Publishing Top Tips: Sexy topics, titles and abstracts

1. Publishing Top Tips:
Sexy topics, titles and abstracts
Stanislav Ivanov
Email: stanislav.ivanov@vumk.eu
Web: http://stanislavivanov.com
PhD Workshop, 16 May 2017, University of Aveiro, Portugal

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Dr. Stanislav Ivanov
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• Professor and Vice Rector (Research),
Varna University of Management,
Bulgaria (http://www.vum.bg)
• Editor-in-chief of the European Journal of
Tourism Research (http://ejtr.vumk.eu)
• CEO of Zangador Ltd.
(http://www.zangador.eu)

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Content
• Manuscript pre-publication cycle
• Manuscript post-publication cycle
• Sexy topics
• Sexy titles
• Sexy abstracts
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Idea
Research
AnalysisWriting
Review
process
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Manuscript
pre-publication
lifecycle

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Attention
Interest
AccessReading
Using
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Manuscript
post-publication
lifecycle

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Sexy topics
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Sexy topics
• Few publications on the topic > ‘blue ocean
strategy’
• Important now and still important in 5 years!
• Theoretical, methodological and/or applied value >
‘so what?’
• Availability of research funding does NOT make a
topic sexy!
• Politically correct topics are NOT necessarily sexy!
> Be bold!
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Sexy titles
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Sexy titles
• Catch the attention of readers
• Inform about the content of the paper
• Avoid too long titles
• Avoid too many abbreviations
• Be creative!
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Sexy titles
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Sexy titles
• Shortest possible:
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Sexy titles
• Research question as a title:
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Sexy titles
• Incorporation of movie titles:
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Sexy titles
• Incorporation of book titles or famous catch words:
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Sexy abstracts
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Sexy abstracts
• The abstract should properly reflect the content of
the paper
• Follow the journal’s guidelines in regard to
structure and word count of the abstract
• Be specific: include key facts about methodology
and results
• Include in the text of the abstract some important
words to improve the visibility of the abstract in
search engines
• The abstract is NOT a summary of a mystery novel!
• Make the abstract readable and citable!
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Small is the new sexy!
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THANK YOU FOR THE
ATTENTION!
QUESTIONS?
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