DOI: 10.1111/hir.
12049
Editorial
What makes a good title?
Abstract
The chances are the first thing you when you set
out to write an article is the title. But what fac-
tors transform a mediocre title into a good title?
Firstly, it should be both informative and spe-
cific, using words or phrases likely to be used
when searching for information, for example
‘nurse education’ rather than simply ‘nurse’.
Secondly, it should be concise yet convey the
main ideas clearly; articles with short titles
reporting study findings have been found to
attract higher numbers of viewing and citations.
Thirdly, provide details of the study design to
assist the reader in making an informed choice
about the type of project your article is report-
ing. In taking these small steps when developing
your title, your title can present a more concise,
retrievable and clear articulation of your article.
Keywords: Publishers and publishing, Writing
What’s the first thing you write when you set
out to write an article? The chances are that it is a
title, to get you over the hurdle of the blank page
and having a strong ‘working title’ can help you
stay focused during the writing process.
But titles are not only about getting started and
it is important to consider the wider purpose of a
title, because choosing the right title can be crucial
on a number of levels. A well-written title can
help someone searching for an article on your
topic area to find your paper and provides a clear
statement to the reader of what to expect.
So what makes a good title? First and foremost,
the title should be informative. In her analysis of
article titles, Cynthia Whissel1 notes that while the
use of emotive or abstract language varies over
time, there has been a consistent trend towards
more concrete and definitive titles since the mid-
1980s. This trend could partly be explained by the
rise of Internet searches to locate the literature,
with authors considering the likely words or
phrases used to identify papers on their subject.
Being specific in your title can aid its retrieval so,
© 2013 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2013 Health Libraries Group
Health Information & Libraries Journal, 30, pp. 259–260
for example, instead of searching simply for
papers on ‘education’ or ‘libraries’, someone is
more likely to search for a particular type of edu-
cation or library, for example ‘nurse education’ or
‘health libraries’, something which can easily be
reflected in your article’s title.
Secondly, be concise. Most journals will have a
word or character limit for titles and may well use
a shortened version of the title as a heading across
all pages of the article, so conveying a shortened
yet comprehensive version of the main ideas dis-
cussed clearly and briefly is imperative. Interest-
ingly, a recent study of publication metrics also
found that articles with short titles, particularly
those describing results, are associated with higher
numbers of views and citations.2
Thirdly, where appropriate, give details of the
research design. As noted above, a key role for a
title is to be informative while being concise, and
colons can assist in this process. For example, the
title ‘ Cost-effective ways of delivering enquiry
services: a rapid review’3 immediately informs the
reader that rather than being merely a discursive
piece, this article is a synthesis of published evi-
dence thereby adding potential value and signifi-
cance for someone seeking evidence on how to
develop their own enquiry service. Depending on
the discipline, Hartley has also reported that some
groups of readers actually prefer titles with colons
to titles without them.4
While we may consider some or even all of
these features when we first put pen to paper,
ideas tend to evolve during the writing process, so
the title you started with may not be the one you
end up submitting with your article. When you
have finished writing, just like the abstract, ensure
that the title you are using still reflects the core
message of your writing and, if it does not, change
it! And bear in mind that titles are usually read in
conjunction with an abstract so it is important that
they are complementary and convey the same
point. This may seem obvious, but you would be
surprised how many people forget this simple fact.
259

260 Editorial
In taking these small steps when developing
your title, your title can present a more concise,
retrievable and clear articulation of your article.
Maria J. Grant
Editor, Health Information and Libraries Journal
Email: m.j.grant@salford.ac.uk
Twitter: @MariaJGrant @HILJnl #hilj
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/ovBuiM
http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hilj
References
1 Whissell, C. The trend towards more attractive and informa-
tive titles: American Psychologist 1946–2010. Psychological
Reports 2012, 110, 427–44.
2 Paiva, C. E., Lima, J. P. & Paiva, B. S. Articles with short
titles describing the results are cited more often. Clinics
2012, 67, 509–13.
3 Sutton, A. & Grant, M. J. Cost-effective ways of delivering
enquiry services: a rapid review. Health Information and
Libraries Journal 2011, 28, 249–63.
4 Hartley, J. Planning that title: practices and preferences for
titles with colons in academic articles. Library & Information
Science Research 2007, 29, 553–568.
In this issue…
In this issue of the Health Information and
Libraries Journal, author(s) investigate the informa-
tion seeking behaviour1–2 and satisfaction3 of pub-
lic1 and healthcare workers,2 consider enhanced
methods of data collection4 and tools to accelerate
the adoption of research into practice.5
The delays in getting research into practice are
well known, and Mairs et al. seek to expedite the
transition by conducting a review of online technol-
ogies available to facilitate health-related communi-
cation and knowledge translation, identifying great
potential in the diversity of tools (wikis, forums,
blogs, virtual communities of practice and confer-
encing technology) available.5 Acknowledging that
speed is important in dissemination, the quality of
that evidence is essential and Urquhart et al., using
the National Minimum Dataset for Social Care
(NMDS-SC) as an example, discuss a novel wide-
ranging bibliometric approach in which interviews
are conducted with key informants to provide a
more rounded picture of the impact of a data set.4
© 2013 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2013 Health Libraries Group
14711842, 2013, 4, Downloaded from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/hir.12049 by Cochrane Philippines, Wiley Online Library on [02/09/2023]. See the Terms and Conditions (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/terms-and-conditions) on Wiley Online Library for rules of use; OA articles are governed by the applicable Creative Commons License
With access to information in mind, Austvoll-
Dahlgren et al. describes the development of a struc-
tured set of tools seeking to improve health literacy
skills of the general public1, while the existing infor-
mation seeking behaviour of students and physicians
in low and middle income countries are explored by
Gavino et al.2 They present the findings of their sur-
vey in relation to three broad areas: therapy and man-
agement questions (PubMed), diagnostic dilemmas
(a colleague) and medication queries (a formulary).
With the need to positively demonstrate the
impact of our services, Mairaj et al.3 round up this
years final manuscript by considering the eternal
issue of user satisfaction with a teaching hospital
library service.
Remember that you can receive updates on all
forthcoming papers published in the Health Infor-
mation and Libraries Journal, together with news
items and a weekly writing tip, via the @HILJnl
twitter account and my Facebook account at http://
on.fb.me/ovBuiM
Maria J. Grant
Editor, Health Information and Libraries Journal
Email: m.j.grant@salford.ac.uk
Twitter: @MariaJGrant @HILJnl #hilj
Facebook: http://on.fb.me/ovBuiM
http://wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/hilj
References
1 Austvoll-Dahlgren, A., Danielsen, S., Opheim, E., Bjorndal,
A., Reinar, L. M., Flottorp, S. A., Oxman, A. D. & Helseth,
S. Development of a complex intervention to improve health
literacy skills. Health Information and Libraries Journal
2013, 30, 278–293.
2 Gavino, A., Ho, B. L., Wee, P. A., Marcelo, A. & Fontelo,
P. Information-seeking trends of medical professionals and
students from middle- income countries: a focus on the Phil-
ippines. Health Information and Libraries Journal 2013, 30,
303–317.
3 Mairaj, M. I. & Mirza, M. N. Library services and user satis-
faction in developing countries: a case study. Health Informa-
tion and Libraries Journal 2013, 30, 318–326.
4 Urquhart, C. & Dunn, S. A bibliometric approach demon-
strates the impact of a social care data set on research and
policy. Health Information and Libraries Journal 2013, 30,
294–302.
5 Mairs, K., McNeil, H., McLeod, J., Prorok, J. & Stolee, P.
Online strategies for facilitate health-related knowledge trans-
fer: a systematic search and research. Health Information and
Libraries Journal 2013, 30, 261–277.
Health Information & Libraries Journal, 30, pp. 259–260