• 3-minute read
• 30th October 2018

How to Select Keywords for a Journal Article

So, you’ve written an article for an academic journal? Well done! Before you send it off for publication, though, you may also need to pick some keywords to go with it. So, to make sure your work is easy for readers to find, check out our guide on how to select keywords for a journal article.

Why Do I Need to Pick Keywords for My Article?

Academic publishers usually ask authors to pick a number of keywords whenever they submit a paper. These are terms relevant to your article that people can search for on a journal database.

Along with your title and abstract, then, the keywords you pick will impact how many people find, read and cite your paper. It is therefore vital to give this issue a little thought.

5 Tips on How to Select Keywords

1. Follow the Publisher’s Guidelines – Check whether the journal’s publisher has any guidelines on how to select keywords. At the very least, they should provide advice on how many keywords are required (usually five to eight). These guidelines are often part of the author instructions, along with advice on writing style and formatting.

2. Focus on the Main Topic of Your Research – Use the main topic of your paper to guide keyword selection. For instance, if your paper is about medical usage of nanotechnology, your keywords would include terms like ‘nanomedicine’ and ‘nanopharmaceutics’. It can also help to consider what your target reader is likely to search for in a database.

3. Don’t Duplicate Words from Your Title – The title of your paper is important partly because it will register on search engines. And since you can only pick a few keywords for your article, you should avoid duplicating any terminology already used in the paper’s title.

4. Be Specific – Try to be as specific as possible. This may include using ‘key phrases’ of two or three words, since single-word terms can be too vague or ambiguous.

For instance, whereas ‘nanotechnology’ would bring up every paper related to nanotechnology in any way, searching for a key phrase like ‘cancer nanotechnology’ would only find papers specifically about cancer AND nanotechnology. Using specific keywords will therefore help readers with a specific interest in your subject area to find your paper.

5. Test Your Keywords – Finally, once you have selected some keywords, enter them into a relevant journal database. If they bring up articles on topics similar to your own, then you’ve selected good keywords. But if not, you may need to try again.

If you’re struggling to come up with any keywords that work, find some articles that you know cover similar subject matter. You can then use their keywords to guide your own choices.

Summary: How to Select Keywords for a Journal Article

In summary, then, when selecting keywords for a journal article you should:

1. Follow the publisher guidelines
2. Focus on terms related to the main topic of your research
3. Avoid duplicating words used in your title
4. Be specific and use multi-word ‘key phrases’ where possible
5. Test your keywords on a relevant journal database

Good luck! And let us know if you need help proofreading your article.