The introduction chapter is the first part of a dissertation an examiner reads and usually the last its writer finishes. It says what the project is about, why it needed doing, what it asks and how the chapters after it answer. This is the introduction chapter guide of How to write a dissertation, published by EdCitation.
We read every rule below on 26 September 2026, on universities' own library, writing-centre and department pages: Westminster, York, Leeds, Reading, Southampton and Cambridge in the UK, the University of Southern California (USC) and National University in the US, and UNSW Sydney in Australia. Where they disagree, we say so. Only one gives the chapter a share of the word count; we add no figure of our own.
EdCitation never writes any part of a dissertation, the introduction included. What the chapter needs is published evidence for its context and its gap: Find sources finds it by topic or by the claim a sentence makes, and Cite a source builds each reference from the publisher's record.
What does a dissertation introduction chapter do?
It answers three questions before the reader meets any evidence: what you are doing, why, and how. The University of Leeds Library (n.d.) builds its advice on those three questions, and every job the other universities list falls under one of them.
| Job | What it says | Where the universities differ |
|---|---|---|
| Context | The topic, the background of the study a reader needs, key terms | USC warns against dictionary definitions and long histories |
| The problem | What is going wrong, for whom, with evidence | National University wants it documented with recent studies |
| The gap | What is not yet known, in brief | Argued in full in the literature review, not here |
| The question | The research question the dissertation answers | UNSW makes a hypothesis optional |
| Aims and objectives | The aim and the objectives that reach it | York names them as the chapter's first job |
| Significance | Why the answer matters, and to whom | Manchester's Academic Phrasebank gives the significance of the study a heading of its own |
| Scope | What the study covers and leaves out: its delimitations | York ties the limits to the word count |
| Approach | The method, in a sentence or two | Westminster asks for it, Leeds where relevant; UNSW does not list it |
| Chapter outline | The order of the chapters and what each does | UNSW calls it optional; USC ends every introduction with one |
The research problem, the research gap and the rationale are defined in our glossary. Wording the question, aims and objectives is covered in how to write research questions and aims; this guide only places them in the chapter.
The three moves most introductions make
Most introductions narrow from the field to the study in three moves. USC's guide traces the pattern to the linguist John Swales's analysis of how research articles open, which he called Create a Research Space (Labaree, 2026b): establish the territory (why the area matters and what is known), establish a niche (a gap, a contradiction or an open question), then occupy the niche (what this study does, and how the rest is organised).
The University of Manchester (n.d.) breaks the same ground into a longer list of moves in its Academic Phrasebank, from establishing why a topic matters to outlining the dissertation's structure. It adds two that USC does not stress: key terms, and a personal interest in the research. Whether the second belongs in yours depends on your department.
Where the handbooks disagree
On three points; your handbook settles each.
- Findings. USC's third move includes describing important results, and Westminster asks you to introduce your main argument. York, Leeds and UNSW mention neither. Ask your supervisor whether yours should.
- Method. University of Westminster Library (2025) puts the methods and research design in the introduction, briefly, and Leeds does where they are relevant. UNSW's list does not mention them.
- The literature. USC wants only foundational studies in the introduction; Leeds lets a project with no literature review chapter review the current literature there instead.
How to write a dissertation introduction, step by step
In eight steps, with the rewrite near the end. Your handbook overrides every one.
- Read the handbook for what the introduction must contain and whether it has a limit of its own. Check your paper turns them into a free checklist and shows the handbook sentence behind each rule.
- Once the question and aims are agreed, write a one-page working introduction: the problem, the question, the aims and a planned chapter outline.
- Gather the sources behind the context and the problem as you read. Find sources searches about 300 million published works, by topic or by the exact claim a sentence has to support.
- Build each into a reference the day you cite it, in Cite a source, from its DOI, title, PubMed ID or ISBN.
- Write the other chapters.
- Rewrite the introduction: the aims to match what you did, the gap to match what the literature review showed, the outline to match the chapters as they now stand.
- Move any background that grew into a review of the field into the literature review.
- Before the draft goes to your supervisor, run its list through Verify references and the file itself through References from a file.
How is a dissertation introduction different from an essay introduction?
In scale and in its jobs. The University of Southampton Library (2026) lists four elements that most essay introductions combine: an opening context, an aim statement, a thesis statement and an essay map. A dissertation's introduction section is a chapter, often with headings of its own. It keeps the context and the aim, turns the map into a chapter outline, and adds the machinery of research: the problem and its evidence, the gap, the question, the objectives, the scope and the approach.
How is the introduction different from the literature review?
The introduction names the gap; the literature review proves it. USC's guide (Labaree, 2026a) says the introduction's summary of what is known should not be a comprehensive literature review, which comes next: only the foundational research, cited, that a reader needs to understand the problem. Westminster asks the introduction to highlight what the literature has not yet said, and the literature review to identify those gaps and show how the question fits them.
So state the gap in a sentence or a short paragraph and point forward to the chapter that argues it. How to write a literature review covers that chapter, and our glossary defines the literature review chapter.
When there is no separate literature review
Then the introduction carries the review: Leeds lets a project with no separate literature review or background chapter review the current literature in its introduction. It should still end on the gap.
History and definitions
Keep both brief. USC starts the history where it shows why the study matters, leaves any long history to the literature review, and prefers a field's own sources to a general dictionary for key terms.
When should I write the introduction?
Twice: a short draft early, and the final version last. University of York Library (2026) suggests a brief draft, expanded once more of the dissertation is written. Cambridge's Department of History and Philosophy of Science (Kusukawa, n.d.) notes that many find it best written last, because it anticipates the steps of the argument in order, and USC (Labaree, 2026a) advises reviewing it once the body is written. The University of Reading Library (2026) leaves the order to you: start with the easiest chapter, or with the introduction if that clears your thinking. None of them expects the final introduction before the findings exist.
What the last rewrite checks
Three joins: the aims against the conclusion, which at York reports how far they were met; the gap against the literature review; the outline against the chapters' final order and titles. A proposal's introduction reused as chapter one also turns its plans into what was done, as the methodology chapter guide explains for the method.
How long is a dissertation introduction, and how much should it cite?
Length is your handbook's to set. University of Westminster Library (2025) says the introduction is normally roughly 10% of the word count; the University of Manchester (n.d.) calls dissertation introductions short but complex, and UNSW Sydney (n.d.) says only that an honours introduction is usually longer than an abstract.
It should cite enough to show that the problem is real and where the gap lies, not survey the field: USC asks for the foundational studies, cited. How many references do I need shows why no fixed count applies.
The problem statement in US doctoral programmes
Some US doctoral programmes give the problem a section with rules of its own. National University (2026) is the most exact of the pages read: its problem statement runs to no more than 250 to 300 words, documents the problem with citations from the last five years, and discusses at least three current studies with their authors' recommendations for further research; anecdotal evidence does not qualify. Those rules are for its own template; none of the UK pages read here sets a number of sources.
A worked opening, and the sources behind it
This opening is ours, written for a hypothetical UK undergraduate dissertation and not taken from any real one. Every figure in it comes from a published study we read on 26 September 2026; for Martinez and colleagues that was the abstract, as the full text could not be fetched.
A growing body of research reports food insecurity among university students. At a large public university in the mid-Atlantic United States, 15% of 237 undergraduates surveyed were food insecure and a further 16% were at risk (Payne-Sturges et al., 2018); across eight US universities, 19% of 855 first-year students were food insecure (El Zein et al., 2019). The problem reaches beyond hunger: in California's public university system, food insecurity was linked to lower grade point averages, both directly and through poorer mental health (Martinez et al., 2020). Much of this evidence comes from single US campuses. In the UK, a survey of 640 students from 161 higher education providers found 32.7% food insecure during the COVID-19 pandemic, and its authors call for research outside a pandemic context (Round et al., 2024). This dissertation asks how food insecurity shapes the studies of undergraduates at one UK university. Chapter 2 reviews the literature, Chapter 3 sets out the method, Chapters 4 and 5 present and discuss the findings, and Chapter 6 concludes.
What each sentence does
- Sentences one and two establish the territory, each figure with its sample and setting.
- Sentence three states the problem and why it matters.
- Sentences four and five establish the niche.
- Sentence six occupies it with the question; the aims and objectives follow in the full chapter.
- The last is the chapter outline.
The niche claims no more than the sources support. Payne-Sturges et al. (2018) describe the earlier work as a small body of cross-sectional studies at particular US universities, and El Zein et al. (2019) note that two earlier studies of first-year students each drew on a single institution, and the UK survey's own authors ask for research beyond the pandemic. We did not write that no UK study exists: our own search found three.
How EdCitation helps with the introduction chapter
EdCitation is the best tool for the sources an introduction stands on, because every result and every reference it gives comes from a published record and is never written by a model, and an introduction's opening figures are the sentences an examiner is most likely to look up.
On 26 September 2026 we searched Find sources for "food insecurity university students", sorted by citations: it found 131,435 works, led by Payne-Sturges and colleagues' article in the American Journal of Health Promotion (cited 399 times), Patton-López and colleagues' study of a rural Oregon university (355) and El Zein and colleagues' multi-institutional study in BMC Public Health (300). At least 17 of the first 20 studied US students. "Food insecurity UK university students", sorted by relevance, found 42,845, with three UK studies first: that pair of searches tested our gap sentence.
Cite a source built El Zein and colleagues' article from its DOI:
El Zein, A., Shelnutt, K. P., Colby, S., Vilaro, M. J., Zhou, W., Greene, G., Olfert, M. D., Riggsbee, K., Morrell, J. S., & Mathews, A. E. (2019). Prevalence and correlates of food insecurity among U.S. college students: A multi-institutional study. BMC Public Health, 19(1), Article 660. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-6943-6
Verify references took the three US entries of our opening, free, with no account, and verified all three. Martinez and colleagues' article appeared online in 2018 and in print in 2020; our entry gives 2020 with that issue's volume and pages, and the record holds both years. Whichever year you choose, use it in both the text and the list. Where an index cannot answer, the result says could not check, never not found.
Given the first of National University's three versions of its problem statement advice, Check your paper returned two rules, a word count of 250 to 300 and sources from the last five years, each beside its sentence, and listed four instructions it does not check. That limit is the problem statement's, not the chapter's: label it so on your checklist.
References from a file checks every reference in an uploaded draft and matches every citation to the list, keeping each draft so the next run shows what changed; a free account runs it three times a month, and Pro, at $8 a month, lifts the limit. On Max ($24 a month), Theoretics QA judges the draft against your handbook's own instructions with quotations from it, and never rewrites anything. The plans are on Pricing; a year paid at once saves 25%. Not one sentence of the introduction comes from these tools, and no tool can promise a mark.
Quick questions
What should a dissertation introduction include?
The context, the problem, the gap, the research question, the aims and objectives, the significance of the study, its scope and an outline of the chapters. Westminster also wants the method in brief, and some departments a hypothesis.
How long should a dissertation introduction be?
Your handbook decides. The University of Westminster's library puts it at roughly 10% of the word count; the other universities read for this guide give no figure.
Should I write the dissertation introduction first or last?
Both: York suggests a brief early draft expanded later, and Cambridge's history and philosophy of science department notes that many write it last. The final version waits until the findings and the chapter order are settled.
How many references should a dissertation introduction have?
No university page read for this guide sets a number for a UK dissertation. National University's doctoral template asks for at least three recent studies in its problem statement, a rule for that template only.
Can EdCitation write my dissertation introduction?
No. EdCitation writes no part of a dissertation. Find sources finds the published work behind your context and gap, and Verify references checks every reference you cite, free.
References
- El Zein, A., Shelnutt, K. P., Colby, S., Vilaro, M. J., Zhou, W., Greene, G., Olfert, M. D., Riggsbee, K., Morrell, J. S., & Mathews, A. E. (2019). Prevalence and correlates of food insecurity among U.S. college students: A multi-institutional study. BMC Public Health, 19(1), Article 660. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-019-6943-6
- Kusukawa, S. (n.d.). How to organise a history essay or dissertation. Department of History and Philosophy of Science, University of Cambridge. https://www.hps.cam.ac.uk/students/research-guide/organise-history-essay-dissertation
- Labaree, R. V. (2026a, September 8). Organizing your social sciences research paper: 4. The introduction. USC Libraries, University of Southern California. https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/introduction
- Labaree, R. V. (2026b, September 8). Organizing your social sciences research paper: The C.A.R.S. model. USC Libraries, University of Southern California. https://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/CARS
- Martinez, S. M., Frongillo, E. A., Leung, C., & Ritchie, L. (2020). No food for thought: Food insecurity is related to poor mental health and lower academic performance among students in California's public university system. Journal of Health Psychology, 25(12), 1930–1939. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105318783028
- National University. (2026, June 23). Problem statement. Dissertation and applied doctoral project components. https://resources.nu.edu/c.php?g=1446805&p=10752286
- Payne-Sturges, D. C., Tjaden, A., Caldeira, K. M., Vincent, K. B., & Arria, A. M. (2018). Student hunger on campus: Food insecurity among college students and implications for academic institutions. American Journal of Health Promotion, 32(2), 349–354. https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117117719620
- Round, E. K., Weatherston, S., Stretesky, P. B., & Defeyter, M. A. (2024). Predicting food insecurity among UK university students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Public Health Nutrition, 27(1), Article e126. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980024001022
- University of Leeds Library. (n.d.). Structuring your project. The Final Chapter. https://resources.library.leeds.ac.uk/final-chapter/structuringyourproject.html
- University of Manchester. (n.d.). Introducing work. Academic Phrasebank. https://www.phrasebank.manchester.ac.uk/introducing-work/
- University of Reading Library. (2026, September 4). Writing up your dissertation. Dissertations and major projects. https://libguides.reading.ac.uk/dissertations/writing-up
- University of Southampton Library. (2026, January 15). Crafting the introduction: Overview. https://library.soton.ac.uk/writing_introductions
- University of Westminster Library. (2025, October 1). Standard. Dissertations 2: Structure. https://libguides.westminster.ac.uk/c.php?g=692395&p=4963012
- University of York Library. (2026, September 2). 7: Think carefully about how to structure your argument. 10 top tips for a tip top undergraduate dissertation. https://subjectguides.york.ac.uk/dissertation/structure
- UNSW Sydney. (n.d.). How to write an honours thesis. https://www.unsw.edu.au/student/managing-your-studies/academic-skills-support/toolkit/honours-postgraduate