Introduction content: What is meant by rationale?

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Rationale means the justification for doing the study. It explains why the research is needed by identifying the problem or knowledge gap, what previous work has shown, and why filling that gap would matter for science or patient care. The rationale connects existing evidence to the study’s aims or hypotheses and helps readers see the study’s significance and purpose. It’s not about who funds the study, what the study results will be, or which statistical tests will be used—that’s separate information in the protocol or manuscript. So the rationale is best understood as the justification for undertaking the study.