Company LOGO Selecting Title and Writing Abstract of Manuscript

Objectives How to select a title?Pitfalls of title writing.How to write abstract?Common errors.

How to select a title? The greatest challenge authors face when making titles is communicating complex ideas clearly in a small space. The title functions as a “hook”: Make it interesting

Use short title Be concise but descriptive This is your first chance to grab the reader’s attention. The maximum length of a title should not exceed 16 words. Shorter titles are not only less intimidating for readers, but they also are easier to read on mobile devices such as iPhones. Leave out unnecessary “filler” words such as ‘effects of’, ‘comparison of’, or ‘a case of’.

Use short title "Discovery of a Useful New Laboratory Research Method for Isolating and Purifying the Lactose-degrading Enzyme B-galactosidase from the Economically Important, Yogurt- producing Bacterial Species Lactobacillus bulgaricus” Comment: This needs streamlining "A New Method for Isolating and Purifying B-galactosidase from Lactobacillus bulgaricus”

But don’t make it too short! If you include too little information, no one will read further. Make sure that you provide enough information in your title to make your study unique. Capitalize all words, except articles and prepositions

"Recombinant Human Antithrombin III“ Comment: This does not tell the reader much about the paper. "Expression of Biologically Active Human Antithrombin III by Recombinant Baculovirus in Spodoptera frugiperda Cells" But don’t make it too short!

Avoid alphabet soup Do NOT use abbreviations to save space; all terms should be written out. Avoid titles that wouldn’t mean anything to a reader who is not familiar with field- specific terminology. Some abbreviations are not all that meaningful even when they are spelled out: “When this is the case, modifiers can help to clarify the meaning of the abbreviation, as in ‘membrane receptor,’ ‘cytokine,’ ‘regulatory RNA,’..etc”.

ABC activates DEFG1 channels via HI2K-LMN-OPQ- RST3/4 signaling pathway.” Note the number of abbreviations used in this title (alphabet soup), the simple rule is this: Don’t use them Avoid alphabet soup

Don’t use a question or complete sentence Questions should not be used as titles provide the answer instead. A direct statement of the major finding is likely to capture more interest than a vague, descriptive title. Titles should be assertive and relay the conclusion. ‘Studies on …’ doesn’t do it, whereas ‘Demonstration of …’ does. Even better is to say ‘X causes Y.’”

o The name of the species or breed involved in the study will almost certainly be a key word that will catch a reader’s attention. o Try to use the most common name for a particular gene or technique to reach the most readers. o Place your most important terms at the beginning and end of the title. Use keywords that readers will search for

o Do not use terms such as ‘novel’ or ‘first time’ unless you are absolutely sure no one has published anything similar. o If you mention “molecular mechanism of chromosome rearrangement,” you should provide a clear understanding of the mechanism from your results. If not, say “Protein X contributes to chromosome rearrangement.” Don’t oversell your manuscript Make sure you can deliver on your title

o Rewrite so that your reader doesn’t have to reread. o It Should include Research question/finding. o You don’t have to explain everything in the paper in the title. o Long, long titles usually are more confusing than helpful. o Readers will find the papers they are looking for by keyword. When writing a title

Objectives Common errors. How to write abstract/ Pitfalls of title writing. How to select a title?

What is An Abstract? ● ● A short, self-contained, powerful summary of an article, paper or thesis. Length: between 150 and 250 words. It does not contain vague statements which force the reader to refer to the main text. An original document, not a collection of quotations taken from the text it summarizes, i.e. it must be able to stand alone. Stand alone

Importance of the Abstract 1 It is the most frequently read part of an article after the title. 3 Used by abstracting and information services to index and retrieve articles. 2 A very concise statement of the major elements of your research project. 4 Used by translation services for foreign readers.

o Use the past tense to refer to what was done and what was found at each stage of the research. o Use the present tense to comment on the significance of your research/findings. o Use active verbs whenever possible, e.g. ‘the study tested’ instead of ‘it was tested by the study’. o Use non-evaluative language - report no comment on what you have done. Writing the Abstract

Conclusions should be based on data/info presented within the abstract. Writing the Abstract

Informative Abstracts Research Paper Purpose & Study design Methods Results Interpretation Case Report Patient Unusual features of the case Presentation & Meeting Abstracts Poster Abstracts Poster Abstracts Writing the Abstract Identify you topic

Presentation & Meeting Abstracts Written before the paper has been written Must be comprehensive Must strictly follow format and content rules. Often contain more details of methods. More likely to include implications.May be published in conference proceedings. Provides opportunity for feedback from others in the field.

Poster Abstracts o Consider as a billboard, not a summary. o Keep words to a minimum. o Include lots of illustrations, tables, and graphs. o Text size is important Written before or after the paper has been written

Common Errors of Abstracts

How to Fix Most Common Errors

Don’t include: o Definitions, Citations, abbreviations or symbols. o Lengthy background information. o References to the literature. o Any sort of illustration, figure or table or reference.

Objectives Common errors. How to write abstract/ Pitfalls of title writing. How to select a title?

Take Home Message o Make the title simple, including the research question/finding. o Make the abstract the best part of the article. o Make sure that the abstract stands alone. o Double check every piece of data. o Choose appropriate key words.