J. TECHNICAL WRITING AND COMMUNICATION, Vol.

37(1) 95-101, 2007

THERES MORE TO THE TITLE THAN MEETS

THE EYE: EXPLORING THE POSSIBILITIES

JAMES HARTLEY
Keele University, Staffordshire, United Kingdom

ABSTRACT

There is little research on the use of titles in academic articles, and even less
on different types of titles. In this article Crosbys taxonomy of titles [1] is
brought up-to date and extended. Twelve types of titles are distinguished.
The author argues that it would be helpful to discuss these different types
with student writers.

INTRODUCTION
Thirty years ago, Harry Crosby published a treatise on titles [1]. In that paper
he wrote:
I have long believed that the shuttlecock process of finding an appropriate
title stimulates creativity, unity, and significance. The writer starts out with
a working title, writes a few pages, and then pauses to tinker with the title
to make it fit what he has written. This helps him go back to writing with a
sharper focus on what he is really trying to say. This back-and-forth process
continues. If a good title emerges, the writer has evidence that he or she is
developing a significant message expressed in a unified manner. If no title
is possible, something is wrong [1, p. 387].

He continued:
In view of this importance, I have been puzzled by the lack of instruction
available on the subject. Our department library has about 150 feet of shelving
filled with sample writing texts, but the total information comes to something
like this: Center your title on the first page three spaces above your theme.
Capitalize initial letter except for short prepositions. Your title should
announce your subject matter and catch attention [1, p. 387].
95
2007, Baywood Publishing Co., Inc.

96 / HARTLEY

This picture has not changed much since 1976, although some modern texts do
contain more advice on writing titles (e.g., [2-4]). There are also more research
papers available on the topic (e.g., [5-10]). Nonetheless, most texts on academic
writing scarcely mention writing the title, which is surprising given that it is the
title that: i) attracts a reader to a paper in the first place; and ii) is of considerable
importance in computer-based literature searches (see [11, 12]).
In his paper, Crosby analyzed the forms and function of over 300 titles (in
the humanities) with a view to seeing if he could create a taxonomy of titles.
His aim was to let his students see and judge for themselves the effectiveness
of different types of titles so that they would be better informed when they came
to writing their own.
Crosby distinguished between four main types of titles and several subtypesand gave examples of each kind. In this article, I distinguish between
12 kinds of titles, eight of which appeared in Crosbys paper. My examples for
each kind are drawn mainly from papers in the field of educational psychology.
TWELVE TYPES OF TITLE
The twelve types of titles that I find it useful to distinguish between are as
follows:
1. Titles that announce the general subject: for example:
The age of adolescence
Designing instructional and informational text
On writing scientific articles in English
Crosby noted that such titles were sufficient when they were used by wellknown authors, but that novices using such titles had not yet learned that
they needed informative and provocative titles [1, p. 387].
2. Titles that particularize a specific theme following a general heading:
for example:
Pre-writing: The relation between thinking and feeling
The achievement of black Caribbean girls: Good practice in Lambeth schools
The role of values in educational research: The case for reflexivity
Here these examples all use a colon to facilitate the particularization, but this
is not always necessary. However, as Crosby acknowledges, colons are helpful in
this respect. (For a further discussion of colons, see [7].)
3. Titles that indicate the controlling question: for example:
Is academic writing masculine?
What is evidence-based practiceand do we want it too?
What price presentation? The effects of typographic variables on essay grades
These titles indicate what the argument of the paper is about, but they do
not provide a clear answer to this question at this stagealthough this might be
implied from the way that the question is framed. The next set of titles is clearer
in this respect.

THE USE OF TITLES IN ACADEMIA /

97

4. Titles than indicate that the answer to a question will be revealed: for
example:
Abstracts, introductions, and discussions: How far do they differ in style?
The effects of summaries on the recall of information
Current findings from research on structured abstracts
Curiously enough there are disciplinary differences in the use of questions in the
titles of research articles. According to Hyland [13], scientists hardly ever use
them, whereas, in my experience, they are slightly more common in educational
and social science research journals and conference papersup to 10% [7].
According to Crosby, the next set of titles announce the thesiswhich I take
to mean the authorsposition on the topic in question. These are:
5. Titles that indicate the direction of the authors argument: for example:
The lost art of conversation
Plus ca change . . . Gender preferences for academic disciplines
Down with op. cit.
The sixth type of title does not appear in Crosbys list. This may be a function of
different disciplines. In this set of titles, the research methods used are given
particular salience.
6. Titles that emphasize the methodology used in the research: for example:
Using colons in titles: A meta-analytic review
Reading and writing book reviews across the disciplines: A survey of authors
Is judging text on screen different from judging text in print? A naturalistic
e-mail study
This feature most commonly occurs in medical research journals. Since
2003, for example, the British Medical Journal has required all of the titles of
their published research papers to end (after a colon) with a statement about the
method used.
Other sets of titles that also seem quite common, not mentioned by Crosby, are
titles that suggest guidelines, or comparisons.
7. Titles that suggest guidelines and/or comparisons: for example:
Seven types of ambiguity
Nineteen ways to have a viva
Eighty ways of improving instructional text
Finally, Crosby distinguishes between various forms of title under the umbrella
heading of titles that bid for attention. Here I have subdivided these into separate
groupsalthough there are overlaps and combinationsas follows:
8. Titles that bid for attention by using startling or effective openings: for
example:
Do you ride an elephant and never tell them youre German: The experiences of British Asian, black, and overseas student teachers in the UK

98 / HARTLEY

Something more to tell you: Gay, lesbian, and bisexual young peoples
experiences of secondary schooling
Making a difference: An exploration of leadership roles in sixth form colleges
9. Titles that attract by alliteration: for example:
A taxonomy of titles
Legal ease and legalese
Referees are not always right: The case of the 3-D graph
10. Titles that attract by using literary or biblical allusions: for example:
From structured abstracts to structured articles: A modest proposal
Low! They came to pass. The motivations of failing students.
Lifting the veil on the viva: The experiences of postgraduate students
11. Titles that attract by using puns: for example:
Now take this PIL (Patient Information Leaflet)
A thorn in the Flesch: Observations on the unreliability of computer-based
readability formulae (Rudolph Flesch devised a method of computing the
readability of text)
Unjustified experiments in typographical research and instructional design
(text set with equal word-spacing and a ragged right-hand edge is said to be set
unjustified: text set with variable word-spacing and a straight right-hand
edge is set justified).
Crosby warned his readers about using literary or biblical allusions. As he
put it, In a time when students have read so little, a literary allusion is often an
illusion [1, p. 390]. We might possibly say the same about puns, since I have
had to explain the ones above.
And finally:
12. Titles that mystify: for example:
Outside the whale
How do you know youve alternated?
Is October Brown Chinese?
Titles that mystify may attract the indulgent reader but they are hardly likely
to help busy ones [14]. Outside the whale refers to the fact that the author
is describing a typographic design course that was run for over 20 years
independently of, and not swallowed up by, the requirements of Fine Arts
schools in the United Kingdom. How do you know youve alternated? is about
problems that sociologists have when alternating between presenting an accurate
description of the groups they study and presenting their interpretation to the
readers. October Brown turns out to be the name of a teacher.
Irony, humor, and cultural references are difficult for non-native speakers of
the language to understand. They should probably be avoided in the titles of
academic articles.

THE USE OF TITLES IN ACADEMIA /

99

Table 1. Titles Used by Students (Left Column) for Their Projects

and the Authors Revised Versions (Right Column)
Approach to study. (Chinese
student)

Gender and nationality differences in

approaches to study: Findings from
English and Chinese Business Studies
students.

Perceptions of psychology
university students.

Do psychology students perceptions of

Psychology change over time?

An investigation into mature

students, revision styles, and
examination performance.

Revision styles and examination

performance in mature and
traditional-entry students.

Possible gender and year of study

differences in the orientation of
students learning strategies.

Students learning strategies: the effects of

gender and year of study.

Parenting styles and academic

achievement.

Do differences in early parenting styles

affect the academic achievement of men
and women undergraduates?

University students estimations

of occupational intelligence
versus gender.

How intelligent do you need to be to be

a surgeon? Male and female students
estimates of the intelligence required to
carry out male, female, and gender-neutral
occupations.

The effect of term-time employment on final year university

students.

The effects of term-time employment upon

the academic performance of final-year
university students.

Student preferences of class

size in higher education.

Class size matters! The preferences of

undergraduates.

Students experiences of studying

Psychology at degree level: Is
there a difference between those
that have previously studied the
subject at A-level and those who
have not.

How far does studying Psychology at

A-level impact upon the experiences and
performance of Psychology students at
university?

100 / HARTLEY

CONCLUDING COMMENTS
In this article I have tried to bring Crosbys treatise on titles up-to-date, and to
cast it in a social science context. I want suggest, like Crosby, that tutors could
profitably discuss such a list with their students to help them to reflect on what
kind of title is appropriate for their particular texts. This article moves, therefore,
beyond a detailed discussion of the use of features like colons or question marks
in titles to focus more on the particular functions of different types of title.
Table 1 illustrates why I think that it would be helpful to discuss such functions
with undergraduate (and postgraduate) students. This table shows, for example,
the original titles proposed by eight of my recent final-year psychology students
for their projects, followed by what I hope are more informative titles based on my
suggestions. Most of these changes expand and clarify the originals. Readers
may judge for themselves whether or not they think there is an improvement.
REFERENCES
1. H. H. Crosby, Titles, A Treatise On . . . , College Composition & Communication, 27:4,
pp. 387-391, 1976.
2. R. Day and B. Gastel, How to Write and Publish a Scientific Paper (6th Edition),
Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2006.
3. M. Forshaw, Your Undergraduate Psychology Project: A BPS Guide, Blackwell,
London, 2004.
4. J. M. Swales and C. B. Feak, Academic Writing for Graduate Students (2nd Edition),
University of Michigan Press, Ann Arbor, 2006.
5. L. Anthony, Characteristic Features of Research Article Titles in Computer Science,
I.E.E.E. Transactions on Professional Communication, 44:3, pp. 187-194, 2001.
6. M. Haggan, Research Paper Titles in Literature, Linguistics and Science: Dimensions
of Attraction, Journal of Pragmatics, 36, pp. 293-317, 2004.
7. J. Hartley, Planning that Title: Practices and Preferences for Titles with Colons. (Paper
submitted for publication: copies available from the author.)
8. T. D. C. Kutch, Relation of Title Length to Numbers of Authors in Journal Articles,
Journal of the American Society for Information Science, 19:4, pp. 200-202, 1978.
9. C. Whissell, Titles of Articles Published in the Journal of Psychological Reports:
Changes in Language, Emotion and Imagery Over Time, Psychological Reports, 94,
pp. 807-813, 2004.
10. M. Yitzhaki, Relation of Title Length of Journal Articles to Number of Authors,
Scientometrics, 30, pp. 321-332, 1994.
11. M. A. Mabe and M. Amin, Dr. Jeckyll and Dr. Hyde: Author-Related Assymetries
in Scholarly Publishing, Aslib Proceedings, 54:3, pp. 149-157, 2002.
12. A. Tombros, l. Ruthven, and J. M. Jose, How Users Assess Web Pages For Information
Seeking, Journal the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 56:4,
pp. 327-344, 2005.
13. K. Hyland, What Do They Mean? Questions in Academic Writing, Text, 22:4,
pp. 529-557, 2002.

THE USE OF TITLES IN ACADEMIA /

101

14. J. Hartley, To Attract or To Inform: What Are Titles For? Journal of Technical Writing
and Communication, 32:2, pp. 203-213, 2005.

Other Articles On Communication By This Author

Hartley, J., Reading and Writing Book Reviews Across the Disciplines, Journal of the
American Society for Information Science and Technology, 57:9, pp. 1194-1207.
Hartley, J., Is Academic Writing Masculine? Higher Education Review, 37:2, pp. 53-62,
2005.
Hartley, J., Designing Instructional and Informational Text, in Handbook of Research in
Educational Communications and Technology (2nd Edition), D. H. Jonassen (ed.),
Erlbaum, Mahwah, New Jersey, pp. 917-947, 2004.
Hartley, J., Current Findings from Research on Structured Abstracts, Journal of the
Medical Library Association, 92:3, pp. 368-371, 2004.
Hartley, J., E. Sotto, and C. Fox, Clarity Across the Disciplines: An Analysis of Texts in the
Sciences, Social Sciences, and Arts and Humanities, Science Communication, 26:2,
pp. 188-210, 2004.
Hartley, J. and R. N. Kostoff, How Useful Are Key Words in Scientific Journals? Journal
of Information Science, 29:5, pp. 433-438, 2003.
Hartley, J., J. W. Pennebaker, and C. Fox, Abstracts, Introductions and Discussions:
How Far Do They Differ in Style? Scientometrics, 57:3, pp. 389-398, 2003.
Hartley, J., E. Sotto, and J. W. Pennebaker, Style and Substance in Psychology: Are
Influential Articles More Readable Than Less Influential Ones? Social Studies of
Science, 32:2, pp. 321-334, 2002.
Hartley, J., M. J. A. Howe, and W. J. McKeachie, Writing Through Time: Longitudinal
Studies of the Effects of New Technology on Writing, British Journal of Educational
Technology, 32:2, pp. 141-151, 2001.
Hartley, J., What Do We Know About Footnotes? Opinions and Data, Journal of
Information Science, 25:3, pp. 205-212, 1999.

Direct reprint requests to:

Prof. James Hartley
School of Psychology
Keele University
Staffordshire
ST5 5BG
UK
e-mail: j.hartley@psy.keele.ac.uk