Sollaci, Luciana B., and Mauricio G. Pereira. "The Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion (Imrad) Structure: A Fifty-Year Survey." Journal of the Medical Library Association 95.3 (2004): 364-71.

This structure was already considered the ideal outline for scientific writing in the first quarter of the 20th century [8, 9]; however, it was not used by authors [10]. After World War II, international conferences on scientific publishing recommended this format [11], culminating with the guidelines set by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, formerly known as the Vancouver Group, first published in the late 1970s [12]. According to Huth [13], the wide use of the IMRAD structure may be largely credited to editors, who insisted on papers being clearly formatted to benefit readers and to facilitate the process of peer review.

The IMRAD structure facilitates modular reading, because readers usually do not read in a linear way but browse in each section of the article, looking for specific information, which is normally found in preestablished areas of the paper.