Choosing a subject and title
1. Topics
The first choice to be made for anyone hoping to publish scholarly work is to select a subject. This requires some thought and preparation, but as in all aspects of writing for publication, the more you prepare, the better the result.
2. Don’t be too modest.
You may already have a good subject for an article if you have written a thesis that was approved by your academic adviser and others. If you underestimate the originality and impact of your research so far, try to figure out why others value it. It is possible that like your adviser or fellow researchers, an editor may also see qualities in your work that are not obvious to you. Also, you may just be tired of the subject, if you have already written about it for coursework. Put it aside for a little while and look at it again. It may not be as dull as you think!
3. Don’t be over-ambitious.
Choose an aspect of a subject or topic that can be covered in the space of an article. Some subjects cannot be adequately handled even in a book or series of books. Scaling your thoughts to the size of the average academic article takes some planning, and if you are in doubt, ask an ajarn who has published articles for advice.
4. Read lots of articles in your field.
Where authors of articles indicate suggestions for further research, take these suggestions seriously. You can write to the authors, since their professional email addresses are typically provided with the articles. Ask if they have been pursuing the further research they mention. Thai students and even some ajarns are usually shy about contacting professors in the international community. Part of the reason may be the nation-wide problem of English language skills, mentioned in the previous blog entry. Yet unlike Thailand, in other countries professors usually answer emails promptly and are typically pleased to know that they have readers in distant lands. You may get some useful advice if you write to the author of an article you have found valuable, and at the very least, you will have made a contact that can prove useful in the future.
5. Choose a subject that you sincerely like and are interested in.
There is no point in faking interest in a subject you really do not care about, since the process of writing an article and waiting until it finally appears in print can take years. Why should you be bored for that length of time? So if your ajarn, colleague, or fellow student suggests a subject that has no interest for you, unless you absolutely must accept the suggestion for academic reasons, thank them politely but keep looking for another subject that you find more exciting or intriguing. Once you decide to write about something, you have to live with it for a long time, so choose carefully.
6. Is your topic original enough?
If you select a subject, be sure to do research to see if others have already written about the same thing, and drawn more or less the same conclusions that you plan to draw. This means spending time searching article data bases. Ask your friendly and helpful librarians assistance in this search, if needed. Even when an ajarn or colleague suggests a subject to you, that is no guarantee someone else somewhere has not already published something about it, since few if any scholars know everything in the bibliography. Spend enough time looking to be reasonably sure that the ground you plan to cover has not already been covered by someone else. This increases the likelihood that an editor of a refereed journal will find your work original enough to seriously consider for publication. Even a subject that has been dealt with many times can be valuable if you decide to approach it in a new way or if you disagree with most conclusions drawn about it.
7. Be careful if your topic seems too original.
If you have examined the bibliography closely and have found that absolutely nothing ever published is even slightly comparable to the subject and approach that you have in mind, think about that for a little while. Is it because you have great originality, or is it just because you might be wrong? Again, advice from ajarns and fellow students may help you to decide whether you are boldly going into unexplored areas with a new idea, or just wasting your time on something that has nothing to do with reality.
8. Selecting a title
a. Be specific. After you have a topic, content, and approach, then it can be useful to think about a title. Choose something very specific, that gives as much idea about the content of paper as possible, which will make it easier for your article to turn up in internet searches.
Bad title for an article: Rice in Thailand.
Good title for an article: Growing rice in the Isan region of Thailand during the 19th century: the effect of population growth and famine.
The first choice above gives the reader very little idea of the specific contents of your article. Time is precious, as you know, and it is a courtesy to offer as much detail as possible to anyone who might plan to spend valuable moments with your research.
b. Avoid attempts at humor or cutesy titles. The title of an academic article should be as informative as possible. It is not meant to charm, amuse, or delight potential readers. If you try to be funny with a title, you may risk losing readers who do not realize the exact subject you are writing about.
Bad title for an article: Rice Queens in Isan.
Good title for an article: Female rice farmers in the Isan region of Thailand during the 19th century.
c. Only extend your title if you have important information to add. Since it is essential to make every word count in a title – and indeed in your paper – there is no point in adding useless words as in the following:
Female rice farmers in the Isan region of Thailand during the 19th century: an investigation.
It is already fairly clear that if you are writing an article, you plan to investigate the stated subject, so the title could have been left in its shorter form with no loss.
If, on the other hand, you really do have additional information to include, then a title can be usefully expanded:
Female rice farmers in the Isan region of Thailand during the 19th century: an ideal politics of gender.
In the above title, by adding the phrase “politics of gender,” you increase the chances that readers interested in this subject will find your article in online searches. Without it, you would have mainly been read by academics who are interested in Thai agriculture, 19th century Thailand, female farm workers, and related subjects.
(all images courtesy of Wikimedia Commons).