Titles in research articles

Bibliographic Data

ID21726332
AuthorsK Hyland (0000-0002-4727-8355, University of East Anglia, corresponding author), Hang Zou (0000-0002-1451-5262, East China Normal University)
Year2022
Volume56
Pages101094
Publication date2022-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of English for Academic Purposes (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1475-1585 • E-ISSN: 1878-1497
PublisherElsevier BV (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1016/j.jeap.2022.101094
OpenAlexW4210778344
LanguageEN
Citations received16
References cited30

Titles are a key part of every academic genre and are particularly important in research papers. Today, online searches are overwhelmingly based on articles rather than journals which means that writers must, more than ever, make their titles both informative and appealing to attract readers who may go on to read, cite and make use of their research. In this paper we explore the key features of 5070 titles in the leading journals of six disciplines in the human and physical sciences to identify their typical structural patterns and content foci. In addition to proposing a model of title patterns, we show there are major disciplinary differences which can be traced to different characteristics of the fields and of the topics of the articles themselves. Our findings have important implications for EAP and ERPP teachers working with early career academic writers

Discipline · Social science · Sociology · Academic Writing and Publishing · Advanced Text Analysis Techniques · Computer Science · scientometrics and bibliometrics research

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access