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Writing an Effective Research Paper Title

Presentation · January 2020

DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.24624.58889/1

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Rajaa A. Mahmoud
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Writing an Effective Research
Paper Title

Dr. Rajaa A. Mahmoud

2020
Learning Objectives
By the end of the session, trainees will be able to:
Describe the importance of a
Research Paper Title

Know the Characteristics of a

Good Research Title

Know some Tips for Writing an

Effective Research Paper Title

Formulate a Good Research

Paper Title
 Importance of a Research Paper Title
When you are searching for a research study on a
particular topic, You may find:
• Articles with interesting, descriptive research
titles draw you in.
• Other research titles that are not descriptive are
usually passed over, even though they may be
good research papers with interesting contents.

This shows the importance of coming up with a

good title for your research paper
 Why do Research Titles Matter?

Before we look at how to title a research paper,

let’s look at a research title examples that
illustrates why a good research paper should have
a strong title:
 Example:
• Imagine that you are researching motivation and
nursing, and you want to find out if any studies
have shown that motivation makes nurses
better care providers.

• You conduct a keyword search using the

keywords “nursing”, “care providers”, and
“motivation.”

You come up with results that have the following

titles:
 Search results:
1. Benefits of Motivation for the Nursing
Profession: A Quantitative Investigation
2. Why motivated Nurses are the Best care
providers

3. Nurses on the Move: A Quantitative Report on

How Motivation Can Improve Nurses’
Performance
Lets see the characteristics of each title:
1. Benefits of Motivation for the Nursing
Profession: A Quantitative Investigation

Title 1 describes the topic and the method of the

study but is not particularly catchy.
 Title 2:
2. Why motivated Nurses are the Best care
providers

Title 2 partly describes the topic, but does not give

any information about the method of the study - it
could simply be a theoretical or opinion piece.
 Title 3:
3. Nurses on the Move: A Quantitative Report on
How Motivation Can Improve Nurses’
Performance
Title 3 begins with a catchy main title and is
followed by a subtitle that gives information about
the content and method of the study.

As we will see, Title 3 has all the characteristics of

a good research title.
Characteristics of a Good Research Title
According to rhetoric scholars Hairston & Keene:
A good title ensure accomplishes 4 goals:

1. A good title predicts the content of the research

paper.
2. A good title should be interesting to the reader.
3. It should reflect the tone of the writing.
4. It should contain important keywords that will
make it easier to be located during a keyword
search.
Let’s return to the examples we had in slide 6 to
see if they meet these four criteria:
Predicts Reflects Important
Interesting?
content? tone? keywords?
Benefits of Motivation for the
Nursing Profession: A Yes No No Yes
Quantitative Investigation

Why motivated Nurses are the

Best care providers No Yes Yes No

Nurses on the Move: A

Quantitative Report on How
Motivation Can Improve Yes Yes Yes Yes
Nurses’ Performance
 For Writing an Effective
Research Paper Title

When writing a research title, you can use

the four criteria listed in slide 11 as a guide.

Other tips you can use to make sure your

title will be part of the of an effective
research paper:
 Tip # 1:

Make sure your research title describes:

(a) The topic
(b) The method
(c) The sample
(d) The results of your study.
 Tip # 2:
You can use the following formula:

[Result]: A [method] study of [topic] among [sample]

Example:
Motivation makes nurses perform better: a qualitative study of
administrative motivation among Basrah nursing staff
Tip # 3: Avoid unnecessary words &
jargons
You want a title that will be comprehensible
even to people who are not experts in your
field.
Tip # 3: Number of words:

Make sure your title is between 5 and 15

words in length.
Well Done
 References
• Hairston, M., & Keene, M.
2003. Successful writing. 5th ed. New York:
Norton.
• University of Southern California.
2017. Organizing your social sciences research
paper: choosing a title. [Online] Available
at: http://libguides.usc.edu/writingguide/title

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