10 | Dos and Don’ts When Writing a Title

Best Practices

The title is arguably the most important sentence you will write in a paper or grant proposal. The title is the most widely read part, shapes readers’ first impressions, and can influence their decision to read or cite your paper or fund your proposal. Additionally, the title helps people find your content online amongst a mind-boggling amount of competing information. Below is a brief summary of standard advice for writing titles in science.

Dos

• Do write a descriptive title that accurately describes the contents of the paper or proposal.
• Do write a concise title that conforms with any word or character limits.
• Do avoid or minimize acronyms and technical jargon.
• Do use important keywords early on in your title.
• Do realize that several revisions will likely be necessary to achieve an excellent title.

Don’ts

• Don’t wait to the last minute to write your title.
• Don’t start your title with unnecessary phrases (e.g., Study on) or words (e.g., A, An, The).
• Don’t make the title too general.
• Don’t use titles that ask questions.
• Don’t use funny titles.^[1]
• Don’t use titles that make declarative statements unless your target journal allows this style.

Further Readings and Resources

• Gastel, B. & Day, R.A. (2022). Chapter 7: How to Prepare the Title. In How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper, Ninth Edition. Greenwood Press, 45–50.
• PLOS Writing Center, How to Write a Great Title. https://plos.org/resource/how-to-write-a-great-title/. The above list structure was adapted from this article.
• Tay, A. (28 July 2020). How to Write a Good Research Paper Title. Nature News.