METHODOLOGY FOR CREATING TITLES OF SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES ON ECOLOGICAL ISSUES
Abstract
Relevance: The global shift toward "Vocational Education 4.0" and the integration of specialists into the international academic space significantly increase the requirements for scientific metadata quality. In the environmental safety sector, the article title serves as a primary indexing element; however, typical lexical barriers and structural redundancy often hinder the visibility of Ukrainian research in Scopus and Web of Science. Addressing the research gap in systematizing title-forming methodologies is vital for enhancing international scientific communication and ensuring the accurate representation of environmental findings.
Purpose: This study aims to develop and scientifically substantiate a methodology for creating titles of scientific articles on environmental issues that comply with the linguistic and technical requirements of international scientometric databases.
Methods: The research followed a phased mixed-methods design, integrating comparative linguistic analysis, content analysis of highly cited environmental publications (Q1-Q2), and a deductive approach to systematizing title effectiveness criteria. Practical testing involved a "diagnostic and corrective" stage with master’s and doctoral students majoring in "Ecology," utilizing the "semantic deletion" technique to transform descriptive Ukrainian structures into concise English nominative groups.
Results: Empirical findings establish that effective environmental research titles contain 8–12 words, place the key object in the initial position, and utilize the "Object: Aspect" model. The application of the proposed semantic deletion method reduces title length by 30–50% without loss of scientific meaning. The study identifies typical errors in English adaptation, specifically literal calquing and excessive use of prepositions, which negatively affect Field-Weighted Citation Impact (FWCI). A step-by-step algorithm was developed, integrating noun adjuncts and gerund constructions to align titles with Academic English standards.
Conclusions: The developed methodology represents a strategic tool for increasing the academic mobility and competitiveness of specialists in the environmental safety field. Effective title construction facilitates a transition from "descriptiveness" to "nominativeness," optimizing metadata for search engine algorithms. Practically, the results provide a scalable framework for academic writing courses, helping young scientists avoid technical errors at the manuscript submission stage and increasing the citation potential of environmental research.
Keywords
environmental research communication, scientometric visibility, academic writing, metadata optimisation
Author Biography
Stanislav Dushkin
PhD in Technical Sciences, Associate Professor, Kharkiv National Automobile and Highway University https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9345-9632, e-mail: dushkin@khadi.kharkov.ua
Olena Sierikova
Doctor of Technical Sciences, Associate Professor, Leading Researcher, National Scientific Center “Ноn. Prof. М.S. Bokarius Forensic Science Institute” https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0354-9720, e-mail: sierikova_olena@ukr.net
Vadym Babakin
Doctor of Law, Professor, Leading Researcher National Scientific Center “Ноn. Prof. М.S. Bokarius Forensic Science Institute”, https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7157-0241, e-mail: babakin_vadym@ukr.net
References
Головенко, К. В. (2024). Лінгвістичні особливості українських заголовків новинних текстів та способи їх перекладу англійською мовою. Наукові записки. Серія: Філологічні науки, 2(209), 93–99. https://doi.org/10.32782/2522-4077-2024-209-14
Душкін, С. С. (2025). Впровадження ділової-гри «Водний баланс: стратегії оптимізації та екологічної сталості» в контексті навчальної дисципліни «Водопостачання, водовідведення та покращення якості води». Вісник Харківського національного автомобільно-дорожнього університету, 111, 171–178. https://doi.org/10.30977/BUL.2219-5548.2025.111.0.171
Луценко, Н. Л. (2019). Світові тенденції розвитку вищої освіти та ймовірні моделі університетів майбутнього. Бізнес Інформ, 6, 115–120. https://doi.org/10.32983/2222-4459-2019-6-115-120
Мукан, Н., & Козубська, С. (2021). Специфіка побудови академічного тексту. Гірська школа Українських Карпат, (24), 20–23. https://doi.org/10.15330/msuc.2021.24.20-23
Abbasi Dashtaki, N., CheshmehSohrabi, M., Pashootanizadeh, M., & Baradaran Kashani, H. (2025). Retrieving and discovering new knowledge from documents' abstracts in scientific databases: Proposing a query-based abstractive summarization model. International Journal of Information Management Data Insights, 5(2), Article 100366. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jjimei.2025.100366
Abramo G.D’Angelo C. A. Di Costa F. (2016). The effects of a country’s name in the title of a publication on its visibility and citability. Scientometrics109, 1895–1909. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-016-2120-1
Ale Ebrahim, N. (2016). Optimize articles for search engine to improve research visibility [Presentation]. Figshare. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.4040133.v1
Benavides, L. M. C., Tamayo Arias, J. A., Arango Serna, M. D., Branch Bedoya, J. W., & Burgos, D. (2020). Digital transformation in higher education institutions: A systematic literature review. Sensors, 20(11), 3291. https://doi.org/10.3390/s20113291
Bianchi, G., Pisiotis, U., & Cabrera Giraldez, M. (2022). GreenComp: The European sustainability competence framework. Publications Office of the European Union. https://publications.jrc.ec.europa.eu/repository/handle/JRC128040
Chen, Y. (2024). Research on the impact of ecological literature on the environment and society – taking Chinese ecological literature as an example. E3S Web of Conferences 560, 02014. P. 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1051/e3sconf/202456002014
Chesnokova, O., Khramchenko, D. S., & Kupriyanova, M. (2019). Professional discourse: Functional-linguistic perspective (based on academic discourse). In Functional Approach to Professional Discourse Exploration in Linguistics (pp. 11–30). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-32-9103-4_2
Chigbu, U. E., Atiku, S. O., & Du Plessis, C. C. (2023). The science of literature reviews: Searching, identifying, selecting, and synthesising. Publications, 11(1), 2. https://doi.org/3390/publications11010002
Curry, M. J., & Lillis, T. (2024). Multilingualism in academic writing for publication: Putting English in its place. Language Teaching, 57(1), 87–100. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444822000040
Diao, J. A. (2021). Lexical and syntactic study of research article titles in Library Science and Scientometrics. Scientometrics, 126, 6041–6058. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-021-04018-6
Hyland, K., & Zou, H. J. (2022). Titles in research articles: Structural patterns and implications. Journal of English for Academic Purposes, 56, 101094. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeap.2022.101094
Jegede, O. O. (2020). Linguistic features of English for science and technology. Britain International of Linguistics, Arts and Education (BIoLAE) Sciences Journal, 2(2), 537–544. https://doi.org/10.33258/biolae.v2i2.265
Khan, M. A. W. (2023). The art of writing a “Title” for an original research paper. Bangladesh Journal of Medical Education, 14(1), 70–77. https://doi.org/10.3329/bjme.v14i1.63685
Mao, Z., Lee, I., & Li, S. (2024). Written corrective feedback in second language writing: A synthesis of naturalistic classroom studies. Language Teaching, 57(4), 449–477. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0261444823000393
Milojević S (2017) The Length and Semantic Structure of Article Titles – Evolving Disciplinary Practices and Correlations with Impact. Front. Res. Metr. Anal. 2:2. https://doi.org/10.3389/frma.2017.00002
Nair L. B.Gibbert M. (2016). What makes a ‘good’ title and (how) does it matter for citations? A review and general model of article title attributes in management science. Scientometrics107, 1331–1359. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-016-1937-y
Orbay, K. (2025). Short, but how short? Analysis of educational research titles. SAGE Open, 15(1). https://doi.org/10.1177/21582440251320538
Pottier, P., Lagisz, M., Burke, S., Drobniak, S. M., Downing, P. A., Macartney, E. L., Martinig, A. R., Mizuno, A., Morrison, K., Pollo, P., Ricolfi, L., Tam, J., Williams, C., Yang, Y., & Nakagawa, S. (2024). Title, abstract and keywords: A practical guide to maximize the visibility and impact of academic papers. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 291(2027), 20241222. https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2024.1222
SCImago. (n.d.). SJR – SCImago Journal & Country Rank. https://www.scimagojr.com
Springer Nature. (2024). Manuscript preparation guidelines for English-language journals. https://www.springernature.com/gp/authors/publish-a-book/manuscript-guidelines
Wissuchek, C., & Zschech, P. (2025). Prescriptive analytics systems revised: A systematic literature review from an information systems perspective. Information Systems and e-Business Management, 23, 279–353. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10257-024-00688-w
Translated & Transliterated
Holovenko, K. V. (2024). Linhvistychni osoblyvosti ukrainskykh zaholovkiv novynnykh tekstiv ta sposoby yikh perekladu anhliiskoiu movoiu [Linguistic features of Ukrainian headlines of news texts and methods of their translation into the English language]. Naukovi zapysky. Seriia: Filolohichni nauky [Scientific Notes. Series: Philological Sciences], 2(209), 93–99. https://doi.org/10.32782/2522-4077-2024-209-14 , [in Ukrainian].
Dushkin, S. S. (2025). Vprovadzhennia dilovoi-hry «Vodnyi balans: stratehii optymizatsii ta ekolohichnoi stalosti» v konteksti navchalnoi dystsypliny «Vodopostachannia, vodovidvedennia ta pokrashchennia yakosti vody» [Implementation of the business game “Water Balance: Strategies for Optimization and Environmental Sustainability" in the context of the discipline "Water Supply, Sewerage and Water Quality Improvement"]. Visnyk Kharkivskoho natsionalnoho avtomobilno-dorozhnoho universytetu [Bulletin of Kharkiv National Automobile and Highway University], 111, 171–178. https://doi.org/10.30977/BUL.2219-5548.2025.111.0.171 , [in Ukrainian].
Lutsenko, N. L. (2019). Svitovi tendentsii rozvytku vyshchoi osvity ta imovirni modeli universytetiv maibutnoho [The global tendencies in development of higher education and plausible models of universities of the future]. Biznes Inform [Business Inform], 6, 115–120. https://doi.org/10.32983/2222-4459-2019-6-115-120 , [in Ukrainian].
Mukan, N., & Kozubska, S. (2021). Spetsyfika pobudovy akademichnoho tekstu [Specifics of academic text construction]. Hirska shkola Ukrainskykh Karpat [Mountain School of Ukrainian Carpaty], (24), 20–23. https://doi.org/10.15330/msuc.2021.24.20-23 , [in Ukrainian].