Writing a Research
Title
Rowena T. Ponce
Topic: meditation and nursing,
Suppose you want to find out if any studies have shown that meditation makes nurses
better communicators.
Keywords “nursing”, “communication”, and “meditation.”
Results:
1.Benefits of Meditation for the Nursing Profession: A Quantitative
Investigation
2.Why Mindful Nurses Make the Best Communicators
3.Meditation Gurus
4.Nurses on the Move: A Quantitative Report on How Meditation Can
Improve Nurse Performance
Results:
1.Benefits of Meditation for the Nursing Profession: A Quantitative Investigation
-describes the topic and the method of the study but is not particularly catchy
2. Why Mindful Nurses Make the Best Communicators
-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.
3. Meditation Gurus
-somewhat catchier but gives almost no information at all about the article
3. Nurses on the Move: A Quantitative Report on How Meditation Can Improve
Nurse Performance
-Begins with a catchy main title and is followed by a subtitle that gives information
about the content and method of the study
Characteristics of a Good Research Title
1.It should predict the content of the research
paper.
2.It 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.
Tips for Writing an Effective Research
Paper Title
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 FILIPINO NURSING STUDENTS
Tips for Writing an Effective Research
Paper Title
2. Avoid unnecessary words and jargons. Keep the title statement as
concise as possible.
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.
5. Use a descriptive phrase to convey the purpose of your research
efficiently.
6. Most importantly, use critical keywords in the title to increase the
discoverability of your study
The Subtitle
Subtitles are commonly used in research titles because of the following reasons:
1. It explains or provides additional context.
Examples: “Level of Participation Among Stakeholders: The Case of Sapang Palay National
High School” and “Problems Encountered by Senior High School on the Use of Research
Room: Basis for Proposed Design”
2. It describes the geographic scope of the research.
Example: “Art Appreciation of the Indigent Learners in Bulacan: The Case of Dumagats in
Norzagaray”
3. It describes the coverage of research.
Examples: “Self- Assessed Mathematics Competencies Among Grade Six Pupils: The Case
of Chiang Kai Shek College”
Things to Avoid
•
•
The period generally has no place in a title (even a declarative phrase can work
without a period)
Likewise, any kind of dashes to separates title parts (however, hyphens to link words
is fine)
•
Chemical formula, like H2O, CH4, etc. (instead use their common or generic names)
•
Avoid roman numerals (e.g., III, IX, etc.)
•
Semi-colons, as in “;” (the colon, however, is very useful to make two-part titles)
•
The taxonomic hierarchy of species of plants, animals, fungi, etc. is not needed
•
Abbreviations (except for RNA, DNA which is standard now and widely known)
Things to Avoid
•
•
Initialisms and acronyms (e.g., “Ca” may get confused with CA, which denotes cancer)
Avoid question marks (this tends to decrease citations, but posing a question is
useful in economics and philosophy papers or when the results are not so clear-cut
as hoped for)
•
Uncommon words (a few are okay, but too many can influence altmetric scoring)
•
Numerical exponents, or units (e.g. km-1 or km/hr)
•
Vague terms (e.g., “with” could be re-written with a more specific verb; “amongst”
rectified by simpler word ordering)
Things to Avoid
•
•
Cryptic/complex drug names (use the generic name if allowed to)
Obvious or non-specific openings with a conjunction: e.g., “Report on”, “A Study of”,
“Results of”, “An Experimental Investigation of”, etc. (these don’t contribute
meaning!)
•
Italics, unless it is used for the species names of studied organisms
•
Shorten scientific names (not coli, but write instead Escherichia coli)
•
Keep it short. Aim for 50 to 100 characters, but not more (shorter titles are cited
more often) or less than 13 words
Five simple steps in writing a good research
title.
Step 1: Ask yourself these questions:
✓ What is my paper about? Video lectures and academic journal as reference source
✓ What research design or method can be employed? Comparative study
✓ Who or what is studied? Select Grade 12 Humanities and social science students
✓ What were the results? There is a significant difference between the academic
performance of the two groups
Five simple steps in writing a good research
title.
Step 2: List the key words from Step 1.
✓ Video Lecture
✓ Academic Journal
✓ Humanities and Social Sciences
✓ Academic Performance
Five simple steps in writing a good research
title.
Step 3: Create a sentence that includes the key words in the list.
✓ This study compares the academic performance of select Grade 12
Humanities and Social students who use academic journal and video lecture
as reference source
Step 4: Delete all unnecessary or repetitive words and link the remaining.
✓ This study compares the academic performance of select Grade 12
Humanities and Social students who use academic journal and video lecture
as reference source
Five simple steps in writing a good research
title.
Step 5: Delete non- essential information and reword the title.
✓ Video Lectures and Academic Journals as Learning Aids of Humanities and
Social Sciences Students: A Comparative Study
✓ A Comparative Analysis on the Effectiveness of Video Lecture and Academic
Journal as Learning Aids of Humanities and Social Sciences Students
CHALLENGES ENCOUNTERED BY SENIOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
PERTAINING TO SCHOOL CANTEEN:
BASIS FOR PROPOSED DESIGN
FEASIBILITY OF ELEPHANT EAR (COLOCASIA) CRUDE EXTRACT AS
A WATER- RESISTANT COATING ON WOOD SURFACES
EFFECTIVENESS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF PANTAWID PAMILYANG
PILIPINO PROGRAM (4Ps): THE CASE OF BARANGAY 143
References
Enago Academy (2021) 4 Important Tips on Writing a Research Paper Title retrieved
from https://www.enago.com/academy/write-irresistible-researchpaper-title/
Del Valle (2020) Learning Activity Sheet Week 4, Sapang Palay National High School