Conducting academic research involves different challenges, one of which is creating a good title for a scientific article. Along with the abstract , the title is the business card of the work. In this article we will discuss about the Scientific article titles.
The title is the first contact that the reader has with a work. In the academic world, when the title does not have a descriptive character, it is practically ignored in the collection of bibliographic references.
According to Volpato (2007), most articles are not even read because readers reject them based on the title. To change this initial perception, it is necessary to create a title that draws attention and has a descriptive content.
What makes a good title for a scientific article?
Hairston and Keene, researchers on rhetoric, define that a good title must achieve four basic objectives: reflect the content, awaken the reader’s interest, demonstrate the tone of the language and contain important keywords for the search.
For Volpato (2007), a title can be prepared in the form of a sentence, question or variables. Understand better:
- Phrase: A categorical affirmation or denial that arouses the reader’s curiosity.
- Question: encourages the reader to seek the answer to the question.
- Variables: presents the main keywords of the study
Characteristics of a perfect title
The title of a scientific article must contain the following characteristics:
- Encourages readers to read the article;
- Highlights the importance of research;
- It’s simple, concise and impactful;
- Does not use redundant words;
- It is adjusted to the overall objective and conclusion of the article.
Practical example on the importance of the title in the search
A Pedagogy student is researching references to produce an article on the use of digital games in mathematics teaching. Your search uses the words “digital games”, “teaching” and “math”.
Using Boolean operators , it tells your query database that you want to find articles that address the three terms. The following titles appear in the results list:
- Benefits of digital games in teaching mathematics: a quantitative study
- gamifying math
- Why Digital Games Make Math Lessons More Interesting
- Gamify in the classroom: a quantitative report on how digital games improve math teaching
The research brings together scientific articles with similar content, but the titles are responsible for causing different impressions. See the analysis of the perception of each one:
- It describes the theme and the research method used, but it does not have elements capable of captivating the first reading.
- It manages to captivate, but it does not provide essential information about the article.
- It partially describes the theme, but without giving clues about the study method used.
- The headline is catchy, followed by a subheading that provides data on the content and research method.
After analyzing the list of results, it is clear that the best title is 4. It presents all the elements that a good scientific article title should contain and, therefore, has a greater chance of being read by other researchers.
How to write a title for the scientific article?
Learn how to create a scientific article title by following eight steps:
1 – Reflect the content
The title should reflect the content of the academic work, that is, gather in a single sentence information about theme, method, sample and results . To facilitate the construction of the title, consider the following formula:
[Outcome]: A [method] study of [topic] in [sample]
2 – Remove redundant words and jargon
Redundant words make the title too long and do not have any positive impact. Therefore, after writing the title, read it carefully and eliminate unnecessary elements.
Example: consider the title “Study of environmental gradients in lotic ecosystems”. You can eliminate the word “study” from the title, after all, every scientific article is a study.
In addition to avoiding unnecessary words, it is also advisable to eliminate jargon from the professional field, that is, terms that are not easily understood by laypersons in the subject.
3 – Spark interest
Use terms capable of stimulating the reader’s curiosity or interest. Example: “Gamify in the classroom” is an expression that makes the title more engaging.
4 – Demonstrate the tone of the language
The tone of language is the attitude of the speaker towards the reader. It reflects a position clearly, concisely and directly.
Example: “digital games improve math teaching”.
5 – Use the most important keywords of your work
Each academic work has 3 to 5 keywords . The main terms addressed in the corpus of the article must be present in the title. This facilitates indexing and aligns with the concept of search intent.
6 – Pay attention to the size
When creating a scientific article title, make sure it is between 5 and 15 words.
7 – Check publication standards and requirements
It is very important to check the standards and requirements established by the university or journal responsible for publishing the scientific article. Many journals require the title to be within a number of characters. Some institutions, on the other hand, limit the researcher’s creativity by determining a form for all titles.
8 – Write the title last
The title of the scientific article must reflect the conclusion of the study. For this reason, its creation corresponds to the last stage of the publication process.
