If this title is funny, will you cite me? Citation impacts of humour and other features of article titles in ecology and evolution

Abstract

Titles of scientific papers play a key role in their discovery, and “good” titles engage and recruit readers. Humour is a particularly interesting aspect of title construction, but little is known about whether funny titles boost or limit paper impact. We used a panel of scorers to assess title humour for 2439 papers in ecology and evolution, and measured associations between humour and subsequent citation (self-citation and citation by others). Papers with funnier titles were cited less, but this appears to reflect confounding with paper importance: self-citation data suggest that authors give funnier titles to papers they consider less important. After correction for this, papers with funny titles have significantly higher citation rates ( P < 2.2 × 10−16; roughly doubling from lowest to highest humour score)—suggesting that humour recruits readers. We also examined associations between citation rates and other features of titles. Inclusion of acronyms and taxonomic names was associated with lower citation rates, while assertive-statement phrasing and presence of colons, question marks, and political regions were associated with somewhat higher citation rates. Title length had no effect on citation. Our results suggest that scientists can use creativity with titles without having their work condemned to obscurity.

Blossoming Insights: A Bibliometric Review of Botanical Gardens’ Research Across Time (1960-2023)

“…We have investigated why the citation rates have decreased, and it is clear that a better understanding of the challenges and dynamics affecting the recognition and utilization of botanical garden research in academic and conservation spheres is required. While the decrease in citation rates of publications can be attributed to self-citation rates [51], the decline in uncited articles [52], title characteristics [53], and the quality and subject category of articles [54], we argue if in the present study, the age of publication can be the most factor decreasing the citation rates of recent publication of botanical gardens. This means that the age of a publication of botanical gardens may influence its visibility and scholarly assimilation.…”

Keywords to success: a practical guide to maximise the visibility and impact of academic papers

“…In the field of ecology and evolutionary biology, titles have been getting longer without much consequence on citation rates [9,10]. However, exceptionally long titles tend to fare poorly during editorial review [9].…”

“…Humour also appears to play an important role in a paper's future impact [10]. After controlling for journal properties, papers with titles that scored the highest for humour had nearly double the citation count as papers that received the lowest scores [10].…”

“…For instance, a study investigating the thermal tolerance of Pogona vitticeps could phrase its title as "thermal tolerance of a reptile", as opposed to "thermal tolerance of reptiles", the latter implying the study results are applicable to all reptiles. Humour also appears to play an important role in a paper's future impact [10]. After controlling for journal properties, papers with titles that scored the highest for humour had nearly double the citation count as papers that received the lowest scores [10].…”

“…Humour also appears to play an important role in a paper's future impact [10]. After controlling for journal properties, papers with titles that scored the highest for humour had nearly double the citation count as papers that received the lowest scores [10]. While incorporating humour might be perceived as a risk, evidence suggests that a well-placed pun can enrich academic writing, engaging both the intellect and the funny bone.…”