It is shown that in contrast to English authors, Indonesian authors regard fixing shared background knowledge essential in their RA introductions yet not vindicating their research project; Indonesian authors defend their research topic by personal reasons and revising the topical knowledge and practices and while some employ subjective and practical reasons to approve their research projects, many do not vindicate it at all. In case Indonesian authors employ their usual rhetorical style when writing research article introductions in English, this may induce article refusal by international journals. KEYWORDS: Research article, introduction section, rhetorical style transfer, establishing and occupying niches