How to Name your Research Paper and craft good Essay Titles

Published by Josh Jasen at September 13, 2024

The title of the research paper plays a crucial role in the direction you will be undertaking when writing your paper. Most importantly, the title should reflect the content idea and sound exciting to the reader.

If the heading sounds boring, it will be hard for someone to go through your well-researched work even if it is compelling and convincing. Even so, the title should indicate the scope and the subject of the study accurately.

How to Create Good Titles for Your Research Papers

Coming up with a name for your file is not just a skill for academic writing. It is also a skill for other types of writing, whether formal or informal.

Below are the tips for the best practices when crafting a good name for your files.

1. Know the Purpose of the Research Paper

Before creating the title for your research paper, ask yourself a few questions. For example, you should know what the title seeks to accomplish.

For example, answer the following questions:

What is the research paper all about?

In what ways was I involved in performing my study?

What was the subject of the study?

What were the results?

2. Keep it Informative

What sounds appropriate for titles may differ according to various disciplines. You can draw some inspiration from the journal guidelines for character limits.

By looking at the type of articles in your field, it should offer you a clue of what to do. The best standard is to stay within the limit of 15 words.

Let the title be catchy for effective hooks. The most effective ones are the ones in the question form. Make it concise and clear to avoid insignificant words.

3. Write for Your Audience

Make it narrow by targeting specific audiences. For your research paper, consider the specialists in your specific field. Also, you should address the cross-discipline who are non-specialists.

Let the title entice the reader by giving them the right information to get them hooked on your paper. Be careful not to sensationalize the research.

You should only be honest about what you discovered. Sensationalizing the title will make the reader get disappointed once they discover the actual results.

4. Use Correct Grammar

You should capitalize the first and last words. Also, you should obey the rules of capitalization which include all nouns, verbs, pronouns, adverbs, and adjectives that appear between the first and the last words.

Besides, you should avoid complex phrases that include multiple nouns as they may distract the attention of the reader.

5. Use Keywords in the Title

One should be careful with word choice in a title. You should retain the most relevant words that talk about your research study. Remove all redundant and unnecessary words that are not key to your study.

Also, you can rephrase some words to shorten the title to meet the word count. Retain only important terms that complement your research ideas.

Ensure you know the keywords that people use to search for similar content and underline them. As such, you will be increasing the discoverability of your piece.

6. Maintain the Limit

You should verify that the title agrees with the requirements and standards of the research. For instance, the journals need titles that are under a certain character limit. Also, some universities want the titles to take a particular form hence compromising on creativity.

The title can be in question or a phrase form. However, you should consult your faculty to understand the form which the university appreciates most.

How to Name Your Research Paper Files

We can only remain effective in managing the information by naming it properly. Naming should be systematic to make it easier for retrieval.

It should be descriptive and consistent to allow one to discover the file content without opening it.

Also, naming allows you to identify and find files even if they are not in their original folder. In addition, you can browse from your inventory and establish if some files are missing.

Typically, naming research papers well is critical in enabling you to manage them easily once you store them in an inventory.

File Naming Design

One can create a filename based on descriptive elements such as dates, keywords, or identifying numbers. You should decide the type of elements to include in your naming convention. Use the following guidelines to achieve an effective naming:

1. Consider the Method of Sorting and Retrieving

Know how you want to sort or retrieve the files. Normally, the sorting of files starts from left to right.

Firstly, begin with the most significant parameter. Such allows you to sort your files when searching either alphabetically or chronologically.

For example, if you are sorting them by their numbers, then numbering should be the first naming convention.

When you begin to sort, you will see them in the order of their numbers.

Besides, you can name them using dates. Here, you use the most important date and time components. It can follow this format, YYYYMMDD or YYMMDD. It is a convention that allows us to sort the files by year, month, and date.

2. Use Descriptions

Another method of file naming is the use of descriptive designs. For example, you can begin with the name of the departments and then add the following elements:

The program
Type of document
Date or period
Type of content

Still, you can use the most agreeable abbreviations for such components to ensure that the file names are short.

3. Maintain Reasonable Length

Avoid using long file names are do not work well with certain software. The best practice is to keep them short. Consider the following points:

You can abbreviate the year to two numbers unlike using four.
Use a few words when conveying the identity of the document.

4. Avoid Spaces and Special Characters

Do not use special characters such as @#%$. Also, do not use spaces since many software do not recognize spaces making the entire exercise problematic. However, you can use the following alternatives:

Dashes for example File-name. xxx
Underscores like File_name.xxx
Camel case e.g. FileName.xxx where you capitalize the first letter of every section.
No Separation e.g. filename.xxx

5. Project ID

You can still name your research file using your project ID. The design helps the professor to identify it among other work easily. For example, the project ID could be ‘MinMethods’.

If you are doing a project in mining, the instructor will only access such a folder and find the related projects. The lecturer should maintain the same tag to keep all projects that relate to that. It is a perfect standard naming scheme that many organizations use.

Characteristics of a Good Research Paper Title

The title is a summary of what your research paper is discussing. Before you create one, you have to be sensitive to what perception it can bring to your readers.

If you want them to understand what you saying from the beginning, then be generous to offer a clue for the title.

Predicts the Research Content

The right research title will inform the reader about what your document holds. It will clarify what the article is all about without creating false assumptions or causing confusion.

Ensure that it lacks something that your audience will not find in the entire piece. The purpose of the research paper will play a big role in crafting the name and organizing your research paper as a whole.

Interesting to the Reader

For you to have an irresistible title, ensure it is interesting to the audience. It should make the reader want to know more about what your article is elaborating. Caution is key when making such a title.

First, do not exaggerate facts in the title that are not true if the audience reads your content. Let it be enticing by being honest at the same time.

Be sure to have a clear font. Read our guide on the best research paper font to know more about it.

Josh Jasen

When not handling complex essays and academic writing tasks, Josh is busy advising students on how to pass assignments. In spare time, he loves playing football or walking with his dog around the park.