ABSTRACT
Introduction The research article is no doubt the most studied genre in English for academic purposes (EAP). As Hyland (2009a, p. 67) states, it remains the “pre-eminent genre of the academy” and “is the principal site of knowledge-making.” Swales’ (1981, 1990) seminal work on the rhetorical organization of research articles has been followed by a large number of studies exploring the rhetorical organization of various parts of this genre, rhetorical and lexicogrammatical features characterizing this genre, and cross-disciplinary and cross-linguistic variation in the genre’s structure. As the pre-eminent genre produced in the academic community, the research article has also been the site for exploration of a number of rhetorical aspects of academic discourse such as stance, engagement, evaluation, and author presence. These studies have increased our understanding of this genre and the epistemologies of different disciplinary communities.
