Are you ready to submit your research paper for publication but haven't settled on a title yet? Do you have a title but aren't sure if it will be the right one for the journal editor or research database search engines? This article will help you fine tune or create an effective research paper title for your work.
Now that you have finished your research and analysis, and you're ready to take the final step before sending your work to journal editors and reviewers. The first thing journal editors and search engine results will see and show is your research paper title. Creating an effective research paper title is highly important to getting your paper in front of the right people. It is also going to be the only part of your paper that is available to everyone for free, and it will be what search engines use to index and show your work in search results. You therefore must design a clear and persuasive title that accurately represents your work.
When writing an effective research paper title, you want to ensure that the title includes all the relevant aspects of your work. Showcase those aspects in a way that entices the audience to read more. Be sure to use the nomenclature common in your field of study, because that will help your work show up in more search results and it will grab the attention of journal editors looking for articles that clearly represent the industry. If you are studying landslides, for example, you will want to include keywords relating to soil composition or grain size; if you are working on a study about organ transplants, then include the specific feature or procedure that affected successful transplants. Identify what parts of your research are going to interest your intended audience.
There are two key pieces of information that people will need to see in your paper title: the subject and the objective. Because you are already familiar with your study and its purpose, creating an effective research paper title is simply a matter of whittling down the words that describe the important aspects of your paper. The advice below will help you take steps to identify key areas of your research, organize the information, and trim it down to the right size for a title.
Develop a topic statement
To get started, consider a topic statement of your paper that includes the subject and scope of the study. The first step in building a topic statement is to ask yourself the following questions:
- What is your research paper about?
"My paper is about gene therapy and how it can improve cognitive function in dementia patients." - What was the subject of your study?
"I used data from 40 dementia patients from 10 states in the US." - What method did you use to perform your research?
"I performed a randomized trial." - What were the results?
"My study showed that gene therapy improved cognitive function in those who received the treatment."
Once you have answered those questions (such as in the example answers above), make a list of the keywords you used. For this example, those keywords would include the following:
- gene therapy
- cognitive function
- 40 dementia patients
- improved cognitive function
- 10 states in the US
- randomized trial
Then, create your topic statement using those keywords. It might read something like this:
"This study is a randomized trial that investigates whether gene therapy improved cognitive function in 40 dementia patients from 10 states in the US. The results show improved cognitive function in those who received the treatment."
This statement has 36 words — too long for a title. However, it does contain the main required elements: the subject and the objective. It also includes a summary of the results, which can be used to increase the persuasive nature of the title. If you are writing this down on paper, it may be helpful to underline or circle the keywords you used in the statement, as this will help you visually see how the keywords work together in your statement.
Trim the statement
The next step is to remove all unnecessary words to create a working title. Unnecessary words include elements that make the sentences complete sentences. Also remove words that are not central to your study or that would not be used in a research database search.
"This study is a randomized trial that investigates whether gene therapy improved cognitive function in 40 dementia patients from 10 states in the US. The results show improved cognitive function in those who received the treatment."
Next, take those words and move them around to form a new phrase. This may take a few tries to get it right, but it is worth the time.
"A randomized trial investigating whether gene therapy improved cognitive function in 40 dementia patients from 10 states in the US showed improved cognitive function."
This sample now has 24 words. We still need to get it down to the ideal 15 or fewer total words, with just the exact information journal editors will want. One way to do this is to use the keywords at the beginning and end of your title. Remove any irrelevant facts that other researchers will not be searching for. For example, the method you used is not usually the most searched-for keyword.
"A randomized trial investigating whether gene therapy improved cognitive function in 40 dementia patients from 10 states in the US showed improved cognitive function."
The final result may be something like this:
"Investigating the impact of gene therapy on cognitive function in dementia patients"
The resulting title has 13 words, had the main action at the beginning, and the main subject of the study at the end. This is a good example of how to create an effective research paper title that will increase journal editors' and reviewers' interest, and it may even help your paper receive more citations down the road.
Main tips to remember
If you are working on your first research paper title, the process can seem intimidating. Even with the process outlined above, creating the best research paper title possible for your work can be difficult and time consuming. Be sure to set aside a good amount of time to developing your title so that you don't feel rushed. Some writers go through 20 or more iterations before they arrive at a title that achieves effectiveness, persuasiveness, and clarity of purpose all in one.
In addition to the above process, keep the following main tips in mind when writing an effective research paper title:
- Write your paper and abstract first, then work on your title. This will make the process much easier than trying to nail a title down without a full, finished paper to start from.
- Keep your title short! Do not include more than 15 words.
- Do not use a period at the end of your title.
- Be sure that the keywords you use truly represent the content of your paper.
- Do not use abbreviations in your title.
- Include all essential key terms from your paper. This ensures your paper will be indexed properly in research databases and search engines. If you are unsure of the best keywords to use, talk to an academic librarian at your institution. They can help you identify keyword and search trends in your research field.
Examples of research paper titles
The lists below illustrate what effective and ineffective research paper titles look like. Use these examples to help guide your research paper title.
Effective titles
- Nurses on the Move: A Quantitative Report on How Meditation Can Improve Nurse Performance
- Correction of the ion transport defect in cystic fibrosis transgenic mice by gene therapy
- Landslide mapping techniques and their use in the assessment of the landslide hazard
- HLA compatibility and organ transplant survival: Collaborative Transplant Study
Ineffective titles
- Meditation Gurus
- The landslide story
- Landslide hazard and risk assessment
- Pharmacodynamics of oral ganciclovir and valganciclovir in solid organ transplant recipients
No matter what kind of field you are doing research in, you have the opportunity to create an amazing and effective research paper title that will engage your readers and get your paper in front of the journal editors and reviewers you want. By taking the time to go through the title development process, you will finish your work with a title that matches the work outlined in your research paper.
Header photo by Stokkete.