Can’t say the intro has ever been particularly useful, even if new to the field. If the methods aren’t detailed enough to understand the methods, then you are going to have to look elsewhere. The intro isn’t going to have that information. If you want a general summary of the field, a dedicated review is far far better than most scientists trying to fill space to get to the science.
When a paper is far enough outside of my field I’m not going to be knowledgeable enough to critique methods. I’m not “new to the field” in the sense that I’m starting research in that area. Just thought the title was interesting/cool and I want to know a little bit more about the specifics. I don’t actually care about the field enough to study it (if I did I’d look for a review). So I’m not trying to understand the field but the just the paper(broadly). Why is the thing they study important? How did they (supposedly) come to their hypothesis? Just how badly is a news report overreaching what the source states? Etc.
Can’t say the intro has ever been particularly useful, even if new to the field. If the methods aren’t detailed enough to understand the methods, then you are going to have to look elsewhere. The intro isn’t going to have that information. If you want a general summary of the field, a dedicated review is far far better than most scientists trying to fill space to get to the science.
When a paper is far enough outside of my field I’m not going to be knowledgeable enough to critique methods. I’m not “new to the field” in the sense that I’m starting research in that area. Just thought the title was interesting/cool and I want to know a little bit more about the specifics. I don’t actually care about the field enough to study it (if I did I’d look for a review). So I’m not trying to understand the field but the just the paper(broadly). Why is the thing they study important? How did they (supposedly) come to their hypothesis? Just how badly is a news report overreaching what the source states? Etc.