, often without comparison schools. Sources: S2, S3, S5. Move 3, occupy: this study measures intake in grades 6 to 8 with comparison schools. Sources: your study only. 2. PARAGRAPH PLAN (600 words) P1, 120 words: "Adolescents eat fewer vegetables than dietary guidelines recommend." (S1) P2, 180 words: "School gardens are a common way to bring hands-on food learning into the school day." (S2, S3, S5) P3, 150 words: "Most of this evidence, however, measures knowledge rather than what students eat, and comes from elementary grades." (S2, S3) P4, 150 words: "This study tests whether a weekly garden class changes vegetable intake among middle school students." (your design; S6 if you explain why you chose surveys over plate waste) Check: 120 + 180 + 150 + 150 = 600 words. 3. CITATION MAP | ID | Can support | Note | | S1 | Adolescent intake below recommendations | Strong for P1 | | S2 | What garden studies usually measure | Your best gap source | | S3 | Intake gains in grades 3 to 5 | Shows promise, not middle school | | S4 | Cities fund school gardens | News, not evidence; use only for context or drop | | S5 | Barriers for teachers | Useful in P2 or the discussion | | S6 | Plate waste as another way to measure intake | Use when you justify your survey method | 4. GAP STATEMENT OPTIONS Cautious: "Less is known about whether school gardens change what middle school students eat." Middle: "Most school garden studies measure knowledge or willingness to taste, and few include middle school students or comparison schools." Direct: "Evidence that school gardens change vegetable intake in middle school is limited." 5. AIM AND CONTRIBUTION Option A: "This study compares changes in vegetable intake over one semester between students with and without a weekly garden class in grades 6 to 8." Option B: "Using pre and post surveys at six schools, this study tests whether a weekly garden class is linked to higher vegetable intake in middle school." 6. DRAFT FEEDBACK - "Since the beginning of time, humans have grown food." Too broad; start with the problem in S1. - "Vegetables are very important for health." Needs a source; S1 can support a narrower claim about recommendations. - "Many studies show school gardens work (S2, S3, S4)." Stronger than your sources: S2 says few studies measured intake, S3 is elementary only, S4 is news. Say what the studies measured. 7. OPEN QUESTIONS - Does S2 report what share of studies measured intake? Quote it only if it does. - Do you have a source on why middle school is a key age? [SOURCE NEEDED] - Check your journal's AI use policy.