Keywords are words that capture the essence of your paper. Keywords make your paper searchable and ensure that you get more citations. Therefore, it is important to include the most relevant keywords that will help other authors find your paper.

Here are a few tips that will help you create relevant and effective keywords for your paper:

 1. Think from the point of view of the reader. What keywords would the reader search for that would help retrieve your article?

2. Keywords should ideally be phrases of 2-4 words; single word keywords are acceptable, but they may lead to many false matches.

3. Keywords should contain words and phrases that suggest what the topic is about. Also include words and phrases that are closely related to your topic. (For example, if the paper is about heart diseases, use words like stroke, circulatory system, blood, etc.)

4. The full forms of shortened words or acronyms and abbreviations should be included as well.

Examples:

Paper title: Direct observation of nonlinear optics in an isolated carbon nanotube

Poor keywords: molecule, optics, lasers, energy lifetime /Better keywords: single-molecule interaction, Kerr effect, carbon nanotubes, energy level structure

Paper title: Increases in levels of sediment transport at former glacial-interglacial transition

Poor keywords: climate change, erosion, plant effects /Better keywords: quaternary climate change, soil erosion, bioturbation

(Sources: https://www.editage.com/insights/how-to-create-keywords-for-a-research-paper; https://www.springer.com/gp/authors-editors/authorandreviewertutorials/writing-a-journal-manuscript/title-abstract-and-keywords/10285522)


Last modified: Saturday, 14 November 2020, 6:02 PM