Q: How should I formulate the titles of multiple journal articles based on my thesis?
I am formulating four journal articles from my thesis. My problem is with how to come up with the title(s) of the journal article(s). Do I maintain the title of the thesis when generating more than one article from the thesis? In other words, should the titles of the articles have the same title as the thesis?
It’s great that you are considering converting your thesis into journal articles. Many early career researchers do this, no doubt, to begin adding publishing credentials to their resume.
So, you actually have two queries, whether the articles should have the same title(s) as the thesis and how to come up with titles for the articles.
Keeping the paper title(s) the same
The journal articles cannot and should not have the same title as the thesis. This is for several reasons. Firstly, each article would no doubt be based on a separate topic from the thesis. So, each title has to reflect that, and therefore, would need to be different. Also, journals look for novelty in papers, and that includes novelty in titles. If not, when these papers are published, there would be confusion for readers (in distinguishing among the various papers) and possibly also assumptions that some papers have been (self-)plagiarized from the others. Speaking of which, self-plagiarism is something you need to keep in mind when converting your thesis into articles. For more insights into this, you may refer to the following resources.
- If I publish a journal article based on my dissertation, will it be considered self-plagiarism?
- How can I prevent self-plagiarism while converting my thesis to a journal article?
- Would publishing an article from my thesis proposal affect the actual thesis, especially in terms of plagiarism?
Coming up with a title
The title needs to be relevant, short, and attractive. Titles, along with abstracts, are typically the first elements of a paper readers look at. Based on the title (and the abstract), they decide whether or not they should go through the actual paper. So, you really need to think about and craft your title. But don’t worry. Have a working title for now (four working titles, in your case), when you are writing the first draft. Once you are done with each paper, you could come up with a final, refined title for each. You may refer to the following resources for more help with writing titles.
- How to write an effective title and abstract and choose appropriate keywords
- How I can formulate a title for my research paper?
- How do I know if the title of my paper is appropriate?
So, all the best – in your case, four times over.
This content belongs to the Manuscript Writing Stage
Translate your research into a publication-worthy manuscript by understanding the nuances of academic writing. Subscribe and get curated reads that will help you write an excellent manuscript.