Q: Could you help with the background and introduction of my topic on emergency trolleys?

Hello Victoria – Welcome to the forum!

Straight up, worry not. :-) The background and Introduction of a paper are typically the toughest to write.

The background, which forms a part of the Introduction, and typically the first part of the Intro, is used to provide the context for the study. You need to talk about why you are undertaking the study: what gaps you plan to address around the topic or what remedies or solutions you plan to provide through your study.

The Introduction has to talk about the overall objective of the study. Apart from the background, it has to talk about your research question. In writing the Introduction, you need to cite from related studies.

So, for both the background and the Introduction, it would help to first do a comprehensive literature search around the topic.

Coming to your specific queries, as your topic seems a bit basic (that is, it doesn’t seem to involve experiments of any sort), you would need to define and perhaps even explain to some extent what an emergency trolley is. You could talk about what purpose(s) it serves. Then, during the assessment and evaluation sections of the paper, you could talk about whether it serves these purposes, and if so, how well. If it doesn’t, you may also suggest improvements to its design or use.

One thing though. The bit about ‘record’ is unclear. Note that an emergency trolley is different from a medical records trolley. In fact, if you believe some readers are likely to be confused about the two, you may even distinguish between the two.

Hope that helps. For more information around the points discussed above, you may refer to the following resources:

• How to write the background of your study
• 4 Step approach to writing the Introduction section of a research paper
• Tips for effective literature searching and keeping up with new publications

All the best for your study!