That first sentence has been a totally standard way to open a research paper for at least twenty years now. (As I have seen from both publishing myself, and as

That first sentence has been a totally standard way to open a research paper for at least twenty years now. (As I have seen from both publishing myself, and as a side gig, doing editing of myriad papers by non-native English speakers working in many other branches of the sciences.) A writer has to start somewhere, and that has always been a matter of social convention.