The competition and pursuit for better ranking within the academia drive a more
prevailing and urgent need to increase the number of research publications. This paper
examines twenty research article introduction sections written in English to identify the
rhetorical patterns and structures for better understanding on how the writers write. The
research articles are written by the Computer Science researchers in Malaysian private
universities. This paper presents the results of the move analysis on the rhetorical structure
of the selected text and the descriptions on how the moves were accomplished by the
writers. In general, the results show that the writers utilised the Create a Research Space
(CARS) model by Swales (2004). The three moves suggested in CARS model are establishing
the research territory, establishing the research niche and presenting the present work.
While all the three moves suggested in the model are fulfilled by the writers, some of the
rhetorical steps which are proposed as obligatory steps in CARS model are being
underutilised. Such underutilisation calls for more emphasis and employment on the
respective rhetorical steps. The respective rhetorical steps are presenting positive
justification, summarising methods, announcing principle outcomes and stating the value
of the present research.
