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Background of The Study – Examples and Writing Guide

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Background of The Study

Background of The Study

Definition:

Background of the study refers to the context, circumstances, and history that led to the research problem or topic being studied. It provides the reader with a comprehensive understanding of the subject matter and the significance of the study.

The background of the study usually includes a discussion of the relevant literature, the gap in knowledge or understanding, and the research questions or hypotheses to be addressed. It also highlights the importance of the research topic and its potential contributions to the field. A well-written background of the study sets the stage for the research and helps the reader to appreciate the need for the study and its potential significance.

How to Write Background of The Study

Here are some steps to help you write the background of the study:

Identify the Research Problem

Start by identifying the research problem you are trying to address. This problem should be significant and relevant to your field of study.

Provide Context

Once you have identified the research problem, provide some context. This could include the historical, social, or political context of the problem.

Review Literature

Conduct a thorough review of the existing literature on the topic. This will help you understand what has been studied and what gaps exist in the current research.

Identify Research Gap

Based on your literature review, identify the gap in knowledge or understanding that your research aims to address. This gap will be the focus of your research question or hypothesis.

State Objectives

Clearly state the objectives of your research . These should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

Discuss Significance

Explain the significance of your research. This could include its potential impact on theory , practice, policy, or society.

Finally, summarize the key points of the background of the study. This will help the reader understand the research problem, its context, and its significance.

How to Write Background of The Study in Proposal

The background of the study is an essential part of any proposal as it sets the stage for the research project and provides the context and justification for why the research is needed. Here are the steps to write a compelling background of the study in your proposal:

  • Identify the problem: Clearly state the research problem or gap in the current knowledge that you intend to address through your research.
  • Provide context: Provide a brief overview of the research area and highlight its significance in the field.
  • Review literature: Summarize the relevant literature related to the research problem and provide a critical evaluation of the current state of knowledge.
  • Identify gaps : Identify the gaps or limitations in the existing literature and explain how your research will contribute to filling these gaps.
  • Justify the study : Explain why your research is important and what practical or theoretical contributions it can make to the field.
  • Highlight objectives: Clearly state the objectives of the study and how they relate to the research problem.
  • Discuss methodology: Provide an overview of the methodology you will use to collect and analyze data, and explain why it is appropriate for the research problem.
  • Conclude : Summarize the key points of the background of the study and explain how they support your research proposal.

How to Write Background of The Study In Thesis

The background of the study is a critical component of a thesis as it provides context for the research problem, rationale for conducting the study, and the significance of the research. Here are some steps to help you write a strong background of the study:

  • Identify the research problem : Start by identifying the research problem that your thesis is addressing. What is the issue that you are trying to solve or explore? Be specific and concise in your problem statement.
  • Review the literature: Conduct a thorough review of the relevant literature on the topic. This should include scholarly articles, books, and other sources that are directly related to your research question.
  • I dentify gaps in the literature: After reviewing the literature, identify any gaps in the existing research. What questions remain unanswered? What areas have not been explored? This will help you to establish the need for your research.
  • Establish the significance of the research: Clearly state the significance of your research. Why is it important to address this research problem? What are the potential implications of your research? How will it contribute to the field?
  • Provide an overview of the research design: Provide an overview of the research design and methodology that you will be using in your study. This should include a brief explanation of the research approach, data collection methods, and data analysis techniques.
  • State the research objectives and research questions: Clearly state the research objectives and research questions that your study aims to answer. These should be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound.
  • Summarize the chapter: Summarize the chapter by highlighting the key points and linking them back to the research problem, significance of the study, and research questions.

How to Write Background of The Study in Research Paper

Here are the steps to write the background of the study in a research paper:

  • Identify the research problem: Start by identifying the research problem that your study aims to address. This can be a particular issue, a gap in the literature, or a need for further investigation.
  • Conduct a literature review: Conduct a thorough literature review to gather information on the topic, identify existing studies, and understand the current state of research. This will help you identify the gap in the literature that your study aims to fill.
  • Explain the significance of the study: Explain why your study is important and why it is necessary. This can include the potential impact on the field, the importance to society, or the need to address a particular issue.
  • Provide context: Provide context for the research problem by discussing the broader social, economic, or political context that the study is situated in. This can help the reader understand the relevance of the study and its potential implications.
  • State the research questions and objectives: State the research questions and objectives that your study aims to address. This will help the reader understand the scope of the study and its purpose.
  • Summarize the methodology : Briefly summarize the methodology you used to conduct the study, including the data collection and analysis methods. This can help the reader understand how the study was conducted and its reliability.

Examples of Background of The Study

Here are some examples of the background of the study:

Problem : The prevalence of obesity among children in the United States has reached alarming levels, with nearly one in five children classified as obese.

Significance : Obesity in childhood is associated with numerous negative health outcomes, including increased risk of type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and certain cancers.

Gap in knowledge : Despite efforts to address the obesity epidemic, rates continue to rise. There is a need for effective interventions that target the unique needs of children and their families.

Problem : The use of antibiotics in agriculture has contributed to the development of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, which poses a significant threat to human health.

Significance : Antibiotic-resistant infections are responsible for thousands of deaths each year and are a major public health concern.

Gap in knowledge: While there is a growing body of research on the use of antibiotics in agriculture, there is still much to be learned about the mechanisms of resistance and the most effective strategies for reducing antibiotic use.

Edxample 3:

Problem : Many low-income communities lack access to healthy food options, leading to high rates of food insecurity and diet-related diseases.

Significance : Poor nutrition is a major contributor to chronic diseases such as obesity, type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease.

Gap in knowledge : While there have been efforts to address food insecurity, there is a need for more research on the barriers to accessing healthy food in low-income communities and effective strategies for increasing access.

Examples of Background of The Study In Research

Here are some real-life examples of how the background of the study can be written in different fields of study:

Example 1 : “There has been a significant increase in the incidence of diabetes in recent years. This has led to an increased demand for effective diabetes management strategies. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness of a new diabetes management program in improving patient outcomes.”

Example 2 : “The use of social media has become increasingly prevalent in modern society. Despite its popularity, little is known about the effects of social media use on mental health. This study aims to investigate the relationship between social media use and mental health in young adults.”

Example 3: “Despite significant advancements in cancer treatment, the survival rate for patients with pancreatic cancer remains low. The purpose of this study is to identify potential biomarkers that can be used to improve early detection and treatment of pancreatic cancer.”

Examples of Background of The Study in Proposal

Here are some real-time examples of the background of the study in a proposal:

Example 1 : The prevalence of mental health issues among university students has been increasing over the past decade. This study aims to investigate the causes and impacts of mental health issues on academic performance and wellbeing.

Example 2 : Climate change is a global issue that has significant implications for agriculture in developing countries. This study aims to examine the adaptive capacity of smallholder farmers to climate change and identify effective strategies to enhance their resilience.

Example 3 : The use of social media in political campaigns has become increasingly common in recent years. This study aims to analyze the effectiveness of social media campaigns in mobilizing young voters and influencing their voting behavior.

Example 4 : Employee turnover is a major challenge for organizations, especially in the service sector. This study aims to identify the key factors that influence employee turnover in the hospitality industry and explore effective strategies for reducing turnover rates.

Examples of Background of The Study in Thesis

Here are some real-time examples of the background of the study in the thesis:

Example 1 : “Women’s participation in the workforce has increased significantly over the past few decades. However, women continue to be underrepresented in leadership positions, particularly in male-dominated industries such as technology. This study aims to examine the factors that contribute to the underrepresentation of women in leadership roles in the technology industry, with a focus on organizational culture and gender bias.”

Example 2 : “Mental health is a critical component of overall health and well-being. Despite increased awareness of the importance of mental health, there are still significant gaps in access to mental health services, particularly in low-income and rural communities. This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of a community-based mental health intervention in improving mental health outcomes in underserved populations.”

Example 3: “The use of technology in education has become increasingly widespread, with many schools adopting online learning platforms and digital resources. However, there is limited research on the impact of technology on student learning outcomes and engagement. This study aims to explore the relationship between technology use and academic achievement among middle school students, as well as the factors that mediate this relationship.”

Examples of Background of The Study in Research Paper

Here are some examples of how the background of the study can be written in various fields:

Example 1: The prevalence of obesity has been on the rise globally, with the World Health Organization reporting that approximately 650 million adults were obese in 2016. Obesity is a major risk factor for several chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer. In recent years, several interventions have been proposed to address this issue, including lifestyle changes, pharmacotherapy, and bariatric surgery. However, there is a lack of consensus on the most effective intervention for obesity management. This study aims to investigate the efficacy of different interventions for obesity management and identify the most effective one.

Example 2: Antibiotic resistance has become a major public health threat worldwide. Infections caused by antibiotic-resistant bacteria are associated with longer hospital stays, higher healthcare costs, and increased mortality. The inappropriate use of antibiotics is one of the main factors contributing to the development of antibiotic resistance. Despite numerous efforts to promote the rational use of antibiotics, studies have shown that many healthcare providers continue to prescribe antibiotics inappropriately. This study aims to explore the factors influencing healthcare providers’ prescribing behavior and identify strategies to improve antibiotic prescribing practices.

Example 3: Social media has become an integral part of modern communication, with millions of people worldwide using platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Social media has several advantages, including facilitating communication, connecting people, and disseminating information. However, social media use has also been associated with several negative outcomes, including cyberbullying, addiction, and mental health problems. This study aims to investigate the impact of social media use on mental health and identify the factors that mediate this relationship.

Purpose of Background of The Study

The primary purpose of the background of the study is to help the reader understand the rationale for the research by presenting the historical, theoretical, and empirical background of the problem.

More specifically, the background of the study aims to:

  • Provide a clear understanding of the research problem and its context.
  • Identify the gap in knowledge that the study intends to fill.
  • Establish the significance of the research problem and its potential contribution to the field.
  • Highlight the key concepts, theories, and research findings related to the problem.
  • Provide a rationale for the research questions or hypotheses and the research design.
  • Identify the limitations and scope of the study.

When to Write Background of The Study

The background of the study should be written early on in the research process, ideally before the research design is finalized and data collection begins. This allows the researcher to clearly articulate the rationale for the study and establish a strong foundation for the research.

The background of the study typically comes after the introduction but before the literature review section. It should provide an overview of the research problem and its context, and also introduce the key concepts, theories, and research findings related to the problem.

Writing the background of the study early on in the research process also helps to identify potential gaps in knowledge and areas for further investigation, which can guide the development of the research questions or hypotheses and the research design. By establishing the significance of the research problem and its potential contribution to the field, the background of the study can also help to justify the research and secure funding or support from stakeholders.

Advantage of Background of The Study

The background of the study has several advantages, including:

  • Provides context: The background of the study provides context for the research problem by highlighting the historical, theoretical, and empirical background of the problem. This allows the reader to understand the research problem in its broader context and appreciate its significance.
  • Identifies gaps in knowledge: By reviewing the existing literature related to the research problem, the background of the study can identify gaps in knowledge that the study intends to fill. This helps to establish the novelty and originality of the research and its potential contribution to the field.
  • Justifies the research : The background of the study helps to justify the research by demonstrating its significance and potential impact. This can be useful in securing funding or support for the research.
  • Guides the research design: The background of the study can guide the development of the research questions or hypotheses and the research design by identifying key concepts, theories, and research findings related to the problem. This ensures that the research is grounded in existing knowledge and is designed to address the research problem effectively.
  • Establishes credibility: By demonstrating the researcher’s knowledge of the field and the research problem, the background of the study can establish the researcher’s credibility and expertise, which can enhance the trustworthiness and validity of the research.

Disadvantages of Background of The Study

Some Disadvantages of Background of The Study are as follows:

  • Time-consuming : Writing a comprehensive background of the study can be time-consuming, especially if the research problem is complex and multifaceted. This can delay the research process and impact the timeline for completing the study.
  • Repetitive: The background of the study can sometimes be repetitive, as it often involves summarizing existing research and theories related to the research problem. This can be tedious for the reader and may make the section less engaging.
  • Limitations of existing research: The background of the study can reveal the limitations of existing research related to the problem. This can create challenges for the researcher in developing research questions or hypotheses that address the gaps in knowledge identified in the background of the study.
  • Bias : The researcher’s biases and perspectives can influence the content and tone of the background of the study. This can impact the reader’s perception of the research problem and may influence the validity of the research.
  • Accessibility: Accessing and reviewing the literature related to the research problem can be challenging, especially if the researcher does not have access to a comprehensive database or if the literature is not available in the researcher’s language. This can limit the depth and scope of the background of the study.

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What is the Background of the Study and How to Write It

background of the study in research content

What is the Background of the Study in Research? 

The background of the study is the first section of a research paper and gives context surrounding the research topic. The background explains to the reader where your research journey started, why you got interested in the topic, and how you developed the research question that you will later specify. That means that you first establish the context of the research you did with a general overview of the field or topic and then present the key issues that drove your decision to study the specific problem you chose.

Once the reader understands where you are coming from and why there was indeed a need for the research you are going to present in the following—because there was a gap in the current research, or because there is an obvious problem with a currently used process or technology—you can proceed with the formulation of your research question and summarize how you are going to address it in the rest of your manuscript.

Why is the Background of the Study Important?

No matter how surprising and important the findings of your study are, if you do not provide the reader with the necessary background information and context, they will not be able to understand your reasons for studying the specific problem you chose and why you think your study is relevant. And more importantly, an editor who does not share your enthusiasm for your work (because you did not fill them in on all the important details) will very probably not even consider your manuscript worthy of their and the reviewers’ time and will immediately send it back to you.

To avoid such desk rejections , you need to make sure you pique the reader’s interest and help them understand the contribution of your work to the specific field you study, the more general research community, or the public. Introducing the study background is crucial to setting the scene for your readers.

Table of Contents:

  • What is “Background Information” in a Research Paper?
  • What Should the Background of a Research Paper Include?
  • Where Does the Background Section Go in Your Paper?

background of the study, brick wall

Background of the Study Structure

Before writing your study background, it is essential to understand what to include. The following elements should all be included in the background and are presented in greater detail in the next section:

  • A general overview of the topic and why it is important (overlaps with establishing the “importance of the topic” in the Introduction)
  • The current state of the research on the topic or on related topics in the field
  • Controversies about current knowledge or specific past studies that undergird your research methodology
  • Any claims or assumptions that have been made by researchers, institutions, or politicians that might need to be clarified
  • Methods and techniques used in the study or from which your study deviated in some way

Presenting the Study Background

As you begin introducing your background, you first need to provide a general overview and include the main issues concerning the topic. Depending on whether you do “basic” (with the aim of providing further knowledge) or “applied” research (to establish new techniques, processes, or products), this is either a literature review that summarizes all relevant earlier studies in the field or a description of the process (e.g., vote counting) or practice (e.g., diagnosis of a specific disease) that you think is problematic or lacking and needs a solution.

Example s of a general overview

If you study the function of a Drosophila gene, for example, you can explain to the reader why and for whom the study of fly genetics is relevant, what is already known and established, and where you see gaps in the existing literature. If you investigated how the way universities have transitioned into online teaching since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic has affected students’ learning progress, then you need to present a summary of what changes have happened around the world, what the effects of those changes have been so far, and where you see problems that need to be addressed. Note that you need to provide sources for every statement and every claim you make here, to establish a solid foundation of knowledge for your own study. 

Describing the current state of knowledge

When the reader understands the main issue(s), you need to fill them in more specifically on the current state of the field (in basic research) or the process/practice/product use you describe (in practical/applied research). Cite all relevant studies that have already reported on the Drosophila gene you are interested in, have failed to reveal certain functions of it, or have suggested that it might be involved in more processes than we know so far. Or list the reports from the education ministries of the countries you are interested in and highlight the data that shows the need for research into the effects of the Corona-19 pandemic on teaching and learning.

Discussing controversies, claims, and assumptions

Are there controversies regarding your topic of interest that need to be mentioned and/or addressed? For example, if your research topic involves an issue that is politically hot, you can acknowledge this here. Have any earlier claims or assumptions been made, by other researchers, institutions, or politicians, that you think need to be clarified?

Mentioning methodologies and approaches

While putting together these details, you also need to mention methodologies : What methods/techniques have been used so far to study what you studied and why are you going to either use the same or a different approach? Are any of the methods included in the literature review flawed in such a way that your study takes specific measures to correct or update? While you shouldn’t spend too much time here justifying your methods (this can be summarized briefly in the rationale of the study at the end of the Introduction and later in the Discussion section), you can engage with the crucial methods applied in previous studies here first.

When you have established the background of the study of your research paper in such a logical way, then the reader should have had no problem following you from the more general information you introduced first to the specific details you added later. You can now easily lead over to the relevance of your research, explain how your work fits into the bigger picture, and specify the aims and objectives of your study. This latter part is usually considered the “ statement of the problem ” of your study. Without a solid research paper background, this statement will come out of nowhere for the reader and very probably raise more questions than you were planning to answer.   

Where does the study background section go in a paper?

Unless you write a research proposal or some kind of report that has a specific “Background” chapter, the background of your study is the first part of your introduction section . This is where you put your work in context and provide all the relevant information the reader needs to follow your rationale. Make sure your background has a logical structure and naturally leads into the statement of the problem at the very end of the introduction so that you bring everything together for the reader to judge the relevance of your work and the validity of your approach before they dig deeper into the details of your study in the methods section .

Consider Receiving Professional Editing Services

Now that you know how to write a background section for a research paper, you might be interested in our AI text editor at Wordvice AI. And be sure to receive professional editing services , including academic editing and proofreading , before submitting your manuscript to journals. On the Wordvice academic resources website, you can also find many more articles and other resources that can help you with writing the other parts of your research paper , with making a research paper outline before you put everything together, or with writing an effective cover letter once you are ready to submit.

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What is the Background of a Study and How Should it be Written?

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The background of a study is one of the most important components of a research paper. The quality of the background determines whether the reader will be interested in the rest of the study. Thus, to ensure that the audience is invested in reading the entire research paper, it is important to write an appealing and effective background. So, what constitutes the background of a study, and how must it be written?

What is the background of a study?

The background of a study is the first section of the paper and establishes the context underlying the research. It contains the rationale, the key problem statement, and a brief overview of research questions that are addressed in the rest of the paper. The background forms the crux of the study because it introduces an unaware audience to the research and its importance in a clear and logical manner. At times, the background may even explore whether the study builds on or refutes findings from previous studies. Any relevant information that the readers need to know before delving into the paper should be made available to them in the background.

How is a background different from the introduction?

The introduction of your research paper is presented before the background. Let’s find out what factors differentiate the background from the introduction.

  • The introduction only contains preliminary data about the research topic and does not state the purpose of the study. On the contrary, the background clarifies the importance of the study in detail.
  • The introduction provides an overview of the research topic from a broader perspective, while the background provides a detailed understanding of the topic.
  • The introduction should end with the mention of the research questions, aims, and objectives of the study. In contrast, the background follows no such format and only provides essential context to the study.

How should one write the background of a research paper?

The length and detail presented in the background varies for different research papers, depending on the complexity and novelty of the research topic. At times, a simple background suffices, even if the study is complex. Before writing and adding details in the background, take a note of these additional points:

  • Start with a strong beginning: Begin the background by defining the research topic and then identify the target audience.
  • Cover key components: Explain all theories, concepts, terms, and ideas that may feel unfamiliar to the target audience thoroughly.
  • Take note of important prerequisites: Go through the relevant literature in detail. Take notes while reading and cite the sources.
  • Maintain a balance: Make sure that the background is focused on important details, but also appeals to a broader audience.
  • Include historical data: Current issues largely originate from historical events or findings. If the research borrows information from a historical context, add relevant data in the background.
  • Explain novelty: If the research study or methodology is unique or novel, provide an explanation that helps to understand the research better.
  • Increase engagement: To make the background engaging, build a story around the central theme of the research

Avoid these mistakes while writing the background:

  • Ambiguity: Don’t be ambiguous. While writing, assume that the reader does not understand any intricate detail about your research.
  • Unrelated themes: Steer clear from topics that are not related to the key aspects of your research topic.
  • Poor organization: Do not place information without a structure. Make sure that the background reads in a chronological manner and organize the sub-sections so that it flows well.

Writing the background for a research paper should not be a daunting task. But directions to go about it can always help. At Elsevier Author Services we provide essential insights on how to write a high quality, appealing, and logically structured paper for publication, beginning with a robust background. For further queries, contact our experts now!

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How to Write an Effective Background of the Study: A Comprehensive Guide

Madalsa

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The background of the study in a research paper offers a clear context, highlighting why the research is essential and the problem it aims to address.

As a researcher, this foundational section is essential for you to chart the course of your study, Moreover, it allows readers to understand the importance and path of your research.

Whether in academic communities or to the general public, a well-articulated background aids in communicating the essence of the research effectively.

While it may seem straightforward, crafting an effective background requires a blend of clarity, precision, and relevance. Therefore, this article aims to be your guide, offering insights into:

  • Understanding the concept of the background of the study.
  • Learning how to craft a compelling background effectively.
  • Identifying and sidestepping common pitfalls in writing the background.
  • Exploring practical examples that bring the theory to life.
  • Enhancing both your writing and reading of academic papers.

Keeping these compelling insights in mind, let's delve deeper into the details of the empirical background of the study, exploring its definition, distinctions, and the art of writing it effectively.

What is the background of the study?

The background of the study is placed at the beginning of a research paper. It provides the context, circumstances, and history that led to the research problem or topic being explored.

It offers readers a snapshot of the existing knowledge on the topic and the reasons that spurred your current research.

When crafting the background of your study, consider the following questions.

  • What's the context of your research?
  • Which previous research will you refer to?
  • Are there any knowledge gaps in the existing relevant literature?
  • How will you justify the need for your current research?
  • Have you concisely presented the research question or problem?

In a typical research paper structure, after presenting the background, the introduction section follows. The introduction delves deeper into the specific objectives of the research and often outlines the structure or main points that the paper will cover.

Together, they create a cohesive starting point, ensuring readers are well-equipped to understand the subsequent sections of the research paper.

While the background of the study and the introduction section of the research manuscript may seem similar and sometimes even overlap, each serves a unique purpose in the research narrative.

Difference between background and introduction

A well-written background of the study and introduction are preliminary sections of a research paper and serve distinct purposes.

Here’s a detailed tabular comparison between the two of them.

What is the relevance of the background of the study?

It is necessary for you to provide your readers with the background of your research. Without this, readers may grapple with questions such as: Why was this specific research topic chosen? What led to this decision? Why is this study relevant? Is it worth their time?

Such uncertainties can deter them from fully engaging with your study, leading to the rejection of your research paper. Additionally, this can diminish its impact in the academic community, and reduce its potential for real-world application or policy influence .

To address these concerns and offer clarity, the background section plays a pivotal role in research papers.

The background of the study in research is important as it:

  • Provides context: It offers readers a clear picture of the existing knowledge, helping them understand where the current research fits in.
  • Highlights relevance: By detailing the reasons for the research, it underscores the study's significance and its potential impact.
  • Guides the narrative: The background shapes the narrative flow of the paper, ensuring a logical progression from what's known to what the research aims to uncover.
  • Enhances engagement: A well-crafted background piques the reader's interest, encouraging them to delve deeper into the research paper.
  • Aids in comprehension: By setting the scenario, it aids readers in better grasping the research objectives, methodologies, and findings.

How to write the background of the study in a research paper?

The journey of presenting a compelling argument begins with the background study. This section holds the power to either captivate or lose the reader's interest.

An effectively written background not only provides context but also sets the tone for the entire research paper. It's the bridge that connects a broad topic to a specific research question, guiding readers through the logic behind the study.

But how does one craft a background of the study that resonates, informs, and engages?

Here, we’ll discuss how to write an impactful background study, ensuring your research stands out and captures the attention it deserves.

Identify the research problem

The first step is to start pinpointing the specific issue or gap you're addressing. This should be a significant and relevant problem in your field.

A well-defined problem is specific, relevant, and significant to your field. It should resonate with both experts and readers.

Here’s more on how to write an effective research problem .

Provide context

Here, you need to provide a broader perspective, illustrating how your research aligns with or contributes to the overarching context or the wider field of study. A comprehensive context is grounded in facts, offers multiple perspectives, and is relatable.

In addition to stating facts, you should weave a story that connects key concepts from the past, present, and potential future research. For instance, consider the following approach.

  • Offer a brief history of the topic, highlighting major milestones or turning points that have shaped the current landscape.
  • Discuss contemporary developments or current trends that provide relevant information to your research problem. This could include technological advancements, policy changes, or shifts in societal attitudes.
  • Highlight the views of different stakeholders. For a topic like sustainable agriculture, this could mean discussing the perspectives of farmers, environmentalists, policymakers, and consumers.
  • If relevant, compare and contrast global trends with local conditions and circumstances. This can offer readers a more holistic understanding of the topic.

Literature review

For this step, you’ll deep dive into the existing literature on the same topic. It's where you explore what scholars, researchers, and experts have already discovered or discussed about your topic.

Conducting a thorough literature review isn't just a recap of past works. To elevate its efficacy, it's essential to analyze the methods, outcomes, and intricacies of prior research work, demonstrating a thorough engagement with the existing body of knowledge.

  • Instead of merely listing past research study, delve into their methodologies, findings, and limitations. Highlight groundbreaking studies and those that had contrasting results.
  • Try to identify patterns. Look for recurring themes or trends in the literature. Are there common conclusions or contentious points?
  • The next step would be to connect the dots. Show how different pieces of research relate to each other. This can help in understanding the evolution of thought on the topic.

By showcasing what's already known, you can better highlight the background of the study in research.

Highlight the research gap

This step involves identifying the unexplored areas or unanswered questions in the existing literature. Your research seeks to address these gaps, providing new insights or answers.

A clear research gap shows you've thoroughly engaged with existing literature and found an area that needs further exploration.

How can you efficiently highlight the research gap?

  • Find the overlooked areas. Point out topics or angles that haven't been adequately addressed.
  • Highlight questions that have emerged due to recent developments or changing circumstances.
  • Identify areas where insights from other fields might be beneficial but haven't been explored yet.

State your objectives

Here, it’s all about laying out your game plan — What do you hope to achieve with your research? You need to mention a clear objective that’s specific, actionable, and directly tied to the research gap.

How to state your objectives?

  • List the primary questions guiding your research.
  • If applicable, state any hypotheses or predictions you aim to test.
  • Specify what you hope to achieve, whether it's new insights, solutions, or methodologies.

Discuss the significance

This step describes your 'why'. Why is your research important? What broader implications does it have?

The significance of “why” should be both theoretical (adding to the existing literature) and practical (having real-world implications).

How do we effectively discuss the significance?

  • Discuss how your research adds to the existing body of knowledge.
  • Highlight how your findings could be applied in real-world scenarios, from policy changes to on-ground practices.
  • Point out how your research could pave the way for further studies or open up new areas of exploration.

Summarize your points

A concise summary acts as a bridge, smoothly transitioning readers from the background to the main body of the paper. This step is a brief recap, ensuring that readers have grasped the foundational concepts.

How to summarize your study?

  • Revisit the key points discussed, from the research problem to its significance.
  • Prepare the reader for the subsequent sections, ensuring they understand the research's direction.

Include examples for better understanding

Research and come up with real-world or hypothetical examples to clarify complex concepts or to illustrate the practical applications of your research. Relevant examples make abstract ideas tangible, aiding comprehension.

How to include an effective example of the background of the study?

  • Use past events or scenarios to explain concepts.
  • Craft potential scenarios to demonstrate the implications of your findings.
  • Use comparisons to simplify complex ideas, making them more relatable.

Crafting a compelling background of the study in research is about striking the right balance between providing essential context, showcasing your comprehensive understanding of the existing literature, and highlighting the unique value of your research .

While writing the background of the study, keep your readers at the forefront of your mind. Every piece of information, every example, and every objective should be geared toward helping them understand and appreciate your research.

How to avoid mistakes in the background of the study in research?

To write a well-crafted background of the study, you should be aware of the following potential research pitfalls .

  • Stay away from ambiguity. Always assume that your reader might not be familiar with intricate details about your topic.
  • Avoid discussing unrelated themes. Stick to what's directly relevant to your research problem.
  • Ensure your background is well-organized. Information should flow logically, making it easy for readers to follow.
  • While it's vital to provide context, avoid overwhelming the reader with excessive details that might not be directly relevant to your research problem.
  • Ensure you've covered the most significant and relevant studies i` n your field. Overlooking key pieces of literature can make your background seem incomplete.
  • Aim for a balanced presentation of facts, and avoid showing overt bias or presenting only one side of an argument.
  • While academic paper often involves specialized terms, ensure they're adequately explained or use simpler alternatives when possible.
  • Every claim or piece of information taken from existing literature should be appropriately cited. Failing to do so can lead to issues of plagiarism.
  • Avoid making the background too lengthy. While thoroughness is appreciated, it should not come at the expense of losing the reader's interest. Maybe prefer to keep it to one-two paragraphs long.
  • Especially in rapidly evolving fields, it's crucial to ensure that your literature review section is up-to-date and includes the latest research.

Example of an effective background of the study

Let's consider a topic: "The Impact of Online Learning on Student Performance." The ideal background of the study section for this topic would be as follows.

In the last decade, the rise of the internet has revolutionized many sectors, including education. Online learning platforms, once a supplementary educational tool, have now become a primary mode of instruction for many institutions worldwide. With the recent global events, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a rapid shift from traditional classroom learning to online modes, making it imperative to understand its effects on student performance.

Previous studies have explored various facets of online learning, from its accessibility to its flexibility. However, there is a growing need to assess its direct impact on student outcomes. While some educators advocate for its benefits, citing the convenience and vast resources available, others express concerns about potential drawbacks, such as reduced student engagement and the challenges of self-discipline.

This research aims to delve deeper into this debate, evaluating the true impact of online learning on student performance.

Why is this example considered as an effective background section of a research paper?

This background section example effectively sets the context by highlighting the rise of online learning and its increased relevance due to recent global events. It references prior research on the topic, indicating a foundation built on existing knowledge.

By presenting both the potential advantages and concerns of online learning, it establishes a balanced view, leading to the clear purpose of the study: to evaluate the true impact of online learning on student performance.

As we've explored, writing an effective background of the study in research requires clarity, precision, and a keen understanding of both the broader landscape and the specific details of your topic.

From identifying the research problem, providing context, reviewing existing literature to highlighting research gaps and stating objectives, each step is pivotal in shaping the narrative of your research. And while there are best practices to follow, it's equally crucial to be aware of the pitfalls to avoid.

Remember, writing or refining the background of your study is essential to engage your readers, familiarize them with the research context, and set the ground for the insights your research project will unveil.

Drawing from all the important details, insights and guidance shared, you're now in a strong position to craft a background of the study that not only informs but also engages and resonates with your readers.

Now that you've a clear understanding of what the background of the study aims to achieve, the natural progression is to delve into the next crucial component — write an effective introduction section of a research paper. Read here .

Frequently Asked Questions

The background of the study should include a clear context for the research, references to relevant previous studies, identification of knowledge gaps, justification for the current research, a concise overview of the research problem or question, and an indication of the study's significance or potential impact.

The background of the study is written to provide readers with a clear understanding of the context, significance, and rationale behind the research. It offers a snapshot of existing knowledge on the topic, highlights the relevance of the study, and sets the stage for the research questions and objectives. It ensures that readers can grasp the importance of the research and its place within the broader field of study.

The background of the study is a section in a research paper that provides context, circumstances, and history leading to the research problem or topic being explored. It presents existing knowledge on the topic and outlines the reasons that spurred the current research, helping readers understand the research's foundation and its significance in the broader academic landscape.

The number of paragraphs in the background of the study can vary based on the complexity of the topic and the depth of the context required. Typically, it might range from 3 to 5 paragraphs, but in more detailed or complex research papers, it could be longer. The key is to ensure that all relevant information is presented clearly and concisely, without unnecessary repetition.

background of the study in research content

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What Is Background in a Research Paper?

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So you have carefully written your research paper  and probably ran it through your colleagues ten to fifteen times. While there are many elements to a good research article, one of the most important elements for your readers is the background of your study.

What is Background of the Study in Research

The background of your study will provide context to the information discussed throughout the research paper . Background information may include both important and relevant studies. This is particularly important if a study either supports or refutes your thesis.

Why is Background of the Study Necessary in Research?

The background of the study discusses your problem statement, rationale, and research questions. It links  introduction to your research topic  and ensures a logical flow of ideas.  Thus, it helps readers understand your reasons for conducting the study.

Providing Background Information

The reader should be able to understand your topic and its importance. The length and detail of your background also depend on the degree to which you need to demonstrate your understanding of the topic. Paying close attention to the following questions will help you in writing background information:

  • Are there any theories, concepts, terms, and ideas that may be unfamiliar to the target audience and will require you to provide any additional explanation?
  • Any historical data that need to be shared in order to provide context on why the current issue emerged?
  • Are there any concepts that may have been borrowed from other disciplines that may be unfamiliar to the reader and need an explanation?
Related: Ready with the background and searching for more information on journal ranking? Check this infographic on the SCImago Journal Rank today!

Is the research study unique for which additional explanation is needed? For instance, you may have used a completely new method

How to Write a Background of the Study

The structure of a background study in a research paper generally follows a logical sequence to provide context, justification, and an understanding of the research problem. It includes an introduction, general background, literature review , rationale , objectives, scope and limitations , significance of the study and the research hypothesis . Following the structure can provide a comprehensive and well-organized background for your research.

Here are the steps to effectively write a background of the study.

1. Identify Your Audience:

Determine the level of expertise of your target audience. Tailor the depth and complexity of your background information accordingly.

2. Understand the Research Problem:

Define the research problem or question your study aims to address. Identify the significance of the problem within the broader context of the field.

3. Review Existing Literature:

Conduct a thorough literature review to understand what is already known in the area. Summarize key findings, theories, and concepts relevant to your research.

4. Include Historical Data:

Integrate historical data if relevant to the research, as current issues often trace back to historical events.

5. Identify Controversies and Gaps:

Note any controversies or debates within the existing literature. Identify gaps , limitations, or unanswered questions that your research can address.

6. Select Key Components:

Choose the most critical elements to include in the background based on their relevance to your research problem. Prioritize information that helps build a strong foundation for your study.

7. Craft a Logical Flow:

Organize the background information in a logical sequence. Start with general context, move to specific theories and concepts, and then focus on the specific problem.

8. Highlight the Novelty of Your Research:

Clearly explain the unique aspects or contributions of your study. Emphasize why your research is different from or builds upon existing work.

Here are some extra tips to increase the quality of your research background:

Example of a Research Background

Here is an example of a research background to help you understand better.

The above hypothetical example provides a research background, addresses the gap and highlights the potential outcome of the study; thereby aiding a better understanding of the proposed research.

What Makes the Introduction Different from the Background?

Your introduction is different from your background in a number of ways.

  • The introduction contains preliminary data about your topic that  the reader will most likely read , whereas the background clarifies the importance of the paper.
  • The background of your study discusses in depth about the topic, whereas the introduction only gives an overview.
  • The introduction should end with your research questions, aims, and objectives, whereas your background should not (except in some cases where your background is integrated into your introduction). For instance, the C.A.R.S. ( Creating a Research Space ) model, created by John Swales is based on his analysis of journal articles. This model attempts to explain and describe the organizational pattern of writing the introduction in social sciences.

Points to Note

Your background should begin with defining a topic and audience. It is important that you identify which topic you need to review and what your audience already knows about the topic. You should proceed by searching and researching the relevant literature. In this case, it is advisable to keep track of the search terms you used and the articles that you downloaded. It is helpful to use one of the research paper management systems such as Papers, Mendeley, Evernote, or Sente. Next, it is helpful to take notes while reading. Be careful when copying quotes verbatim and make sure to put them in quotation marks and cite the sources. In addition, you should keep your background focused but balanced enough so that it is relevant to a broader audience. Aside from these, your background should be critical, consistent, and logically structured.

Writing the background of your study should not be an overly daunting task. Many guides that can help you organize your thoughts as you write the background. The background of the study is the key to introduce your audience to your research topic and should be done with strong knowledge and thoughtful writing.

The background of a research paper typically ranges from one to two paragraphs, summarizing the relevant literature and context of the study. It should be concise, providing enough information to contextualize the research problem and justify the need for the study. Journal instructions about any word count limits should be kept in mind while deciding on the length of the final content.

The background of a research paper provides the context and relevant literature to understand the research problem, while the introduction also introduces the specific research topic, states the research objectives, and outlines the scope of the study. The background focuses on the broader context, whereas the introduction focuses on the specific research project and its objectives.

When writing the background for a study, start by providing a brief overview of the research topic and its significance in the field. Then, highlight the gaps in existing knowledge or unresolved issues that the study aims to address. Finally, summarize the key findings from relevant literature to establish the context and rationale for conducting the research, emphasizing the need and importance of the study within the broader academic landscape.

The background in a research paper is crucial as it sets the stage for the study by providing essential context and rationale. It helps readers understand the significance of the research problem and its relevance in the broader field. By presenting relevant literature and highlighting gaps, the background justifies the need for the study, building a strong foundation for the research and enhancing its credibility.

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Organizing Your Social Sciences Research Paper

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Background information identifies and describes the history and nature of a well-defined research problem with reference to contextualizing existing literature. The background information should indicate the root of the problem being studied, appropriate context of the problem in relation to theory, research, and/or practice , its scope, and the extent to which previous studies have successfully investigated the problem, noting, in particular, where gaps exist that your study attempts to address. Background information does not replace the literature review section of a research paper; it is intended to place the research problem within a specific context and an established plan for its solution.

Fitterling, Lori. Researching and Writing an Effective Background Section of a Research Paper. Kansas City University of Medicine & Biosciences; Creating a Research Paper: How to Write the Background to a Study. DurousseauElectricalInstitute.com; Background Information: Definition of Background Information. Literary Devices Definition and Examples of Literary Terms.

Importance of Having Enough Background Information

Background information expands upon the key points stated in the beginning of your introduction but is not intended to be the main focus of the paper. It generally supports the question, what is the most important information the reader needs to understand before continuing to read the paper? Sufficient background information helps the reader determine if you have a basic understanding of the research problem being investigated and promotes confidence in the overall quality of your analysis and findings. This information provides the reader with the essential context needed to conceptualize the research problem and its significance before moving on to a more thorough analysis of prior research.

Forms of contextualization included in background information can include describing one or more of the following:

  • Cultural -- placed within the learned behavior of a specific group or groups of people.
  • Economic -- of or relating to systems of production and management of material wealth and/or business activities.
  • Gender -- located within the behavioral, cultural, or psychological traits typically associated with being self-identified as male, female, or other form of  gender expression.
  • Historical -- the time in which something takes place or was created and how the condition of time influences how you interpret it.
  • Interdisciplinary -- explanation of theories, concepts, ideas, or methodologies borrowed from other disciplines applied to the research problem rooted in a discipline other than the discipline where your paper resides.
  • Philosophical -- clarification of the essential nature of being or of phenomena as it relates to the research problem.
  • Physical/Spatial -- reflects the meaning of space around something and how that influences how it is understood.
  • Political -- concerns the environment in which something is produced indicating it's public purpose or agenda.
  • Social -- the environment of people that surrounds something's creation or intended audience, reflecting how the people associated with something use and interpret it.
  • Temporal -- reflects issues or events of, relating to, or limited by time. Concerns past, present, or future contextualization and not just a historical past.

Background information can also include summaries of important research studies . This can be a particularly important element of providing background information if an innovative or groundbreaking study about the research problem laid a foundation for further research or there was a key study that is essential to understanding your arguments. The priority is to summarize for the reader what is known about the research problem before you conduct the analysis of prior research. This is accomplished with a general summary of the foundational research literature [with citations] that document findings that inform your study's overall aims and objectives.

NOTE : Research studies cited as part of the background information of your introduction should not include very specific, lengthy explanations. This should be discussed in greater detail in your literature review section. If you find a study requiring lengthy explanation, consider moving it to the literature review section.

ANOTHER NOTE : In some cases, your paper's introduction only needs to introduce the research problem, explain its significance, and then describe a road map for how you are going to address the problem; the background information basically forms the introduction part of your literature review. That said, while providing background information is not required, including it in the introduction is a way to highlight important contextual information that could otherwise be hidden or overlooked by the reader if placed in the literature review section.

Background of the Problem Section: What do you Need to Consider? Anonymous. Harvard University; Hopkins, Will G. How to Write a Research Paper. SPORTSCIENCE, Perspectives/Research Resources. Department of Physiology and School of Physical Education, University of Otago, 1999; Green, L. H. How to Write the Background/Introduction Section. Physics 499 Powerpoint slides. University of Illinois; Pyrczak, Fred. Writing Empirical Research Reports: A Basic Guide for Students of the Social and Behavioral Sciences . 8th edition. Glendale, CA: Pyrczak Publishing, 2014; Stevens, Kathleen C. “Can We Improve Reading by Teaching Background Information?.” Journal of Reading 25 (January 1982): 326-329; Woodall, W. Gill. Writing the Background and Significance Section. Senior Research Scientist and Professor of Communication. Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions. University of New Mexico.

Structure and Writing Style

Providing background information in the introduction of a research paper serves as a bridge that links the reader to the research problem . Precisely how long and in-depth this bridge should be is largely dependent upon how much information you think the reader will need to know in order to fully understand the problem being discussed and to appreciate why the issues you are investigating are important.

From another perspective, the length and detail of background information also depends on the degree to which you need to demonstrate to your professor how much you understand the research problem. Keep this in mind because providing pertinent background information can be an effective way to demonstrate that you have a clear grasp of key issues, debates, and concepts related to your overall study.

The structure and writing style of your background information can vary depending upon the complexity of your research and/or the nature of the assignment. However, in most cases it should be limited to only one to two paragraphs in your introduction.

Given this, here are some questions to consider while writing this part of your introduction :

  • Are there concepts, terms, theories, or ideas that may be unfamiliar to the reader and, thus, require additional explanation?
  • Are there historical elements that need to be explored in order to provide needed context, to highlight specific people, issues, or events, or to lay a foundation for understanding the emergence of a current issue or event?
  • Are there theories, concepts, or ideas borrowed from other disciplines or academic traditions that may be unfamiliar to the reader and therefore require further explanation?
  • Is there a key study or small set of studies that set the stage for understanding the topic and frames why it is important to conduct further research on the topic?
  • Y our study uses a method of analysis never applied before;
  • Your study investigates a very esoteric or complex research problem;
  • Your study introduces new or unique variables that need to be taken into account ; or,
  • Your study relies upon analyzing unique texts or documents, such as, archival materials or primary documents like diaries or personal letters that do not represent the established body of source literature on the topic?

Almost all introductions to a research problem require some contextualizing, but the scope and breadth of background information varies depending on your assumption about the reader's level of prior knowledge . However, despite this assessment, background information should be brief and succinct and sets the stage for the elaboration of critical points or in-depth discussion of key issues in the literature review section of your paper.

Writing Tip

Background Information vs. the Literature Review

Incorporating background information into the introduction is intended to provide the reader with critical information about the topic being studied, such as, highlighting and expanding upon foundational studies conducted in the past, describing important historical events that inform why and in what ways the research problem exists, defining key components of your study [concepts, people, places, phenomena] and/or placing the research problem within a particular context. Although introductory background information can often blend into the literature review portion of the paper, essential background information should not be considered a substitute for a comprehensive review and synthesis of relevant research literature.

Hart, Cris. Doing a Literature Review: Releasing the Social Science Research Imagination . Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1998; Pyrczak, Fred. Writing Empirical Research Reports: A Basic Guide for Students of the Social and Behavioral Sciences . 8th edition. Glendale, CA: Pyrczak Publishing, 2014.

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What is the Background in a Research Paper?

An effective Background section in your manuscript establishes the context for your study. And while original research requires novel findings, providing the necessary background information for these findings may be just as important. It lets your readers know that your findings are novel, important, and worthy of their time and attention.

Updated on October 3, 2022

What is the Background in a Research Paper?

A good Background section explains the history and nature of your research question in relation to existing literature – a “state of the art.” This section, along with the rationale, helps readers understand why you chose to study this problem and why your study is worthwhile. This article will show you how to do this.

Read on to better understand the:

  • Real purpose of the Background section
  • Typical length of a Background section and its placement
  • Elements of an effective Background

What is the Background section of a research paper?

The Background section is an essential element of every study, answering:

  • What do we already know about the topic?
  • How does your study relate to what's been done so far in your field?
  • What is its scope?
  • Why does the topic warrant your interest and their interest?
  • How did you develop the research question that you'll later introduce?

In grant writing, a Background section is often referred to as the “state of the art,” and this is a useful term to have in mind when writing this part of your paper.

What comes next?

After you make the above points,

  • Formulate your research question/hypothesis . Research aims and objectives should be closely related to how you'll fill the gap you've identified in the literature. Your research gap is the central theme of your article and why people should read it.
  • Summarize how you'll address it in the paper . Your methodology needs to be appropriate for addressing the “problem” you've identified.
  • Describe the significance of your study . Show how your research fits into the bigger picture.

Note that the Background section isn't the same as the research rationale. Rather, it provides the relevant information the reader needs so they can follow your rationale. For example, it

  • Explains scientific terms
  • Provides available data and statistics on the topic
  • Describes the methods used so far on your topic. Especially if these are different from what you're going to do. Take special care here, because this is often where peer reviewers focus intently.

This is a logical approach to what comes after the study's background. Use it and the reader can easily follow along from the broader information to the specific details that come later. Crucially, they'll have confidence that your analysis and findings are valid.

Where should the background be placed in a research paper?

Usually, the background comes after the statement of the problem, in the Introduction section. Logically, you need to provide the study context before discussing the research questions, methodology, and results.

The background can be found in:

The abstract

The background typically forms the first few sentences of the abstract. Why did you do the study? Most journals state this clearly. In an unstructured (no subheadings) abstract, it's the first sentence or two. In a structured abstract, it might be called the Introduction, Background, or State-of-the-Art.

PLOS Medicine , for example, asks for research article abstracts to be split into three sections: Background, Methods and Findings, and Conclusions. Journals in the humanities or social sciences might not clearly ask for it because articles sometimes have a looser structure than STEM articles.

The first part of the Introduction section

In the journal Nature , for example, the Introduction should be around 200 words and include

  • Two to three sentences giving a basic introduction to the field.
  • The background and rationale of the study are stated briefly.
  • A simple phrase “Here we show ...”, or “In this study, we show ....” (to round out the Introduction).

The Journal of Organic Chemistry has similar author guidelines.

The Background as a distinct section

This is often the case for research proposals or some types of reports, as discussed above. Rather than reviewing the literature, this is a concise summary of what's currently known in the field relevant to the question being addressed in this proposed study.

How long should the Background section be?

As mentioned, there's no set length for the Background section. It generally depends on the journal and the content of your manuscript. Check the journal's author guidelines, the research center, granting agency, etc. If it's still not clear or if the instructions are contradictory, email or phone them directly.

The length of your background will depend on:

The manuscript length and content

A book-length study needs a more extensive Background than a four-page research article. Exploring a relatively unknown method or question might also need a longer Background.

For example, see this Frontiers article on the applications of artificial intelligence for developing COVID-19 vaccines. It has a seven-paragraph long Background (1,200 words) in a separate section. The authors need to discuss earlier successful uses of machine learning for therapy discovery to make a convincing case.

An academic paper published in an international journal is usually around 5,000 words. Your paper needs to be balanced, with appropriate text lengths used for the different sections: It would make no sense to have a 300-word introduction and then 4,000 words for the methods, for example. In a 5,000-word manuscript, you'll be able to use about 1,500 for the introduction, which includes the background.

How much you need to show your understanding of the topic

A lengthy grant application might need a longer Background (sub-)section. That's because if they're going to grant you money, they need a very good reason to. You'll need to show that the work is both interesting and doable. The Background is where you can do this.

What should the Background of a research manuscript include?

The Background of a research paper needs to show two things:

The study's territory ( scope )

First, provide a general overview of the field. Scientists in most disciplines should find it relatively easy to understand. Be broad, keep it interesting. Don't go into the specifics of your particular study.

Let's look at two examples:

  • one from basic research (seeking to generate new knowledge)
  • one from applied research (trying to solve or improve existing processes or products)

Applied research

This Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence article explores how AI can help discover treatments for COVID-19.

The background of the study can be found (i) in the abstract and (ii) in a separate section discussed at the end of this article. The abstract starts with this general overview: “SARS-COV-2 has roused the scientific community with a call to action to combat the growing pandemic.” ( Arshadi et al., 2020 ). This is broad, and it's interesting. This is a topic that many researchers (even from outside this specific area) may want to learn more about.

Think of any theories, models, concepts, or terms (maybe borrowed from different disciplines) that may be unfamiliar to your reader. Be sure to clarify them in plainer language, if necessary.

For example, this systematic review looks at the connections of physician burnout with career engagement and quality of patient care. The Background is in the Introduction section. It starts by defining what burnout is:

  • “Burnout is defined as a syndrome related to work that involves three key dimensions.” ( Hodkinson et al., 2022 )

The authors go on to explain its three aspects: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a sense of reduced personal accomplishment.

Basic research

Imagine you're investigating how universities' moves to online teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic impacted students' learning outcomes in the United Kingdom. The overview could be:

  • The COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing lockdown generated tremendous challenges across the higher education sector. University campuses were forced to close. Face-to-face teaching and assessment transitioned into a virtual format.

2. The niche in the field (motivation)

To establish the niche in your field, describe what drove you to explore this specific topic.

  • Explain how (un)successfully previous studies have investigated the problem.
  • Note the knowledge gap or present a problem with a currently used process/practice/product.

After setting the stage, the abstract of the Frontiers in Artificial Intelligence article identifies a problem:

  • “At the time of this writing, there are as yet no novel antiviral agents or approved vaccines available for deployment as a frontline defense.” ( Arshadi et al., 2020 )

The authors need to support their claim that computational methods can help discover new COVID-19 treatments. They do so by referring to previous research findings:

  • “In the last decade, machine learning-based models, trained on specific biomolecules, have offered inexpensive and rapid implementation methods for the discovery of effective viral therapies.” ( Arshadi et al., 2020 )

Going back to the study on students' learning outcomes after universities introduced e-learning. The background section will next identify and describe the current knowledge gap and your proposed method of fixing it. It may be something like:

  • Existing literature and studies by the UK Department for Education reveal x + y changes and effects on teaching and learning. Yet they provide little to no information on students' learning outcomes. Understanding the impact of online teaching and assessments on student outcomes is key to adopting future teaching practices and ensuring students from disadvantaged backgrounds are not left behind.

How is the background different from the literature review?

Both the background and literature review sections compile previous studies that are relevant and important to the topic.

Despite their similarities, they're different in scope and aims.

the differences between a background and a literature review

Overall, the research background could be seen as a small part of the detailed critical discussion in the literature review. Almost always, primary research articles do not include a detailed literature review.

How is the Background different from the Introduction section?

Although often part of the Introduction, the Background differs from the Introduction in scope and aim.

the differences between a background and an introduction

Breakdown of the Background in published articles

Consider this systematic review looking at the connections of physician burnout with career engagement and quality of patient care.

The Background is placed in the Introduction section. It's critical, consistent, and logically structured, moving from general to specific information.

main aspects of the background of a study

You can also check out the summary paragraph breakdown provided by Nature. (Nature's “summary paragraph” is essentially an abstract.)

And if you're looking for some help, or have an article that's finished but needs a pre-submission review click here to connect with one of our expert AJE editors.

Gareth Dyke, PhD, Paleontology, University of Bristol

Gareth Dyke, PhD

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Tips for Writing an Effective Background of the Study

David Costello

The Background of the Study is an integral part of any research paper that sets the context and the stage for the research presented in the paper. It's the section that provides a detailed context of the study by explaining the problem under investigation, the gaps in existing research that the study aims to fill, and the relevance of the study to the research field. It often incorporates aspects of the existing literature and gives readers an understanding of why the research is necessary and the theoretical framework that it is grounded in.

The Background of the Study holds a significant position in the process of research. It serves as the scaffold upon which the entire research project is built. It helps the reader understand the problem, its significance, and how your research will contribute to the existing body of knowledge. A well-articulated background can provide a clear roadmap for your study and assist others in understanding the direction and value of your research. Without it, readers may struggle to grasp the purpose and importance of your work.

The aim of this blog post is to guide budding researchers, students, and academicians on how to craft an effective Background of the Study section for their research paper. It is designed to provide practical tips, highlight key components, and elucidate common mistakes to avoid. By the end of this blog post, readers should have a clear understanding of how to construct a compelling background that successfully contextualizes their research, highlights its significance, and sets a clear path for their investigation.

Understanding the background of the study

The Background of the Study in a research context refers to a section of your research paper that discloses the basis and reasons behind the conduction of the study. It sets the broader context for your research by presenting the problem that your study intends to address, giving a brief overview of the subject domain, and highlighting the existing gaps in knowledge. This section also presents the theoretical or conceptual framework and states the research objectives, and often includes the research question or hypothesis . The Background of the Study gives your readers a deeper understanding of the purpose, importance, and direction of your study.

How it fits into the overall structure of a research paper

The Background of the Study typically appears after the introduction and before the literature review in the overall structure of a research paper. It acts as a bridge between the general introduction, where the topic is initially presented, and the more specific aspects of the paper such as the literature review, methodology , results , and discussion. It provides necessary information to help readers understand the relevance and value of the study in a wider context, before zooming in to specific details of your research.

Difference between the background of the study, introduction, and literature review

Now that we understand the role of the Background of the Study within a research paper, let's delve deeper to differentiate it from two other crucial components of the paper - the Introduction and the Literature Review.

  • Background of the Study: This section provides a comprehensive context for the research, including a statement of the problem , the theoretical or conceptual framework, the gap that the study intends to fill, and the overall significance of the research. It guides the reader from a broad understanding of the research context to the specifics of your study.
  • Introduction: This is the first section of the research paper that provides a broad overview of the topic , introduces the research question or hypothesis , and briefly mentions the methodology used in the study. It piques the reader's interest and gives them a reason to continue reading the paper.
  • Literature Review: This section presents an organized summary of the existing research related to your study. It helps identify what we already know and what we do not know about the topic, thereby establishing the necessity for your research. The literature review allows you to demonstrate how your study contributes to and extends the existing body of knowledge.

While these three sections may overlap in some aspects, each serves a unique purpose and plays a critical role in the research paper.

Components of the background of the study

Statement of the problem.

This is the issue or situation that your research is intended to address. It should be a clear, concise declaration that explains the problem in detail, its context, and the negative impacts if it remains unresolved. This statement also explains why there's a need to study the problem, making it crucial for defining the research objectives.

Importance of the study

In this component, you outline the reasons why your research is significant. How does it contribute to the existing body of knowledge? Does it provide insights into a particular issue, offer solutions to a problem, or fill gaps in existing research? Clarifying the importance of your study helps affirm its value to your field and the larger academic community.

Relevant previous research and literature

Present an overview of the major studies and research conducted on the topic. This not only shows that you have a broad understanding of your field, but it also allows you to highlight the knowledge gaps that your study aims to fill. It also helps establish the context of your study within the larger academic dialogue.

Theoretical framework

The theoretical framework is the structure that can hold or support a theory of a research study. It presents the theories, concepts, or ideas which are relevant to the study and explains how these theories apply to your research. It helps to connect your findings to the broader constructs and theories in your field.

Research questions or hypotheses

These are the specific queries your research aims to answer or the predictions you are testing. They should be directly aligned with your problem statement and clearly set out what you hope to discover through your research.

Potential implications of the research

This involves outlining the potential applications of your research findings in your field and possibly beyond. What changes could your research inspire? How might it influence future studies? By explaining this, you underscore the potential impact of your research and its significance in a broader context.

How to write a comprehensive background of the study

Identify and articulate the problem statement.

To successfully identify and articulate your problem statement, consider the following steps:

  • Start by clearly defining the problem your research aims to solve. The problem should be specific and researchable.
  • Provide context for the problem. Where does it arise? Who or what is affected by it?
  • Clearly articulate why the problem is significant. Is it a new issue, or has it been a long-standing problem in your field? How does it impact the broader field or society at large?
  • Express the potential adverse effects if the problem remains unresolved. This can help underscore the urgency or importance of your research.
  • Remember, while your problem statement should be comprehensive, aim for conciseness. You want to communicate the gravity of the issue in a precise and clear manner.

Conduct and summarize relevant literature review

A well-executed literature review is fundamental for situating your study within the broader context of existing research. Here's how you can approach it:

  • Begin by conducting a comprehensive search for existing research that is relevant to your problem statement. Make use of academic databases, scholarly journals, and other credible sources of research.
  • As you read these studies, pay close attention to their key findings, research methodologies, and any gaps in the research that they've identified. These elements will be crucial in the summary of your literature review.
  • Make an effort to analyze, rather than just list, the studies. This means drawing connections between different research findings, contrasting methodologies, and identifying overarching trends or conflicts in the field.
  • When summarizing the literature review, focus on synthesis . Explain how these studies relate to each other and how they collectively relate to your own research. This could mean identifying patterns, themes, or gaps that your research aims to address.

Describe the theoretical framework

The theoretical framework of your research is crucial as it grounds your work in established concepts and provides a lens through which your results can be interpreted. Here's how to effectively describe it:

  • Begin by identifying the theories, ideas, or models upon which your research is based. These may come from your literature review or your understanding of the subject matter.
  • Explain these theories or concepts in simple terms, bearing in mind that your reader may not be familiar with them. Be sure to define any technical terms or jargon that you use.
  • Make connections between these theories and your research. How do they relate to your study? Do they inform your research questions or hypotheses?
  • Show how these theories guide your research methodology and your analysis. For instance, do they suggest certain methods for data collection or specific ways of interpreting your data?
  • Remember, your theoretical framework should act as the "lens" through which your results are viewed, so it needs to be relevant and applicable to your study.

Formulate your research questions or hypotheses

Crafting well-defined research questions or hypotheses is a crucial step in outlining the scope of your research. Here's how you can effectively approach this process:

  • Begin by establishing the specific questions your research aims to answer. If your study is more exploratory in nature, you may formulate research questions. If it is more explanatory or confirmatory, you may state hypotheses.
  • Ensure that your questions or hypotheses are researchable. They should be specific, clear, and measurable with the methods you plan to use.
  • Check that your research questions or hypotheses align with your problem statement and research objectives. They should be a natural extension of the issues outlined in your background of the study.
  • Finally, remember that well-crafted research questions or hypotheses will guide your research design and help structure your entire paper. They act as the anchors around which your research revolves.

Highlight the potential implications and significance of your research

To conclude your Background of the Study, it's essential to highlight the potential implications and significance of your work. Here's how to do it effectively:

  • Start by providing a clear explanation of your research's potential implications. This could relate to the advancement of theoretical knowledge or practical applications in the real world.
  • Discuss the importance of your research within the context of your field. How does it contribute to the existing body of knowledge? Does it challenge current theories or practices?
  • Highlight how your research could influence future studies. Could it open new avenues of inquiry? Does it suggest a need for further research in certain areas?
  • Finally, consider the practical applications of your research. How could your findings be used in policy-making, business strategies, educational practices, or other real-world scenarios?
  • Always keep in mind that demonstrating the broader impact of your research increases its relevance and appeal to a wider audience, extending beyond the immediate academic circle.

Following these guidelines can help you effectively highlight the potential implications and significance of your research, thereby strengthening the impact of your study.

Practical tips for writing the background of the study

Keeping the section concise and focused.

Maintain clarity and brevity in your writing. While you need to provide sufficient detail to set the stage for your research, avoid unnecessary verbosity. Stay focused on the main aspects related to your research problem, its context, and your study's contribution.

Ensuring the background aligns with your research questions or hypotheses

Ensure a clear connection between your background and your research questions or hypotheses. Your problem statement, review of relevant literature, theoretical framework, and the identified gap in research should logically lead to your research questions or hypotheses.

Citing your sources correctly

Always attribute the ideas, theories, and research findings of others appropriately to avoid plagiarism . Correct citation not only upholds academic integrity but also allows your readers to access your sources if they wish to explore them in depth. The citation style may depend on your field of study or the requirements of the journal or institution.

Bridging the gap between existing research and your study

Identify the gap in existing research that your study aims to fill and make it explicit. Show how your research questions or hypotheses emerged from this identified gap. This helps to position your research within the broader academic conversation and highlights the unique contribution of your study.

Avoiding excessive jargon

While technical terms are often unavoidable in academic writing, use them sparingly and make sure to define any necessary jargon for your reader. Your Background of the Study should be understandable to people outside your field as well. This will increase the accessibility and impact of your research.

Common mistakes to avoid while writing the background of the study

Being overly verbose or vague.

While it's important to provide sufficient context, avoid being overly verbose in your descriptions. Also, steer clear of vague or ambiguous phrases. The Background of the Study should be clear, concise, and specific, giving the reader a precise understanding of the study's purpose and context.

Failing to relate the background to the research problem

The entire purpose of the Background of the Study is to set the stage for your research problem. If it doesn't directly relate to your problem statement, research questions, or hypotheses, it may confuse the reader. Always ensure that every element of the background ties back to your study.

Neglecting to mention important related studies

Not mentioning significant related studies is another common mistake. The Background of the Study section should give a summary of the existing literature related to your research. Omitting key pieces of literature can give the impression that you haven't thoroughly researched the topic.

Overusing technical jargon without explanation

While certain technical terms may be necessary, overuse of jargon can make your paper inaccessible to readers outside your immediate field. If you need to use technical terms, make sure you define them clearly. Strive for clarity and simplicity in your writing as much as possible.

Not citing sources or citing them incorrectly

Academic integrity is paramount in research writing. Ensure that every idea, finding, or theory that is not your own is properly attributed to its original source. Neglecting to cite, or citing incorrectly, can lead to accusations of plagiarism and can discredit your research. Always follow the citation style guide relevant to your field.

Writing an effective Background of the Study is a critical step in crafting a compelling research paper. It serves to contextualize your research, highlight its significance, and present the problem your study seeks to address. Remember, your background should provide a comprehensive overview of the current state of research, identify gaps in existing literature, and indicate how your research will fill these gaps. Keep your writing concise, focused, and jargon-free, making sure to correctly cite all sources. Avoiding common mistakes and adhering to the strategies outlined in this post will help you develop a robust and engaging background for your study. As you embark on your research journey, remember that the Background of the Study sets the stage for your entire research project, so investing time and effort into crafting it effectively will undoubtedly pay dividends in the end.

Header image by Flamingo Images .

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Writing a Research Paper Introduction | Step-by-Step Guide

Published on September 24, 2022 by Jack Caulfield . Revised on March 27, 2023.

Writing a Research Paper Introduction

The introduction to a research paper is where you set up your topic and approach for the reader. It has several key goals:

  • Present your topic and get the reader interested
  • Provide background or summarize existing research
  • Position your own approach
  • Detail your specific research problem and problem statement
  • Give an overview of the paper’s structure

The introduction looks slightly different depending on whether your paper presents the results of original empirical research or constructs an argument by engaging with a variety of sources.

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Table of contents

Step 1: introduce your topic, step 2: describe the background, step 3: establish your research problem, step 4: specify your objective(s), step 5: map out your paper, research paper introduction examples, frequently asked questions about the research paper introduction.

The first job of the introduction is to tell the reader what your topic is and why it’s interesting or important. This is generally accomplished with a strong opening hook.

The hook is a striking opening sentence that clearly conveys the relevance of your topic. Think of an interesting fact or statistic, a strong statement, a question, or a brief anecdote that will get the reader wondering about your topic.

For example, the following could be an effective hook for an argumentative paper about the environmental impact of cattle farming:

A more empirical paper investigating the relationship of Instagram use with body image issues in adolescent girls might use the following hook:

Don’t feel that your hook necessarily has to be deeply impressive or creative. Clarity and relevance are still more important than catchiness. The key thing is to guide the reader into your topic and situate your ideas.

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background of the study in research content

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This part of the introduction differs depending on what approach your paper is taking.

In a more argumentative paper, you’ll explore some general background here. In a more empirical paper, this is the place to review previous research and establish how yours fits in.

Argumentative paper: Background information

After you’ve caught your reader’s attention, specify a bit more, providing context and narrowing down your topic.

Provide only the most relevant background information. The introduction isn’t the place to get too in-depth; if more background is essential to your paper, it can appear in the body .

Empirical paper: Describing previous research

For a paper describing original research, you’ll instead provide an overview of the most relevant research that has already been conducted. This is a sort of miniature literature review —a sketch of the current state of research into your topic, boiled down to a few sentences.

This should be informed by genuine engagement with the literature. Your search can be less extensive than in a full literature review, but a clear sense of the relevant research is crucial to inform your own work.

Begin by establishing the kinds of research that have been done, and end with limitations or gaps in the research that you intend to respond to.

The next step is to clarify how your own research fits in and what problem it addresses.

Argumentative paper: Emphasize importance

In an argumentative research paper, you can simply state the problem you intend to discuss, and what is original or important about your argument.

Empirical paper: Relate to the literature

In an empirical research paper, try to lead into the problem on the basis of your discussion of the literature. Think in terms of these questions:

  • What research gap is your work intended to fill?
  • What limitations in previous work does it address?
  • What contribution to knowledge does it make?

You can make the connection between your problem and the existing research using phrases like the following.

Now you’ll get into the specifics of what you intend to find out or express in your research paper.

The way you frame your research objectives varies. An argumentative paper presents a thesis statement, while an empirical paper generally poses a research question (sometimes with a hypothesis as to the answer).

Argumentative paper: Thesis statement

The thesis statement expresses the position that the rest of the paper will present evidence and arguments for. It can be presented in one or two sentences, and should state your position clearly and directly, without providing specific arguments for it at this point.

Empirical paper: Research question and hypothesis

The research question is the question you want to answer in an empirical research paper.

Present your research question clearly and directly, with a minimum of discussion at this point. The rest of the paper will be taken up with discussing and investigating this question; here you just need to express it.

A research question can be framed either directly or indirectly.

  • This study set out to answer the following question: What effects does daily use of Instagram have on the prevalence of body image issues among adolescent girls?
  • We investigated the effects of daily Instagram use on the prevalence of body image issues among adolescent girls.

If your research involved testing hypotheses , these should be stated along with your research question. They are usually presented in the past tense, since the hypothesis will already have been tested by the time you are writing up your paper.

For example, the following hypothesis might respond to the research question above:

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The final part of the introduction is often dedicated to a brief overview of the rest of the paper.

In a paper structured using the standard scientific “introduction, methods, results, discussion” format, this isn’t always necessary. But if your paper is structured in a less predictable way, it’s important to describe the shape of it for the reader.

If included, the overview should be concise, direct, and written in the present tense.

  • This paper will first discuss several examples of survey-based research into adolescent social media use, then will go on to …
  • This paper first discusses several examples of survey-based research into adolescent social media use, then goes on to …

Full examples of research paper introductions are shown in the tabs below: one for an argumentative paper, the other for an empirical paper.

  • Argumentative paper
  • Empirical paper

Are cows responsible for climate change? A recent study (RIVM, 2019) shows that cattle farmers account for two thirds of agricultural nitrogen emissions in the Netherlands. These emissions result from nitrogen in manure, which can degrade into ammonia and enter the atmosphere. The study’s calculations show that agriculture is the main source of nitrogen pollution, accounting for 46% of the country’s total emissions. By comparison, road traffic and households are responsible for 6.1% each, the industrial sector for 1%. While efforts are being made to mitigate these emissions, policymakers are reluctant to reckon with the scale of the problem. The approach presented here is a radical one, but commensurate with the issue. This paper argues that the Dutch government must stimulate and subsidize livestock farmers, especially cattle farmers, to transition to sustainable vegetable farming. It first establishes the inadequacy of current mitigation measures, then discusses the various advantages of the results proposed, and finally addresses potential objections to the plan on economic grounds.

The rise of social media has been accompanied by a sharp increase in the prevalence of body image issues among women and girls. This correlation has received significant academic attention: Various empirical studies have been conducted into Facebook usage among adolescent girls (Tiggermann & Slater, 2013; Meier & Gray, 2014). These studies have consistently found that the visual and interactive aspects of the platform have the greatest influence on body image issues. Despite this, highly visual social media (HVSM) such as Instagram have yet to be robustly researched. This paper sets out to address this research gap. We investigated the effects of daily Instagram use on the prevalence of body image issues among adolescent girls. It was hypothesized that daily Instagram use would be associated with an increase in body image concerns and a decrease in self-esteem ratings.

The introduction of a research paper includes several key elements:

  • A hook to catch the reader’s interest
  • Relevant background on the topic
  • Details of your research problem

and your problem statement

  • A thesis statement or research question
  • Sometimes an overview of the paper

Don’t feel that you have to write the introduction first. The introduction is often one of the last parts of the research paper you’ll write, along with the conclusion.

This is because it can be easier to introduce your paper once you’ve already written the body ; you may not have the clearest idea of your arguments until you’ve written them, and things can change during the writing process .

The way you present your research problem in your introduction varies depending on the nature of your research paper . A research paper that presents a sustained argument will usually encapsulate this argument in a thesis statement .

A research paper designed to present the results of empirical research tends to present a research question that it seeks to answer. It may also include a hypothesis —a prediction that will be confirmed or disproved by your research.

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How to Write a Background for a Research Paper

  • What is the background
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Background information example

How to Write a Background for a Research Paper

The background of any academic paper is the academic backbone it relates to. Thus, you must carefully write the first section to keep the end goal clear for your reader.

We’ve got you covered if you need more time or writing skills to create a solid study paper! This article will provide the necessary information to write a background for a research paper. Let’s go!

What is the background of the study in research?

The research paper background refers to the section, component, or thesis that provides context and justification for conducting the study. It outlines the existing knowledge, gaps, and limitations in the field or topic you currently investigate.

The definition of “background” says it should begin with a general introduction to the subject matter, providing an overview of the broader scientific area. It aims to familiarize the reader with the topic and establish its significance and relevance in the existing body of knowledge.

Furthermore, the background of the study highlights the specific problem or knowledge gap that the current study aims to address. It emphasizes the need for further investigation, highlighting the unanswered questions or areas where you have to conduct an additional examination.

The background of the study also plays a crucial role in shaping the study objectives, questions, and hypotheses . By reviewing the existing literature and identifying gaps, academic associates can formulate clearer goals and design appropriate methodologies to address the specific problems.

The background of the study structure

The background statement can vary depending on the scientific field and the paper or thesis requirements. However, it generally follows a logical flow and includes several key components. Here is a standard structure for the background structure:

  • Introduction: Begin with a brief introduction that provides an overview of the chosen topic and its importance. This section should capture the reader’s interest and establish the context for the study.
  • Current problem: As an academic author, you must clearly identify the scientif problem or gap in the existing knowledge the study aims to address. Please explain why this problem is significant and why it requires further investigation.
  • Literature review: Review the relevant literature related to the research topic. Summarize critical theories, concepts, and findings from previous studies directly relevant to the research problem. Discuss the existing knowledge and highlight any limitations or gaps the current study aims to fill.
  • Research questions/objectives/hypotheses: To write background information, you should clearly state the research questions, objectives, or assumptions that guide the study. These should be directly derived from the research problem and align with the gaps identified in the literature review.
  • Study rationale: Explain the potential contributions and implications of the study. Discuss how the findings may advance knowledge, address practical issues, or have broader impacts in the field or society. Justify why the study is worth conducting and how it adds value to the existing body of knowledge.
  • Scope and limitations: Define the size of the study by outlining the boundaries and specific aspects you will cover. Discuss any limits or constraints impacting the study’s findings or generalizability.
  • Summary: Provide a concise summary or conclusion of the background section of a research paper, emphasizing the research problem, significance, and the need for further investigation.

It’s important to note that you can imply changes to the structure based on your requirements and the specific guidelines provided by your college advisor.

Difference between literature review and background

The literature review and the background of the study are two distinct components of a research paper or thesis, although they are closely related. Let’s explore the differences between these two sections:

Steps to write a good background section

When writing a background section for a research paper, you can follow these three steps to ensure a clear and compelling presentation:

Identify the Research Problem

  • Begin by clearly identifying and defining the research problem or gap in the existing knowledge that your study aims to address.
  • Consider the significance and relevance of the problem within your research field or discipline.
  • Briefly explain why the problem is essential and how addressing it can contribute to the existing body of knowledge.

Review the Relevant Literature

  • Conduct a thorough literature review to gather relevant information and understand the current state of knowledge on your research topic.
  • Summarize critical theories, concepts, and findings from previous studies that directly relate to your research problem.
  • Highlight any gaps, controversies, or limitations in the existing literature that your study aims to address.
  • Organize the literature review logically, either by themes, sub-topics, or chronologically, depending on what they mean for your research.

Provide Rationale and Objectives

  • Provide a clear rationale for conducting your study based on the research problem and the gaps identified in the literature review.
  • Explain why your research is essential and how it will contribute to filling the identified gaps or advancing knowledge in the field.
  • State the specific research objectives or questions your study aims to answer.
  • Align the objectives with the research problem and the gaps identified in the literature, demonstrating how your study will address those gaps.

Following these steps, you can create a well-structured and coherent background section that establishes your research’s context, significance, and rationale. Remember to provide sufficient background information and be concise yet informative in your presentation.

The main tips to avoid mistakes

Here are a few tips to help you avoid common mistakes when writing background paragraphs:

  • Focus on the research topic;
  • Be concise and clear;
  • Use credible and up-to-date sources;
  • Provide a logical flow;
  • Avoid excessive jargon and technical terms;
  • Balance breadth and depth;
  • Use citations appropriately;
  • Revise and proofread.

By following these tips, you can enhance the quality of your background section, ensuring that it effectively sets the stage for your research and engages the reader from the beginning of your paper.

To write the background of a research paper, you must understand the overall structure and know exactly how this section should look.

Let’s see an excellent example of a background section for a research paper on the topic of “The Impact of Social Media on Mental Health”:

“The rapid rise of social media platforms in recent years has transformed how people communicate, connect, and share information. Platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and Snapchat have become integral parts of daily life for millions of individuals worldwide. 

While social media offers numerous benefits, including increased social connectivity and access to diverse perspectives, concerns have been raised regarding its potential impact on mental health.

Numerous studies have investigated the relationship between social media use and mental health outcomes, focusing on depression, anxiety, and body image dissatisfaction. 

This study seeks to contribute to the existing knowledge by employing a longitudinal design and examining a broad range of mental health outcomes among a diverse sample of adults aged 18-45.

Research has shown that excessive use of social media and constant exposure to carefully curated and idealized representations of others’ lives can contribute to feelings of inadequacy, social comparison, and low self-esteem. 

Additionally, cyberbullying has emerged as a significant concern, as individuals may experience harassment, negative comments, and exclusion within the online environment”.

Brief Summary

You have to be very concise and clear to write a background paragraph. Remember that it often serves as the first point of contact between your research and the reader. As a result, the background section has to focus on the study, explaining the significance and relevance of the research problem.

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How to Write the Background of the Study in Research (Part 1)

Background of the Study in Research: Definition and the Core Elements it Contains

Before we embark on a detailed discussion on how to write the background of the study of your proposed research or thesis, it is important to first discuss its meaning and the core elements that it should contain. This is obviously because understanding the nature of the background of the study in research and knowing exactly what to include in it allow us to have both greater control and clear direction of the writing process.

So, what really is the background of the study and what are the core elements that it should contain?

The background of the study, which usually forms the first section of the introduction to a research paper or thesis, provides the overview of the study. In other words, it is that section of the research paper or thesis that establishes the context of the study. Its main function is to explain why the proposed research is important and essential to understanding the main aspects of the study.

The background of the study, therefore, is the section of the research paper or thesis that identifies the problem or gap of the study that needs to addressed and justifies the need for conducting the study. It also articulates the main goal of the study and the thesis statement, that is, the main claim or argument of the paper.

Given this brief understanding of the background of the study, we can anticipate what readers or thesis committee members expect from it. As we can see, the background of the study should contain the following major points:

1) brief discussion on what is known about the topic under investigation; 2) An articulation of the research gap or problem that needs to be addressed; 3) What the researcher would like to do or aim to achieve in the study ( research goal); 4) The thesis statement, that is, the main argument or contention of the paper (which also serves as the reason why the researcher would want to pursue the study); 5) The major significance or contribution of the study to a particular discipline; and 6) Depending on the nature of the study, an articulation of the hypothesis of the study.

Thus, when writing the background of the study, you should plan and structure it based on the major points just mentioned. With this, you will have a clear picture of the flow of the tasks that need to be completed in writing this section of your research or thesis proposal.

Now, how do you go about writing the background of the study in your proposed research or thesis?

The next lessons will address this question.

How to Write the Opening Paragraphs of the Background of the Study?

To begin with, let us assume that you already have conducted a preliminary research on your chosen topic, that is, you already have read a lot of literature and gathered relevant information for writing the background of your study. Let us also assume that you already have identified the gap of your proposed research and have already developed the research questions and thesis statement. If you have not yet identified the gap in your proposed research, you might as well go back to our lesson on how to identify a research gap.

So, we will just put together everything that you have researched into a background of the study (assuming, again, that you already have the necessary information). But in this lesson, let’s just focus on writing the opening paragraphs.

It is important to note at this point that there are different styles of writing the background of the study. Hence, what I will be sharing with you here is not just “the” only way of writing the background of the study. As a matter of fact, there is no “one-size-fits-all” style of writing this part of the research or thesis. At the end of the day, you are free to develop your own. However, whatever style it would be, it always starts with a plan which structures the writing process into stages or steps. The steps that I will share with below are just some of the most effective ways of writing the background of the study in research.

So, let’s begin.

It is always a good idea to begin the background of your study by giving an overview of your research topic. This may include providing a definition of the key concepts of your research or highlighting the main developments of the research topic.

Let us suppose that the topic of your study is the “lived experiences of students with mathematical anxiety”.

Here, you may start the background of your study with a discussion on the meaning, nature, and dynamics of the term “mathematical anxiety”. The reason for this is too obvious: “mathematical anxiety” is a highly technical term that is specific to mathematics. Hence, this term is not readily understandable to non-specialists in this field.

So, you may write the opening paragraph of your background of the study with this:

“Mathematical anxiety refers to the individual’s unpleasant emotional mood responses when confronted with a mathematical situation.”

Since you do not invent the definition of the term “mathematical anxiety”, then you need to provide a citation to the source of the material from which you are quoting. For example, you may now say:

“Mathematical anxiety refers to the individual’s unpleasant emotional mood responses when confronted with a mathematical situation (Eliot, 2020).”

And then you may proceed with the discussion on the nature and dynamics of the term “mathematical anxiety”. You may say:

“Lou (2019) specifically identifies some of the manifestations of this type of anxiety, which include, but not limited to, depression, helplessness, nervousness and fearfulness in doing mathematical and numerical tasks.”

After explaining to your readers the meaning, nature, and dynamics (as well as some historical development if you wish to) of the term “mathematical anxiety”, you may now proceed to showing the problem or gap of the study. As you may already know, the research gap is the problem that needs to be addressed in the study. This is important because no research activity is possible without the research gap.

Let us suppose that your research problem or gap is: “Mathematical anxiety can negatively affect not just the academic achievement of the students but also their future career plans and total well-being. Also, there are no known studies that deal with the mathematical anxiety of junior high school students in New Zealand.” With this, you may say:

“If left unchecked, as Shapiro (2019) claims, this problem will expand and create a total avoidance pattern on the part of the students, which can be expressed most visibly in the form of cutting classes and habitual absenteeism. As we can see, this will negatively affect the performance of students in mathematics. In fact, the study conducted by Luttenberger and Wimmer (2018) revealed that the outcomes of mathematical anxiety do not only negatively affect the students’ performance in math-related situations but also their future career as professionals. Without a doubt, therefore, mathematical anxiety is a recurring problem for many individuals which will negatively affect the academic success and future career of the student.”

Now that you already have both explained the meaning, nature, and dynamics of the term “mathematical anxiety” and articulated the gap of your proposed research, you may now state the main goal of your study. You may say:

“Hence, it is precisely in this context that the researcher aims to determine the lived experiences of those students with mathematical anxiety. In particular, this proposed thesis aims to determine the lived experiences of the junior high school students in New Zealand and identify the factors that caused them to become disinterested in mathematics.”

Please note that you should not end the first paragraph of your background of the study with the articulation of the research goal. You also need to articulate the “thesis statement”, which usually comes after the research goal. As is well known, the thesis statement is the statement of your argument or contention in the study. It is more of a personal argument or claim of the researcher, which specifically highlights the possible contribution of the study. For example, you may say:

“The researcher argues that there is a need to determine the lived experiences of these students with mathematical anxiety because knowing and understanding the difficulties and challenges that they have encountered will put the researcher in the best position to offer some alternatives to the problem. Indeed, it is only when we have performed some kind of a ‘diagnosis’ that we can offer practicable solutions to the problem. And in the case of the junior high school students in New Zealand who are having mathematical anxiety, determining their lived experiences as well as identifying the factors that caused them to become disinterested in mathematics are the very first steps in addressing the problem.”

If we combine the bits and pieces that we have written above, we can now come up with the opening paragraphs of your background of the study, which reads:

background of the study in research content

As we can see, we can find in the first paragraph 5 essential elements that must be articulated in the background of the study, namely:

1) A brief discussion on what is known about the topic under investigation; 2) An articulation of the research gap or problem that needs to be addressed; 3) What the researcher would like to do or aim to achieve in the study (research goal); 4) The thesis statement , that is, the main argument or claim of the paper; and 5) The major significance or contribution of the study to a particular discipline. So, that’s how you write the opening paragraphs of your background of the study. The next lesson will talk about writing the body of the background of the study.

How to Write the Body of the Background of the Study?

If we liken the background of the study to a sitting cat, then the opening paragraphs that we have completed in the previous lesson would just represent the head of the cat.

background of the study in research content

This means we still have to write the body (body of the cat) and the conclusion (tail). But how do we write the body of the background of the study? What should be its content?

Truly, this is one of the most difficult challenges that fledgling scholars faced. Because they are inexperienced researchers and didn’t know what to do next, they just wrote whatever they wished to write. Fortunately, this is relatively easy if they know the technique.

One of the best ways to write the body of the background of the study is to attack it from the vantage point of the research gap. If you recall, when we articulated the research gap in the opening paragraphs, we made a bold claim there, that is, there are junior high school students in New Zealand who are experiencing mathematical anxiety. Now, you have to remember that a “statement” remains an assumption until you can provide concrete proofs to it. This is what we call the “epistemological” aspect of research. As we may already know, epistemology is a specific branch of philosophy that deals with the validity of knowledge. And to validate knowledge is to provide concrete proofs to our statements. Hence, the reason why we need to provide proofs to our claim that there are indeed junior high school students in New Zealand who are experiencing mathematical anxiety is the obvious fact that if there are none, then we cannot proceed with our study. We have no one to interview with in the first. In short, we don’t have respondents.

The body of the background of the study, therefore, should be a presentation and articulation of the proofs to our claim that indeed there are junior high school students in New Zealand who are experiencing mathematical anxiety. Please note, however, that this idea is true only if you follow the style of writing the background of the study that I introduced in this course.

So, how do we do this?

One of the best ways to do this is to look for literature on mathematical anxiety among junior high school students in New Zealand and cite them here. However, if there are not enough literature on this topic in New Zealand, then we need to conduct initial interviews with these students or make actual classroom observations and record instances of mathematical anxiety among these students. But it is always a good idea if we combine literature review with interviews and actual observations.

Assuming you already have the data, then you may now proceed with the writing of the body of your background of the study. For example, you may say:

“According to records and based on the researcher’s firsthand experience with students in some junior high schools in New Zealand, indeed, there are students who lost interest in mathematics. For one, while checking the daily attendance and monitoring of the students, it was observed that some of them are not always attending classes in mathematics but are regularly attending the rest of the required subjects.”

After this sentence, you may insert some literature that will support this position. For example, you may say:

“As a matter of fact, this phenomenon is also observed in the work of Estonanto. In his study titled ‘Impact of Math Anxiety on Academic Performance in Pre-Calculus of Senior High School’, Estonanto (2019) found out that, inter alia, students with mathematical anxiety have the tendency to intentionally prioritize other subjects and commit habitual tardiness and absences.”

Then you may proceed saying:

“With this initial knowledge in mind, the researcher conducted initial interviews with some of these students. The researcher learned that one student did not regularly attend his math subject because he believed that he is not good in math and no matter how he listens to the topic he will not learn.”

Then you may say:

“Another student also mentioned that she was influenced by her friends’ perception that mathematics is hard; hence, she avoids the subject. Indeed, these are concrete proofs that there are some junior high school students in New Zealand who have mathematical anxiety. As already hinted, “disinterest” or the loss of interest in mathematics is one of the manifestations of a mathematical anxiety.”

If we combine what we have just written above, then we can have the first two paragraphs of the body of our background of the study. It reads:

“According to records and based on the researcher’s firsthand experience with students in some junior high schools in New Zealand, indeed there are students who lost interest in mathematics. For one, while checking the daily attendance and monitoring of the students, it was observed that some of them are not always attending classes in mathematics but are regularly attending the rest of the required subjects. As a matter of fact, this phenomenon is also observed in the work of Estonanto. In his study titled ‘Impact of Math Anxiety on Academic Performance in Pre-Calculus of Senior High School’, Estonanto (2019) found out that, inter alia, students with mathematical anxiety have the tendency to intentionally prioritize other subjects and commit habitual tardiness and absences.

With this initial knowledge in mind, the researcher conducted initial interviews with some of these students. The researcher learned that one student did not regularly attend his math subject because he believed that he is not good in math and no matter how he listens to the topic he will not learn. Another student also mentioned that she was influenced by her friends’ perception that mathematics is hard; hence, she avoids the subject. Indeed, these are concrete proofs that there are some junior high school students in New Zealand who have mathematical anxiety. As already hinted, “disinterest” or the loss of interest in mathematics is one of the manifestations of a mathematical anxiety.”

And then you need validate this observation by conducting another round of interview and observation in other schools. So, you may continue writing the body of the background of the study with this:

“To validate the information gathered from the initial interviews and observations, the researcher conducted another round of interview and observation with other junior high school students in New Zealand.”

“On the one hand, the researcher found out that during mathematics time some students felt uneasy; in fact, they showed a feeling of being tensed or anxious while working with numbers and mathematical problems. Some were even afraid to seat in front, while some students at the back were secretly playing with their mobile phones. These students also show remarkable apprehension during board works like trembling hands, nervous laughter, and the like.”

Then provide some literature that will support your position. You may say:

“As Finlayson (2017) corroborates, emotional symptoms of mathematical anxiety involve feeling of helplessness, lack of confidence, and being nervous for being put on the spot. It must be noted that these occasionally extreme emotional reactions are not triggered by provocative procedures. As a matter of fact, there are no personally sensitive questions or intentional manipulations of stress. The teacher simply asked a very simple question, like identifying the parts of a circle. Certainly, this observation also conforms with the study of Ashcraft (2016) when he mentions that students with mathematical anxiety show a negative attitude towards math and hold self-perceptions about their mathematical abilities.”

And then you proceed:

“On the other hand, when the class had their other subjects, the students show a feeling of excitement. They even hurried to seat in front and attentively participating in the class discussion without hesitation and without the feeling of being tensed or anxious. For sure, this is another concrete proof that there are junior high school students in New Zealand who have mathematical anxiety.”

To further prove the point that there indeed junior high school students in New Zealand who have mathematical anxiety, you may solicit observations from other math teachers. For instance, you may say:

“The researcher further verified if the problem is also happening in other sections and whether other mathematics teachers experienced the same observation that the researcher had. This validation or verification is important in establishing credibility of the claim (Buchbinder, 2016) and ensuring reliability and validity of the assertion (Morse et al., 2002). In this regard, the researcher attempted to open up the issue of math anxiety during the Departmentalized Learning Action Cell (LAC), a group discussion of educators per quarter, with the objective of ‘Teaching Strategies to Develop Critical Thinking of the Students’. During the session, one teacher corroborates the researcher’s observation that there are indeed junior high school students in New Zealand who have mathematical anxiety. The teacher pointed out that truly there were students who showed no extra effort in mathematics class in addition to the fact that some students really avoided the subject. In addition, another math teacher expressed her frustrations about these students who have mathematical anxiety. She quipped: “How can a teacher develop the critical thinking skills or ability of the students if in the first place these students show avoidance and disinterest in the subject?’.”

Again, if we combine what we have just written above, then we can now have the remaining parts of the body of the background of the study. It reads:

background of the study in research content

So, that’s how we write the body of the background of the study in research . Of course, you may add any relevant points which you think might amplify your content. What is important at this point is that you now have a clear idea of how to write the body of the background of the study.

How to Write the Concluding Part of the Background of the Study?

Since we have already completed the body of our background of the study in the previous lesson, we may now write the concluding paragraph (the tail of the cat). This is important because one of the rules of thumb in writing is that we always put a close to what we have started.

It is important to note that the conclusion of the background of the study is just a rehashing of the research gap and main goal of the study stated in the introductory paragraph, but framed differently. The purpose of this is just to emphasize, after presenting the justifications, what the study aims to attain and why it wants to do it. The conclusion, therefore, will look just like this:

“Given the above discussion, it is evident that there are indeed junior high school students in New Zealand who are experiencing mathematical anxiety. And as we can see, mathematical anxiety can negatively affect not just the academic achievement of the students but also their future career plans and total well-being. Again, it is for this reason that the researcher attempts to determine the lived experiences of those junior high school students in New Zealand who are experiencing a mathematical anxiety.”

If we combine all that we have written from the very beginning, the entire background of the study would now read:

background of the study in research content

If we analyze the background of the study that we have just completed, we can observe that in addition to the important elements that it should contain, it has also addressed other important elements that readers or thesis committee members expect from it.

On the one hand, it provides the researcher with a clear direction in the conduct of the study. As we can see, the background of the study that we have just completed enables us to move in the right direction with a strong focus as it has set clear goals and the reasons why we want to do it. Indeed, we now exactly know what to do next and how to write the rest of the research paper or thesis.

On the other hand, most researchers start their research with scattered ideas and usually get stuck with how to proceed further. But with a well-written background of the study, just as the one above, we have decluttered and organized our thoughts. We have also become aware of what have and have not been done in our area of study, as well as what we can significantly contribute in the already existing body of knowledge in this area of study.

Please note, however, as I already mentioned previously, that the model that I have just presented is only one of the many models available in textbooks and other sources. You are, of course, free to choose your own style of writing the background of the study. You may also consult your thesis supervisor for some guidance on how to attack the writing of your background of the study.

Lastly, and as you may already know, universities around the world have their own thesis formats. Hence, you should follow your university’s rules on the format and style in writing your research or thesis. What is important is that with the lessons that you learned in this course, you can now easily write the introductory part of your thesis, such as the background of the study.

How to Write the Background of the Study in Research

Background of the Study in Research : What and How to Write?

You are here to know what is the background of the study in a research paper, thesis, or dissertation writing. Thus, I assume that you have a clear concept of research and research report writing. The background is the initial section of the research report after preliminary pages; that’s why many researchers often stuck on this section doing long brainstorming without any output. Therefore, this article is targeted to those who are going to write a research paper, thesis, or dissertation, but are much more confused to organize the ‘Background of the Study’ section.

Table of Contents

Background of the Study in Research

What is Background of the Study?

The background of the study offers an outline of the research issue, its importance, and the circumstances in which it arises. It elucidates why the research is being conducted and pinpoints the research gap that the study seeks to fill.

Usually, it summarizes the primary research, theories, and concepts that pertain to the research issue. This assists in determining the current knowledge level and identifying the gaps that the research aims to address. It also includes the context of the study.

It presents a brief history or background of the problem, its scale and extent, and its implications and hence plays a vital role in providing the reader with a clear understanding of the research issue and establishes the groundwork for the rest of the thesis.

When and Where to Write Background of the Study?

In a research paper, thesis, or dissertation, It is usually included in the introduction section. It serves as a crucial component of the introduction by offering the reader a comprehensive understanding of the research’s context, justification, and significance.

To effectively shape the research problem and questions, it is advisable to compose the background section at the outset of the writing process. Moreover, it is vital to continuously evaluate and adjust the background section during the research process to ensure it remains consistent with the research questions and outcomes.

How Is It Differ from “Introduction”?

The background of the study imparts to the reader a thorough comprehension of the research topic’s context, justification, and importance. It typically encompasses a literature review pertinent to the research problem, an analysis of the present state of research in the field, and the research gap the study intends to address. It establishes the basis for the research problem, research questions, and methodology that the paper will present.

Conversely, the introduction acts as a guide for the entire research paper. It generally includes the background of the study and provides an overview of the research problem, research questions, and methodology. Furthermore, it emphasizes the statement of problem, objectives, limitation of study, and the potential impact of the research findings. The introduction may also comprise a brief summary of the paper’s sections and subsections.

Things to include in Background of the Study in Research?

Brief description of the following ideas should be written in background:

  • Introduction of the variables: Variables that are identified in the title should be introduced in brief.
  • Context of the study: Time, location, and organization/population should be identified in general.
  • General overview of previous studies on this field. (Do not mention the findings related to your research problem)
  • Need of the study

Researcher should link all the ideas and maintain the coherence. Additionally, reference/citation should be used appropriately.

Things not to Include in Background of the Study Section

Including certain elements is vital for this section of a research paper or thesis, as it offers the reader an understanding of the context and importance of the research problem. Nonetheless, certain elements should be avoided in this section, including:

  • Personal opinions or anecdotes: It should rely on factual information and evidence rather than personal opinions or anecdotes.
  • Detailed methodology: The methodology of the research should be presented in a separate section, since the background is intended to give context to the research problem, not to provide a detailed explanation of the methodology.
  • Excessive information: Although it is crucial to offer enough information to comprehend the importance of the research problem, it should not comprise an excess of details that might inundate or divert the reader.
  • Irrelevant ideas: It should concentrate on the research problem and its significance, avoiding the inclusion of information that is not directly related to the study.
  • Jargon or technical terms: The use of technical jargon or terminology should be avoided. Instead, it should be written in clear and concise language that is easily understandable to a wide audience.

Also Read : 3 Definition Of Economics By Adam, Marshal, and Robbins

Therefore, the background of the study should be succinct and straightforward, centering on the context and importance of the research problem, and avoiding any information that is not pertinent or excessive.

How long Should it be?

A standard recommendation is that the background section should comprise approximately 10-15% of the overall length of the research paper, thesis, or dissertation. For instance, if the total word count of the document is 10,000, then the background section should be around 1,000-1,500 words. Nevertheless, the length may vary depending on the project requirements and the preferences of the author or supervisor. It is crucial to emphasize quality over quantity and guarantee that the background section provides relevant information and context to the reader.

I suggest to read some research paper and thesis in order to get overall idea on writing. You can go to ResearchGate , Google Scholar , Sage Journals to find good article and thesis.

In conclusion, the background of the study is a crucial section in research paper, thesis or dissertation writing that provides an overview of the research issue, its significance, and the context in which it arises. It usually includes a introduction of variables, context of study with the support of previous studies on this field. It differs from the introduction and should be concise, relevant, and written in clear language that is easily understandable to a wide audience. It should also avoid personal opinions or anecdotes, detailed methodology, excessive information, irrelevant ideas, and technical jargon. By following these guidelines, researchers can effectively present the groundwork for their research and establish a clear understanding of the research issue.

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Author is a Gazetted Employee at Government of Nepal. He has been blogging about educational topics and research work since 2023.

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The study on the fate and transport of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products, PPCPs (FTP) in the environment, has received particular attention for over two decades. The PPCPs threaten ecology and human health even at low concentrations due to their synergistic effects and long-range transport. The research aims to provide an inclusive map of the scientific background of FTP research over the last 25 years, from 1996 to 2020, to identify the main characteristics, evolution, salient research themes, trends, and research hotspots in the field of interest. Bibliometric networks were synthesized and analyzed for 577 journal articles extracted from the Scopus database. Consequently, seven major themes of FTP research were identified as follows: (i) PPCPs category; (ii) hazardous effects; (iii) occurrence of PPCPs; (iv) PPCPs in organisms; (v) remediation; (vi) FTP-governing processes; and (vii) assessment in the environment. The themes gave an in-depth picture of the sources of PPCPs and their transport and fate processes in the environment, which originated from sewage treatment plants and transported further to sediment/soils/groundwater/oceans that act as the PPCPs’ major sink. The article provided a rigorous analysis of the research landscape in the FTP study conducted during the specified years. The prominent research themes, content analysis, and research hotspots identified in the study may serve as the basis of real-time guidance to lead future research areas and a prior review for policymakers and practitioners.

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Introduction

In recent decades, emerging contaminants (ECs) have attracted significant concern globally due to their probable chronic and acute toxicity (Tong et al. 2022 ). A new class of ECs identified includes pharmaceutical drugs in combination with personal care products, commonly referred to as pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) (Zenobio et al. 2015 ). PPCPs are an extraordinary, diversified group of organic compounds utilized in human health, veterinary medicine, agricultural practices, and cosmetic care (sunscreens, fragrances, personal hygiene products, and nutritional substances) (Barceló and Petrovic 2007 ; Eriksson et al. 2003 ). These so-called new ECs are highly bioactive, polar, optically active, and present in trace concentrations (Barceló and Petrovic 2007 ). PPCPs have drawn remarkable attention in recent years due to the following reasons: (i) present along with their metabolites and transformation products (Daughton and Ternes 1999 ; Liu and Wong 2013 ) with varying physical, chemical, biological properties and having a unique mode of biochemical action (Boxall et al. 2012 ); (ii) ubiquitous and have been detected in wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), drains, surface water (river, lakes, sea, oceans), sediments, soils (vadose zone and saturated soils), groundwater, drinking water, air, wetlands, sewage sludge, landfills, septic tanks, humans, and biota; (iii) difficult to remove using conventional WWTPs, thus continuously re-enter the water cycle and behave similarly as persistent pollutants, hence termed as “pseudo-persistent compounds” (Ellis 2006 ); (iv) some PPCPs are present in low concentration, hence may not be ecotoxic when acting singly, but, in mixtures, may elicit significant toxicity (Cleuvers 2003 ). The improved analytical methods for the detection have led to an increasing concern about the fate of PPCPs (Kalyva 2017 ). The detrimental effect due to the PPCPs calls for an effective treatment system. Some advanced technologies such as membrane filtration, ultrafiltration, ozonation, UV, reverse osmosis, granular-activated carbon, and conventional disinfection with chlorine are successful in removing some of the ECs. However, their application is limited due to high cost (Beltrán et al. 2008 ; Sui et al. 2011 ; Matamoros et al. 2007 ; Roberts and Thomas 2006 ). Also, the difference in the physicochemical properties of these PPCPs makes it almost impossible to design a robust treatment system. An alternative is thus required to keep a check on the increasing concentration of the PPCPs in the environment.

To better manage PPCPs in the environment, it is crucial to understand their origin, environmental interaction (fate), and transport deportment (Tong et al. 2022 ). The typical investigatory process for determining FTP is by conducting routine monitoring of the contaminants in the environment, which is spatially and temporally cumbersome (Trinh et al. 2016 ). Thus, monitoring data cannot be used alone for determining the relative magnitudes of various sources and cannot meet real-time prediction demands for emergent events, though it provides some understanding of the environmental behavior and exposure routes (Lindim et al. 2016 ; Song et al. 2016 ; Wang et al. 2012 ). Hence, mathematical modeling comes to the rescue, which can predict the concentration of the contaminant in various media with reasonable accuracy (Lindim et al. 2017 ). Therefore, it is required to have deep insight into the fate and transport processes occurring in the environment, which will serve as an input in the fate and transport model of the PPCPs.

Today, comprehensive studies have been conducted regarding the FTP in the environment, viz. water, sediments, soil, groundwater, air, landfills, etc. The PPCPs on human consumption are not absorbed and wholly metabolized by humans, thus ending up in raw sewage in several manners (Kasprzyk-Hordern et al. 2008 ). Few PPCPs are conjugated in the body before excretion. These conjugated forms are generally broken down in sewage treatment plants (STPs) and may be transformed into the parent compound (Karnjanapiboonwong et al. 2011 ). The PPCPs may also get into the environment via leaching from landfills, unlawful disposal, and industries, the primary source of PPCPs being the STPs (Archer et al. 2017 ). Their presence in raw sewage may affect the performance of STPs, causing toxicity in microorganisms, affecting marine life, and contaminating groundwater and food crops (Drillia et al. 2005 ). After being discharged from the STPs, the PPCPs present in sewage cause contamination in the receiving water bodies (Liu and Wong 2013 ). Effluents from WWTPs (reclaimed water) are also used in irrigation to reduce water supply demand, which serves as an introductory pathway for PPCPs in the soil (Kinney et al. 2006 ; Pedersen et al. 2005 ). The PPCPs adsorbed onto the active sludge in STPs enter the soil on sludge land application, and the reclaimed wastewater used in agricultural irrigation with PPCPs gets into the soil, reaches the groundwater, and, finally, the drinking water (Drillia et al. 2005 ).

Many studies have investigated the source, transport, distribution, transformation, migration, and risk assessment of PPCPs (Charuaud et al. 2019 ; Yang et al. 2019 ; Li et al. 2021 ; Al-baldawi et al. 2021 ; Anand et al. 2022 ; Atugoda et al. 2021 ; Li et al. 2021 ; Martínez-Alcalá et al. 2021 ; Ohoro et al. 2022 ; Shaheen et al. 2022 ; Wang et al. 2022 ). Still, many gaps remain about the complex ecological system’s occurrence, fate, and transformation due to the diversity and different physicochemical properties in the varying environment (Yuan et al. 2020 ). However, most of these studies focus on some aspects and partial processes of the PPCPs, thereby revealing incomplete behavior and dynamics (Ebele et al. 2017 ; Liu et al. 2019a , b ). Due to deferring monitoring time, targeted PPCPs, analytical methods, regional characteristics, etc., it is very cumbersome to monitor and quantify the whole life cycle of PPCPs from human consumption to the destination (Yuan et al. 2020 ). Thus, the area still needs to be wholly explored to quantify the risk due to these PPCPs.

While studying any field, having information on the present, past, and future research trends is of prime importance. Bibliometric analysis is a powerful tool for analyzing research articles quantitatively. It benefits the researcher by providing easily comprehendible visual information and a brief research topic review. The bibliometric analysis assisted in evaluating a considerable amount of data that included countries, authors, institutions, sponsors, journals, and keywords (Reshadi et al. 2021 ). Also, the relationship between countries, journals, and research centers (acknowledged by their affiliations) may be known by citations and co-citation analysis. The number of times of occurrences of keywords helps reveal the research field’s present, past, and future trends. The content analysis helped to gain an in-depth understanding of the FTP study in the environment originating from its source, i.e., STPs to its sink (sediment/soil/groundwater/oceans, etc.). The paper does not aim to give any additional technical understanding of FTP; rather, it briefs the research trends and delivers a contextual outlook on environmental FTP studies. Also, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, prior studies have been conducted in the area, but bibliometric analysis has been done for the first time on the topic of FTP. The study presents a statistical analysis based on research published in the Scopus database between 1996 and 2021 intended to identify publication growth and trends, top journals, authors, countries, sponsors, institutions, and keywords involved in FTP. Also, the paper provides a synopsis of the research trends, hotspots, and a contextual perspective on the FTP study. The outcome of this study will broaden the current state of the art of modeling FTP and its future prospectives. Additionally, the work may serve as a critical review in risk assessment studies. The paper aims to assist engineers, researchers, and policy makers to gain prior knowledge on how to manage the increasing environmental concentration of PPCPs.

Methodology

The leading databases of bibliographical details are Scopus and Web of Science (WOS). As stated in a study (Reshadi et al. 2021 ), WOS encompasses only 54% of the journal titles in Scopus, whereas Scopus covers around 84% of the journal titles incorporated in WOS. It is, thus, inferred that Scopus covers a more significant number of journals, and there is a possibility of more significant results for a similar search. Therefore, Scopus has been selected to retrieve the raw data regarding the FTP-related studies. Furthermore, the extracted raw data is subjected to bibliometric analysis, data mining, and content analysis using R software, Biblioshiny, MS Excel, and VOS viewer software.

Raw data extraction

To ensure maximum coverage of FTP publications, Scopus database was used to extract the FTP-related documents from 1996 to 2021. The preliminary selection of documents was based on the title, abstract, and keywords (TITLE-ABS-KEY) using the following terms: (“fate” OR “Distribution”) AND transport of (“Pharmaceuticals” OR “Personal Care Products” OR “PPCPs” OR “Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products”) in the (“environment” OR “Soil” OR “Sediment” OR “Water” OR “Sewage” OR “Air” OR “Landfills” OR “Sewage treatment plants”). A pictorial representation of the research framework is shown in Fig.  1 . The language of the documents was restricted to English, and the types of documents shortlisted were articles and reviews. These criteria resulted in a total of 577 documents.

figure 1

Pictorial representation of the research framework

Data analysis

This research employed a mixed analytical method to map the scientific articles on FTP. Integrating bibliometric analysis, text mining, and content analysis illuminated the applied research technique. Collectively, the information was extracted from a massive database of literature, and a snapshot of FTP trends, characteristics, evolution, research themes, and future perspectives was drawn.

Bibliometric analysis is a powerful statistical tool, which has been increasingly used in recent years for analyzing various published research and mapping scientific articles. The bibliometric analysis braces researchers in the identification of research directions in the future. The bibliometric analysis is conducted here using VOSviewer and Biblioshiny software to map the FTP research and yield relationships between articles, journals, countries, keywords, citations, and co-citation networks. Various bibliometric parameters are presented to identify research hotspots and statistically map the analyzed bibliometric information on scientific publications in the last 25 years. Moreover, text mining analysis was conducted on the abstracts and titles of the extracted paper by conducting a “co-occurrence” algorithm on the author and index keywords within the dataset. A text mining method is a tool for extricating information from a massive collection of documents in text format. Consequently, the conceptual structure, hotspots, trends, and latent research themes in the FTP research were identified.Content analysis is conducted to yield an additional in-depth apprehension of the study’s qualitative findings. The data is clustered using a bibliographic coupling, followed by qualitative content analysis on the top fifteen influential articles within each cluster to identify the theoretical orientation of the FTP research.

Data visualizations and interpretation-tools used

VOSviewer, Biblioshiny, and MS Office tools were used to analyze the collected information. The interpretation, visualization, and analysis of bibliometric networks (collaboration and co-occurrence networks) were done using VOSviewer software. For data mining, VOSviewer and MS excel have been used interactively. R software and Biblioshiny have been exploited to study the author’s performance and construct the Tree plot and Sankey diagram.

Primary data statistics

Research growth trend.

The basic information from the raw data obtained from Scopus on FTP research is tabulated in Table 1 . The FTP databases comprise 577 documents from 1996 to 2021, published in 213 data sources. The retrieved documents have an average of 7.18 years from publications, 69.23 mean citations per article, and 7.472 average citations per year. A total of 38,588 references have been used in the documents. The collected papers have 8106 keywords plus index keywords, 1892 author keywords, 2418 authors, and 2925 author appearances. Among the articles extracted, 18 are single authored, and 2400 authors have appeared in multi-authored documents.

The number of publications on the FTP during the last 25 years is shown in Fig.  2 . It is apparent that the research study has grown continually and started ascending after 2007. A handful of studies have been done before 2000s, and a continuous rise in the research is recorded since early 2000s, with the highest number of publications in 2016. The growth trends indicate that although FTP research has old roots, significant attention has been gained for two decades. The three main phases deduced from the growth trend are the stagnant, fluctuation, and booming phases of the research area. Before 2001, there was a stationary phase as the number of publications per year was reported to be insignificant. The study entered a fluctuating phase from 2001 to 2007, as the number of publications fluctuated smoothly around a general trend upward. The changes became sharper after 2007 when the research entered a blooming phase and the number of publications rose from 10 in 2007 to 48 in 2021.

figure 2

The publication growth trend in FTP research

The growth trends might be associated beyond scientific interest, particularly with catastrophic events such as the sudden decline in the vulture population in the Indian subcontinent (Shultz et al. 2004 ) that happened due to the increasing concentration of PPCP, diclofenac in the environment. Also, these PPCPs are not easily removed by the conventional WWTPs (Reyes et al. 2021 ). Hence, they have found their way to the environment, wherein they accumulate (Deblonde et al. 2013 ; Gao et al. 2012 ) and persist in the background for months and years, causing detrimental effects on the ecosystem (Monteiro and Boxall 2009 ).

Thematic areas of FTP study from 1996 to 2021

The thematic areas are linked to article classification as seen in Fig.  3 . Environmental science tops the category with 324 articles published, followed by pharmacology, toxicology and pharmaceutics, chemistry, biochemistry, genetics, and molecular biology, medicine, engineering, agricultural and biological sciences, and materials science and earth and planetary sciences with 175, 108, 74, 44, 32, 28, 27, 26, and 20 publications, respectively.

figure 3

Distribution of FTP publications among ten major research categories

Bibliometric analysis—citation analysis of the collected FTP literature

Productive and domineering articles.

The trend of the study on FTP has rapidly influenced novel publications’ mean and total citations. The mean citations per article and total mean citations per year are depicted in Fig.  4 , the citations being rounded to a whole number. It is clear from Fig.  2 that the publication rate increased in recent years, because of which the mean citations/document declined. The mean total citation/year also seeks a similar trend with the mean citations per document till 2019. The critical evidence conferred that FTP research documents have 69.23 average citations/document and 7.472 average citations/year/document. The section analyzes and demonstrates the highest cited articles in the FTP research field. The top 20 most cited papers in FTP can be seen in Table 2 .

figure 4

Distribution of mean citations per document and mean citation per year

Productivity and dominance of sources

Based on the Scopus data collected, the 577 documents extracted were published in a total of 213 journals. However, 143 journals have had only 1 article published in the study area. A list of the top 20 journals in the FTP is provided in Table 3 . These top 20 journals published 51.47% of the total documents. Science of the Total Environment with 74 articles (34.74%) secures the topmost rank among the journals, followed by Chemosphere , Water Environment Research , Water Research , and Environmental Pollution published 28, 23, 21, and 18 articles in the field, thus accounting for 13.15%, 10.8%, 9.86%, and 8.45% of all the publications, respectively. Table 3 also highlights the journals’ “h,” “g,” and “m” indexes.

Productivity and dominance of countries

According to Scopus data, 577 articles were published by authors from 66 countries. However, 12 countries published only one article. Table 4 summarizes the top 20 countries involved in the study based on various parameters. The parameters to assess the performance of a country are the total number of articles (NoA) published, possessing single authorship by the country, the number of articles having the first authorship, its H- Index, collaboration among the countries, and the citation analysis. The top five productive countries based on the total number of articles published in the research area are the USA (35.01%), China (12.48%), Germany (9.53%), the UK (8.67%), and Canada (6.59%). A country’s ranking is based on the single authorship (SA), which indicates the number of articles written by a single country. First authorship (FA) shows the number of articles having the first author of the country, the USA, China, Germany, UK, and Canada. The H Index (H-I) of the country indicates the country’s overall performance by the Scientific Journal Ranking (SJR) in the area of “environmental engineering.” It does not particularly relate to FTP. According to H Index, the highest productive countries are the USA, China, India, the UK, and Canada. The collaboration among the top 20 countries is shown in Fig.  5 . The thickness of the lines indicates the number of collaborations, and the order of maximum collaboration as apprehended from Fig.  5 is USA-China, USA-Canada, USA-Spain, and USA-UK. The countries located in the center, i.e., the USA imply the highest tendency of collaboration. The countries with marginal positions, such as India and Belgium, indicate their secluded research efforts. The highest ranking based on the collaborations (link and total link strength (TLS)), as seen in Table 4 , are the USA, UK, China, and Germany. The parameter link in the table indicates the number of collaborations with other countries in the top-20 list, and the total link strength suggests the total number of documents in which the country has collaborated with all other countries involved in the research of FTP. The countries are also ranked based on the articles’ total number of citations (TC) and the normalized citation score (NCS). The NCS is equal to the total citations of a particular country divided by the mean citations of all the articles published in the same year by other countries. The NCS is of paramount importance as it is a correction of the fact that older articles get more time to be cited.

figure 5

Research collaboration among the top 20 countries

The growth trend in the research area of the top 5 countries is depicted in Fig.  6 . It is observed that, since 2000, the USA is dominating all other countries. A few reasons for the increased research in the USA in the context of PPCPs could be due to increased scientific output and environmental awareness and the search for technologies to take care of the harm posed due to the increasing PPCP concentrations in the environment. The sponsorship information of the research from various countries is tabulated in Table 5 . The maximum number of sponsors is from the USA, followed by China. The dominance of the USA here may be because of the strong support of the government of the USA in monitoring water resources.

figure 6

Scientific progress in FTP research of top 5 countries

Dynamic authors in FTP research

A total of 2418 distinct authors have published their work in the area. The average count of authors per article is 4.19. Among 2418 authors, 2100 have published only one document, and 18 papers are single authored. Information regarding the top 25 authors in FTP research based on the number of articles (NoA) is tabulated in Table 6 , and based on citations is tabulated in Table 7 . The top 20 universities/institutes to which the maximum number of authors are affiliated can be seen in Fig.  7 , where 40, 38, and 27 authors are affiliated with the University of California, University of Copenhagen, and Ghent University, respectively. Also, the affiliations of the top authors are tabulated in Tables 6 and 7 . Overall, USA’ and Spain’s researchers have secured the top 5 positions. Figure  8 depicts the co-authorship network of the top 50 authors in FTP research. It is seen that only 37 authors had collaborations. Tables 6 and 7 also provide co-authorship information of authors, including links, total link strength, and normalized citation score. The top 25 authors’ production over the years can be seen in Fig.  9 . The top authors have been active after 2006, and the average publication year of the top 25 authors, along with the H-I index of the authors, can be seen in Tables 6 and 7 .

figure 7

Top 20 universities to which the authors are affiliated

figure 8

Co-authorship network among the top 50 dominant authors in FTP research

figure 9

Top 25 authors’ production over the years

Data mining-text mining and co-occurrence analysis of the keywords

The 577 articles were analyzed rigorously to identify the evolved themes and research topics. Also, the keywords were analyzed to determine research hotspots in FTP.

Text mining—identification of research themes

The text mining analysis revealed the studies on FTP focused on eight research themes as shown in Table 8 . The identified prepotent themes including the PPCPs category, hazardous effects, occurrence of PPCPs, PPCPs in organisms, remediation, FTP-governing processes, and assessment in the environment are presented and discussed in the section.

The first theme is based on the variety of PPCPs present in the environment. The PPCPs include an extraordinarily diverse class of chemicals employed in human health, agricultural practices, veterinary medicines, and cosmetic care (Barceló and Petrovic 2007 ). PPCPs can be broadly classified into steroids, personal care products, and non-steroidal pharmaceuticals. The steroids comprise estrogens, progestogens, estrogen antagonistics, androgens and glucocorticoids, phytoestrogens, and veterinary growth hormones (Ebele et al. 2017 ). The non-steroidal pharmaceuticals incorporate agents used in blood and blood-forming organs, dermatological drugs, antibiotics, analgesics, anti-inflammatories, anti-depressants, and allergy- and asthma-treating agents (Guerra et al. 2014 ; Ebele et al. 2017 ). Personal care products (PCPs) include disinfectants, conservation agents, fragrances, and UV screens (Ebele et al. 2017 ). Synthetic musk fragrances used in inexpensive fragrances, cleaning products, air fresheners, and various hygiene and household products are some PCPs in the aquatic environment. They have recently received growing attention (Smital et al. 2004 ). Artificial sweeteners have been consumed in large quantities in beverages, food, PPCPs, and animal feed (Gan et al. 2013 ).

These PPCPs are unique ECs that cause human physiological disturbances and toxicity to the ecosystem even if present in trace concentration (Ebele et al. 2017 ). Theme 2 pertains to the hazardous effects caused due to these PPCPs. The fragrance materials (Vecchiato et al. 2018 ), artificial sweeteners (Lange et al. 2012 ), phenols, and their metabolites (Hammam et al. 2015 ) have the property of long-range transport and persistence. The phenols, a component in the pharmaceutical drug, reveal peroxidative capacity, being toxic to the nervous, digestive, and reproductive systems. Also, being hematotoxic and hepatotoxic, they cause carcinogenesis and mutagenesis in humans and other organisms (Hammam et al. 2015 ). Carbamazepine is known to disrupt the expression of the neurotransmitter system in freshwater species (Yang et al. 2018 ). Diclofenac, a well-known pharmaceutical responsible for the drastic reduction of the vulture population, exceeded the environmental quality standard in the river water (Gimeno et al. 2018 ). Veterinary antibiotics cause water pollution and are associated with human health and ecological risks (Wöhler et al. 2021 ). The increasing demand for UV filters/sunscreen used as PCPs has led to its abundance in various geographic locations, leading to an ecotoxicological threat (Astel et al. 2020 ). The UV filters in environmental mixtures are identified as the prime driver of mixture toxicity since they protract antibiotic contamination of aquatic and engineered environments (Grgić et al. 2021 ). Some UV filters get adsorbed on microplastics and cause neurotoxic effects. They also induce oxidative damage and accelerate genotoxicity with exposure time (O'Donovan et al. 2020 ). The excessive use of antibiotics in the environment leads to high levels of antibiotic-resistance genes (Xu et al. 2017 ). Owing to the hydrophilic nature of PPCPs, they tend to adsorb onto plastic surfaces, hence being found to co-exist with microplastics (Atugoda et al. 2021 ). PPCPs tend to bioaccumulate, biomagnify, and cause endocrine disruption and eutrophication (Cui and Schröder 2016 ; Mearns et al. 2019 , 2020 ).

The PPCPs enter the ecosystem via industrial, urban transport, agricultural activities, animal feeding operations, hospitals, and pharmaceutical manufacturers (León et al. 2020 ; Zhao et al. 2021 ). They then find their route to the whole ecosystem, be it drinking water (Yee et al. 2021 ), surface water, wastewater, sediment, sludge, soil, sewage, WWTPs, tissue residues, biosolids, seawater, groundwater, septic systems, wetlands, plants, reclaimed wastewater, and landfills (Ramakrishnan et al. 2015 ). The studies about the occurrence of these PPCPs in the environment are categorized in the third theme. These PPCPs contaminate surface water along with groundwater. Still, they are primarily present in higher concentration in surface water, indicating the generality of wastewater discharges into the streams, which then acts as the primary pollutant source (Conkle et al. 2010 ; Llamas-dios et al. 2021 ; Wilkinson et al. 2017a , b ). The PPCPs from WWTPs find their way to surface water (Zhao et al. 2021 ), and then to sediments (León et al. 2020 ) and soils at various geographical locations (Stefano et al. 2021 ). Reclaimed wastewater for irrigation also serves as a contamination route of soil (Qin et al. 2015 ) and groundwater and then bio-transfers to various living organisms until it finally reaches human receptors (García-Santiago et al. 2017 ). The PPCPs have been detected in the hyporheic zone, where surface and groundwater meet (Hohne et al., 2021 ). The PPCPs exhibiting long-range transport may travel and reach the seawater (Vecchiato et al. 2017 ). Moreover, septic tanks may also contribute to contamination of surface water and shallow groundwater (Yang et al. 2017 ).

Along with the environment, these PPCPs have been detected in living organisms, including birds, fishes, microbes, mammals, plankton, turtles, algae, and invertebrates (Peng et al. 2018 ), rats, and nonhuman primates (Mearns et al. 2016 , 2018 , 2019 , 2020 ; Peng et al. 2018 ). This has been grouped under the theme PPCPs in organisms.

Various treatment technologies are available for these contaminants, which are covered in the sixth theme. Many of the PPCPs can be obliterated using the advanced oxidation process (Shahid et al. 2021 ). The anaerobic membrane bioreactors and the microalgae/fungal strains are also promising methods of PPCP removal (Shahid et al. 2021 ). Electrochemical oxidation and membrane separation are also efficacious in removing these ECs (Shahid et al. 2021 ). Advanced wastewater treatment technologies such as UV C radiation are useful in degrading antibiotics and minimizing UV filter effects (Grgić et al. 2021 ). The ethylene and propylene oxide shows a high removal rate in Moving Bed Biofilm Reactors (MBBR) and conventional activated sludge WWTPs (Tisler et al. 2021 ). However, adequate water treatment technologies for PPCPs are still lacking, and the traditional treatment system comprising the tertiary treatment still needs to be upgraded (Corominas et al. 2021 ; Dang et al. 2020 ). Artificial groundwater recharge and bank filtration are prime, effective, and low-cost techniques for treating surface water and microbes, along with organic and inorganic contaminant removal (Heberer et al. 2004 ).

The sixth theme, fate and transport processes, concentrates on the governing mechanisms of transport and the fate of PPCPs from their source to sinks. The pH and dissolved organic matter affect the FTP in wastewater treatment plants (Zhang et al. 2014 ). After being released from the source, PPCPs are exposed to various processes such as sorption to soil and sediments, abiotic photolysis and hydrolysis, biotic degradation (Biošić et al. 2017 ; Khan et al. 2020 ; Shu et al. 2021 ), and biotransformation (Navrátilová et al. 2020 ). The transport of pharmaceuticals occurs via water channels where aquatic colloids and sediments play a significant role in acting as a sink for these pollutants (Khan et al. 2020 ). The PPCPs are ionizing chemicals that dissociate and have electrical interactions with biota and organic matter in surface water (Trapp et al. 2010 ). The in-river degradation and deconjugation and the effect of acidity and polarity in the contaminant’s partitioning to suspended particulate matter, photochemical degradation, biotransformation, and dilution are potential fate processes in multiple river systems (Wilkinson et al. 2017a , b ). The hydrophobic ECs have the highest concentration and detection frequency possibly because hydrophobic compounds have a higher retardation factor compared to hydrophilic contaminants, which are easily transported by the flow of water resulting in a widespread and homogeneous distribution (Llamas-dios et al. 2021 ). The hydrophilic contaminants have a higher concentration in the lower basin and tend to accumulate in the groundwater (Llamas-dios et al. 2021 ). The dissolved organic matter (DOM) plays an essential role in the photodegradation of pharmaceuticals in pure and natural water (Carmosini and Lee 2009 ; G. Zhang et al. 2017 ) by forming contaminant-DOM complexes affecting the environmental transport of PPCPs (Hernandez-Ruiz et al. 2012 ). Season plays a significant role in the concentration of PPCPs detected in surface water (Cantwell et al. 2016 ). The ability of PPCPs to be retained in the surface layer of soil depends upon the background concentration, soil characteristics, pH, solubility, pK a of a compound, and soil organic content (Hari et al. 2005 ; Stefano et al. 2021 ; Revitt et al. 2015 ; Wegst-Uhrich et al. 2014 ). The FTP of ionizable organic contaminants in the subsurface is influenced by soil pH, concentration, clay and organic matter type (ion exchange capacity), soil’s strength as a base or acid (acid dissociation constant), the lipophilicity (n-octanol water partition co-efficient), soil aeration, temperature, moisture content, emission mode (continuous or episodic), and the pattern of pharmaceutical use (Lees et al. 2016 ). Some PPCPs have high retention at low pH, possibly due to electrostatic cation exchange and interaction of π-π electron donor–acceptor at pH 3 and cation exchange at high pH 5 and 7. The PPCPs enter the soil via reclaimed wastewater and biosolids; their adsorption may be governed by colloids such as clay, which act as significant transport of PPCPs in the subsurface (Xing et al. 2016 ). The use of biosolids (reclaimed sewer sludge) as crop fertilizer is an additional parameter contributing to the widespread distribution of hydrophobic contaminants (Llamas-dios et al. 2021 ). The application of biosolids increases the retardation of PPCPs in soils, and treated effluents increase the mobility of weakly acidic PPCPs in biosolid-amended soils due to an increase in the soil solution pH (Borgman and Chefetz 2013 ). The sandy loam and loamy sand soils amended with biochar produced at a higher temperature (700 °C) are an effective measure to reduce the mobility of some PPCPs (Vithanage et al. 2014 ). Volatilization and leaching are not significant FTP processes in soil (Chen et al. 2013 ; Gros et al. 2019 ). The transport of PPCPs in soil and, ultimately, to groundwater is influenced by sorption, which depends on pedotransfer functions, including soil pH, hydrolytic acidity, exchangeable acidity, base cation saturation, and cation exchange capacity, clay content, organic carbon content (Kodešová et al. 2015 ). Wetland employed for EC treatment has adsorption as the major process governing FTP and long-term removal pathways of some pharmaceuticals (Conkle et al. 2010 ). The parameters of the processes can be determined either using batch tests, at the site, or using column experiments (Schübl et al. 2021 ).

Since effective treatment of PPCPs is still lacking, modeling the fate and transport of PPCPs can be an alternate method to control the PPCPs in the environment. The effective modeling techniques have been covered in the seventh theme. The FTP can be assessed numerically using a non-parametric residence time approach in combination with sorption and degradation models (Hohne et al.  2021 ). The factors affecting the FTP can be determined using computational modeling by using Quantitative Structure–Property Relationship techniques and multimedia mass-balance models (Jagiello et al. 2015 ). To investigate the spatial and temporal behavior of PPCPs, many modeling software has been adopted, including MODFLOW and PHT3D, having ORTI3D as a user interface in the surface water (Barkow et al. 2021 ). Also, PhATE (pharmaceutical assessment and transport evaluation) model (spatial and temporal variability) is employed to predict the in-stream concentration of pharmaceuticals (Capdevielle et al. 2008 ). PhATE uses a mass balance approach for predicting the screening-level concentration of pharmaceuticals and evaluates the suitability of existing fate information of pharmaceuticals (Anderson et al. 2004 ). For toxicity, risk assessment, property prediction of PPCPs, and fate modeling, QSAR (quantitative activity relationship) is utilized by the toxicological and chemical regulatory agencies for the decision-making framework in risks (Roy et al. 2016 ). The ecotoxicological risks due to the veterinary pharmaceuticals in soils are estimated to be less in terrestrial organisms but induce adverse effects in crops (Gros et al. 2019 ). The routine application of the modeling methodology in the environmental assessment of risk would enable predicting the physicochemical properties and long-range transport, thus the fate of PPCPs (Jagiello et al. 2015 ). The FTP from livestock to soil and then surface water can be administered using the integrated modeling approach (IMA) where VANTOM, veterinary antibiotics transport model results are fed to PESERA, the Pan-European soil erosion risk assessment model (Wohler et al. 2021 ). Models that simulate multimedia such as BALTSEM-POP simulate hydrodynamic conditions, biogeochemical cycling, contaminant fate and transport, water exchange, and interaction between climate forcing (Undeman et al. 2015 ). Tandem field and laboratory characterization better captures the transport and risk assessment of PPCPs (Zhi et al. 2021 ).

Author keywords of FTP

The co-occurring author keywords in FTP Scopus databases from 1996 to 2021 have been analyzed in VOSviewer. The analysis of author keywords serves as an indication of research trends and data visualization. Keywords occurring a minimum of three times in the articles are selected and analyzed. Subjected to data polishing, some of the general keywords such as “study,” “PPCPs,” “review,” “article,” “applications,” etc., were removed from the analysis, and keywords with similar meanings; singular and plural words were merged such as WWTPs, wastewater treatment plant or wastewater treatment plants. Figure  10 represents the co-occurrence network, displaying the imported author keywords’ importance (weight) and connection. The analysis classified the keywords into four major clusters, colored in red, green, blue, and yellow. Cluster 1, as indicated in red, is comprised of keywords such as “degradation,” “biodegradation,” “biotransformation,” “photolysis,” “leaching,” “and phytoremediation,” focusing basically on the processes governing FTP. The other keywords in cluster 1 are “drinking water,” “groundwater,” “sediment,” “septic system,” “soil,” “surface water,” and “wastewater” referring to the occurrence of PPCPs. Cluster 2, colored in green, comprises keywords such as “birds,” “fish,” “invertebrates,” “mammals,” and “planktons,” implying the presence of PPCPs in organisms. Also, some other keywords in cluster 2 are “bioaccumulation,” “biomarkers,” “biomagnification,” “ecological risk assessment,” and “endocrine disrupters,” hinting the detrimental effects due to the PPCPs. Cluster 3, in blue color, consists of keywords such as “carbamazepine,” “diclofenac,” “fragrance materials,” “microplastics,” “triclosan,” etc., referring to the types of PPCPs detected and studied. Cluster 4, colored in yellow, consists of “water pollution,” “toxicity,” “wastewater treatment,” “modeling,” “risk assessment,” etc., indicating the remedial measures for the PPCPs. The top three author keywords in each cluster of the co-occurrence network are tabulated in Table 9 .

figure 10

The co-occurring author keywords of FTP research

Index keywords of FTP study

Index keywords are used to define the text of articles, the text selected from pre-determined information called a controlled vocabulary used in bibliographic repositories. Index keywords hold up the essence of the theme of an article. The section explains the co-occurrence of index keywords in FTP Scopus databases from 1996 to 2020. The index keywords are chosen based on thirty co-occurrences and 119 keywords that meet the threshold. The density visualization of index-keywords co-occurrences is shown in Fig.  11 . The tree plot of the top 30 index keywords used in FTP documents is shown in Fig.  12 . The index keyword “drug” was used 266 times (7%); furthermore, “environmental monitoring,” “water pollutant,” “pharmaceutical preparations,” “water pollutants,” “non-human,” and “risk assessment” were used 198 (5%), 180 (5%), 159 (4%), 158 (4%), 157 (4%), and 154 (4%) times, respectively.

figure 11

Density visualization of top index keywords based on 30 co-occurrences

figure 12

Tree plot of top thirty index keywords

Sankey diagrams: three-field plots on FTP

Sankey diagrams depict material or energy movement in various protocols and networks. They employ quantitative descriptions to describe connections, flows, and transitions. Sankey diagrams are directed and weighted graphs with weighted features to keep the flow going. The addition of influx weights at each node equals the outgoing ramifications. Also, Sankey diagrams are employed to visualize systems, and conversations may be investigated. The Biblioshiny three-field plot visually determines the relationships among countries, keywords, sources, affiliations, cited authors, leading authors, and author keywords. The larger the rectangle, the more interaction between multiple components. Figure  13 depicts the diagram for ongoing research in the field on the basis of the relationship between keywords (left), author (middle), and source (right).

figure 13

Three field plot keywords (left), author (middle), and source/journal (right)

Content analysis—bibliographic coupling

The bibliographic coupling of the articles was conducted to perform a qualitative content analysis of the articles. This resulted in articles being grouped into three main clusters as can be seen in Table 10 . The fifteen most significant articles within each set, including the occurrence of PPCPs in the environment, the processes governing the fate and transport of PPCPs, and the physio-chemical properties of PPCPs, are scrutinized to perform the qualitative content analysis in the FTP research.

The fifteen most dominant articles in the last 25 years, making up this cluster on “occurrence and distribution of PPCPs in the environment” are relatively recent, comprising one article in 2002, two articles in 2008, one in 2010, four in 2013, one each in 2014 and 2015, two in 2016, and one each in 2017 and 2018. Science of the Total Environment , with four articles, has the maximum representation in this cluster, followed by three in Environmental Pollution and one each in Journal of Hazardous Materials , Ecotoxicology and Environmental Safety , Environmental Science and Technology , Chemical Engineering Journal , Water Research , Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry , The Scientific World Journal , Environmental Reviews , and Environment International. Various authors are also noticed with variable affiliations and appearances from different countries, with Zang D.Q., Yang Y-Y., Wu X., Tran N.H., Heberer T., Fairbairn D.J. being the dominant authors appearing twice in the cluster. The articles in the cluster are focused on the occurrence and distribution of PPCPs in the surface waters (Bendz et al. 2005 ; Fairbairn et al. 2016 ; Kasprzyk-Hordern et al. 2008 ; Kolpin et al. 2002 ; Metcalfe et al. 2010 ; J. Wilkinson et al. 2017b ; Zhang et al. 2013 ), drinking water (Focazio et al. 2008 ), groundwater (Yang et al. 2018 ), in the soils (Igbinosa et al. 2013 ; Li 2014 ; Singh et al. 2018 ), in sediments (Fairbairn et al. 2015 ), in WWTPs (Bouki et al. 2013 ; Tran et al. 2013 ), in wetlands (Gross et al. 2004 ), and biosolids from WWTPs, which get into agricultural soils (Carter et al. 2019 ) and then crops (Wu et al. 2013 , 2015 ; Calderon-Preciado et al. 2012 ). The reclaimed water used for agricultural purposes is loaded with untreated PPCPs, seeping into groundwater and contaminating the latter (Qin et al. 2015 ).

Cluster 2 mainly focuses on the documents based on the “processes governing fate and transport study” and the “environmental risk assessment” due to these PPCPs. The first group is inclined toward the FTP study in the environment (Atugoda et al. 2021 ; Ebele et al. 2017 ; Liu et al. 2019a , b ; Vieno and Sillanpää 2014 ; Westerhoff et al. 2005 ), and the prime process of FTP study, i.e., sorption (Wu et al. 2016 ) and degradation (Yu et al. 2013 ). Abiotic and biotic processes govern the FTP in the environment (Petrie et al. 2018 ). Photolysis is the main fate-governing process in the surface water, and biodegradation is the prime fate process in the wastewater and soil (Durán-álvarez et al. 2015 ). Bio-degradation and/or chemical transformation of PPCPs is the key fate process in the WWTPs (Subedi and Kannan 2015 ). The WWTPs are one of the significant disposal pathways for PPCPs (Richardson and Ternes 2011 ). The PPCPs present in the liquid phase in WWTPs can be effectively removed by sorption to suspended particulate matter or sludge, transformation, or biodegradation to increase the sludge retention time (Snip et al., 2014 ; Subedi and Kannan 2015 ). In the aquatic environment, sorption and degradation (biodegradation and photodegradation) are the chief processes determining the contaminant fate, where sediments and aquatic colloids act as major sinks (Khan et al. 2020 ). The presence of nitrates, carbonates, and dissolved organic matter accelerates the photolysis of some PPCPs in freshwater (Petrie et al. 2018 ). Dissolved oxygen (DO) also plays a significant role in the photo transformation of PPCPs (Zhang et al. 2017 ). The contaminant’s physio-chemical properties govern the FTP in the water–sediment matrix (vapor pressure, solubility, and lipophilicity), environmental situations (temperature, pH, irradiation, and redox situation), and the existing microbial community (Wu et al. 2010 ; Luo and Angelidaki 2014 ). The volatile PPCPs exhibit long-range and short-range (local) contamination, thus causing a threat to the polar regions as well (Mandaric et al. 2019 ). Atmospheric deposition and photo transformation are the main processes governing FTP in the air (McLachlan et al. 2010 ). The soil properties and aerobic conditions govern the fate of PPCPs (Koba et al. 2016 ). Adsorption, degradation, and migration (Sui et al. 2015 ) serve as the main governing parameters in the subsurface. The persistence of PPCPs and their metabolites in the soil leads to groundwater contamination, causing adverse effects on humans as it is a significant source of drinking water supply in many countries (Koba et al. 2016 ; Sui et al. 2015 ). The sources of PPCP contamination in the groundwater include contaminated surface water, wastewater, septic tanks, landfills, sewer leakage, and livestock breeding (Sui et al. 2015 ). Risk assessment studies dominate the second group of cluster 2 (Picó et al. 2020 ; Verlicchi et al. 2012 ). The recent trend for managing contaminants having different physicochemical properties is to follow a risk-based approach. A decision analysis framework that evaluates other remediation options by combining health risks (individual, population, residual) and different costs to deliver the most cost-effective process serves as an alternate remedial measure for the contaminants (Naidu et al. 2016 ).

The articles related to the physicochemical properties of pharmaceuticals and their carrier post-consumption in humans/animals are dominant in the third cluster. Oral intake of pharmaceuticals for humans is a favorable route to the target site of action. However, water-insoluble drugs are incapable of permeating the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, which requires a carrier/transporter/drug delivery vehicle to deliver them effectively without being degraded using this route (Poonia et al. 2016 ). Hence several drug delivery vehicles are researched to be of prime importance in drug metabolism, distribution, adsorption, and excretion (Bergström et al. 2016 ; Evers et al. 2018 ). The environmental fate of these carriers of pharmaceuticals, e.g., CeO 2 nanoparticles, depends on their physicochemical properties (Dahle and Arai 2015 ). Additionally, various properties of PPCPs, such as log solubility in water (Bannan et al. 2016 ), log P, polar surface area, hydrogen bond donors, and several hydrogen bond acceptors (Benet et al. 2011 ) have been discussed. The metabolism of the drugs owing to post-consumption by humans and their physiological fate (Date et al. 2010 ), their diffusivity through the biological membrane (Camenisch et al. 1998 ; Neupane et al. 2020 ), and the human gut wall (Thelen & Dressman  2009 ) is also discussed. The distribution coefficient between the immiscible aqueous and non-aqueous phases measures the degree to which the small molecules prefer one phase over another at a particular pH (Rustenburg et al. 2016 ). The most lipophilic molecules are least soluble in water (Box and Comer 2008 ). Water solubility is the governing factor of drug access to biological membranes (Faller and Ertl 2007 ). These pharmaceuticals enter the environment via the excretion of humans/animals and pose several risks to the ecosystem. Ionization, intrinsic solubility (log S ), and lipophilicity (log P ) have a significant impact on the transport properties of pharmaceuticals (Box and Comer 2008 ). Knowledge about the fate of pharmaceuticals is limited to some compounds; very few lab experiments under controlled conditions mimicking the natural environment have been conducted, and only a few data sets are available focusing on field studies. Thus, sufficient data gaps exist regarding pathways of degradation and transformation processes, making it difficult to understand the fate of these compounds in complex natural systems (Khan et al. 2020 ).

Implications for research: research hotspot and directions for future studies

Based on the insights provided by the bibliometric, text mining, and qualitative content analysis conducted, the implication for future studies is presented in the section. After attentive consideration, four areas of study are identified as potential gaps in research and directions for future studies to better position the FTP research agenda in line with the PPCPs.

The detrimental effects of the PPCPs have paved a path for future researchers to design a robust treatment system for the complete removal of the PPCPs, which is lacking in both developed, developing, and underdeveloped countries. COVID-19 has led to a surge in the usage of PPCPs either as medication or preventive measures, e.g., antibiotics and sanitizer (Dindarloo et al. 2020 ), reaching the WWTPs. These PPCPs have entered the drinking water supply via groundwater, which is an alarming situation for humans. Though present in trace amounts, its continuous introduction has reported high concentrations in the various niches of the world (Ebele et al. 2017 ). Also, the property of persistence and bioaccumulation calls for immediate action. Thus, there is an urgent call for a sturdy treatment system; otherwise, it may result in what the world has witnessed in the form of the extinction of various species from the earth and many disturbances in the whole ecosystem.

The escalated use of antibiotics gives rise to antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ARBs) and antibiotic-resistant genes (ARGs) (Koch et al. 2021 ). The advent of resistance among bacteria and the distribution of resistant genes may lead to an increase in potentially pathogenic and resistant organisms and excessive growth of exogenic pathogens (Rashid et al. 2012 ). The escalating amount of ARGs and ARBs would lead to the evolution of microbial structure via ecological niche occupation, thus enhancing the enforcement of target selection, which may cause an imbalance in the microbial ecosystem (Chen et al. 2021a , b ). Along with the bacterial ecosystem, humans have been affected due to the emergence of ARBs and ARGs. COVID-19-infected patients have shown high prevalence of antimicrobial resistance in the body, which may lead to severe health issues in the future (Ahmed et al. 2022 ). A call for strict compliance in the usage of antibiotics and employment of antibiotic stewardship programs at private or public institutions is recommended.

The FTP studies in a multimedia environment, considering all the multimedia compartments and phases in which the contaminants exist, are also limited. The transformation of the PPCPs from their release, transport, and, finally, to their destination has not been investigated in the true sense for most of the PPCPs. Also, the synergistic effect of the contaminants co-existing in the environment is unexplored. Thus, the researchers have a good opportunity in the field to explore the fate and transport of the PPCPs

Several models are developed to simulate the fate and transport processes in a single compartment (air, water, soil, groundwater, STPs, etc.) or in combination. The models may be employed in risk assessment and future contaminant concentration prediction. This may be used in policymaking and as an alternative to control the environmental PPCPs. Unfortunately, there are only limited studies considering all the media in one single model and mimicking the actual scenario existing in the field from the release of PPCPs to its fate. Therefore, there is a great scope in exploring the FTP area.

Conclusions

The study aimed to provide an inclusive map of FTP research over the last 25 years. Based on the bibliometric analysis, the research growth trend has been blooming since the early 2000s, having the maximum research published in 2016. Researchers from 66 different countries contributed to this field, USA and China leading the research area. Since the introduction of FTP research, various themes and topics have been continually added to the research field. An investigation of over 500 publications, along with their citations and bibliographic information, reveals that various ecological disturbances have been observed since the introduction of numerous types of PPCPs in the environment. The orientation of the research in this study ranges from the detection of the PPCPs in the ecosystem to the transport and fate of the PPCPs in the environment and the remediation measures taken for managing the PPCPs in the environment.

Due to the lack of proper treatment technologies, the PPCPs released primarily from WWTPs have found their route to the sediments, soil, groundwater, drinking water, and even biota wherein they tend to bioaccumulate, biomagnify, and cause endocrine disruption and eutrophication. Attempts have been made for the PPCP remediation, ranging from fate and transport models to risk assessment studies, in order to keep a check on the increasing concentration of PPCPs in the environment, which requires an in-depth understanding of the fate and transport processes that these PPCPs are subjected to. The research, after careful review, highlights the critical fate and transport processes occurring in the environment from its sources to sinks. The fate and transport processes in WWTPs are adsorption and degradation governed by factors including the pH and dissolved organic matter. The critical FTP processes in surface water include sorption to sediments and colloids, volatilization, abiotic photolysis, hydrolysis, biotic degradation, and biotransformation of contaminants. DO, dilution, seasonal variations and organic matter are the prime factors that affect the FTP in surface water. The processes of FTP in soils include advection, dispersion, adsorption, and degradation that are governed by key factors including soil characteristics, pH, solubility and pK a of PPCPs, soil organic content, the lipophilicity, soil aeration, temperature, moisture content, emission mode, and the pattern of pharmaceutical use. Volatilization does not significantly affect FTP processes in soil.

Moreover, these PPCPs are ubiquitous and detected in almost the whole ecosystem, and their synergistic effects have attracted significant importance. Thus, there is an urgent need for the remediation of these emerging contaminants, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, which has lead to an enormous increase in the concentration of the PPCPs and antibiotic-resistant genes and antibiotic-resistant bacteria. In the absence of an effective treatment system, modeling of these PPCPs to forecast their increasing environmental concentration and their risk assessment studies can be an alternate solution to keep a check on the ever-increasing concentration of these PPCPs. Otherwise, there can be catastropic effects in the near future as happened before due to the increase in diclofenac, a PPCP that leads to a sudden decline in the vulture population in the Indian sub-continent. The study will be beneficial to the researchers to gain a prior knowledge of the PPCPs’ fate and transport in the environment, which will further benefit as being the primary step in managing the increasing concentration of these contaminants in the environment.

Data availability

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in this article. The corresponding author will make the detailed Excel sheet files available upon reasonable request.

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Ashraf, M., Ahammad, S.Z. & Chakma, S. Advancements in the dominion of fate and transport of pharmaceuticals and personal care products in the environment—a bibliometric study. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30 , 64313–64341 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-26796-7

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Published on 12.3.2024 in Vol 26 (2024)

Effects of a Social Media Intervention on Vaping Intentions: Randomized Dose-Response Experiment

Authors of this article:

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Original Paper

  • William Douglas Evans 1 , PhD   ; 
  • Jeffrey Bingenheimer 1 , PhD   ; 
  • Jennifer Cantrell 2 , PhD   ; 
  • Jennifer Kreslake 3 , PhD   ; 
  • Shreya Tulsiani 3 , MPH   ; 
  • Megumi Ichimiya 1 , MPH   ; 
  • Alexander P D'Esterre 3 , MPH   ; 
  • Raquel Gerard 1 , MPH   ; 
  • Madeline Martin 1 , MPH   ; 
  • Elizabeth C Hair 3 , PhD  

1 Milken Institute School of Public Health, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, United States

2 New York University School of Global Public Health, New York, NY, United States

3 Truth Initiative, Washington, DC, United States

Corresponding Author:

William Douglas Evans, PhD

Milken Institute School of Public Health

The George Washington University

950 New Hampshire Ave NW

Washington, DC, 20052

United States

Phone: 1 2023519546

Email: [email protected]

Background: e-Cigarette use, especially by young adults, is at unacceptably high levels and represents a public health risk factor. Digital media are increasingly being used to deliver antivaping campaigns, but little is known about their effectiveness or the dose-response effects of content delivery.

Objective: The objectives of this study were to evaluate (1) the effectiveness of a 60-day antivaping social media intervention in changing vaping use intentions and beliefs related to the stimulus content and (2) the dose-response effects of varying levels of exposure to the intervention on vaping outcomes, including anti-industry beliefs, vaping intentions, and other attitudes and beliefs related to vaping.

Methods: Participants were adults aged 18 to 24 years in the United States. They were recruited into the study through Facebook (Meta Platforms) and Instagram (Meta Platforms), completed a baseline survey, and then randomized to 1 of the 5 conditions: 0 (control), 4, 8, 16, and 32 exposures over a 15-day period between each survey wave. Follow-up data were collected 30 and 60 days after randomization. We conducted stratified analyses of the full sample and in subsamples defined by the baseline vaping status (never, former, and current). Stimulus was delivered through Facebook and Instagram in four 15-second social media videos focused on anti-industry beliefs about vaping. The main outcome measures reported in this study were self-reported exposure to social media intervention content, attitudes and beliefs about vaping, and vaping intentions. We estimated a series of multivariate linear regressions in Stata 17 (StataCorp). To capture the dose-response effect, we assigned each study arm a numerical value corresponding to the number of advertisements (exposures) delivered to participants in each arm and used this number as our focal independent variable. In each model, the predictor was the treatment arm to which each participant was assigned.

Results: The baseline sample consisted of 1491 participants, and the final analysis sample consisted of 57.28% (854/1491) of the participants retained at the 60-day follow-up. We compared the retained participants with those lost to follow-up and found no statistically significant differences across demographic variables. We found a significant effect of the social media treatment on vaping intentions (β=−0.138, 95% CI −0.266 to −0.010; P =.04) and anti-industry beliefs (β=−0.122, 95% CI 0.008-0.237; P =.04) targeted by the intervention content among current vapers but not among the full sample or other strata. We found no significant effects of self-reported exposure to the stimulus.

Conclusions: Social media interventions are a promising approach to preventing vaping among young adults. More research is needed on how to optimize the dosage of such interventions and the extent to which long-term exposure may affect vaping use over time.

Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov NCT04867668; https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT04867668

Introduction

e-Cigarettes were the most commonly used tobacco product among young adults in the United States between 2014 and 2019 [ 1 ]. In 2019, the current use of cigarettes and e-cigarettes was 4.5% and 14% [ 2 ], respectively. Although e-cigarette use among this population has decreased in recent years, use prevalence still remains at concerning levels. Moreover, the most popular e-cigarette brands contain high levels of nicotine, an addictive substance that may harm the developing brain of young adults [ 3 - 6 ]. The use of e-cigarettes has also been associated with worsened lung health and mental well-being [ 7 - 11 ].

Digital media, including social media platforms, have become a part of our daily lives, particularly among young adults. The use of any social media site by adults aged 18 to 29 years has been consistently >80% since 2011, and many people spend several hours a day on these sites (Pew Research Center, 2021) [ 12 ]. Because of its ubiquity and potential for influence, digital media can be a valuable or harmful tool for population-level behavior change. Thus, there is a great need for more research on the relationship between digital media and health behaviors, social norms, and social networks. Although research is being conducted to determine what digital media as an intervention tool would look like, how it works, and how effective it is [ 13 , 14 ], these studies have only scratched the surface [ 15 ].

The importance of digital media interventions is growing in many health behavior subject areas, including nicotine and tobacco use research. Mass media campaigns have been proven to be effective in creating positive changes in smoking-related attitudes, intentions, and behaviors [ 16 ]. More recent research also supports the use of media campaigns to address the aforementioned rapid increase in and continued use of e-cigarettes among youth and young adults [ 17 ]. Digital strategies will be central to future campaigns. A recent systematic review of digital behavior change interventions by Ichimiya et al [ 18 ] identified 298 relevant articles; 19 of those were for nicotine and tobacco interventions.

Digital media intervention research is currently a small, growing, and highly important field, given the shift in nicotine behavior change campaigns from traditional mass media such as television to digital platforms [ 19 ]. These strategies have the potential to change social norms (ie, beliefs among a population about what is widespread behavior and what is socially sanctioned or required) [ 20 ] about behaviors such as vaping. Social norms may be influenced by, for example, e-cigarette companies’ social media platforms [ 21 ], which normalize and effectively promote use among a peer group such as young adults [ 19 ]. At the same time, antivaping social media may create a new social norm that vaping is uncommon and less socially accepted among the peer group. Theoretically, the effect of such social media campaigns may be to promote a social norm such as the avoidance of nicotine and tobacco products [ 20 ].

Specifically, given the relatively small number of studies found in the systematic review of digital tobacco behavior change interventions by Ichimiya et al [ 18 ], there is a need to rigorously test the effects of antivaping social media content on outcomes. Many large-scale campaigns, such as those run by the Food and Drug Administration (eg, Real Cost) and the Truth Initiative (the Truth campaign), are currently using digital content as part of their overall behavior change strategies, but little is known about their mechanisms of change, and the published research does not include randomized trials [ 18 ]. Research is needed to build and test theories of change for such campaigns using randomized experimental methods.

Furthermore, this study builds on recent studies using a social media–based data collection platform for random assignment studies [ 14 ]. The use of social media recruitment, chatbots for survey delivery, and retargeting technology for intervention delivery and follow-up (FU) have been proven feasible and produce short-term effects on content (eg, advertising) exposure. This study aims to test these methods in a randomized controlled dose-response experiment.

In this study, our goal was to determine whether a social media intervention delivered through an experimental design would have a positive effect on young adult vaping outcomes. We aimed to disseminate the intervention on participants’ Facebook and Instagram news feeds in the form of an antivaping campaign consisting of 4 videos, each 15 seconds in length, drawn from previous Truth Initiative content and aimed at young adults aged 18 to 24 years. Participants answered 1 preintervention survey and 2 postintervention surveys on the same platform, Facebook Messenger (FM; Meta Platforms). A chatbot was used to execute the surveys and keep participants engaged over the course of the 60-day study period.

We tested the hypotheses that exposure to antivaping social media content measured through a social media–based survey would reduce vaping use intentions at the 60-day FU (FU2; hypothesis 1) and increase antivaping industry beliefs at the FU2 (hypothesis 2). We also examined 1 research question: would treatment assignment be associated with lower use intentions and higher antivaping beliefs (ie, a dose-response effect)?

Study Design

The study design was a randomized controlled experiment with 4 treatment arms and a no-exposure control arm. Using the Virtual Lab platform, participants were recruited into the study (details under Data Collection and Measures section), delivered a baseline survey, and then randomized to 1 of the 5 conditions. The design was to achieve a specific number of impressions per arm as follows: 0 (control), 4, 8, 16, and 32 over a 15-day period between each survey wave. Impressions are defined as the number of views of a social media post by a study participant [ 22 ].

There were 3 survey waves: baseline, 30-day FU (FU1), and FU2. The aim was to collect sufficient participants within each wave to have sufficient power to detect a treatment effect of the intervention video content exposure on vaping intentions at FU2. The final baseline sample consisted of 1491 participants divided into 5 study conditions: FU1 consisted of 70.28% (1048/1491) of the participants, and FU2 consisted of 57.28% (854/1491) of the participants.

Intervention Content

The intervention content consisted of four 15-second videos drawn from a previous web-based Truth Initiative campaign called Tested on Humans . The main themes of the videos were that vaping companies do not know the health and other impacts of using e-cigarettes and that they are “testing” their products on human beings. This is consistent with an “anti-industry” countermarking approach to nicotine and tobacco campaigns, which has been used successfully in the past [ 23 , 24 ]. The campaign was not publicly active during this study. We chose this content because it was designed for social media distribution, focused on preventing vaping, and was not currently active.

Following baseline, videos were promoted in the live Facebook and Instagram feeds of treatment arm participants in a randomized order and combinations to achieve the targeted impressions for each arm (ie, an average number of impressions per condition). For example, the “low” exposure arm was designed to obtain 4 impressions that would receive a randomly ordered assignment of each video 1 time, the next highest exposure arm (8 impressions) was designed to obtain the videos in random order 2 times, and so on. The actual number of impressions per group varied because of the time of the intervention delivery and was measured at the group level because of the confidentiality restrictions Facebook and Instagram place on publicly available user data (ie, the exact number of impressions by an individual user is not available, only by the study condition). This resulted in the use of a 5-level variable corresponding to the 5 treatment arms of increasing intended impressions (arm 1=0 impressions, arm 2=4 impressions, arm 3=8 impressions, arm 4=16 impressions, and arm 5=32 impressions).

The study was implemented by Virtual Lab, a social media–based data collection and intervention content delivery platform [ 25 ]. Participants were recruited via Facebook and Instagram advertisements. When a potential participant clicked on a study advertisement, they were asked a series of screening questions using a FM chatbot. Eligible participants were US residents aged 18 to 24 years within the stratified subgroups, with 49.97% (911/1823) of them being current vapers. The participants were asked to provide informed consent and participate in the study through an FM survey delivered by the chatbot. After completing the baseline questionnaire, the participants were randomized to the study condition, received any relevant content over time, and were invited to complete the FU questionnaires.

We used the CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) checklist when writing our report [ 26 ]. The study design and recruitment procedures are summarized in Figure 1 . Note that the total retained sample at FU was 57.28% (854/1491), but the sample sizes for some analyses varied because of participant response patterns.

background of the study in research content

Ethical Considerations

This study was reviewed and approved as not greater than minimal risk human participants research by the George Washington University Institutional Review Board (IRB) on August 5, 2020(IRB number NCR202837). Through the FM chatbot, participants read an IRB-approved statement informing them about the purposes and nature of the research. By clicking on a button to proceed with the survey, they provided consent to participate. All data used in this study have been deidentified and stored following the IRB-approved procedure to ensure confidentiality. The participants received a US $10 e-gift card as compensation for each survey completed.

Data Collection and Measures

Similar to a pilot study reported by Tulsiani et al [ 14 ], we worked with Virtual Lab to implement the study and collect data [ 25 ]. The study team created a Facebook business account called “Digital Health Research” to recruit participants and manage data collection and a second account, “Consumer Consciousness,” to run the target advertisements on the enrolled participants’ Facebook and Instagram news feeds. The recruitment advertisements were served to people aged 18 to 24 years who were located in the United States. The advertisements used the text, “Take a 15 minute survey, get paid $10.” After the participants clicked on the study’s advertisement, they were sent a message via FM inviting them to participate in the study.

The survey was delivered as a series of individual chats through FM using a chatbot. The survey consisted of 40 items drawn from the tobacco control and campaign evaluation literature [ 27 ]. For this study, we used a subset of the items contained in the survey, following our study objectives. All items were measured on a 5-point agreement scale, except where noted (strongly agree to strongly disagree).

Our primary end point was future vape intentions, operationalized as the average of responses to 2 items, which were each answered on a 5-point agreement scale: “Thinking about the future, if one of your best friends offered you an e-cigarette/vape (even one or two puffs) in the coming year, would you smoke it?” and “Do you think you will use an e-cigarette/vape (even one or two puffs) in the next year?” Our secondary end point was anti-industry sentiment, measured as the average of responses to 2 items, also on a 5-point agreement scale: “Vape companies make me angry” and “I am willing to stand up with others against vape companies.” Our measures of vaping intentions and anti-industry sentiment are both taken from the second FU survey. Finally, we examined self-reported advertisement exposure. For each of the 4 advertisements, the participants were asked, “Overall, about how many times to do you think you’ve seen this ad? 1-2 times; 3-5 times; more than 5 times.” Responses were recoded to approximate the average value for each category (“Never”=0, “1-2 times”=1.5, “3-5 times”=4, and “>5 times”=6), and an average value across each of these 4 advertisements was calculated to generate an average value of reported advertisement exposure. As we were interested in cumulative exposure, the value for both time points was averaged.

Data Analysis

To investigate our hypotheses, a series of multivariate linear regressions were conducted in Stata 17 (StataCorp). To capture the dose-response effect, rather than treating the 5 study arms as 5 independent and nominal groups, we assigned each arm a numerical value corresponding to the number of advertisements delivered to participants in each arm and used this number as our focal independent variable. In each model, the predictor was the treatment arm to which each participant was assigned. The outcome variables for these regressions were self-reported advertisement exposure, anti-industry attitudes and beliefs, and vape use intentions. For each of the multivariate linear regressions, the following covariates were included: race and ethnicity (dummy coded for “non-Hispanic White,” “non-Hispanic Black,” “Hispanic,” and “non-Hispanic other”—“non-Hispanic White” was used as the reference category), gender (dummy coded for “female,” “male,” and “another identity/nonbinary/transgender”—“female” was used as the reference category), age in years, and baseline use of e-cigarettes (dummy coded for “Never User,” “Former User,” and “Current User”—“Never User” was used as the reference category).

We included 57.28% (854/1491) of the participants retained at FU2 in our analysis. We compared the retained participants with those lost to FU (LTFU) and found no statistically significant differences across demographic variables. These results are presented in Multimedia Appendix 1 .

In addition, different efficacy levels of the treatment were hypothesized for the participants based on their use status at baseline. Therefore, each of the aforementioned model was also applied to subsamples based on e-cigarette use at the final wave of data collection (“Never users,” “Former Users,” and “Current Users”). We note that these subgroup analyses were not among the original hypotheses of the study and were investigated post hoc. All analyses included the full sample, including those LTFU, following the intention-to-treat principles.

Power Analysis

We conducted a statistical power analysis to determine an appropriate sample size. Because of our planned dose-response analysis, we used correlation analysis as the basis for our calculations. Specifically, we assumed that the correlation between advertisements delivered in each study arm and vaping intentions at FU2 would be small, as low as 0.1, and used Stata 18 (StataCorp) to calculate that a sample of 783 participants would be needed to provide 80% power for rejecting the null hypothesis at the conventional Cronbach α=0.05 level. Second, based on the results of some pilot studies, we assumed that up to 45% (671/1491 based on our actual sample) of the baseline participants would be LTFU before FU2. Thus, we concluded that the baseline sample should include a minimum of 1423 participants, or approximately 19.11% (285/1423) of participants in each of the 5 study arms. We exceeded our recruitment target in the final sample.

Table 1 provides the descriptive statistics for the baseline sample categorized by the treatment arm.

We used a chi-square test to examine any potential differences in demographics between the arms and found no statistically significant differences. Overall, the sample is relatively evenly distributed, with ages ranging from 18 to 24 years, and just <47.95% (715/1491) of the sample is non-Hispanic White. Approximately 7.98% (119/1491) and 16.97% (253/1491) of the sample were non-Hispanic Black and of Hispanic ethnicity, respectively. Approximately 69.01% (1029/1491) of the sample was female, and approximately 65% (969/1491) reported having more than enough income to support themselves. Just >70.09% (1045/1491) reported being heterosexual, with the next largest group reporting being bisexual at just <17.91% (267/1491). At baseline, approximately 20.99% (313/1491) reported current e-cigarette use (meaning within the past 30 d), and 22% (328/1491) reported former ( >30 d ago) use.

Table 2 provides a summary of the models for treatment effects with covariates on vape use intentions by final use status (full sample, never, former, and current users).

Overall, there is a significant treatment effect among current vapers on lower vaping intentions (β=−0.138; P =.04) but not in the full sample or other subgroups. We also see effects on lower vaping intentions among Black participants in the full sample and among baseline former and current vapers in the full sample.

Table 3 provides a summary of the models for treatment effects with covariates on anti-industry attitudes and beliefs, which were the main beliefs targeted by the intervention content (ie, beliefs that the e-cigarette industry harms its customers).

a For the full-sample analyses, N was 836 because of item nonresponse, and N was 832 for the stratified analyses.

b REF: reference.

c N/A: not applicable.

a For the full-sample analyses, N was 838 because of item nonresponse, and N was 834 for the stratified analyses.

Overall, there is a significant treatment effect among current vapers on anti-industry beliefs (β=0.120; P =.046) but not in the full sample or other subgroups. In addition, Black participants were more likely to report an intention to vape than non-Hispanic White participants, and current and former vapers were more likely to report an intention to vape than participants who had never vaped.

Table 4 provides a summary of the models for treatment effects with covariates on self-reported advertisement exposure.

There is no main effect of treatment on the reported advertisement exposure among any of the population groups of interest. In addition, we observe higher self-reported advertisement exposure among Black participants in the full sample, and exposure to intervention content was higher among baseline never vapers and baseline current 30-day vapers. It is possible that the lack of relationship between the treatment group and reported advertisement exposure is because of insufficient elapsed time during the intervention period to achieve the intended number of impressions per group, which resulted in participants in the fourth and fifth groups receiving similar levels of impressions. The average impressions delivered per user per treatment arm were as follows: arm 1=0, arm 2=2.293, arm 3=7.708, arm 4=12.718, and arm 5=14.218.

a For the full-sample analyses, N was 730 because of item nonresponse, and for the stratified analyses, N was 726.

e-Cigarette use among young adults is a significant public health threat. Use rates dropped early in the COVID-19 pandemic but have seen a resurgence in the later stages of this public health emergency [ 28 ]. Innovative strategies to deliver antivaping messages and reduce use intentions and behavior are needed. Given the high levels of social media use among adolescents and young adults, and especially engagement with provaping content [ 29 ], interventions using social media are an important intervention channel for experimentation and population-level campaigns.

Principal Findings

Overall, this study found significant effects in the direction expected for intentions and anti-industry sentiment. Our hypothesis 1 was partially confirmed: there was a significant treatment effect on both anti-industry beliefs and lower vaping intentions, but these effects were limited to current e-cigarette users and were not observed among never or past users or in the full-sample analyses.

This study partially confirmed hypothesis 2: higher levels of treatment (ie, from arms 1 to 5) were associated with the anti-industry beliefs and vaping intentions outcomes of interest. However, we did not observe a direct or dose-response effect of the intervention on content exposure outcomes (ie, awareness of the specific social media posts used as stimulus in the study). This is typically the most proximal outcome resulting from a campaign, and the absence of these anticipated effects deserves further investigation.

One possible explanation is that the experiment did not completely achieve the intended levels of impressions for each study arm. In particular, the level of impression achieved at the highest exposure arms (4 to 5) was quite similar, whereas the intent was to double the number of impressions in each arm. This may be an artifact of the length of time our intervention was in the field, which was only 60 days. Total social media impressions are typically a function of the length of a campaign, and longer study durations may result in more closely matching the intended exposure levels by study condition [ 30 , 31 ].

The observed effects of treatment on anti-industry beliefs are consistent with the content of the intervention, which focused on messages exposing the misinformation and disinformation that e-cigarette companies use in their marketing and the idea that their products and practices are harmful to consumers. This study provides evidence to support the idea that targeted campaign messages can directly impact attitudes and beliefs focused on the content of those messages. Future studies should examine approaches to optimize these observed effects.

The observed effects on lower vape use intentions suggest that there may be a connection between anti-industry beliefs and future use among current users. If young adults believe that the industry is using misinformation and disinformation and selling a harmful product, they may reconsider their current use [ 32 ]. This suggests a potential mediation effect of anti-industry beliefs on intentions and potentially on e-cigarette use. The hypothetical pathways of effects should be formally evaluated in future studies.

Future Directions

One question raised by this study’s findings for vaping intentions and anti-industry beliefs is why we did not see effects among the former and never vapers. However, it is simply difficult to shift beliefs and intentions in those other groups than among current vapers. Alternatively, messages focused on topics and persuasive content other than anti-industry sentiment may be needed for those groups. In addition, selective attention bias (ie, the personal relevance of vaping-related content) suggests that vapers may be more responsive to the antivaping social media content used in this study [ 33 ]. Future research should examine these questions.

To fully examine the dose-response effects of social media interventions, longer time durations may be needed, and larger small sample sizes per study arm may be needed, especially given the attrition at FU. Cell sizes between the study conditions were reduced at the second FU, which may have reduced the statistical power to below the levels needed to detect some dose-response outcomes of interest. Previous studies have shown the dose-response effects of anti-industry messaging on vaping-related content exposure and attitudinal outcomes [ 14 ].

This study also contributes to the growing literature on public health, social media interventions, and theories of change [ 34 , 35 ]. This study further demonstrates the potential of a social media–based research and intervention delivery platform to build evidence for tobacco control. Future studies should expand on this research with longer-term longitudinal studies capable of potentially detecting treatment effects on vaping use behavior; examine diverse subgroups of interest, including high-risk groups for e-cigarette use; and examine multiple types of social media content. Finally, the demonstrated effects of social media on intentions and other outcomes related to vaping should be considered when formulating a tobacco control policy, including recommendations for effective comprehensive prevention and cessation interventions [ 36 ].

Limitations

Finally, this study has some limitations. First, it was conducted over a relatively short period (60 d), and thus, only intermediate outcomes were evaluated. In addition, the time duration may have limited our ability to fully generate the intended differences in the objective impressions created within each study arm. We observed a substantial LTFU (>40%) at the second FU survey. Future social media studies should make extensive efforts to limit LTFU, especially when following participants over longer periods. Second, our original data analysis plan did not include an explicit plan to stratify by vaping status, and relatedly, the size of our sample was based on power calculations that assumed a whole sample rather than a stratified analysis. The post hoc nature of those stratified analyses should be considered when interpreting the findings of this study. In addition, the Truth Initiative content used for the stimulus had previously aired, and prior exposure may have limited its treatment potential. Finally, although the observed effects of the intervention occurred among current vapers, the study was not powered by subgroups. Finally, we performed multiple comparisons in our analyses, which raises the possibility of false-positive findings. Future studies should use previously unaired content, where possible, and ensure a sufficient sample size among specific subgroups of interest, where feasible (ie, power at the subgroup level).

Conclusions

Social media interventions are a promising approach to preventing vaping among young adults [ 13 ]. More research is needed on how to optimize the dosage of such interventions and the long-term effects on vaping use over time. Social media–based research platforms are a promising methodology to conduct experimental public health research among specific priority populations.

Acknowledgments

This research was sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (grant CA253013).

Data Availability

A data sharing agreement is required for the use of all data. Our research team does not share data with tobacco industry representatives or affiliated researchers. Investigators seeking access to the data used in the study should make a written request to the corresponding author and submit a detailed research plan including the purpose of the proposed research, required variables, duration of the analysis phase, institutional review board approval, Federalwide Assurance information, and documentation of investigator training in human participants.

Authors' Contributions

WDE conceptualized the study, acquired the funding, led the investigation and methodology, administered and supervised the project, designed data visualization, and wrote and edited the paper. JB led data curation, formal analysis, contributed to methodology, and edited the paper. APD conducted formal analysis, wrote and edited the paper. ECH contributed to investigation, methodology, and edited the paper. JC contributed to methodology and editing. MM, ST, JK, and MI contributed to editing.

Conflicts of Interest

None declared.

Comparison of recruited and retained samples.

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Abbreviations

Edited by G Eysenbach, T Leung; submitted 11.07.23; peer-reviewed by K Feder, J Alpert; comments to author 01.09.23; revised version received 12.09.23; accepted 08.02.24; published 12.03.24.

©William Douglas Evans, Jeffrey Bingenheimer, Jennifer Cantrell, Jennifer Kreslake, Shreya Tulsiani, Megumi Ichimiya, Alexander P D'Esterre, Raquel Gerard, Madeline Martin, Elizabeth C Hair. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (https://www.jmir.org), 12.03.2024.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work, first published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research, is properly cited. The complete bibliographic information, a link to the original publication on https://www.jmir.org/, as well as this copyright and license information must be included.

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  • http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0214-242X Rony Abou-Khalil 1 ,
  • Jeanne Andary 2 and
  • Elissar El-Hayek 1
  • 1 Department of Biology , Holy Spirit University of Kaslik , Jounieh , Lebanon
  • 2 Nutrition and Food Science Department , American University of Science and Technology , Beirut , Lebanon
  • Correspondence to Dr Rony Abou-Khalil, Department of Biology, Holy Spirit University of Kaslik, Jounieh, Lebanon; ronyaboukhalil{at}usek.edu.lb

Background and aims Obesity and overweight have become significant health concerns worldwide, leading to an increased interest in finding natural remedies for weight reduction. One such remedy that has gained popularity is apple cider vinegar (ACV).

Objective To investigate the effects of ACV consumption on weight, blood glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol levels in a sample of the Lebanese population.

Materials and methods 120 overweight and obese individuals were recruited. Participants were randomly assigned to either an intervention group receiving 5, 10 or 15 mL of ACV or a control group receiving a placebo (group 4) over a 12-week period. Measurements of anthropometric parameters, fasting blood glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol levels were taken at weeks 0, 4, 8 and 12.

Results Our findings showed that daily consumption of the three doses of ACV for a duration of between 4 and 12 weeks is associated with significant reductions in anthropometric variables (weight, body mass index, waist/hip circumferences and body fat ratio), blood glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol levels. No significant risk factors were observed during the 12 weeks of ACV intake.

Conclusion Consumption of ACV in people with overweight and obesity led to an improvement in the anthropometric and metabolic parameters. ACV could be a promising antiobesity supplement that does not produce any side effects.

  • Weight management
  • Lipid lowering

Data availability statement

All data relevant to the study are included in the article or uploaded as supplementary information.

This is an open access article distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited, appropriate credit is given, any changes made indicated, and the use is non-commercial. See:  http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/ .

https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjnph-2023-000823

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WHAT IS ALREADY KNOWN ON THIS TOPIC

Recently, there has been increasing interest in alternative remedies to support weight management, and one such remedy that has gained popularity is apple cider vinegar (ACV).

A few small-scale studies conducted on humans have shown promising results, with ACV consumption leading to weight loss, reduced body fat and decreased waist circumference.

WHAT THIS STUDY ADDS

No study has been conducted to investigate the potential antiobesity effect of ACV in the Lebanese population. By conducting research in this demographic, the study provides region-specific data and offers a more comprehensive understanding of the impact of ACV on weight loss and metabolic health.

HOW THIS STUDY MIGHT AFFECT RESEARCH, PRACTICE OR POLICY

The results might contribute to evidence-based recommendations for the use of ACV as a dietary intervention in the management of obesity.

The study could stimulate further research in the field, prompting scientists to explore the underlying mechanisms and conduct similar studies in other populations.

Introduction

Obesity is a growing global health concern characterised by excessive body fat accumulation, often resulting from a combination of genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors. 1 It is associated with an increased risk of numerous chronic illnesses such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, several common cancers and osteoarthritis. 1–3

According to the WHO, more than 1.9 billion adults were overweight worldwide in 2016, of whom more than 650 million were obese. 4 Worldwide obesity has nearly tripled since 1975. 4 The World Obesity Federation’s 2023 Atlas predicts that by 2035 more than half of the world’s population will be overweight or obese. 5

According to the 2022 Global Nutrition Report, Lebanon has made limited progress towards meeting its diet-related non-communicable diseases target. A total of 39.9% of adult (aged ≥18 years) women and 30.5% of adult men are living with obesity. Lebanon’s obesity prevalence is higher than the regional average of 10.3% for women and 7.5% for men. 6 In Lebanon, obesity was considered as the most important health problem by 27.6% and ranked fifth after cancer, cardiovascular, smoking and HIV/AIDS. 7

In recent years, there has been increasing interest in alternative remedies to support weight management, and one such remedy that has gained popularity is apple cider vinegar (ACV), which is a type of vinegar made by fermenting apple juice. ACV contains vitamins, minerals, amino acids and polyphenols such as flavonoids, which are believed to contribute to its potential health benefits. 8 9

It has been used for centuries as a traditional remedy for various ailments and has recently gained attention for its potential role in weight management.

In hypercaloric-fed rats, the daily consumption of ACV showed a lower rise in blood sugar and lipid profile. 10 In addition, ACV seems to decrease oxidative stress and reduces the risk of obesity in male rats with high-fat consumption. 11

A few small-scale studies conducted on humans have shown promising results, with ACV consumption leading to weight loss, reduced body fat and decreased waist circumference. 12 13 In fact, It has been suggested that ACV by slowing down gastric emptying, might promote satiety and reduce appetite. 14–16 Furthermore, ACV intake seems to ameliorate the glycaemic and lipid profile in healthy adults 17 and might have a positive impact on insulin sensitivity, potentially reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes. 8 10 18

Unfortunately, the sample sizes and durations of these studies were limited, necessitating larger and longer-term studies for more robust conclusions.

This work aims to study the efficacy and safety of ACV in reducing weight and ameliorating the lipid and glycaemic profiles in a sample of overweight and obese adolescents and young adults of the Lebanese population. To the best of our knowledge, no study has been conducted to investigate the potential antiobesity effect of ACV in the Lebanese population.

Materials and methods

Participants.

A total of 120 overweight and obese adolescents and young adults (46 men and 74 women) were enrolled in the study and assigned to either placebo group or experimental groups (receiving increasing doses of ACV).

The subjects were evaluated for eligibility according to the following inclusion criteria: age between 12 and 25 years, BMIs between 27 and 34 kg/m 2 , no chronic diseases, no intake of medications, no intake of ACV over the past 8 weeks prior to the beginning of the study. The subjects who met the inclusion criteria were selected by convenient sampling technique. Those who experienced heartburn due to vinegar were excluded.

Demographic, clinical data and eating habits were collected from all participants by self-administered questionnaire.

Study design

This study was a double-blind, randomised clinical trial conducted for 12 weeks.

Subjects were divided randomly into four groups: three treatment groups and a placebo group. A simple randomisation method was employed using the randomisation allocation software. Groups 1, 2 and 3 consumed 5, 10 and 15 mL, respectively, of ACV (containing 5% of acetic acid) diluted in 250 mL of water daily, in the morning on an empty stomach, for 12 weeks. The control group received a placebo consisting of water with similar taste and appearance. In order to mimic the taste of vinegar, the placebo group’s beverage (250 mL of water) contained lactic acid (250 mg/100 mL). Identical-looking ACV and placebo bottles were used and participants were instructed to consume their assigned solution without knowing its identity. The subject’s group assignment was withheld from the researchers performing the experiment.

Subjects consumed their normal diets throughout the study. The contents of daily meals and snacks were recorded in a diet diary. The physical activity of the subjects was also recorded. Daily individual phone messages were sent to all participants to remind them to take the ACV or the placebo. A mailing group was also created. Confidentiality was maintained throughout the procedure.

At weeks 0, 4, 8 and 12, anthropometric measurements were taken for all participants, and the level of glucose, triglycerides and total cholesterol was assessed by collecting 5 mL of fasting blood from each subject.

Anthropometric measurements

Body weight was measured in kg, to the nearest 0.01 kg, by standardised and calibrated digital scale. Height was measured in cm, to the nearest 0.1 cm, by a stadiometer. Anthropometric measurements were taken for all participants, by a team of trained field researchers, after 10–12 hours fast and while wearing only undergarments.

Body mass indices (BMIs) were calculated using the following equation:

The waist circumference measurement was taken between the lowest rib margin and the iliac crest while the subject was in a standing position (to the nearest 0.1 cm). Hip circumference was measured at the widest point of the hip (to the nearest 0.1 cm).

The body fat ratio (BFR) was measured by the bioelectrical impedance analysis method (OMRON Fat Loss Monitor, Model No HBF-306C; Japan). Anthropometric variables are shown in table 1 .

  • View inline

Baseline demographic, anthropometric and biochemical variables of the three apple cider vinegar groups (group 1, 2 and 3) and the placebo group (group 4)

Blood biochemical analysis

Serum glucose was measured by the glucose oxidase method. 19 Triglyceride levels were determined using a serum triglyceride determination kit (TR0100, Sigma-Aldrich). Cholesterol levels were determined using a cholesterol quantitation kit (MAK043, Sigma-Aldrich). Biochemical variables are shown in table 1 .

Statistical methods and data analysis

Data are presented as mean±SD. Statistical analyses were performed using Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software (version 23.0). Significant differences between groups were determined by using an independent t-test. Statistical significance was set at p<0.05.

Ethical approval

The study protocol was reviewed and approved by the research ethics committee (REC) of the Higher Centre for Research (HCR) at The Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), Lebanon. The number/ID of the approval is HCR/EC 2023–005. The participants were informed of the study objectives and signed a written informed consent before enrolment. The study was conducted in accordance to the International Conference and Harmonisation E6 Guideline for Good Clinical Practice and the Ethical principles of the Declaration of Helsinki.

Sociodemographic, nutritional and other baseline characteristics of the participants

A total of 120 individuals (46 men and 74 women) with BMIs between 27 and 34 kg/m 2 , were enrolled in the study. The mean age of the subjects was 17.8±5.7 years and 17.6±5.4 years in the placebo and experimental groups respectively.

The majority of participants, approximately 98.3%, were non-vegetarian and 89% of them reported having a high eating frequency, with more than four meals per day. Eighty-seven per cent had no family history of obesity and 98% had no history of childhood obesity. The majority reported not having a regular exercise routine and experiencing negative emotions or anxiety. All participants were non-smokers and non-drinkers. A small percentage (6.7%) were following a therapeutic diet.

Effects of ACV intake on anthropometric variables

The addition of 5 mL, 10 mL or 15 mL of ACV to the diet resulted in significant decreases in body weight and BMI at weeks 4, 8 and 12 of ACV intake, when compared with baseline (week 0) (p<0.05). The decrease in body weight and BMI seemed to be dose-dependent, with the group receiving 15 mL of ACV showing the most important reduction ( table 2 ).

Anthropometric variables of the participants at weeks 0, 4, 8 and 12

The impact of ACV on body weight and BMI seems to be time-dependent as well. Reductions were more pronounced as the study progressed, with the most significant changes occurring at week 12.

The circumferences of the waist and hip, along with the Body Fat Ratio (BFR), decreased significantly in the three treatment groups at weeks 8 and 12 compared with week 0 (p<0.05). No significant effect was observed at week 4, compared with baseline (p>0.05). The effect of ACV on these parameters seems to be time-dependent with the most prominent effect observed at week 12 compared with week 4 and 8. However it does not seem to be dose dependent, as the three doses of ACV showed a similar level of efficacy in reducing the circumferences of the waist/hip circumferences and the BFR at week 8 and 12, compared with baseline ( table 2 ).

The placebo group did not experience any significant changes in the anthropometric variables throughout the study (p>0.05). This highlights that the observed improvements in body weight, BMI, waist and hip circumferences and Body Fat Ratio were likely attributed to the consumption of ACV.

Effects of ACV on blood biochemical parameters

The consumption of ACV also led to a time and dose dependent decrease in serum glucose, serum triglyceride and serum cholesterol levels. ( table 3 ).

Biochemical variables of the participants at weeks 0, 4, 8 and 12

Serum glucose levels decreased significantly by three doses of ACV at week 4, 8 and 12 compared with week 0 (p<0.05) ( table 3 ). Triglycerides and total cholesterol levels decreased significantly at weeks 8 and 12, compared with week 0 (p<0.05). A dose of 15 mL of ACV for a duration of 12 weeks seems to be the most effective dose in reducing these three blood biochemical parameters.

There were no changes in glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol levels in the placebo groups at weeks 4, 8 and 12 compared with week 0 ( table 3 ).

These data suggest that continued intake of 15 mL of ACV for more than 8 weeks is effective in reducing blood fasting sugar, triglyceride and total cholesterol levels in overweight/obese people.

Adverse reactions of ACV

No apparent adverse or harmful effects were reported by the participants during the 12 weeks of ACV intake.

During the past two decades of the last century, childhood and adolescent obesity have dramatically increased healthcare costs. 20 21 Diet and exercise are the basic elements of weight loss. Many complementary therapies have been promoted to treat obesity, but few are truly beneficial.

The present study is the first to investigate the antiobesity effectiveness of ACV, the fermented juice from crushed apples, in the Lebanese population.

A total of 120 overweight and obese adolescents and young adults (46 men and 74 women) with BMIs between 27 and 34 kg/m 2 , were enrolled. Participants were randomised to receive either a daily dose of ACV (5, 10 or 15 mL) or a placebo for a duration of 12 weeks.

Some previous studies have suggested that taking ACV before or with meals might help to reduce postprandial blood sugar levels, 22 23 but in our study, participants took ACV in the morning on an empty stomach. The choice of ACV intake timing was motivated by the aim to study the impact of apple cider vinegar without the confounding variables introduced by simultaneous food intake. In addition, taking ACV before meals could better reduce appetite and increase satiety.

Our findings reveal that the consumption of ACV in people with overweight and obesity led to an improvement in the anthropometric and metabolic parameters.

It is important to note that the diet diary and physical activity did not differ among the three treatment groups and the placebo throughout the whole study, suggesting that the decrease in anthropometric and biochemical parameters was caused by ACV intake.

Studies conducted on animal models often attribute these effects to various mechanisms, including increased energy expenditure, improved insulin sensitivity, appetite and satiety regulation.

While vinegar is composed of various ingredients, its primary component is acetic acid (AcOH). It has been shown that after 15 min of oral ingestion of 100 mL vinegar containing 0.75 g acetic acid, the serum acetate levels increases from 120 µmol/L at baseline to 350 µmol/L 24 ; this fast increase in circulatory acetate is due to its fast absorption in the upper digestive tract. 24 25

Biological action of acetate may be mediated by binding to the G-protein coupled receptors (GPRs), including GPR43 and GPR41. 25 These receptors are expressed in various insulin-sensitive tissues, such as adipose tissue, 26 skeletal muscle, liver, 27 and pancreatic beta cells, 28 but also in the small intestine and colon. 29 30

Yamashita and colleagues have revealed that oral administration of AcOH to type 2 diabetic Otsuka Long-Evans Tokushima Fatty rats, improves glucose tolerance and reduces lipid accumulation in the adipose tissue and liver. This improvement in obesity-linked type 2 diabetes is due to the capacity of AcOH to inhibit the activity of carbohydrate-responsive, element-binding protein, a transcription factor involved in regulating the expression of lipogenic genes such as fatty acid synthase and acetyl-CoA carboxylase. 26 31 Sakakibara and colleagues, have reported that AcOH, besides inhibiting lipogenesis, reduces the expression of genes involved in gluconeogenesis, such as glucose-6-phosphatase. 32 The effect of AcOH on lipogenesis and gluconeogenesis is in part mediated by the activation of 5'-AMP-activated protein kinase in the liver. 32 This enzyme seems to be an important pharmacological target for the treatment of metabolic disorders such as obesity, type 2 diabetes and hyperlipidaemia. 32 33

5'-AMP-activated protein kinase is also known to stimulate fatty acid oxidation, thereby increasing energy expenditure. 32 33 These data suggest that the effect of ACV on weight and fat loss may be partly due to the ability of AcOH to inhibit lipogenesis and gluconeogenesis and activate fat oxidation.

Animal studies suggest that besides reducing energy expenditure, acetate may also reduce energy intake, by regulating appetite and satiety. In mice, an intraperitoneal injection of acetate significantly reduced food intake by activating vagal afferent neurons. 32–34 It is important to note that animal studies done on the effect of acetate on vagal activation are contradictory. This might be due to the site of administration of acetate and the use of different animal models.

In addition, in vitro and in vivo animal model studies suggest that acetate increases the secretion of gut-derived satiety hormones by enter endocrine cells (located in the gut) such as GLP-1 and PYY hormones. 25 32–35

Human studies related to the effect of vinegar on body weight are limited.

In accordance with our study, a randomised clinical trial conducted by Khezri and his colleagues has shown that daily consumption of 30 mL of ACV for 12 weeks significantly reduced body weight, BMI, hip circumference, Visceral Adiposity Index and appetite score in obese subjects subjected to a restricted calorie diet, compared with the control group (restricted calorie diet without ACV). Furthermore, Khezri and his colleagues showed that plasma triglyceride and total cholesterol levels significantly decreased, and high density lipoprotein cholesterol concentration significantly increased, in the ACV group in comparison with the control group. 13 32–34

Similarly, Kondo and his colleagues showed that daily consumption of 15 or 30 mL of ACV for 12 weeks reduced body weight, BMI and serum triglyceride in a sample of the Japanese population. 12 13 32–34

In contrast, Park et al reported that daily consumption of 200 mL of pomegranate vinegar for 8 weeks significantly reduced total fat mass in overweight or obese subjects compared with the control group without significantly affecting body weight and BMI. 36 This contradictory result could be explained by the difference in the percentage of acetate and other potentially bioactive compounds (such as flavonoids and other phenolic compounds) in different vinegar types.

In Lebanon, the percentage of the population with a BMI of 30 kg/m 2 or more is approximately 32%. The results of the present study showed that in obese Lebanese subjects who had BMIs ranging from 27 and 34 kg/m 2 , daily oral intake of ACV for 12 weeks reduced the body weight by 6–8 kg and BMIs by 2.7–3.0 points.

It would be interesting to investigate in future studies the effect of neutralised acetic acid on anthropometric and metabolic parameters, knowing that acidic substances, including acetic acid, could contribute to enamel erosion over time. In addition to promoting oral health, neutralising the acidity of ACV could improve its taste, making it more palatable. Furthermore, studying the effects of ACV on weight loss in young Lebanese individuals provides valuable insights, but further research is needed for a comprehensive understanding of how the effect of ACV might vary across different age groups, particularly in older populations and menopausal women.

The findings of this study indicate that ACV consumption for 12 weeks led to significant reduction in anthropometric variables and improvements in blood glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol levels in overweight/obese adolescents/adults. These results suggest that ACV might have potential benefits in improving metabolic parameters related to obesity and metabolic disorders in obese individuals. The results may contribute to evidence-based recommendations for the use of ACV as a dietary intervention in the management of obesity. The study duration of 12 weeks limits the ability to observe long-term effects. Additionally, a larger sample size would enhance the generalisability of the results.

Ethics statements

Patient consent for publication.

Consent obtained from parent(s)/guardian(s)

Ethics approval

This study involves human participants and was approved by the research ethics committee of the Higher Center for Research (HCR) at The Holy Spirit University of Kaslik (USEK), Lebanon. The number/ID of the approval is HCR/EC 2023-005. Participants gave informed consent to participate in the study before taking part.

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Supplementary materials

  • Press release

Contributors RA-K: conceptualisation, methodology, data curation, supervision, guarantor, project administration, visualisation, writing–original draft. EE-H: conceptualisation, methodology, data curation, visualisation, writing–review and editing. JA: investigation, validation, writing–review and editing.

Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Competing interests No, there are no competing interests.

Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; externally peer reviewed.

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  1. Background of The Study

    Here are the steps to write the background of the study in a research paper: Identify the research problem: Start by identifying the research problem that your study aims to address. This can be a particular issue, a gap in the literature, or a need for further investigation. Conduct a literature review: Conduct a thorough literature review to ...

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  3. What is the Background of a Study and How Should it be Written?

    The background of a study is the first section of the paper and establishes the context underlying the research. It contains the rationale, the key problem statement, and a brief overview of research questions that are addressed in the rest of the paper. The background forms the crux of the study because it introduces an unaware audience to the ...

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  18. How to Write the Background of the Study in Research (Part 1)

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    Conclusion. In conclusion, the background of the study is a crucial section in research paper, thesis or dissertation writing that provides an overview of the research issue, its significance, and the context in which it arises. It usually includes a introduction of variables, context of study with the support of previous studies on this field.

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    The study on the fate and transport of Pharmaceuticals and Personal Care Products, PPCPs (FTP) in the environment, has received particular attention for over two decades. The PPCPs threaten ecology and human health even at low concentrations due to their synergistic effects and long-range transport. The research aims to provide an inclusive map of the scientific background of FTP research over ...

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  24. Apple cider vinegar for weight management in Lebanese adolescents and

    Background and aims Obesity and overweight have become significant health concerns worldwide, leading to an increased interest in finding natural remedies for weight reduction. One such remedy that has gained popularity is apple cider vinegar (ACV). Objective To investigate the effects of ACV consumption on weight, blood glucose, triglyceride and cholesterol levels in a sample of the Lebanese ...

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    Answer: The background of a study has to talk about the 'why' of the study - the reason you are doing the study, or more aptly, why the study is needed. Perhaps you have identified a gap (or several) in existing studies, perhaps you have a new insight into the problem, perhaps you have a new solution to the problem.

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    Answer: The background forms the first part of the Introduction section. It provides context for your study and helps the readers understand why your research topic is important. It gives a brief overview of the research done on the topic so far and mentions the gaps that have remained unaddressed as well as the need to address them.

  27. PDF What is research?

    Your participation in research is 100% voluntary! You have the right to choose whether or not you would like to be included in the research, with enough time and without any pressure from the people conducting the research. You have the right to refuse to be in the study at all, and to stop participating at any time after you begin the study.

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    The background is the first part of the introduction and has to set the context for the research. So, you need to talk about the existing research in the area and the gaps in this research. Based on this, the background has to lead to the purpose of the research and thus talk about the goals of the research. Therefore, in your case, you could ...