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 …