title: The impact of article titles on citation hits: an analysis of general and specialist medical journals.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Most published articles are not cited and citation rates depend on many variables. We hypothesized that specific features of journal titles may be related to citation rates.
  
  
  METHODS
  We reviewed the title characteristics of the 25 most cited articles and the 25 least cited articles published in 2005 in general and specialist medical journals including the Lancet, BMJ and Journal of Clinical Pathology. The title length and construction were correlated to the number of times the papers have been cited to May 2009.
  
  
  METHODS
  Retrospective review of a scientific database.
  
  
  METHODS
  None.
  
  
  METHODS
  Citation rate.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The number of citations was positively correlated with the length of the title, the presence of a colon in the title and the presence of an acronym. Factors that predicted poor citation included reference to a specific country in the title.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  These data suggest that the construction of an article title has a significant impact on frequently the paper is cited. We hypothesize that this may be related to the way electronic searches of the literature are undertaken.
authors.affiliation: Neural Development Unit, UCL - Institute of Child Health , London , UK.
authors.forename: Thomas S
authors.initials: TS
authors.lastname: Jacques
authors.forename: Neil J
authors.initials: NJ
authors.lastname: Sebire