Why do good papers get few citations?

Have you ever looked at Google Scholar or your ISI Web of Science scores and wondered who was citing your papers and why were they citing them? After thinking a bit more about why certain papers on my CV have received as much or as little attention through citation, I decided it was time to … read more

Unintended consequences of choosing coauthors

I had been trying to track down this paper for several years. Finally, I was able to get my hands on it. Like many papers you get, they turn out to tell you something different than what you were hoping to hear. In this case, it was a pleasant surprise. The principal result is that … read more

Will asking a question get your science paper cited more?

My friend Jim Steenburgh over at Wasatch Weather Weenies alerted me to this column in the Guardian newspaper. The column points out something that we scientists may know but forget from time to time: factors other than the quality of the science determine whether and how often our articles get cited by others. Among the … read more

A title in need of some help

This paper was published in Nature Geoscience in 2008. “Recent Antarctic ice mass loss from radar interferometry and regional climate modelling” My first reaction was “If radar interferometry and regional climate modelling are causing ice mass loss, then stop it, for the Earth’s sake!” — Photograph by Tim Laman/National Geographic Society

Whether to use colons in titles

In Eloquent Science, I discuss my thoughts about colons in titles of scientific articles on pp. 24-25, but only briefly. Dave Mechem (University of Kansas) emailed me to express concern about their overuse in some disciplines like geography, humanities, and some of the social sciences. For an example, take a look at this issue of … read more

A great title (Bryan 2005)

I was recently reminded of this paper by my colleague George Bryan. Bryan, G. H., 2005: Spurious convective organization in simulated squall lines owing to moist absolutely unstable layers. Mon. Wea. Rev., 133, 1978–1997. I love this title. This title has all of Lipton’s five characteristics of an effective title. Informative The title has all … read more

The shortest title ever written

I discovered this article while browsing on the Web site of Rutgers University mathematician Doron Zeilberger.  Among his voluminous Web page (we’re talking Doswell-level voluminous), I came across this page. The article came about when Prof. Zeilberger was asked to give a talk to the Research Experience for Undergraduates program at the Rutgers Math Department.  … read more

Why word order in titles is important: Example 1

“The Identification of Alcohol Intoxication by Police,” J. Brick and J. A. Carpenter, Alcoholism: Clinical Experimentation and Research, June 2001, vol. 25, no. 6, pp. 850-5. <http://tinyurl.com/yd9rv4r> ——– From the mini-Annals of Improbable Research: October 2009, Issue number 2009-10. ISSN 1076-500X 2009-10-08 RESEARCH SPOTLIGHT: Brick/Carpenter Confusion

Excerpt: Chapter 3: Writing an Effective Title

This is an excerpt from Chapter 3: Writing an Effective Title.