The Asian ESP Journal. Volume 9 Issue 1 2013 5 An Analysis of Lexical Bundles in Research Article Abstracts by Iranian and Native English-speaking Authors of Applied Linguistics Articles Hesamoddin Shahriari Ahmadi, Behzad Ghonsooly and Azar Hosseini Fatemi Ferdowsi University of Mashhad, Iran Biodata Hesamoddin Shahriari Ahmadi is an assistant professor of applied linguistics at the department of English, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. His chief research interests include second language writing, EAP and corpus linguistics. Behzad Ghonsooly is a professor in applied linguistics. He teaches at the department of English, Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. His research interests are ESP and language testing. Azar Hosseini Fatemi is an assistant professor in TEFL and the head of the department of English at Ferdowsi University of Mashhad. Her areas of interest include issues in second language teaching and learning. Abstract Given the importance of effective communication among members of various academic disciplines, the research article has gained immense popularity among linguists, hoping to inform academic writing instructors and advanced EFL/ESL writers with the results of their