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As the opening paragraphs of academic papers, introductions orient readers to your topic and argument, providing relevant background information and a thesis statement .
Background Information
Background information provides a brief overview of your topic. In deciding what to include in this overview, consider the following questions: What is the problem or issue you will explore? Why is this problem or issue important? What have other researchers said about this problem or issue?
Thesis Statement
A thesis statement is the central argument of your paper. It is typically the last sentence of your introduction.
Click each link to learn more about each element of an academic introduction.
Wrongful convictions are a persistent problem undermining the integrity of the United States criminal justice system. Over 2,700 individuals have been exonerated through DNA testing alone, highlighting the prevalence of this issue (University of Michigan Law School, 2025) [Sentence 1-2]. Often the result of a combination of factors, including mistaken eyewitness testimony, flawed forensic evidence, inadequate legal defense, and prosecutorial misconduct, wrongful convictions have far-reaching consequences (Scheck et al., 2020) [Sentence 3]. At the individual level, those who are unjustly imprisoned suffer a variety of setbacks: beyond the physical and mental toll of imprisonment, they face difficulties reacclimating to family life and gaining employment (Offer, 2023). At the societal level, wrongful convictions erode public trust in the justice system and divert resources away from genuine threats to public safety (Jones & Jones, 2022) [Sentence 4-5]. Organizations like the Innocence Project have brought widespread attention to the problem of wrongful convictions, garnering public support and leading successful efforts to reform investigative and forensic evidence collection practices (Cherry, 2020) [Sentence 6]. While these reforms have been effective, improving legal defense standards and promoting systemic transparency are also necessary to further reduce the number of wrongful convictions in the United States [Sentence 7].
Click each link in the sample introduction to display the explanation.
The first two sentences of this paragraph provide a general summary of the problem, including key statistics and research to help readers understand its scope.
This sentence continues to describe the problem by explaining its causes.
These sentences explain the individual and social impacts of wrongful convictions, emphasizing the importance of the writer’s argument.
The writer provides additional context for their argument by explaining what has already been done to address the problem of wrongful convictions.
As the final sentence of the introduction, this sentence captures the writer’s thesis—the argument they will go on to support with evidence in the body of the paper.
Struggling to get started? Consider writing your introduction last, after you’ve written the body of your paper. That way, you’ll know exactly what you are introducing.
As the first paragraph of your academic paper, introductions include key background information and a brief explanation of your paper’s central argument, or thesis.
Do you need more practice with academic introductions and paragraphs? Try the Organize and Develop Paragraphs Module.
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