[按]旧金山Edit公司是一家很有名的写作咨询机构，它提供作者很多写作方面的技巧和帮助，当然肯定是要收钱的，呵呵。当时，它也会通过email提供大家一些免费的“黄金规则”，譬如如下这条。我将其贴在这里，以免去剽窃之嫌。在此基础上再对照翻译一下：

巧取标题的十五招

所谓标题不过是用尽可能少的几个字衬出文章的主要内容。巧取标题可以立马吸引读者，影响读者作出是否继续阅读下去的决定。因此，一个好的标题就是招牌，招牌好，啥都可能好；招牌晦气，啥也是白搭，因为顾客他不进来。

一篇文章的标题是吸引读者的第一关口，特别是对那些不含摘要的数据库而言更是如此。标题应该准确明白地反映文章内容，巧取标题才能吸引读者眼球，而混球标题将使得文章遭受厄运，可能永远也没有读者光顾。

要明白，这年头文章增长比阅读文章的人数增长要快，所以阅读你文章标题的人比阅读你文章的多得多。文摘系统根据你文章标题来进行分类；引用你文章的作者在参考文献中也只是列出你文章的标题，意味着更多的人会阅读到你文章标题。因此，只有好的标题才能吸引更多读者去阅读你的文章正文。

巧取标题的十五招如下：

1，下笔成文前先取标题，成文过程中不断斟酌和改进标题。

2，标题文字越少越好，力求准确简洁。

3，金科玉律是：标题只突出文章的一个中心思想。

4，文章主角永远排在标题靠前的位置。

5，反映文章主题的关键词要通俗、易于索引和便于数据库搜索。

6，简洁。决不为平庸的词汇开后门，拒绝诸如“研究”、“调查”和“观测”之类的词汇。

7，拒绝那些冗赘词汇，少用动词和冠词，标题应该像一个标签而不是一个句子。

8，只用最简单的词序和最常用的词组。

9，使用精确的描述而不是笼统的废话。

10，科学术语应该用全称而不是缩写。

11，避免缩写和简写，以杜绝歧义。

12，化学物品宜用名称而不是化学式。

13，杜绝罗马数字，以避免歧义。

14，除非太牛，否则别用诸如“显著的”之类的词汇。科学追求客观和准确，“显著的”之类的词汇有夸大结论之嫌和降低文章的价值。

15，确保标题和摘要与文章最后版本相适应。

Fifteen Steps to Developing an Effective Title

San Francisco Edit

www.sfedit.net

The title defines the contents of your manuscript in as few words as possible. An effective title "sells" your manuscript to the reader immediately and influences whether or not a reader will read the manuscript.

The title is essential in bringing your manuscript to the readers' attention, especially where the database being searched does not include the abstract of the article.  It should include all essential words in the right order so the topic of the manuscript is accurately and fully conveyed.  An excellent title is the key to ensuring your article will be found.  An improperly titled paper may be lost and never reach its intended audience.

Your title will be read by many more people than the rest of your manuscript.  Indexing services will use the title to categorize your paper.  Authors who cite your paper will include the title in their list of references, which, in turn, will be read by thousands of readers.

1.  Write the title early in the writing process and critique it the same as any other section of the manuscript.

2.  A title should be the fewest possible words that accurately describe the content of the paper (the recommended length is 10 - 12 words).

3.  The golden rule is: Express only one idea or subject in your title.

4.  Put an important word first in the title.

5.  Use key words which highlight the main content of your manuscript and can be understood, indexed, and retrieved by a database search.

6.  Be concise.  Omit all waste words such as "A study of ...", "Investigations of ...", "Observations on ...".

7.  Eliminate redundant words such as verbs and articles so the title functions as a label rather than a sentence.

8.  Use simple word orders and common word combinations.

9.  Be as descriptive as possible and use specific rather than general terms: for instance, include the specific drug name rather than just the class of drug.

10.  Write scientific names in full, for instance Escherichia coli rather than E. coli.

11.  Avoid using abbreviations and acronyms; they could have different meanings: for instance "Ca" for calcium could be mistaken for "CA", which means cancer.

12.  Refer to chemicals by their common or generic name instead of their formulas.

13.  Avoid the use of Roman numerals in the title as they can be interpreted differently: for instance, part III could be mistaken for factor III.

14.  Do not use words such as "significant", which are considered too strong, state your conclusion too boldly, and trivialize your manuscript by reducing it to a one-liner.

15.  Make certain that your title and abstract match the final version of your article.