lecture 4 itle.doc

Lecture 4 Title Linguistic characteristics of titles 1.1 Titles should Describe contents clearly and precisely, so that readers can decide whether to read the report Provide key words for indexing ABC principle: accuracy, brevity, clarity 1.2 Titles should not Include waste words such as studies on, an investigation of, “a Preliminary Study/Discussion on”, etc. Use abbreviations and jargon/只有那些全称较长，缩写后已得到科技界公认，且在读者群中非常熟悉的，才可以使用。如：LASER，DNA，AIDS， CT等等。 Use cute language 1.3 Length: disciplinary matter/题名不宜过长，国外科技期刊一般要求在10个词以内，不宜超过15个字。如英国数学学会期刊要求每个题名不超过2个词，美国医学会规定题名不超过两行，每行不超过42个字符和空格。 1.4. Capitalization: all first words are capitalized; all words immediately following a colon are capitalized; all other words are capitalized except for articles and prepositions (Agree or disagree?) 1.5 目前世界上各大检索机构在题名上各有自己特有的要求，因机构不同而有所差异。例如，《EI》对题名的写作有如下要求： 1．英文题名开头的第一个字尽量不用冠词； 2．英文题名第一个单词的首字母大写，其余小写，下列情况除外：专有名词首字母大写，德语名词第一个首字母应大写，句号后任何词的首字母大写； 3．主、副题名必须用句号分开，不得用分号、破折号或冒号； 4．题名中尽量少用缩略词，必用时需在括号中注明全称；e.g. Durability of hybrid laminar flow control (HLFC) surfaces 5．特殊字符即数字符号和希腊字母在题名中尽量不用或少用。 Examples: 1. The Relationship of Luteinizing Hormone to Obesity in the Zucker Rat (Good title) An Investigation of Hormone Secretion and Weight in Rats (poor title) Fat Rats: Are Their Hormones Different? (poor title) 2. The Tourist Industry in the Bahamas The Economic Dynamics of the Tourist Industry in the Bahamas 3. An evaluation of the Implementation Process and Impact of a Program to Educate Teachers in Ecuador The Implementation and Impact of a Teacher-Training Program in Ecuador 4. A Study of The Effects of Foreign Investment During the Period Between 1976 and 1990 The Effects of Foreign Investment on Economic Growth in Spain, 1976--1990 2. Title types 2.1 Noun phase(NP): NP + one or more post-modifying prepositional phrases (of is the most commonly used prep; in ranks the second，and for, etc.) Nominalization of a dynamic verb is usually to indicate the process. e.g. 1. Visu