You have written up a good paper with excellent work and some really interesting findings, but do you really need to bother about the title of the article? Will the work not stand on its own merit? Does it still need an alluring title?
The answer to all above questions is a definite YES!
In the previous century, when you needed any reference you went to the library and looked up the relevant journals for published material, or if you had access to an abstract you corresponded directly with the author. That kind of referencing is now considered inefficient. Today, search engines through abstracting and indexing services, identify a large number of relevant materials in a matter of a few seconds. Since key words from the title are used for cross referencing and computer searching, it highlights the importance of a title.
So what is the character of any title? It should be interesting (e.g. The function of stress in the establishment of the dual career family OR The mighty mouse: genetically engineered mouse models in cancer drug development) and urge the reader to read the whole article. This makes it all the more important for the title must to be accurate. Anything less than accurate will discredit you and your work.
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