It's important to give your paper a title that is descriptive of the nature of your research. This is the first element of your paper that your collegues will see, and you want it to stimulate curiosity. Your article will appear in a crowded journal containing dozens of other research articles, so choose the title carefully.
By the way, a search through the titles of articles in the Astrophysical Journal shows that the typical length for titles is about 8 - 15 words. Occasionally, you will find titles that are over 20 words in length such as:
"Optical Identification of Serendipitous Einstein X-ray Sources: Luminosity and Redshift Relations in the X-ray and Optical Emission from Active Galaxies and Quasars" (The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 260, P. 415.)
About as frequently, you can find very short titles involving 3 words:
"Helium Shell Flashes" (The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 214, p. 812)
or two words:
"Dirac Cosmology" ( The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 211, p. 342.)
"Spectral Quantification", ( The Astrophysical Journal, vol. 212, p. 462)
But only a few astronomers ever try to get away with only ONE word:
"Previrialization" ( The Astrophysical Journal Letter vol. 394, p. L1)
Which ever style you choose, short or long, just make certain the title is clear, and reflects the nature of your work and discovery.
RETURN to the Paper topic index.