作者：王孝养

       给自己辛辛苦苦做出的论文起个好名字（TITLE）非常重要，至少不能让人一读到你的论文题目就觉得档次很低，水平很差。题目应回答你研究的是什么。好的论文题目应该是：信息量足、简洁、客观、易引起读者的兴趣，而且你研究领域内的同行一看就懂。根据我的体会，我把比较糟糕的论文题目归为以下几种：

No.1 题不对文的题目

       这类题目不用说应该是排在第一位最糟糕的题目。严重的题不对文不太多见，但偏离文章内容的题目却时有发生。尤其是一些富有想像力的题目(fanciful titles)应避免。如某药在体外实验发现可促进肿瘤细胞凋亡。你在写论文题目就不能写成“某药是治疗肿瘤的有效药物”。在体外发现药物对肿瘤有效和能治疗肿瘤病人还差十万八千里，所以论文题目要安得准确客观。

No.2. " Effect of ...on..."之类的题目：

        这种题目没有明显的错误。在我刚做科研发表中文论文时也时常用“... 对...的影响”作为论文的题目。去年我在NIH参加了一期论文写作培训班后，我终于明白了为何在论文写作中要尽量避免使用这样的题目，理由有三：1）任何研究都应该有EFFECT，如果没有EFFECT就等于没做科研，所以说“The Effect of ...”是废话；2）The Effect of ...on...之类的题目过于含糊，没有能直接告诉读者你的重要发现是什么；3）这类题目的论文往往发表在档次比较差的杂志。在PUBMED上输入“Effect of ”，并限定为Title,English,以下我列出的是前十篇查出的论文题目，其杂志的影响因子（IF）多在2以下：

1. Waldemar G, et al. Effect of donepezil on emergence of apathy in mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease. Int J Geriatr Psychiatry. 2010 Jul 2. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 20597141.(IF=1.981)
2. Keenan BT, et al. Effect of glutathione S-transferase T1, M1, P1 and heme oxygenase-1 polymorphisms interactionswith heavy smoking on the risk of rheumatoid arthritis. Arthritis Rheum. 2010 Jul 1. [Epub ahead of print]  PubMed PMID: 20597111.(IF=4.152)
3.  Ktenioudaki A, et al. The effect of different mixing processes on dough extensional rheology and baked attributes. J Sci Food Agric. 2010 Jul 1.[Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 20597094.(IF=1.386)
4. Kersten ET, et al. The effect of reducing treatment on exercise induced bronchoconstriction. Pediatr Pulmonol. 2010 Jul 1. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 20597080.(IF=1.816)
5. Yan J, et al. The cessation and detoxification effect of tea filters on cigarette smoke. Sci China Life Sci. 2010 May;53(5):533-541. Epub 2010 May 23.PubMed PMID: 20596936.(IF=0.691)
6. Hunt RW, et al. Effect of Biochemical Stimulants on Biomass Productivity and Metabolite Content of the Microalga, Chlorella sorokiniana. Appl Biochem Biotechnol. 2010 Jul 3. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed
   PMID: 20596899.(IF=1.420)
7. Slomiany BL, Slomiany A. Role of constitutive nitric oxide synthase S-nitrosylation in Helicobacter pylori-induced gastric mucosal cell apoptosis: effect of ghrelin. Inflammopharmacology. 2010 Jul 2. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 20596895.(No IF)
8. Rajasekaran R, et al. Exploring the structural and functional effect of pRB by significant nsSNP in the coding region of RB1 gene causing retinoblastoma. Sci China Life Sci. 2010 Feb;53(2):234-240. Epub 2010 Mar 7. PubMed PMID: 20596833..(IF=0.691)
9. Dallard BE, et al. The  effect of a single intramammary infusion of a biological response modifier in cows at drying off. Vet Res Commun. 2010 Jul 2. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 20596773.(IF=1.050)
10. Martínez-Reina J, Domínguez J, García-Aznar JM. Effect of porosity and mineral content on the elastic constants of cortical bone: a multiscale approach. Biomech Model Mechanobiol. 2010 Jul 2. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 20596743.(IF=3.169)

     例如：比较下面两个题目：

                 1）The Effect of Musashi1 on Activation of WNT and Notch1 pathways in breast cancer

                  2）Musashi1 Activates WNT and Notch1 pathways in Breast Cancer

第二个题目显然更简洁、明了。

No.3. Preliminary study...

       在中文里,"preliminary study..."(初步研究)是一种谦虚的表达方式，但在科学研究里没有谦虚，只有对错，如果是一个preliminary study， 说明你的研究结果尚未证实，应不宜发表。在英语里，通常preliminary study (data) 只用在申请课题（Grants)，意味着在你有了一些初步结果后，提出你的假说，表明有重大意义，并有继续研究的必要。在已发表的论文里仍然有一些文章还用“preliminary study..."做题目，但多发表在比较差的杂志。如：

1. Lee DW, Koo KT, Seol YJ, Lee YM, Ku Y, Rhyu IC, Chung CP, Kim TI. Bone regeneration effects of human allogenous bone substitutes: a preliminary study. J Periodontal Implant Sci. 2010 Jun;40(3):132-8. Epub 2010 Jun 25. PubMed PMID:20607058.
2. Blut D, Santer S, Carrabre J, Manfredini F. Epidemiology of musculoskeletal injuries among elite biathletes: a preliminary study. Clin J Sport Med. 2010Jul;20(4):322-4. PubMed PMID: 20606520.
3. Kushnir V, Menon M, Balducci XL, Selby P, Busto U, Zawertailo L. Enhanced smoking cue salience associated with depression severity in nicotine-dependent individuals: a preliminary fMRI study. Int J Neuropsychopharmacol. 2010 Jul7:1-12. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 20604987.
4. Noamesi GK. A preliminary study of the susceptibility of Simulium larvae to DDT, gamma-BHC and dieldrin. Bull World Health Organ. 1962;27(4-5):620-2. PubMed PMID: 20604132.
5. Kimura M, Rabbani Z, Mouraviev V, Tsivian M, Caso J, Satoh T, Baba S,Vujaskovic Z, Baust JM, Baust JG, Polascik TJ. Role of Vitamin D(3) as a Sensitizer to Cryoablation in a Murine Prostate Cancer Model: Preliminary In Vivo Study. Urology. 2010 Jul 2. [Epub ahead of print] PubMed PMID: 20599255.

No.4 .其他如“Study...on”、“Contrubuting to...”、“ Ananlysis of”、“role of ”

       这些用词跟"Effect of ..."类似，属于废话类题目，而且过于笼统，缺乏针对性，应尽量避免在论文题目中使用。例如：

Poor：A Study of Matrilysin-1 on bronchiolization of alveoli, a potential premalignant change in lung cancer

Better：Matrilysin-1 mediates bronchiolization of alveoli, a potential premalignant change in lung cancer

No.5. 过长的题目

        题目的长短，每个杂志都有规定，尽量不要超过规定的词数，通常不要超过100字母或10~12个英文单词。过长的题目不容易让人记住。

       总之，你有好的数据，写论文时一定要仔细推敲，安个好的Title，否则有可能会自己给自己的论文降低了档次。当然，论文的题目可不能象博文或新闻稿的题目一样，越耸人听闻越能博得眼球。

 

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