Before being read, a paper must be found. Title and keywords are the fields search engines weigh most — and most authors define them in the last five minutes of submission. They deserve more than that.
List the 3–5 terms a reader would type to find your study (disease, intervention, outcome, design). They must appear in the title or keywords.
Say what was studied and in whom. If the journal allows, include the study design — readers and reviewers trust it more.
Search engines already index the title. Use the 5–6 keywords for synonyms and MeSH terms that did NOT fit the title.
Check each term in PubMed’s MeSH Browser: the controlled vocabulary connects your paper to the right searches.
Search your own terms on PubMed: are the results similar to your study? If not, adjust.
Not necessarily — question titles attract clicks, but declarative titles with the main finding tend to be cited more.
Only universally known ones (e.g., DNA). Niche abbreviations reduce the chance of appearing in searches.
Yes: the 'main topic: study design' formula organizes information and lets you include more search terms.
Written by Francisco Tustumi, digestive system surgeon (FMUSP), associate editor of ABCD.
Developed by Surya MKT