How To Create Perfect Keywords In Research Papers

How To Create Perfect Keywords In Research Papers
Although an extremely small part of an academic or scientific paper, keywords pack a very large punch in today’s world of online searches and digital publication. With many journal articles available worldwide almost immediately via the internet, it might even be argued that a paper’s keywords have become more important than its title. In one sense, this may be true: it is certainly easier to include in the keywords the terms you think readers are likely to use when searching for material on the topics covered in your paper because that is precisely why the keywords are created, and there is no need to compromise by joining them syntactically into the logical sense expected in a title. Keywords are simply listed, usually in alphabetical order immediately after a paper’s abstract, with the individual terms separated by commas or semicolons and often bearing initial capitals. Between three and ten keywords are normally required (with three to eight being most common), but each keyword can usually contain more than one word, although unnecessary connective words (such as ‘and,’ ‘or,’ ‘of’ and ‘between’) should be avoided as much as possible. The journal to which you plan to submit an article may have specific formatting requirements for keywords, so do check the guidelines carefully for any relevant instructions.

The keywords you choose should first and foremost be terms that represent the central concepts in your article, but they should also be terms that potential readers seeking information of the kind contained in your paper are most likely to enter into search engines. As a general rule, nonstandard abbreviations should not be used as keywords, especially if it is possible to use the full terms, which tend to be clearer for readers. Acronyms and initialisms are usually acceptable, especially if the abbreviated versions are more common or better known than the full terms (as is the case, for instance, with ‘AIDS,’ ‘NASA,’ ‘CD’ and ‘IQ’). In fact, abbreviations of any kind may be preferred in your keywords if it is more likely that they rather than their full versions will be used by readers researching your topic, but do check journal guidelines to be sure they are appropriate. Your keywords should also reflect the technical and/or theoretical language currently used within your discipline or field of study, so specialised terminology may be appropriate for some of your keywords, but highly specialised language should only be used in keywords if it is probable that it will also be used by potential readers as they search for material associated with your topic.

Remember that by choosing appropriate keywords and using them effectively in other searchable parts of your paper as well (such as the title and abstract), you empower your article, increasing its chances of being read and cited. At the same time, you help increase the number of readers and the ratings of the journal that has published your paper, which makes for a win-win situation all around.