A good title for a research paper accomplishes four goals. First, it predicts the content of the research paper. Second, a good title should be interesting to the reader. Third, it should reflect the tone of the writing. Fourth and finally, it should contain important keywords that will make it easier to be located during a keyword search. Here are a few other tips you can use to make sure your title will be part of the recipe for an effective research paper:
1. Make sure your research title describes (a) the topic, (b) the method, (c) the sample, and (d) the results of your study. You can use the following formula:[Result]: A [method] study of [topic] among [sample]Example: Meditation makes nurses perform better: a qualitative study of mindfulness meditation among German nursing students
2. Avoid unnecessary words and jargons. You want a title that will be comprehensible even to people who are not experts in your field.
3. Make sure your title is between 5 and 15 words in length.
4. If you are writing a title for a university assignment or for a particular academic journal, verify that your title conforms to the standards and requirements for that outlet. For example, many journals require that titles fall under a character limit, including spaces. Also, many universities require that titles take a very specific form, limiting your creativity.
1. An abstract is a concise description of your research, in 250 words or less. It should include:
2. Problem Statement: The overall purpose of your study and the research problem.
3. Methodology: How you went about investigating it.
4. Results: Major findings of your study – quantified and stated empirically.
5. Conclusion: The implications of what you found.
Important:
1. Assume no previous knowledge on the part of your reader – avoid acronyms and explain any topic specific terminology.
2. Leave any judgments as to the relevance of the research to your reader. This is a summary document, not a critique.
1. A running title or a running head is a short version of the paper title that is printed as a heading at the top of each page. If your document includes page numbers at the top, the running head can precede the page number or appear on the opposite edge of the page.
2. The specific requirements for running heads vary. In general, running heads should be brief. APA guidelines require that running heads be a maximum of 50 characters (spaces count as characters).
3. The running head is usually written in all capital letters.
4. It is placed in a header at the top of the page. Check the journal or style guidelines for any specifics on margins, spacing, or font.
5. If your paper title is already within the character limit, simply use the full title as the running head—no special changes are needed. However, if your paper title is over the limit, then you need to create a distinct running head that fits within the style guidelines.
6. Try and identify the main part of your title. For example, if the paper is called “The Effects of Running on Heart Health in Elderly Patients,” consider using only the first part, “Effects of Running on Heart Health,” or the second part, “Heart Health in Elderly Patients.” Make the choice based on which ideas and concepts are most prominent in the paper.
7. Also, eliminate articles such as the words “the” and “a.” The title “Re-examining the Literary Traditions in Ancient China” can be shortened to “Re-examining Literary Traditions in Ancient China.”
All scientific papers have the same general format – conforming to a standard in academic publishing. They are divided into specific parts, each part containing a specific type of information. Typically, scientific papers consist of the following sections:
1. Title – Gives a clear and enticing introduction to the topic
2. Authors – Names each major contributor to the work
3. Abstract – Summary of paper’s main focus – short
4. Introduction – Reveals main problem or question
5. Materials & Methods – How the problem or question was approached specifically
6. Results – Reveals the findings
7. Discussion – Talks about what the findings mean
8. Acknowledgements [Optional] – may recognize people or institutions who assisted with the research
9. References/Literature Cited – Account for all supporting documentation.
Selecting keywords for research articles is not difficult, but it does take some strategizing. The most important component of the article is the title – “The search engine assumes that the title contains all of the important words that define the topic of the piece, and thus gives higher weight age to the words appearing there.” Therefore, the words of the title represent the main concepts of the article.
Keyword usage in the body of the article or abstract should follow these guidelines:
1. Keywords should represent key concepts
2. Keywords should be descriptive
3. Keywords should reflect a collective understanding of the topic
4. Limit keywords/phrases to 3-4
5. Use synonyms of keywords throughout
6. Reuse keywords and phrases throughout article or abstract
7. Furthermore, there are a variety of online tools available to select accurate keywords, including – Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), Google Keyword Planner, Google Trends, Keyword Tool and Boolean Search.
EndNote will not be able to directly import references from MS Word, since it can’t break apart typed references into the relevant sub-sections – title, year, author, etc. However, you can add your existing references to WizFolio, then import from the clipboard and export it as a .ris format. The .ris file can then be imported into EndNote.