ATTN Arin-Re: writing a manuscript

[Guest guest]

hello,

Arin has mentioned that some journals expect that the type of study undertaken should be mentioned in the title. Yes, it does give the reader an immediate idea of the outline of the paper. However I personally feel that words like analysis, investigation,trial, survey should not be apart of the title.

kunda

From: Arin Basu <arin.basu@...>"netrum " <netrum >Cc: "netrum " <netrum >Sent: Sat, 2 April, 2011 2:10:39 AMSubject: Re: writing a manuscript

Speaking of titling, many journals prefer (even if they do not make it explicit) that the type of study conducted (randomized trial, cohort study, case control study, cross sectional or longitudinal survey, or systematic review,etc.) be part of the title. This is a good practice anyway. Other publications, for example, Cochrane Collaboration, require the format in title of stating <intervention> for <outcome> when writing reviews. I believe that if anyone writes a systematic review, it's not a bad idea to follow this convention as well, even if it's not a Cochrane meta analysis. Other journals for example, Environmental Health Perspectives, limit title word counts to 20 or less. Generally writing less words is not penalized.

Arin

Sent from my iPad

On 2/04/2011, at 5:59 AM, kunda gharpure <gharpurekunda@...> wrote:

hello,

Some interesting titles from -- www.cyber-spy.com/ebooks/ebooks/Choos...

Compare these two titles:

1. An Interim Report from the Myers Project

2. The Myers Project Interim Report into the Effects of Sleep Deprivation on Memory Retention

Not only does the second title bring the topic phrase ('the Myers Project') to the start of the title, but it also includes additional key words: sleep deprivation and memory retention.

Readers searching using these terms will have an increased chance of finding the document.

Now compare these two titles:

1. A study of the effects of chaos as a source of complexity and diversity in evolutionary processes

2. Chaos as a source of complexity and diversity in evolution

The first title takes seventeen words, the second one ten. The first one contains extra words that convey slightly more information (study, effects and processes) but at the cost of making the title notably longer and less memorable.

Here is another example:

1. A description of a variety of different tools for creating an interactive virtual−cinema environment

2. Tools for interactive virtual cinema

Hope by now you have mastered the art of writing a good title for your research paper .

kunda