One of the first things that students need to do when they start a thesis or dissertation is to give it a title. Many students, however, spend too little time thinking about it and simply name their research in a generic way.
Consider this title: ‘A research study on market segmentation in the auto sector’. This a useful title, but it could be expanded upon and strengthened. It states the obvious. We already know it is a research study before we pick it up to read it, so these words are largely redundant. The term market segmentation is useful, as it tells us broadly what it is about, but could we be more specific about which type, or types, of segmentation are being written about. For instance, what does the word ‘auto’ mean – automatic, automotive? Is it the global auto business, or the EU business, or the UK, or …? Too often, students fail to put enough thought into a thesis title, resulting in inconsistent, vague or unfocused descriptions that confuse, or worse, deceive potential readers.
Titles for theses should reflect how newspaper headlines are written. They should attract attention from a specific, known audience and deliver a comprehensible description about the content of the full document. Along with the abstract, titles are what initially catch the eyes of people searching for content within your field. And for citation searchers, your thesis title is amongst limited information they will see when they are searching around your topic.
Here are eight tips on how to draw attention to your research and get your thesis done!
Follow your institute’s requirements:
Thesis titles need to meet certain standards and be in the correct format before being considered suitable for submission. For example, universities may require titles to adhere to the APA style of referencing for academic papers. This means no more than twelve words in length, title case, centred vertically and horizontally, no abbreviations or contractions, and no special formatting apart from bolding (that is, omit italics, underline, etc.).
Emulate the best:
By the time you have completed reviewing literature for your thesis you will have come across numerous book, journal and paper titles. Review these to explore how established and widely cited researchers in the same field are crafting their titles. It is acceptable to imitate the structure of appealing titles, but copying them verbatim will look suspicious, and probably negatively affect your impact. Skim those you have been attracted to, then look for what it is that captures your attention and interest.
Be clear, but comprehensive:
Whether you emulate or not, outline what the reader will get out of your thesis simply and precisely. Revealing the essence of your document immediately in the title will make the entire document’s purpose clear and your objective understandable. Your title should be transparent about the research you accomplished, not the whole topic you studied. Identify what was specifically investigated, how the research unfolded, and who it involved. In other words, make sure your title describes the specific topic, the research/study method and scope, your primary results, and any samples involved if possible. These things help your audience by giving them reasons to continue reading with a more profound comprehension.
Work backwards, not forwards:
It is often effective to work in reverse, pointing to your results first. For example, knowledge sharing that promotes internal workplace communications: A case study on technological innovation in Ireland.
Include the essentials, leave out everything else:
Avoid being vague, but also being too verbose. Make the effort to pare down your title to only the fundamental parts. The word maximum for titles of research papers published in journals varies according to their specific requirements. However, authors typically aim to keep it below thirteen words in length. It could be useful to apply this same rule to your thesis.
Draft variants of your title:
Experiment with using different phrases and syntax overall. Once some versions have been written, you can read over them, see where redundant or useless words are being used and which versions are simpler and more to-the-point. Frequently, you will be able to produce the best title for your paper just by combining the greatest parts of different versions you drafted.
Keep it readable:
Most importantly, you want a title that is readable and easily understood even by those who may be a novice researcher in your field of study. Using complex, industry-specific terms, abbreviations, and even just hard-to-grasp or uncommon phrases will deter readers. Evade the temptation to use jargon – if you have jargon in your draft title, simply take it out. A title full of extraneous information will turn readers away; a thought-provoking and descriptive research thesis title draws readers in.
Ask the experts:
For most researchers developing a thesis title is something that they will do once, twice or perhaps three times in their life. Others, such as supervisors, tutors and librarians deal with them day-in and day-out. They have the experience to know what makes an effective thesis title. Ask them for ideas, or show them yours, and be prepared for them to suggest you modify your title slightly. They tend to offer excellent advice!
For more practical guidance, take a look at Introducing and Concluding Your Thesis, a useful, downloadable, digital publication. It helps you succinctly introduce and conclude your research study, so that you make your thesis title matter. Buy now for immediate use.
