As is well known, …

It is well known that …

… widely accepted …

Many authors agree that …

… broadly agree that …

Many or most authors would agree that …

a widely held belief

a widely accepted notion

our present understanding of …

a common theoretical position

the most widely accepted explanation of … is that …

the prevailing view of … is that …

the current consensus is that …

Most or many or some scholars view … as …

Most authors would interpret this as …

… is usually interpreted as …

… is generally analysed GB or analyzed US as …

… is generally regarded as …

within … theory

from a … perspective

within the framework of …

a or the frame of reference

Previous work

As in previous studies of …, …

…, as put forward in the study of … by X

… originally proposed by X

… first shown or demonstrated by X

… in the writing of X

… can be traced to …

in his or her earlier work

in her or his 2010 doctoral thesis

initial reaction to X’s paper was mixed

The notion of … derives from …

… has or have been the subject or the focus of numerous studies

… has or have been discussed, examined etc. extensively in the literature

several or various explanations etc. have been suggested in the literature

a great many explanations etc. have been put forward for …

The topic is not a new one; however, …

There is now a substantial body of research or literature or work on …

the wealth of literature on …

Noteworthy studies of … are …

X’s most influential work

X and Y, in their influential study of …, …

… has been carried out in detail by X

The most detailed examination or study of … to date is …

Initial observations suggest or indicate that …

Previous studies of or on … have shown or suggested that …

Results from earlier studies have indicated or suggested that …

Research conducted in the 1990s etc. indicated that …

this has led some authors to suggest that …

It has been shown or demonstrated repeatedly that …

This view can be found in …

a number of other studies …

In a preliminary or an exploratory study, X found that …

… has been linked to …

…, which is also known to cause etc. …

… has been found to have an adverse effect on …

… has been shown to play an important or a pivotal role in …

X first remarked on the similarity, relationship or connection between …

Originally suggested by X in 1980 etc., … was subsequently developed further by Y

X’s discovery of …

… paved the way for …

… was taken up by others …

… provided the impetus for further research on etc. …

… was the trigger for an explosion of research on …

… contributed to the development of …

… marked a major turning point in …

X showed that …

X and Y’s study was the first to show etc. that or how …

… was the first major work in or on …

Before X, it was widely believed that …

X’s work, little recognized US and GB or recognised GB at the time, has come to be regarded as …

though not published in his or her lifetime

… now widely used in …

X’s study or work established

X’s study laid the groundwork for …

the or a cornerstone of … theory

the foundation of … theory

Of fundamental importance to … is …

The most detailed or explicit statement of … theory is …

Building on or drawing on X’s work, …

X’s theory is obviously of relevance or applicable here

The … presented here is based in part on an earlier study

Many of our or the findings confirm … found by X

Based on these results, …

Against this backdrop, …

In view of this, it is useful to …

Taking this on board, we can state that …

Interestingly, some studies show …

A number of investigators have shown …

Some studies have reported …, while others have shown …

Several authors or researchers have commented on …

Previously, it was widely assumed that …

Until recently, it was widely believed that …

Many scholars adhere to the view that …

Historically, …

Traditionally, …

Conventionally, …

… is or was often attributed to …

… is or was largely attributed to …

We now know that …

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