Winning the Publications Game - 4th Edition (2016)

First set yourself a brief 27
FIGURE 3.2 Titles versus messages
On the left are titles published in the BMJ (5 August 2006).
At that time the BMJ published short news items about these
papers at the front of the journal, and these are shown on
the right. Note that the titles tell us about the subject being
discussed and the methodology. The headlines, which all have
verbs, give the messages. Defining a message before writing is
more useful than just writing a title because it gives direction
and focus.
Title
Mortality after Staphylococcus
aureus bacteraemia in two
hospitals in Oxfordshire,
1997–2003: cohort study
Health professionals’ and
service users’ interpretation
of screening test results:
experimental study
Varicose veins and their
management
Triggering radiation alarms
after radioiodine treatment
Message
Spread of MRSA increases
in hospitals
Both screened and screeners
misinterpret test results
Manage varicose veins with
conventional surgery
Radiotherapy patients can
trigger airport radiation
alarms
Do not confuse the message with a title. We shall return
to titles (briefly – because they should not take more
than a minute to write!) in Chapter 8, but at this stage
the point to stress is that you do not need to write a title
yet, and doing so could positively hinder your progress