Page 274 - English for Writing Research Papers

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14.9 How long should the paragraphs be?
Your aim is to allow your reader to quickly digest the background information that
forms the basis of your research.

An Introduction should thus not be one long paragraph or a series of very long para-
graphs. This problem is typical of Introductions and Discussion, and it is vital to
break the paragraph up (see Chapter 3 : Paragraphs).

Your paragraphs should range between 75 and 175 words. Try not to regularly
exceed 150 words, but feel free to use fewer than 75 words if you want your para-
graph to stand out in order to make a key point.

The idea of a series of shorter paragraphs (rather than one long paragraph) is that the
series highlights the logical progression (argumentation) of what you are saying -
how various ideas are connected and follow on from each other.

This gradual build up of ideas and evidence easily gets lost in a long paragraph.

The moments to begin a new paragraph in the Introduction are when you:

• change topic, or you look at a different aspect of the same topic
• move from talking about one step / phase / period to another

• mention another author and this author has a slightly different take (i.e. view,
perspective) on what you have been talking about so far

• want to talk about the consequences of what you have just been describing

• talk about the aim of your study / paper

• talk about the structure of your paper

If you print your Introduction you will immediately see the undesirable effect of
having long paragraphs. They are not inviting for the reader.