Writing the title and abstract for a research paper

This article talks about how to craft an appropriate title and summary for an original research paper.

The 'title' and 'abstract' of a scholarly article provide 'initial impressions', so they must be correctly, accurately, cautiously, and meticulously phrased. Both are often drafted after the complete manuscript is ready.
 

Most readers only read the title and abstract of the research paper and very few will go on to read the entire paper.

 

How to wirite a good title and abstract?

 

The title and the abstract are the most important parts of a research paper and should be pleasant to read. The "title" should be descriptive, direct, accurate, appropriate, interesting, concise, precise, unique, and should not be misleading.

 

The "abstract" needs to be simple, specific, clear, unbiased, honest, concise, precise, stand-alone, complete, scholarly, (preferably) structured, and should not be misrepresentative. The abstract should be consistent with the main text of the paper, especially after a revision is made to the paper and should include the key message prominently. It is very important to include the most important words and terms (the "keywords") in the title and the abstract for appropriate indexing purpose and for retrieval from the search engines and scientific databases. Such keywords should be listed after the abstract. One must adhere to the instructions laid down by the target journal with regard to the style and number of words permitted for the title and the abstract.

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