Journal articles, title

The title also has an organizational structure. After analyzing more than 300 titles of chemistry journal articles, we found that titles commonly follow an X of Y by Z pattern (table 7.1). In essence, X, Y, and Z are three moves linked together by common words (e.g., of or by). Y describes what was studied X and Z modify or extend Y in some way. Y is required X and Z are optional, but typically at least X or Z is present. Of course, this pattern illustrates only a conventional way to construct a journal article title countless variations are possible. 

Table 7.1 Common examples of the X of Y by Z pattern found in journal article titles.

References Cited. Begin References Cited on a new page (Times New Roman 12-pt font, 1.5 line spacing). There is no page limit for this section, but we encourage you to limit references to those that have most greatly influenced your work. Format your references appropriately (numerical or alphabetical), paralleling the format used for in-line citations. Include full journal article titles and all authors listed in the order in which they appear in the journal article. 

The rules for writing a research proposal title are similar to those for the journal article and poster. Like journal article titles (see table 7.1), a proposal title should include keywords that will help the program officer decide where to send your proposal for review. The title should also include keywords that capture the need(s) targeted by the granting institution. Abbreviations and acronyms should be avoided. Although explicit restrictions on title length are rare, shorter titles are preferred, provided that they accurately depict the contents and emphases of the proposal. 

The ACS Style Guide recommends title case for journal article titles (i.e., capitalizing the first letters of all major words), but the ACS journals examined use sentence case (i.e., capitalizing only the first letter of the first word and proper nouns). 

Sentence case is used for journal article titles. Sentence case without italics, and title case with italics are used for book titles. 

Chlorine (CI2). The discovery of chlorine by the Swedish chemist Carl Wilhelm Scheele in 1774 marked the beginning of the modem era of bleaching. According to Sidney M. Edelstein in a 1948 journal article titled The Role of Chemistry in the Development of Dyeing and Bleaching, French chemist Claude-Louis Berthollet was the first to use chlorine to bleach cotton and linen fabrics. 

The IMRD format, together with the finer organizational structure (moves) and language of the journal article, helps readers quickly locate the content that they seek. As a developing writer, it is important that you learn to present your content in these expected ways and places. As readers scan your paper, they should be able to quickly locate your topic, the nature of your work, the methods you used, and your conclusions. The use of keywords in your title and abstract and throughout the body of your paper is especially important. Because so many scientists now turn to computer-based technologies and search engines to find pertinent and current information, if you fail to use expected keywords, your work may be missed even if relevant. 

Add full bibliographical information to the summary. The names of all authors, article title, journal name, volume number, year, and pages (first and last) may eventually bereguired. 

This chapter addresses how to write abstracts and titles for journal articles. Both the abstract and title provide succinct, informative (not descriptive) summaries of the research. To this end, they are usually written in the final stages of the writing process. After completing this chapter, you should be able to do the... 

When compared to the Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion sections of a journal article, the title and abstract are quite short the title usually has fewer... 

Titles and abstracts are read by more readers than any other section of the journal article. 

Read and review the titles and abstracts of the journal articles that you collected during your literature search (started in chapter 2). How well do they capture the purpose, principal results, and conclusions of the work ... 

The Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) reprints titles and abstracts from refereed journal articles to facilitate searches of the chemical literature. 

In this section, we read and analyze abstracts taken from chemistry journal articles. (Later in the chapter, we focus on titles.) We include passages from abstracts (P1-P17) and entire abstracts (excerpts 7B-7H) to illustrate both individual moves and how abstract moves work together as a whole. In part 1, we examine selections move by move. Because abstracts in organic chemistry journals vary slightly from other chemistry journals, we consider them separately at the end of part 1. In part 2, we examine writing practices that span the entire abstract. 

We conclude this chapter and module with a brief look at titles, often the last part of a journal article to be written. The title of a journal article must be as concise, specific, and informative as possible. Also, because the title is written for an expert audience, the title should be formal. Although an informal, catchy title is appropriate in many genres (e.g., in newspaper headlines and popular science articles), it is inappropriate in a journal article. 

Also explain the following to a friend in chemistry who has not yet given much thought to the final steps of finishing a journal article, specifically writing an abstract and composing a title ... 

Reflect on what you have learned about writing an abstract, a title, and the journal article as a whole, now that you are just about done writing your own journal article. Select one of the reflection tasks below and write a thoughtful and thorough response. 

Like the journal article abstract, most conference abstracts have strict word limitations (typically between 150 and 200 words). Adherence to this limit is expected your abstract will likely be rejected if the limit is exceeded. Many other formatting specifications must also be followed. For example, most instructions include rules for formatting your title, author list, graphics, and special characters (e.g., pm, a, <, m ). The reason for such specificity is that your abstract, if accepted, will be printed (as is) in conference proceedings. Adherence to these guidelines by all authors ensures that the proceedings appear uniform and professional. 

Keywords A list of keywords is not included in a conference abstract (as it is in a journal article abstract), but it is wise to use keywords in the abstract text and title. The inclusion of keywords facilitates electronic searches, making the work more accessible to others interested in your held. 

The poster text is divided into the same general IMRD sections as the journal article Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. Similarly, most posters include an Acknowledgments section, some have an abbreviated References section, and all have a title and author list. Most posters do not include an abstract, in part because of space limitations and in part because an abstract already appears in the conference proceedings. Like the journal article, the IMRD structure of the poster follows an hourglass shape. The top (Introduction) and bottom (Discussion) sections have a broader focus, while the middle sections (Methods and Results) have a narrower focus. Each section of the poster can be divided into individual moves or steps that guide viewers in a conventional way through the content of each section. These moves are analyzed in the next part of the chapter. 

In journal articles, figures have captions but no titles. In posters, figures often use captions, titles, and other descriptive labels to highlight important points. 

Like in-text citations, the formatting of references requires great care. The appropriate use of punctuation, fonts, parentheses, in addition to the inclusion, exclusion, and sequencing of information (e.g., authors, title of article, title of journal, year of publication, page numbers), reveals your attention to detail, expected of good writers and by expert and scientific readers. 

When preparing references, certain miminal information is required. References to journal articles must include the authors surnames and initials, year of publication, journal name, journal volume number, and page numbers (inclusive page numbers are preferred). References to books must include the authors surnames and initials, editors surnames and initials (when applicable), book title, publisher, city of publication, and year of publication, it is the author s responsibility to be sure this information is complete and accurate. 

Examples of numerical references to journal articles are shown in table 17.2. Some ACS journals require authors to include the title of the article in the... 

Consider the following titles of ACS journal articles. Fill in the blanks with either... 

Two students, Denby and Scott, began their quest at the library with a computer search for analytical methods. Searching with the key words caffeine and "chocolate," they uncovered numerous articles in chemistry journals. Reports titled High Pressure Liquid Chromatographic Determination of Theobromine and Caffeine in Cocoa and Chocolate Products 5 described a procedure suitable for the equipment in their laboratory.6... 

Any reference listed must be so specific that the reader could easily locate the information. References to books must include all authors and all initials the lull title and edition the volume (if more than one) publisher, place and date of publication any pages cited (either given in the text or included in the full reference). The ZSBN is optional but sometimes useful. References to journal articles must include all authors and all initials the lull title of the article, the journal name (or accepted standard abbreviation) volume number (underlined or in italics) part number (in brackets) inclusive page numbers for the article year of publication. 

Fig. 4.1 Number of journal articles published with Multiscale Modeling in the title. Note the recent trend since 1999 shows a large growth rate...

---