Today we will be learning how to write your journal paper title, conference paper title,
or report title. Welcome back to Uni-edit! My name is Antony P. and I teach English at all major
universities in Asia. Writing a clear and engaging title for your journal paper is a vital skill for
guiding other researchers to go deeper and read your abstract and then also hopefully read your
research paper. Writing a title for your paper that grabs readers is a special skill. Let's dive
into this special skill, step by step. Here we go. Your research paper title needs to...
Your research paper title needs to predict the content of the research paper.
Your research paper title needs to be interesting to the reader.
Your research paper title needs to reflect the tone of the writing.
Your research paper title needs to contain important keywords that will make your paper
more searchable in databases and on the web. Now, Your research paper title must...
Your research paper title must describe your topic, methods, sample, and results
Your research paper title must avoid unnecessary words
Your research paper title must be 5-15 words in length
Your research paper title must meet the requirements of the target publication
Here are 5 steps to write a research paper title
Step 1: Reflect on the main points of your research paper
What is your paper about? What or who was studied?
What was your methodology? What are your main findings or results?
Step 2: List the keywords of your research paper These are the words and phrases that readers will
be able to quickly identify in the title to understand what your paper is about.
Step 3: Write one self-contained sentence Write one self-contained sentence that
contains the information from step 1 and step 2. Try writing many variations of
the sentence until you find one that works. Consider asking a friend or
colleague for suggestions on how to improve your sentence.
Step 4: Shorten the sentence A research paper title should be 5 to 15 words
long. So now, you need to take out the unnecessary and repetitive words from the sentence.
You now have a title that clearly explains what your research is about.
Step 5: Make your research paper title engaging A clear title is great,
but a clear and engaging title is better. Engaging titles can include catchy phrases,
or the mention of a severe problem. Engaging titles suggest how the research will benefit the
readers or help them achieve their goals. About Uni-edit
Before we look at some examples, a quick word about what we do at Uni-edit. Here at Uni-edit, we
provide top-tier English editing and translation services to academics from around the world. We
specialize in editing academic journal papers in preparation for publication in academic journals.
Visit our website www.uni-edit.net for explanations of our service offerings and fees.
Onto our next section. Let's look at an example of the 5 steps.
I just finished a paper writing about communication in the accounting industry.
Let’s try to write a clear and engaging title based on my content. Although this example is
based on accounting, the strategies used will be the same for a paper in any discipline.
The final title of my paper is: Account your Blessings: A Meta-analysis on how
Mindfulness Practices in Accounting Firms are Revolutionizing Effective Communication.
Let’s use the five steps to write this title
Step 1: Reflect on the main points of your research paper
Mindfulness practices in accounting firms Voluntary customer service surveys
Meta-analysis of articles published in the last 30 years
Communication training Accountants that had
regular mindfulness practices scored hire on effective communication surveys with clients
Step 2: List the keywords of your research paper
Mindfulness practices Effective communication
Accounting firms Meta-analysis
Step 3: Write one self-contained sentence This study examined 30 articles published
in the last 20 years on effective communication training and practices at accounting firms in
the United States, and found that the firms with mindfulness-focused training and daily mindfulness
routines had the highest communication scores across a variety of voluntary customer surveys.
Step 4: Shorten the sentence This is a meta-analysis on the
effects that mindfulness practices have on effective communication in accounting firms.
Step 5: Make your research paper title engaging
You can start with an interesting phrase. Here, I chose “account your blessings”. And
I will follow this with a clear overview of the paper using keywords. “ A Meta-analysis on how
Mindfulness Practices in Accounting Firms are Revolutionizing Effective Communication
So my finished title is: Account your Blessings:
A Meta-analysis on how Mindfulness Practices in Accounting Firms are Revolutionizing
Effective Communication Let’s now take a look at some
weak research paper titles. Weak research paper titles
Not every researcher has the special skill of writing effective research paper titles.
Let's take a look at some research paper titles and see what the weaknesses of those titles are.
Title 1: Communication Gurus. Useful content? Weak. Catches attention? Yes
it does. It’s strong. Indicates tone? Weak. Uses keywords? No. This is weak too.
Title 2: Benefits of Mindfulness for Accountants: A Meta-analysis. Useful content? Strong.
Catches attention? Weak. Indicates tone? Weak. Uses keywords? Strong.
Title 3: How Mindful Accountants Make Excellent Communicators.
Useful content? Weak. Catches attention? Strong. Indicates tone? Strong. Uses keywords? Weak.
Now for the strong research paper title that we created before. Account your blessings:
A Meta-analysis on how Mindfulness Practices in Accounting Firms are Revolutionizing Effective
Communication. Useful content? Strong. Catches attention? Strong. Indicates tone? Strong.
Uses keywords? Strong. Why an effective title matters?
Researchers scan hundreds of research paper titles and choose just a few
papers to read. So an effective research paper title will allow other researchers to:
Find your research paper
Set the expectations of the content and value of your research
Set your research apart from similar and related research
Recap of writing a research paper title
Today, we talked about what your research paper title needs. We listed the 5 key steps of drafting
your research paper title. Then we walked through some examples using the techniques with you.
And we talked about how writing a research paper title is a special skill.
Now, you can get started on drafting your title! Thanks for watching. If you enjoyed
this free content, please click like and subscribe below and I will see you in another video. Bye!