The title is the most read part of every article. The reader often decides whether to read the rest of an article just by looking at the title. For this reason, the choice of title is an essential factor that directly affects the reading and citation of the articles. The title should be short, but it should clearly state what was done in the study.

Some journals recommend specifying the type of study (especially randomized trial, systematic review, meta-analysis) in the title. Examples of titles, including the type of work, can be given as follows:

Hammoud K, Brimacombe M, Yu A, Goodloe N, Haidar W, El Atrouni W. Vancomycin trough and acute kidney injury: a large retrospective, cohort study. Am J Nephrol, 2016; 44: 456-461.

Wahlberg A, Andreen Sachs M, Bergh Johannesson K, Hallberg G, Jonsson M, Skoog Svanberg A, Högberg U. Self-reported exposure to severe events on the labour ward among Swedish midwives and obstetricians: a cross-sectional retrospective study. Int J Nurs Stud, 2016; 65: 8-16.

According to the studies, the titles that also mention the study results are read and cited more than the titles that do not. Examples of the titles that also indicate the results of the study are as follows:

Fulgeri C, Carpio JD, Ardiles L. Kidney injury in systemic lupus erythematosus: lack of correlation between clinical and histological data. Nefrologia, 2018; 38: 386-393

Benn A, Barker GR, Stuart SA, Roloff EV, Teschemacher AG, Warburton EC, Robinson ES. Optogenetic stimulation of prefrontal glutamatergic neurons enhances recognition memory. J Neurosci, 2016; 36: 4930-4939

The main features of a good title can be listed as follows:

1. It is concise and does not contain unnecessary words. Example:

Title 1: An investigation of the effects of curcumin on inflammatory changes in Helicobacter pylori-induced chronic atrophic gastritis

The phrase “an investigation of” in this title does not add anything to the title as information, and there will be no loss of meaning by removing it. Therefore, the same information can be provided by writing the title as follows:

Title 2: The effects of curcumin on inflammatory changes in Helicobacter pylori-induced chronic atrophic gastritis

The second title is shorter than the first and is free of unnecessary words. However, it does not provide information on how the substance used has an effect on gastritis. Studies have shown that articles with titles that also refer to the study results are read and cited more. So the title can be edited like this:

Title 3: Curcumin ameliorates inflammatory changes in Helicobacter pylori-induced chronic atrophic gastritis

This title does not contain unnecessary words like the first title, and it will have a higher reading rate because it also refers to the study results.

2. Important words appear at the beginning of the title.

3. The words used in the title have been carefully chosen.

Predicting which words other researchers may search for when searching about the subject of your article and including these words in the title will increase the rate of your article being searched, read, and cited.

Example:

You examined the effect of the drug Drug AZ on blood sugar levels in mice with experimental diabetes and found that this drug reduced blood sugar levels in diabetic mice. You wrote the article, and you are trying to decide on the title.

Title 1: Effect of Drug AZ on Diabetes

Title 2: Effect of Drug AZ on Diabetic Mouse

Title 3: Effect of Drug AZ on Blood Glucose Levels in Mouse

Title 4: Drug AZ Decreases Blood Glucose Levels in Mouse

Title 5: Drug AZ Decreases Blood Glucose Levels in Experimentally Induced Diabetic Mouse

Title 6: Drug AZ Cures Diabetes

When these titles are examined, it is seen that titles 1-4 contain deficiencies regarding the species in which the study is conducted, the parameter measured, or the effect of the applied drug on the measured parameter. Title 5 is more appropriate than the other titles as it contains complete information about the species studied, the parameter measured, and the drug’s effect. Heading 6 is an example of the headlines we see primarily in newspapers and magazines, attracting the reader’s attention; such titles are not included in scientific publications.

Here is an Internet site that will significantly relieve you:

https://capitalizemytitle.com/

When you write your title in the box at the top of this website and choose the writing style (such as AMA, APA), the words that should start with uppercase and lowercase letters in your title will be converted into the correct format. You can find out which style guide you should prepare your article for in the Instructions to Authors section of the journal’s website. The majority of journals published in health sciences use the AMA Manual of Style as their writing format.

Some journals require a short title from authors in addition to the original title. This title, which is like the summary of the original title, consists of fewer words and characters (usually no more than 30-60 characters, including letters and spaces) and is located at the top of the page (header) in articles.

Short Title examples:

Example 1:

Title of the article: A Randomized Controlled Trial to Determine Whether a Video Presentation Improves Informed Consent for Hysterectomy¹

Short Title of the article: Informed Consent for Hysterectomy

Example 2:

Title of the article: Early Dissemination of Circulating Tumor Cells: Biological and Clinical Insights²

Short Title of the article: Early Dissemination of CTCs

References:

¹Pallett AC, Nguyen B, Klein NM, Phippen N, Miller CR, Barnett JC. A randomized controlled trial to determine whether a video presentation improves informed consent for hysterectomy. Am J Obstet Gynecol, 2018; 219: 277.e1-277.e7.

²Chemi F, Mohan S, Guevara T, Clipson A, Rothwell DG, Dive C. Early dissemination of circulating tumor cells: biological and clinical insights. Front Oncol, 2021; 11: 672195.

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The abstract is the most commonly read part of an article after the title. If your title and summary are of interest to the reader, then he or she will take the time to review the rest of your article. Therefore, a successful abstract is one of the most critical factors that increase the rate of reading your article.

When writing an abstract, it is essential to comply with the rules imposed by the journal. All journals require a specific word limit for abstracts, which is usually around 150-250 words. While some journals accept the abstract as plain text (“nonstructured abstract”), in some journals the abstract is structured according to distinct, labeled sections (such as Introduction, Objectives, Methods, Results, Conclusion) determined by the journal (“structured abstract”). A structured abstract guides the authors to summarize the content of their article accurately and ensures the inclusion of pertinent information.

Abstracts can vary widely according to the type of the manuscript. However, a research article, whether structured or nonstructured, follows an order as below, and the critical points to consider are:

• Introduction (or Background/Problem Statement/ Rationale/Significance): In 2-3 sentences, briefly describe the problem or the issue that you address. However, do not dwell into a literature review and mention only points that are directly relevant to your study. This part should answer the question “what is the information gap that this study fills”.
• Methods: In 3-4 sentences, briefly explain how you performed your study. This part should include information about the material of the study (patients, animals, etc), inclusion/exclusion criteria, the groups, the interventions, and the outcome measures.
• Results: Mention the primary outcomes of your study with confidence intervals or P values. Keep in mind that the reader will be particularly interested in your results. Do not abstain from mentioning negative results.
• Conclusion: Describe your study’s clinical or practical implications, avoiding speculations or overgeneralizations, or mention the need for further studies. Make conclusions that are directly supported by your results.

Some significant points to keep in mind when writing an abstract:

• The abstract should be independent of the article; the reader should not have to look at the text to understand the abstract.
• If there are too many results in the study, only the most important results of the study should be mentioned in the Abstract section.
• Any sentence in any other part of the article should not be used in the Abstract section by copy-paste method.
• General statements that do not provide information such as “The results are discussed in this article” or “Significant aspects of this disease are discussed in light of the recent literature” should not be included at the end of the abstract.
• Abbreviations should not be made, except for the constantly repeated terms in the abstract.
• References should not be given in the abstract, and tables and figures should not be cited.

Almost all health sciences journals apply a word limit (in most instances a maximum of 200-250 words) for the Abstract. Therefore, it is crucial to know how to convey the same meaning with the minimum word count. Here are some basic hints to keep your word count at a minimum:

• Eliminate unnecessary spaces.

Spaces between numbers and symbols (°, %, etc.), Greek letters (α, β, γ, etc.), and mathematical signs (±,>,<, etc.) can be omitted.

Examples:

Lengthy: 37 °C (2 words)

Shorter: 37°C (1 word)

Lengthy: 22 % (2 words)

Shorter: 22% (1 word)

• Indicate the ranges with “-“ instead of “to”.

Example:

Lengthy: The study was carried out between 2019 to 2022. (9 words)

Shorter: The study was carried out between 2019-2022. (7 words)

• Mention repetitive units only once.

Example:

Lengthy: PCR revealed the virus in samples taken on day one, day three and day five but not on day seven and day nine. (23 words)

Shorter: PCR revealed the virus in samples taken on days one, three, and five but not on days seven and nine. (20 words)

• Use verb forms of words that have similar noun forms.

Analysis-analyze

Comparison-compare

Measurement-measure

Example:

Lengthy: Comparison was made between the experimental groups and the control group. (11 words)

Shorter: The experimental groups and the control group were compared. (9 words)

• Eliminate lengthy transitions.

Some lengthy transitions and their shorter alternatives:

After all: Essentially

As a consequence, as a result: Consequently, therefore, thus

In addition: Additionally, furthermore, moreover

In particular: Specifically

In spite of: Although, despite

On the other hand: Moreover

• Avoid useless filling phrases.

The most commonly used filling phrases are shown below. These phrases do not add anything to the scientific content of your manuscript and should be kept at a minimum:

It was/has been found/demonstrated/shown that …

There is/are …

We found/demonstrated that …

Examples:

Lengthy: It was shown that blood pressure and heart rate did not change significantly after maltodextrin treatment. (16 words)

Shorter: Blood pressure and heart rate did not change significantly after maltodextrin treatment. (12 words)

Lengthy: It was not possible to conduct a meta-analysis because of the high heterogeneity and high risk of bias in the included studies. (22 words)

Shorter: A meta-analysis was inhibited by the high heterogeneity and high risk of bias in the included studies. (17 words)

Even shorter: High heterogeneity and high risk of bias in the included studies inhibited a meta-analysis. (14 words)

Lengthy: There are risks of intensive exercise for people with cardiovascular diseases. (11 words)

Shorter: Intensive exercise has risks for people with cardiovascular diseases. (9 words)

Lengthy: In our study, we demonstrated that HLA Class I was expressed on the surface of hepatocytes. (16 words)

Shorter: In our study, HLA Class I was expressed on the surface of hepatocytes. (13 words)

Even shorter: In our study, hepatocytes expressed HLA Class I on their surfaces. (11 words)

Shortest: Hepatocytes expressed HLA Class I on their surfaces.* (8 words)

*Make sure that the reader will easily understand that this finding belongs to your study. If the reader will fall into doubt, prefer the previous sentence.

However, there are points to keep in mind when trying to reduce your word count:

• Do not make contractions such as wouldn’t, hasn’t, doesn’t, etc.
• Do not omit the articles a/an/the.
• Do not omit critical phrases that connect sentences.
• Do not make new abbreviations that are not widely known by the readers.

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