Title

The face of the paper

• The descriptor

• The advertisement

• The pitch

Need to make it count!

Whether your article will be read by many people, few people, or virtually none at all … can be largely a function of the title and the abstract.

Types of title

1. Noun Phrase: string of nouns & adjectives (not a sentence)

   Diversity and invasibility of southern Appalachian plant communities

   Food expenditure patterns in urban and rural Indonesia

   Systems of weed control in peanuts

   Short- and long-term effects of disturbance and propagule pressure on a biological invasion

2. A sentence

3. A question

Strategies for effective titles

Provide as much relevant information as possible, but be concise

Use keywords prominently

• Place near the beginning

  Effects of added calcium on salinity tolerance of tomato -> Calcium addition improves salinity tolerance of tomato

• Make use of a colon (:) or a dash (-)

  • Keyword-containing part: explanatory section

  Native weeds and exotic plants: relationships to disturbance in mixed-grass prairie

  Resistance to infection with intra-cellular parasites – identification of a candidate gene

Choose strategically: noun phrase, statement, or question?

• Noun phrases are common but are not always the most informative, and don’t place keywords near the front

  Evidence of involvement of proteinaceous toxins from Pyrenophora teres in net blotch of barley

• Statement titles only suitable for papers that address a specific question and present a non-complex answer

  Proteinaceous metabolites from Pyrenophora teres contribute to symptom development of barley net blotch

• When no simple answer – use a question

  Which insect introductions succeed and which fail?

You need to check your journal’s conventions or recommendations

• Develop a list of possible titles as you draft your paper

• Choose the most effective one at the end of the writing process

Avoid ambiguity in noun phrases

• Restrict noun phrases to a maximum of three words

  germination conditions

  application rate

  • If longer than three words – insert the prepositions that clarify meaning (of, by, for)

    enzymatic activity suppression -> suppression of enzymatic activity

    soybean seedling growth suppression -> suppression of soybean seedling growth

Avoid using wasted words

• a study of, investigation of, development of, observations on

• new, improved, sensitive, novel, validated

Be informative. Don’t make titles too short

Think about what you want to emphasise

First-Trimester Maternal Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein A is Influenced by Smoking

Smoking Influences First-Trimester Maternal Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein A

Use keywords prominently

• Capture interest of reader

• Place near the front of your title

• Same as those used throughout article

Follow journal guidelines

• Request that titles are written as phrases, not sentences

  Reduction in Cholesterol with Statin Treatment

  Cholesterol Concentrations Are Lowered with Statin Treatment

Avoid abbreviations

Something to try

Type the whole title (in double quotes “ ”) into Google Scholar

Type the three or four most distinctive or memorable title words separately into the search engine

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Ideally you want to include some key words used by other authors but also include other words to make your article distinctive.