how to find keywords for research paper

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How to Choose Keywords for a Research Paper

With the ever-increasing volume of information available digitally, finding relevant sources has become quite the challenge! To hunt down the articles we want, we use search engines and type in keywords that narrow down results.

Keywords, therefore, are essential for filtering the overwhelming amount of resources available. When we use these parameters in a database or a search engine, we receive a list of results ranked according to relevancy. The more the content of an article reflects the keywords used, the higher it will appear on the results page.

So, what are the best research paper keywords?

How, then, can we make sure that our published articles and academic papers rank higher on search results and not drown in the sea of publications? The answer, of course, is choosing the best keywords! However, there are some pitfalls with using keywords, so the following is a quick guide on how to carefully choose keywords for a research paper and what mistakes to avoid.

Follow any instructions your target journal provides regarding keywords

The journal rules of the specific publication trump all others! For example, most clinical papers use terms from the US National Library of Medicine’s Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) . Many journals request five to eight terms. However, some restrict the nature of the words that can be used. For instance, some journals want single words instead of phrases. Again, double-check journal requirements!

Think about what terms you would use to search for papers related to your topic

Chances are the phrases you choose are going to be similar to what other researchers may use when searching for literature.

Note that in rule #2 we used the term “phrases” instead of “words.” In truth, “keywords” is a misnomer. These days, we search databases using phrases or complete sentences. This is because single-term searches yield a broader list of results than desired. For example, let’s imagine that I want to know the specifics of Jupiter’s air composition. If I type in “Jupiter,” I’ll receive a list containing any document related to Jupiter, but most of them might not be relevant. Therefore,  choose keyword phrases that comprise two to four words .

Avoid using terms already present in your research paper’s title

This is particularly true if your journal says not to include them . Why? Your research paper title is searchable and will be weighted (marked to have greater weight by a programming code), so keywords should contain a list of words that  supplement  your title’s content. Even if your journal doesn’t restrict title word use in keywords, we recommend using this valuable real estate for alternate terms (see rule #7).

Keywords should indicate the general subject matter; however,  they should not be too broad . For instance, if you are writing a paper on a newly-discovered epigenetic regulator, you might not want to use general keywords such as “cell biology” or “genetics.” These terms do little to reflect the specificity with which your potential readers search for source materials. Instead, focus on key concepts covered in your abstract.

If your research involves a key method or technique, put the term either in your title or your keywords

On that note, be careful with spelling/capitalization. While search engines, by default, ignore capitalization rules, hyphenation could be an issue.  Make sure you are using the officially recognized written form of each key term . Failure to do so might result in less hits for your paper. Google Scholar can help with finding the official, correct, and/or mostly used versions of field-specific terms.

Think of generally used alternate terms to the ones found in your title

That is, include significant abbreviations, acronyms, and other short-form or substitute names for your topic. Be careful, however, of using acronyms that could have other meanings. For example, HIV would be a safe abbreviation since most hits would relate to the disease. The term, ARC, on the other hand, has significance in many fields: computer programming, engineering, math, and biology, just to name a few. Therefore, if we mean the ARC file format, then we should use the phrase, “ARC file format,” as a keyword.

Test your keywords before submitting your paper

When you enter your keywords into various journal and academic databases like Google Scholar, do the results include papers similar to your topic? If not, revise the terms until they do.

Use keyword generators with caution

Some sites such as the one offered by the University of Texas provide keyword generators or keyword planners to help you think of other terms you could include. However, make sure that those words actually relate to your paper’s topic. You can double-check relevancy by using the terms as explained in rule #8.

We hope these quick tips help you choose the best research paper and abstract keywords. Remember, the point of these terms is to help your paper gain visibility among your target audience. So, make sure that your search terms are ones that your desired readers would use!

Wordvice Resources

If you need more general advice on writing the abstract or the Introduction, Results, Methods, and Discussion sections of your manuscript, or if you want to know how to impress the editor of your target journal with a convincing cover letter, then head over to the Wordvice academic resources pages, where you’ll find hundreds of articles on how research paper writing tips and techniques.

And before submission, don’t forget to receive professional proofreading and English editing services , including manuscript editing services , from Wordvice academic experts.

Research Paper Keyword Generator + Tips

• 🤩 Pros of Our Keyword Generator
• 🗝️ What Are Keywords?
• ️🔍 How to Choose Keywords
• 💡 4 Best Tips for Writing Keywords

🔗 References

🤩 pros of our free research paper keyword generator.

Our tool will present you with a list of keywords and phrases from any text you paste. There are several features that make it stand out from similar instruments:

🗝️ What Are Keywords in a Research Paper?

Keywords are phrases and words that reflect a research papers’ main ideas and topics . They help search engines and readers alike to quickly understand what the work is about. Such terms and phrases also allow researchers interested in your subject to promptly find your paper, share it, and cite it. Depending on the format of your work, keywords can be placed in its metadata or the abstract .

Why Are Keywords Important?

Oftentimes, students and professionals alike don’t take the time to choose the keywords for their research papers. They might be under the impression that if the work is good enough, others will find it anyway. In reality, that is not the case.

Choosing the most appropriate keywords has the following advantages:

• More precise search results . It ensures that your papers will be quickly found in search engines and academic registries. This way, researchers and other people interested in the topic have a better chance of coming across your work.
• Showing the paper’s relevance . Key words and phrases get across the main subject of the paper, summarize the main ideas , and make it easier for people to determine if they may be interested in the research.
• Quick communication with evaluators . Having keywords in your work lets your professors quickly comprehend the content and subject of your study.

🔍 How to Choose Keywords in Research Papers

This section will give you an understanding of the general rules about choosing keywords for academic works. There are several things we advise keeping in mind:

• Check the instructions . Before adding keywords, carefully read manuals provided by your professors or scientific journals. These materials should contain the volume of allowed keywords (3–5 on average, up to 10 in rare cases) and explain whether these should be picked from a pre-selected list.
• Choose specific words and phrases . When selecting your keywords, it is best not to use generic phrases. You should avoid abstract concepts or common words, since they can cause your paper to get lost in the search results. Instead, it is best to stay specific to the subject matter. For example, if you write about heart disease, use keys such as “ peripheral arterial disease ” or “acute coronary heart disease.”
• Search for optimized terms . Maximize the paper’s reach by optimizing terms. Google Scholar is a great way to discover the proper terminology for research in different fields.
• Include the methodology . Additionally, it’s essential to name the methodology used in the study. For example, regarding medicine, clinical trial types or experimental techniques are a perfect choice for papers on this subject.

Keywords Format: APA Style

APA is currently one of the most used formats for academic research papers. There are several things students should be aware of when writing works that follow its guidelines.

• Recommended fonts . In the APA style , it’s possible to use 10-point Computer Modern, 10-point Lucida Sans Unicode, 11-point Arial, 11-point Calibri, 11-point Georgia, or 12-point Times New Roman fonts.
• Placement . Students should place the keywords list on the research’s second page, one line below the abstract.
• Label . These words and phrases must be labeled as “Keywords,” intended like a regular paragraph, and put in italics.
• Text . In the APA format, keywords are on the same line and one space after the label. They are written in the lowercase, with capitalized proper nouns. Don’t use bold or italic and remember to separate them with commas. There’s no ending punctuation after the final keyword. Students can list them in any order and use double-space if the keywords run onto the second line.

💡 4 Best Tips for Writing Keywords for Your Research

Finding and incorporating the right keywords in research studies takes time and effort to perfect. We’ve decided to give several tips that will help you hone your research and article-writing skills .

• Avoid keywords that are too narrow or too broad . This is one of the trickiest things to pull off while looking for the perfect keywords. Make them excessively precise, and you will narrow your audience significantly. Make them too broad, and the article will be lost in search results.
• Steer clear of obscure search terms . If you want the work to appear in academic directories, don’t use terms people rarely seek. For example, people rarely search for Latin animal or plant species names, so keep things closer to plain English.
• Don’t mislead readers . Don’t use keys unrelated to your topic to get into the search results. Such things remove credibility from your writing and add unnecessary difficulties for people trying to find it.
• Use the appropriate format . When choosing your keywords, it is best to remember several general rules. For example, you should try avoiding abbreviations where possible. Additionally, it is best to use short phrases rather than singular words.

Our research paper generator will become a valuable tool for your academic pursuits. Also, we recommend you try our effective plagiarism checker ! If you have any questions, check out our FAQ section.

❓ Research Paper Keyword Generator – FAQ

• Consider words and phrases that expand or narrow the paper’s scope.
• Use phrases instead of single words without context.
• Avoid abbreviations.
• Check the guidelines.
• Find short phrases.
• Use general terms.
• Stay specific.
• Mention the methodology.

Updated: Oct 30th, 2023

• How to Write a Research Paper. – Lebanon Valley College
• Keyword Searching: Finding Articles on Your Topic: Select Keywords. – Walden University
• Research Foundations: Choose Keywords. – Seminole State College Library
• Guidelines for Selecting Keywords. – Kansas State University
• A Guide to Writing an Effective Abstract / Selecting Keywords for Discovery. – Cambridge University Press & Assessment
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Find the perfect keywords for your research with IvyPanda’s free Research Paper Keyword Generator! Enter the text, select the number of keywords, and get a list of key terms to enhance your paper’s visibility. Try it now and make your research stand out!

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• Writing Tips

How to Pick the Best Keywords for a Journal Article

• 3-minute read
• 27th October 2019

Once you’ve written an academic journal article, you may need to pick some keywords before submitting it for publication. These will help people find your work, so read our guide on how to pick keywords for a journal article.

Why Do I Need to Pick Keywords for My Article?

Academic publishers usually ask authors to pick a few keywords whenever they submit a paper. These ‘keywords’ are terms relevant to your article that people can search for on a  journal database .

Along with your title and  abstract , these keywords will impact how many people find, read, and cite your paper. It is therefore vital to give this issue a little thought. But how should you pick keywords for a journal article?

5 Tips on How to Select Keywords

To find the best keywords for a journal article, follow these tips.

1. Use the Publisher’s Guidelines

Check whether the journal’s publisher has any guidelines on how to select keywords. At the very least, they should provide advice on how many keywords are required (usually five to eight). These guidelines are often part of the author instructions, along with advice on writing style and formatting.

2. Focus on the Main Topic of Your Research

Use the main topic of your paper to guide keyword selection. For instance, if your paper is about the medical usage of nanotechnology, your keywords would include terms like “nanomedicine” and “nanopharmaceutics.” It can also help to consider what your target reader is likely to search for in a database.

3. Don’t Duplicate Words from Your Title

The   title of your paper is important partly because it will register on search engines. And since you can only pick a few keywords for your article, you should avoid duplicating any terminology already used in the paper’s title.

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4. Be Specific

Try to be as specific as possible. This may include using “key phrases” of two or three words, since single-word terms can be too ambiguous.

For instance, whereas “nanotechnology” would bring up every paper related to nanotechnology in any way, searching for a key phrase like “cancer nanotechnology” would only find papers specifically about cancer AND nanotechnology. Using specific keywords will therefore help readers with a specific interest in your subject area to find your paper.

5. Test Your Keywords

Finally, once you have selected some keywords, enter them into a relevant journal database. If they bring up articles on topics similar to your own, then you’ve selected good keywords. If not, you may need to try again.

In addition, if you’re struggling to come up with keywords that work, you can search for some articles that cover a similar subject. You can then check their keywords and use these to guide your own choices.

Summary: How to Select Keywords for a Journal Article

In summary, when selecting keywords for a journal article you should always:

• Follow the publisher’s guidelines for selecting keywords.
• Focus on terms related to the main topic of your research.
• Avoid duplicating words used in your title.
• Be specific and use multi-word “key phrases” where possible.
• Test your keywords on a relevant journal database.

Good luck! And let us know if you need help  proofreading your article .

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How to Choose Keywords for a Manuscript?

• 3 minute read
• 83.9K views

Table of Contents

Do you feel your article is being unnoticed? It can sometimes feel as if your work is sunk, in an ocean of millions of others, and not being found and read as often as you imagined. If this is the case, you are not alone. Unfortunately, in the internet era, just good research is hardly enough. A quality text edition of your manuscript and stunning presentations may be the next step for calling some attention, but making your work pop out from millions of others is a challenge that is often under thought by many researchers.

Actually, there are a few things in your power to help an article climb up search engine rankings. It all comes down to two concepts that you probably have heard a thousand times before: SEO and Keywords.

• Working with SEO (search engine optimization): Basically, this means helping search engines find your article relevant for certain search terms on the internet. This is done by choosing strategic keywords that correspond to words in the internet user’s search. This way your article has the best chance to appear in a higher position within a probably (very) long list of other related research.
• Choosing keywords for manuscripts: Keywords are words that capture the essence of your paper. They make your paper searchable (and findable!) and ensure that you get more citations. Therefore, it is important to include relevant keywords to help others find your paper. Don’t forget these simple tips, outlined below.

How to Select the Best Keywords for a Manuscript

The secret to choosing the best keywords for your manuscript is a matter of fine balance. On one hand, we recommend avoiding too many single-words (unless it is completely necessary) so that the search doesn’t render too unspecific. On the other hand, too many words may over-filter your article, making it more difficult to find.

There is also the tendency to add credibility to an article by selecting a lot of specialized keywords. However, that may actually dim the chances of your article being found. Rather than reducing your search chances to a specialized niche of experts, try to use more general terms used in literature to open your work to a more heterogeneous population.

Avoiding the duplication of words already in the article’s title is strongly recommended by journals. It is preferable to choose keywords that compliment the main topic of your research, including related words and/or methodology-specific terms.

Always remember to test your selected keywords. Do you think your article is difficult to find? Does the search pull up very similar articles to your own? Testing gives you the chance to tailor your keyword selection even further and, also very importantly, it can give you a valuable perspective of your “competitors.”

Making your article stand out is the ultimate challenge for its consumption. It might be daunting for researchers who feel overwhelmed by the digital world. However, don’t worry. Elsevier offers text editing services that not only provide excellent quality text for your manuscript, but also help you make the necessary amendments to fit it into your journal’s guidelines. This way, you are also ensuring that the keywords you chose as relevant line up with the journal’s requirements, making the whole process much easier.

Language Editing Services by Elsevier Author Services:

We know that, as an academic researcher, you have many things to do to stay relevant. Writing a manuscript is a crucial part of your endeavors.

That’s why we, at Elsevier Author Services, support you throughout your publication journey with a suite of products and services that help improve your manuscript before submission and beyond.

Check our video Reach the highest standard with Elsevier Author Services to learn more about Author Services.

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Research Process :: Step by Step

• Introduction
• Select Topic
• Identify Keywords
• Background Information
• Develop Research Questions
• Refine Topic
• Search Strategy
• Popular Databases
• Evaluate Sources
• Types of Periodicals
• Reading Scholarly Articles
• Primary & Secondary Sources
• Organize / Take Notes
• Writing & Grammar Resources
• Annotated Bibliography
• Literature Review
• Citation Styles
• Paraphrasing
• Privacy / Confidentiality
• Research Process
• Selecting Your Topic

Identifying Keywords

• Gathering Background Info
• Evaluating Sources

Mind Mapping

Created by Joshua Vossler

Make a list of keywords relevant to your topic.  Be sure to list similar, broader, narrower, and related terms . Keep the list by your side when you start your research and continue to add to it as you come across useful terms.

Before searching for information, you need to identify keywords related to your topic. The keywords you use have an impact on the results of your research. 

If the keywords you choose do not give you the results you need, try the others on your list or use the  search strategies  listed under Step 2.

Keywords and phrases can easily be found by scanning . . .

• your initial research questions
• encyclopedia and other articles used when conducting background research
• bibliographies found at the end of books and articles

If you are still struggling, try these suggestions:

• Use a thesaurus to identify synonyms
• Find pictures related to your topic, then describe the picture
• Brainstorm keywords with a librarian, your instructor, or a friend

Combining Keywords

When researching, we are like detectives trying to combine the right terms in the right place to find the information we need. This information will help you combine search terms to find relevant sources.

Broad Search

Search for information using the single most important term related to your topic. Use this type of search when looking for basic background information.

Specific Search

Search for information by combining key concepts using the words you have brainstormed. Each concept/word should be separated by the word "AND" . Use this kind of search when looking for specific evidence related to your claim or thesis.

Getting Too Many Irrelevant Results?

Add more search terms.

Getting Too Few Relevant Results?

Change or remove some search terms.

Using a Concept Map

A concept map is a graphical tool used to organize and structure knowledge. 

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• Concept Map Worksheet
• Concept Map Example
• << Previous: Select Topic
• Next: Background Information >>
• Last Updated: Jun 13, 2024 4:27 PM
• URL: https://libguides.uta.edu/researchprocess

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Title, Abstract and Keywords

The importance of titles.

The title of your manuscript is usually the first introduction readers (and reviewers) have to your work. Therefore, you must select a title that grabs attention, accurately describes the contents of your manuscript, and makes people want to read further.

An effective title should:

• Convey the  main topics  of the study
• Highlight the  importance  of the research
• Be  concise
• Attract  readers

Writing a good title for your manuscript can be challenging. First, list the topics covered by the manuscript. Try to put all of the topics together in the title using as few words as possible. A title that is too long will seem clumsy, annoy readers, and probably not meet journal requirements.

Does Vaccinating Children and Adolescents with Inactivated Influenza Virus Inhibit the Spread of Influenza in Unimmunized Residents of Rural Communities?

This title has too many unnecessary words.

Influenza Vaccination of Children: A Randomized Trial

This title doesn’t give enough information about what makes the manuscript interesting.

Effect of Child Influenza Vaccination on Infection Rates in Rural Communities: A Randomized Trial This is an effective title. It is short, easy to understand, and conveys the important aspects of the research.

Think about why your research will be of interest to other scientists. This should be related to the reason you decided to study the topic. If your title makes this clear, it will likely attract more readers to your manuscript. TIP: Write down a few possible titles, and then select the best to refine further. Ask your colleagues their opinion. Spending the time needed to do this will result in a better title.

Abstract and Keywords

The Abstract is:

• A  summary  of the content of the journal manuscript
• A time-saving  shortcut  for busy researchers
• A guide to the most important parts of your manuscript’s written content

Many readers will only read the Abstract of your manuscript. Therefore, it has to be able to  stand alone . In most cases the abstract is the only part of your article that appears in indexing databases such as Web of Science or PubMed and so will be the most accessed part of your article; making a good impression will encourage researchers to read your full paper.

A well written abstract can also help speed up the peer-review process. During peer review, referees are usually only sent the abstract when invited to review the paper. Therefore, the abstract needs to contain enough information about the paper to allow referees to make a judgement as to whether they have enough expertise to review the paper and be engaging enough for them to want to review it.

Your Abstract should answer these questions about your manuscript:

• What was done?
• Why did you do it?
• What did you find?
• Why are these findings useful and important?

Answering these questions lets readers know the most important points about your study, and helps them decide whether they want to read the rest of the paper. Make sure you follow the proper journal manuscript formatting guidelines when preparing your abstract.

TIP: Journals often set a maximum word count for Abstracts, often 250 words, and no citations. This is to ensure that the full Abstract appears in indexing services.

Keywords  are a tool to help indexers and search engines find relevant papers. If database search engines can find your journal manuscript, readers will be able to find it too. This will increase the number of people reading your manuscript, and likely lead to more citations.

However, to be effective, Keywords must be chosen carefully. They should:

• Represent  the content of your manuscript
• Be  specific  to your field or sub-field

Manuscript title:  Direct observation of nonlinear optics in an isolated carbon nanotube

Poor keywords:  molecule, optics, lasers, energy lifetime

Better keywords:  single-molecule interaction, Kerr effect, carbon nanotubes, energy level structure

Manuscript title:  Region-specific neuronal degeneration after okadaic acid administration Poor keywords:  neuron, brain, OA (an abbreviation), regional-specific neuronal degeneration, signaling

Better keywords:  neurodegenerative diseases; CA1 region, hippocampal; okadaic acid; neurotoxins; MAP kinase signaling system; cell death

Manuscript title:  Increases in levels of sediment transport at former glacial-interglacial transitions

Poor keywords:  climate change, erosion, plant effects Better keywords:  quaternary climate change, soil erosion, bioturbation

Back │ Next

Research Tips and Tricks

• Getting Started
• Understanding the Assignment
• Topic Selection Tips
• Narrowing Your Topic Tips

Major Terms

Keywords example, tools to help, videos about keywords.

• Developing A Search Strategy
• Scholarly vs Popular Sources
• What Are Primary Sources?
• Finding Scholarly Articles
• Finding Scholarly Books
• Finding Primary Sources
• Citing My Sources This link opens in a new window

When searching for resources,  DO NOT  enter the whole research question. 

Unlike a Google search, a journal article database cannot sort through all the words, and the results will be all over the place, or you will get no results.

The best method is to create a search strategy using keywords.

Begin by examining your research question to determine the major concepts or words with a specific meaning. These terms will form the basis of your search. 

When picking keywords avoid all minor words ("a," "an," or "the"), and prepositions or verb phrases ("on," "in," or "going to").

Also, use verbs (action words) and adjectives (descriptive words) sparingly.

For example, if your research question is:   

Does playing video games increase the chance that children will be violent?  

Words such as (does, the, that, chance, will, and be) don't have a specific meaning, so we can cross them out.  

Does playing video games increase the chance that children will be violent?

"Playing" is an action verb to describe what someone does with the game, and since there aren't other options, we can also cross this word off.  

Does   playing video games increase  the chance that  children  will be  violent?

While "increase" is getting at the relationship between violence and video games, if you include it, you will prejudice the results because you will be excluding results that talk about video games decreasing violence. 

Does   playing  video games increase  the chance that  children  will be  violent?

In the end, we are left with three major concepts in the sentence are:   

Video Games

Children  

Now you can develop these concepts into search terms that you can use do develop your search strategy.

A variety of words may describe your keywords, so you should brainstorm possible synonyms for them.  For example, children and youth are two different words used to describe a similar concept (human beings under the age of 18).  If you only entered the term "children" into a search of a database, then you would miss all the articles that deal with "youth."  To maximize the number of results you will get in a search, you need to include synonyms. Here is a list of possible synonyms of the keywords we identified:

If you need help generating synonyms for your keywords, try a few searches and look at the language the papers use or look at a thesaurus.

Source  and Source

• Worksheet This worksheet will help you generate keywords.
• Choosing and Using Keywords
• Selecting & Using Keywords
• One Perfect Source?

• << Previous: Narrowing Your Topic Tips
• Next: Developing A Search Strategy >>
• Last Updated: Jul 18, 2024 9:17 AM
• URL: https://kingsu.libguides.com/research

How to Write a Research Paper

• Formulate Questions/Thesis
• Identify Keywords
• Find Background Info
• Search Strategies
• Dissertations
• Proceedings
• Statistics This link opens in a new window
• Primary | Secondary
• Scholarly | General This link opens in a new window
• Creative Commons
• Cite This link opens in a new window
• Quote, Paraphrase, Summarize

Generate Keywords

• Keyword Generator University of Texas. Tutorial that walks you through generating keywords.

Image source: Powernowllc. CC0 1.0.  Wikimedia Commons.

What Are Keywords?

Keywords are important words/concepts found in your research question or thesis. 

A quick and dirty way to pull keywords from a research question/thesis is to choose the most important nouns ; all other words are irrelevant.

Using keywords to search will always retrieve more results than phrases or sentences.

Image source:  Producer.  CC BY-SA 3.0. Wikimedia Commons

Find Keywords

• within your research question or thesis
• in encyclopedias used in background research
• in bibliographies found at the end of books and  articles
• in a thesaurus (or in Word's thesaurus under the Review tab)
• by asking a librarian

Image source:  Evan-Amos .  Public Domain.  Wikimedia Commons.

Chart Keywords

• Keyword Chart

Keywords have a profound impact on search results. Using the right words will speed up the research process, while the wrong ones can bring to it to a painfully screeching halt.

If the keywords you initially choose do not give good results, try others on your list, try search strategies , or ask a librarian for help.

Use the chart above to document keywords related to your topic.  Keep it by your side when you start your research.

• << Previous: Formulate Questions/Thesis
• Next: Find Background Info >>
• Last Updated: Aug 21, 2024 1:53 PM
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Top 10 Rules to Identify Keywords for Your Research Paper

During one of my research endeavours, I found myself at a conference, engrossed in a conversation with a fellow researcher about strategies to enhance the visibility of our research papers. They shared an intriguing insight—they had collaborated with journal editors who emphasized the importance of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) in boosting research visibility.

Curiosity piqued, I delved into the world of SEO, eager to explore its potential impact on my own work. As I embarked on this journey, I discovered that SEO revolves around utilizing the right words and phrases in research papers to ensure they’re easily discoverable by search engines like Google.

Armed with newfound knowledge, I began implementing SEO techniques in my papers. The results were remarkable—my papers started appearing higher in Google searches, reaching a wider audience in the process. It became evident that increased visibility translated into more readership and potential citations for my research.

Moreover, my colleague shed light on the concept of long-tail keywords during our discussion. Long-tail keywords, consisting of longer, more specific phrases, are known to enhance search appearances by targeting niche audiences. By incorporating long-tail keywords into my papers, I further optimized their visibility and relevance in search engine results.

In essence, my journey into the realm of SEO underscored the transformative impact of digital know-how in academia. Through strategic keyword selection and SEO techniques, researchers can amplify the reach and influence of their work, paving the way for greater recognition and impact in the scholarly community.

Why Keyword Selection for a Research Paper is Crucial?

• Tips for Writing Keywords  for a Research Paper

Which Words Can not be Keywords in My Research Paper?

The role of conference /journal selection in citations and scholarly impact, can i add a keyword synonym for the actual keyword, in what order i should arrange keywords alphabetically or in order of importance, can i add acronyms as keywords, where do you put keywords in a research paper, can i take insights from the keywords listed in research papers of my reference, when is the best stage in the research paper writing process to identify and finalize the keywords, introduction.

In today’s rapidly expanding digital age, researchers face the challenge of making their valuable contributions stand out amidst a vast sea of information. The visibility and discoverability of research papers play a crucial role in the dissemination of knowledge and the impact of scholarly work. To address this challenge, incorporating effective keywords becomes a vital strategy for researchers seeking to enhance their paper’s reach and influence.

Keywords serve as concise phrases or words that encapsulate the essence of a research paper, providing a quick snapshot of its content. When well-chosen and thoughtfully integrated into the paper, keywords can significantly increase citations, attract more readers, and elevate the visibility of the research in search engine results. By making a paper easily searchable, keywords enable fellow researchers to find and access relevant studies, fostering collaboration and further advancing scientific progress.

While researchers may not have direct control over the search ranking algorithms employed by platforms such as Google, they hold a powerful tool in their hands: the keyword listing section within their research papers. This section grants researchers the privilege to influence their paper’s ranking on search engines, giving them the opportunity to propel their work to the forefront of scholarly exploration.

Moreover, keywords function as invaluable filters in the vast ocean of available resources. In databases and search engines, keywords serve as crucial parameters that retrieve results based on their relevance to the search query. The more relevant keywords a paper contains, the higher its likelihood of appearing prominently in search results, enabling it to captivate the attention of readers seeking information on a specific topic.

The importance of selecting appropriate keywords cannot be overstated. These carefully chosen terms not only define the domain, subdomain, and research objective of the paper but also facilitate indexing, categorization, and targeted display of the article to researchers seeking related content. By including the right keywords, researchers can ensure their work is more easily searched, cited, and incorporated into the ongoing scholarly dialogue.

Keywords are phrases or words that sum up your  research paper.  They increase the number of citations you receive and make your paper searchable (and easily discoverable!). Therefore, it is crucial to incorporate domain and methodology related  keywords of your research work to aid in the discovery of your paper.

For a researcher, making his/her research paper available to the research community, on the  Google search engine  within the first few search page results is a challenging task.  The appearance of an article in search results will push the research scholars to download, refer and cite articles in their work. This will help the researcher to increase his citation counts and improve his research profile to a greater extent.

Though the researcher does not have direct control over the journal search ranking on the Google search engine in which he/she has published the paper, still he/she can make his article rank higher with one simple option.  Keyword listing is one such section within a research paper, where the researcher has the privilege to push the ranking of the paper on the Google search engine.

Keywords, therefore, are vital for filtering the abundant amount of resources available. Keywords are one of the parameters used for searching an article in a database or a search engine, that in turn retrieves a bunch of results ranked according to relevancy.

The appearance of the document higher in the order is directly proportional to the number of relevant keywords used in that document. Then how to make our research paper rank higher in the search results and not be lost in the ocean of the documents stored on the net? The answer is of course choosing the right and relevant keywords.

The purpose of keywords in a research article is to help other researchers find your paper when they are conducting a search on the topic. Picking the apt keywords is crucial because these are used for indexing purposes. Well-picked keywords help your article to be more easily searched and cited.

In a research article, abstracts are usually followed by a list of keywords selected by the author. Keywords define the domain, subdomain, topic, research objective, etc. that are covered by the article. Most search engines, citation indexing databases, or journal websites refer keywords to decide where and when to display your article to the researchers who are searching for articles related to your article.

Keywords make your article easily searchable and ensure that your article gets more citations.  Hence it is essential to include and select relevant keywords and filter out the large body of unwanted material.

Let us take an example to see why keywords are useful. A paper titled  ” New approaches in Leaf Image processing using Machine Learning Techniques”   describes, how some  Machine Learning Algorithms will help in identifying the leaf spot diseases like Bacterial Blight at the earlier stage using  Machine learning based Image Processing techniques. 

Suitable keywords for such a paper can  include the following 

• Support Vector Machine, Reinforcement Learning  ( From Machine Learning concepts)
• Image Segmentation, Image Clustering  (From Image Processing concept)
• Leaf Spot disease names Bacterial Blight, Anthracnose etc.  ( From Domain concept)  

Search for any of these keywords will lead a  research scholar to this paper.

Tips for Writing Keywords  for a Research Paper

Here are a few tips that will help you create relevant and effective keywords for your research paper:

• Start thinking about the terms you use to search for research papers related to your topic. Possibly these are the terms used by other researchers for searching the topic of your interest. These terms can be ideal keywords for your research paper.
• Most of the time it is assumed that a keyword means a single word. However, as per the research, search engine users are becoming more specific and they have understood that a single keyword is probably going to be too broad of a search to return the articles they’re looking for. A good example is what happens when you do a search for the keyword “security”, you may be in need of articles written on network security for cloud computing but doing a quick search on Google with the keyword security gives you results as varied as articles on security article in Wikipedia, Security of nation, the Social Security number,  security jobs in your local area or a recently released movie with title “security”. Using the keyword phrase “network security for cloud computing”, returns a couple of research articles about network security for cloud computing. Keywords should ideally be phrases of 2-3 words. Ideally can give single-word keywords but it may lead to many false matches. Note that actually, keywords are not simply a set of words instead they are phrases. Examples:  Soft Computing for Leaf Image Analysis, Support Vector Machine for Fruit quality Identification, Neural Network for Leaf Image Extraction
• Identify the generally used alternate terms for the words written in your title. That is, include significant abbreviations, acronyms, and other short-form or substitute names for your paper. But care should be taken while using acronyms that may have other meanings. WWW would be an abbreviation since most hits would relate to the Internet. Similarly, other abbreviations like   i)  SVM for Support Vector Machine, ii) NN for Neural Network and iii) Soft Computing for Neural Network, Fuzzy Logic and Genetic Algorithm  can be used
• Do not use words or phrases from the title as keywords. Keywords should contain a list of words that supplement your title’s content. This is because most of the search engines and journal databases use Research Title for indexing purposes. TITLE:   “Leaf Image Analysis for Pathological Issues Using  Soft Computing Techniques” KEYWORDS :  Unsupervised   Neural Networks, Leaf Spot disease Identification,  Disease spot extraction using Image Processing.
• Keywords should contain words and phrases that suggest what the topic is about. Also include words and phrases that are closely related to your topic. (For example, if the paper is about  Image Processing for Leaf Spot Identification and Disease Classification use words like   Plant Pathology, Bacterial Blight in pomegranate, Leaf Disease spot Identification etc .
• If your research revolves around a key method or technique, make sure the term for it is located in your keyword. Example: If the method uses  Multi-Spectral Camera  for image capturing and processing then Keywords must contain terms like Multi-Spectral Image Analysis.
• If the paper focuses on a particular region use that as a keyword. If the paper is on  Voice Analysis of Southern Indian Community for Age Identification  then  Keyword can be “ Southern Indian Community ”  If the paper is P omegranate Leaf Spot Identification using a Support Vector Machine  and if the pomegranate considered are from the Indian sub-continent then the keyword can be ”  Pomegranate plant of the Indian subcontinent “.
• If your article is about developing applications, check whether potential applications, issues or phenomena can serve as keywords ( Smart City Construction, Plant Pathology,  Medical Image Processing for Skin Cancer, Sensor for Tsunami ).
• The most important experimental techniques used in your article are worth considering as keywords.  For example,  Stereo Vision for Robot,  X-ray analysis for pomegranate fruit etc .
• Some sites  provide keyword generators or keyword planners to help you think of other terms you could include.

General Insights Regarding Keywords in Research Papers

• Number of keywords:  Research papers typically include a list of 3-6 keywords, although some papers may have more or fewer. The specific number of keywords can vary based on the guidelines provided by the target journal or conference.
• Keyword density:  There is no set rule for keyword density in research papers. The focus should be on selecting relevant and accurate keywords rather than trying to achieve a specific density. However, it’s important to include the main concepts and themes of your research in the keywords to enhance discoverability.
• Keyword variations:  Including variations of keywords, such as synonyms or related terms, can improve the visibility and searchability of your research paper. This allows readers using different terminology to find your paper when searching for related topics.
• Keyword importance:  While keywords are essential for search engine optimization and indexing purposes, their impact on the ranking and visibility of research papers can vary across different platforms and databases. Factors such as the relevance of the content, citation count, and journal reputation can also influence the visibility of a research paper.
• Keyword trends:  Research fields and disciplines may have specific keywords or terms that gain prominence or decline over time due to emerging trends, advancements, or changes in terminology. Staying updated with the latest literature and research in your field can help you identify and incorporate relevant keywords.
• Common words:  Avoid using generic and commonly used words that do not add specific value to your research topic. For example, if your research paper is about the effects of climate change on coral reefs, using words like “the,” “and,” “of,” “in,” etc., as keywords would not provide any meaningful information specific to your study.
• Very broad terms:  Keywords should ideally be more specific and focused to represent the main ideas or concepts of your research. For instance, if your research paper is about the impact of social media on mental health in adolescents, using the keyword “media” would be too broad and may lead to a large number of unrelated search results. Instead, you could use keywords like “social media,” “mental health,” “adolescents,” etc., to make the search more targeted.
• Highly technical terms:  While research papers often include technical terminology, using overly specialized or obscure terms as keywords may limit the discoverability of your paper. For example, if your research paper is about a new cancer treatment method, using a complex and specific scientific term that only experts in the field would understand might make it difficult for other researchers or readers to find your paper. It would be better to use more accessible keywords that convey the main concept, such as “cancer treatment,” “novel therapy,” or “medical innovation.”
• Personal pronouns:  Avoid using personal pronouns like “I,” “we,” “you,” etc., as keywords. Keywords should reflect the general scope and content of your research rather than emphasizing the author’s perspective. For instance, if your research paper is about renewable energy sources, using a keyword like “my study” would be inappropriate. Instead, opt for keywords like “renewable energy,” “solar power,” “wind turbines,” etc.
• Single words without context:  Selecting keywords that consist of a single word without any context or modifiers may not effectively convey the essence of your research. For example, if your research paper is about the impact of exercise on cardiovascular health, using a keyword like “exercise” on its own would be too vague. Instead, you could use keywords like “exercise benefits,” “cardiovascular health,” “physical activity effects,” etc., to provide more specific and meaningful information about your study.

Remember that the goal of choosing keywords is to accurately represent your research and increase its discoverability, so it’s important to be strategic in selecting terms that best capture the main themes and concepts of your paper.

Let me show you an example of a Research Paper with a Title, Abstract and set of possible Keywords

Title :  Leaf Disease Feature Identification and Extraction Using Deep Neural Network Abstract Extraction of meaningful leaf disease features by applying image processing techniques is a problem that has been studied by the image processing community for decades.  Image processing research for leaf spot disease identification has matured significantly throughout the years, and many advances in image processing techniques continue to be made, allowing new techniques to be applied to new and more demanding pathological problems. In this paper, a method for the detection and classification of leaf spot diseases affecting Pomegranate crops is developed using  Deep learning Neural networks. Throughout, we have presented tables and charts to compare the performance of the proposed method with state-of-the-art techniques. Experimental results show that Deep Neural Networks handle uncertainty effectively and they can be trained with limited data sets. The paper has also made suggestions for future research directions. Keywords : Image Processing for plant pathology, diseased leaf spot extraction,  leaf spot disease classification, segmentation of leaf spot disease, Machine learning for Leaf disease identification, Pomegranate leaf disease identification, Pomegranate leaf disease classification.

Please note that, sheer identification of keywords may not push your citation score. Selecting a reputable journal and avoiding predatory conferences and journals is crucial for maximizing the visibility and impact of your research article. By publishing in a respected journal, you increase the likelihood of attracting a broader and more qualified readership, thus increasing the chances of your article being cited by other researchers. Choosing the right journal involves considering factors such as the journal’s scope, target audience, impact factor, indexing in reputable databases, peer-review process, and overall reputation in the field. Additionally, it is important to stay vigilant and avoid predatory conferences and journals that may engage in unethical practices or lack rigorous peer-review processes.

These predatory outlets may hinder the credibility and recognition of your work. By carefully selecting a reputable journal, you position your research for greater exposure, credibility, and citation potential.

Visit my articles on ” How to identify and avoid predatory conferences and journals ” and “ Identifying Reputable journals for your research paper “. These articles will help you in getting your articles cited by many authors.

In the age of information overload, where research papers are easily lost in the vast sea of digital content, the strategic use of keywords emerges as a powerful tool for researchers. By carefully selecting and incorporating relevant keywords, researchers can enhance the visibility, discoverability, and impact of their scholarly work.

Frequently Asked Questions

You can certainly add keyword synonyms for the actual keywords in your research paper. Including synonyms can enhance the discoverability of your paper and improve its visibility in search engines and databases. When adding keyword synonyms, it’s advisable to place them within parentheses next to the corresponding actual keyword. Here’s an example: Keywords: apple (fruit), banana (fruit), cherry (fruit)

The order in which you arrange the keywords in your research paper depends on the specific guidelines provided by the journal or conference you are submitting to. Some publishers may require keywords to be listed in alphabetical order, while others may suggest organizing them based on their importance or relevance to the study. Therefore, it’s important to consult the submission guidelines or instructions provided by the target publication. If the guidelines don’t specify a preferred order, you have the flexibility to choose between alphabetical order and order of importance. Alphabetical order is a common and straightforward approach that allows for easy reference and searchability. However, if you believe that emphasizing the importance or relevance of certain keywords is more appropriate for your research, you can arrange them in order of importance. In such cases, you should provide a clear rationale for the chosen order of keywords, especially if it deviates from the standard alphabetical arrangement.

Yes, you can add acronyms as keywords in your research paper. Including acronyms as keywords can be useful, especially if they are commonly used or widely recognized in your field of study. However, it’s important to provide the full expansion or definition of the acronym when it is first mentioned in the paper or in the list of keywords. For example: Keywords: Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), Natural Language Processing (NLP) In this example, the acronyms “AI,” “ML,” and “NLP” are included as keywords. However, the full expansion of each acronym is provided within parentheses next to the respective acronym. This ensures that readers who may not be familiar with the acronyms can understand their meaning and context.

In a research paper, keywords are typically included after the abstract section. Abstract: Begin by including a section labelled “Keywords” or “Key Terms” immediately after the abstract. List the keywords in alphabetical order, separated by commas or semicolons.

Examining top-quality research papers in your area of work and analyzing the keywords they have listed can be a valuable approach to generate insights and identify relevant keywords for your own research paper. It can provide you with a better understanding of the terminology and keywords commonly used within your field. This method can help ensure that your paper aligns with established literature and facilitates discoverability among researchers in your domain. By reviewing keywords from well-regarded papers, you can gain insights into the specific terms and phrases that are currently prominent and influential in your field. This approach also allows you to observe how other researchers describe similar concepts, methodologies, or research areas. You can adapt and refine those keywords to suit your own study while maintaining relevance to the broader academic community. However, it’s important to note that while this method can be helpful, it should not be the sole approach for selecting keywords. It should be combined with other strategies, such as brainstorming related terms, considering your target audience, and evaluating keyword relevance. The goal is to create a comprehensive list of keywords that accurately represents your research and maximizes the chances of your paper being discovered by the intended audience.

The stage at which keywords are identified in the research paper writing process can vary. Ideally, you should start considering and identifying potential keywords during the early stages of your research project. Here’s a breakdown of the typical timeline for identifying keywords: Research planning and topic selection: When you are in the initial stages of planning your research and selecting a topic, start thinking about the main concepts and themes that define your study. These initial ideas can serve as a foundation for generating keywords later on. Literature review: As you conduct your literature review, pay attention to the keywords and terms used in existing research papers that are relevant to your topic. Note down any keywords that are commonly used and appear to be influential in your field. This process will help you gain insights into the terminology and vocabulary used by other researchers. Keyword brainstorming: Once you have a clear understanding of your research topic and have familiarized yourself with the existing literature, engage in a keyword brainstorming session. Generate a list of related terms, synonyms, phrases, and variations associated with your research area. This step will help you expand your keyword options. Refinement and finalization: After brainstorming, evaluate and refine your list of potential keywords. Consider the relevance, specificity, and popularity of each keyword. Narrow down your selection to a concise set of keywords (usually 3-6) that accurately represent your research. Incorporation into the paper: Include the finalized keywords in your research paper after the abstract and before the main body, as discussed earlier. Ensure that they are listed in a clear and easily readable format. By identifying keywords early in the research paper writing process, you can ensure that your research is appropriately categorized, discoverable, and aligned with the relevant literature in your field.

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How To Create Perfect Keywords In Research Papers

Posted by Rene Tetzner | Apr 6, 2021 | How To Get Published | 0 |

How To Create Perfect Keywords In Research Papers Although an extremely small part of an academic or scientific paper, keywords pack a very large punch in today’s world of online searches and digital publication. With many journal articles available worldwide almost immediately via the internet, it might even be argued that a paper’s keywords have become more important than its title. In one sense, this may be true: it is certainly easier to include in the keywords the terms you think readers are likely to use when searching for material on the topics covered in your paper because that is precisely why the keywords are created, and there is no need to compromise by joining them syntactically into the logical sense expected in a title. Keywords are simply listed, usually in alphabetical order immediately after a paper’s abstract, with the individual terms separated by commas or semicolons and often bearing initial capitals. Between three and ten keywords are normally required (with three to eight being most common), but each keyword can usually contain more than one word, although unnecessary connective words (such as ‘and,’ ‘or,’ ‘of’ and ‘between’) should be avoided as much as possible. The journal to which you plan to submit an article may have specific formatting requirements for keywords, so do check the guidelines carefully for any relevant instructions.

The keywords you choose should first and foremost be terms that represent the central concepts in your article, but they should also be terms that potential readers seeking information of the kind contained in your paper are most likely to enter into search engines. As a general rule, nonstandard abbreviations should not be used as keywords, especially if it is possible to use the full terms, which tend to be clearer for readers. Acronyms and initialisms are usually acceptable, especially if the abbreviated versions are more common or better known than the full terms (as is the case, for instance, with ‘AIDS,’ ‘NASA,’ ‘CD’ and ‘IQ’). In fact, abbreviations of any kind may be preferred in your keywords if it is more likely that they rather than their full versions will be used by readers researching your topic, but do check journal guidelines to be sure they are appropriate. Your keywords should also reflect the technical and/or theoretical language currently used within your discipline or field of study, so specialised terminology may be appropriate for some of your keywords, but highly specialised language should only be used in keywords if it is probable that it will also be used by potential readers as they search for material associated with your topic.

Remember that by choosing appropriate keywords and using them effectively in other searchable parts of your paper as well (such as the title and abstract), you empower your article, increasing its chances of being read and cited. At the same time, you help increase the number of readers and the ratings of the journal that has published your paper, which makes for a win-win situation all around.

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How to Choose and Use Keywords in Research Papers

Academic writing is vital for PhD student and researchers, and identifying appropriate keywords in research papers is a crucial part of the process. However, not many academics understand the importance of keywords in research papers and why you need to get this right. When used well, keywords in scientific papers ensure more accurate indexing and allow search engines to find your work from the large amounts of information available online.

With more research articles and journals available to researchers, it is important to choose and use keywords in research papers effectively to maximize the reach and impact of your research article by making it easier to discover, access, and reference by a diverse audience. In this article, we’ll discuss how to choose and effectively use keywords in research papers to improve your visibility and help you reach your intended audience.

How to choose keywords in research papers

Choosing the right keywords in research papers is critical because the quality of online search results is directly related to the quality of the keywords used. A well-chosen keyword can help your paper get discovered, while a poorly chosen keyword can lead to your paper being overlooked. Here are some simple steps to choose the right keywords for your research paper. 1

Understand the research question or topic

Know the central theme of your research paper and write down keywords that are most relevant and will capture the essence of your work. Examining your research question or topic closely can also help you identify keywords in research papers that are frequently used in your field of study.

Check standard author guidelines

Most reputed journals mention specific instructions regarding the number and length of keywords in research papers. Be sure to check the author guidelines carefully as some even suggest that authors choose from a set of predetermined keywords for scientific papers covering specific research topics.

Create a pool of relevant keywords

When shortlisting keywords in research papers, consider your target audience and keep in mind what they typically use to search for articles on topics like yours. A good idea would be to use phrases or word clusters that are used repeatedly in your manuscript as readers will also likely be using these to search online. Add synonyms and different phrases that describe your concept (avoid newly coined terms or unusual abbreviations) to increase the chances of your research being discovered. You can also ask your supervisor or consult experts in your field to identify the most relevant keywords in research paper.

Pick specific, 2-4-word phrases as keywords

Single words often lead to false matches or are misconstrued so it’s advised to choose keywords that are phrases with 2-4 words, and not longer. It’s important also to be specific when choosing keywords in research papers to ensure your work stands out. For example, if the paper is about leg pain, use alternative and more specific phrases like leg cramps, spasms in the leg, or muscular leg pain to help your work stand out from generalized online searches on pain.

Use optimized keywords in research papers

Maximize your potential visibility by using optimized keywords in research papers. For example, authors writing on medical and health-related topics can find help with keywords and terms by looking through the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) thesaurus. The MeSH thesaurus also includes effective and popular keywords and terms that are used in PubMed and other databases. 2 Similarly, online search engines also index scholarly literature across an array of disciplines.

How to include keywords in research papers

Once you have identified the most relevant keywords for your scientific papers, the next step is to include them effectively. Optimizing your academic writing with keywords is a straightforward process that requires some attention to detail. Here are some tips on how to include keywords in research paper and what to avoid.

Include keywords in title and abstract

The title and abstract are the first sections people read when searching for scholarly articles and understanding the relevance of your work. Include keywords in research paper titles and add the most important keywords in abstract of your research paper. This will help search engines and academic databases quickly identify the central theme of your research paper and categorize your work correctly. However, note that some journals do not advise using keywords that overlap with words used in your research paper title. 2

Add keywords across all sections

Try to use keywords strategically in all sections of your research paper, including the introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. However, while adding keywords in research papers, ensure they read naturally and are in context to maintain the quality of your academic writing. Subheads are another good way to use keywords as they allow readers to quickly scan your paper. Creating descriptive subheadings that include the main keywords in research papers work well to guide readers smoothly through your article.

Use variations of main keywords

Apart from the list of shortlisted keywords for your topic, make sure you also use variations of your keywords in research papers to ensure it is easily found by readers. Using synonyms and related terms that describe the same concept can help increase the visibility of your paper in online searches while ensuring the main keywords in scientific papers don’t seem spammy and make your writing seem repetitive.

Refer to highly cited works on similar topics

Check relevant journal databases or conduct a quick online search to see how keywords have been used in previously published papers in your field. If you can find the right papers for the keywords you are searching for, you know that it has used keywords effectively. This may give you an idea not only on how and where to use keywords in research papers but may also help you formulate or add to your chosen keywords.

Avoid irrelevant keywords and overstuffing

Finally, it is important to use only relevant keywords in research papers as irrelevant keywords can mislead readers and result in your paper being excluded from relevant searches. Also make sure you are not using too many keywords in research papers. Force-fitting keywords could make your writing seem cluttered and confusing; your work may also be penalized for keyword stuffing by online search engines. It’s best to stick to a few specific, relevant keywords that accurately reflect your research and use them strategically to ensure your article is coherent and engaging for readers.

Identifying effective keywords for research papers must be a priority for researchers and not an afterthought in their manuscript writing and publishing journey. The use of right keywords not only offers readers easier access to your paper through online searches, but it also significantly increases the frequency of citations. Therefore, be sure to choose and use keywords in your research paper with care. All the best!

Keywords are specific terms or phrases that encapsulate the essence of a research paper’s content. They represent the main ideas, concepts, and themes addressed in the paper. These terms aid in categorization, indexing, and searching for relevant articles in academic databases. Typically located in the abstract or article header, keywords provide a quick overview of the paper’s focus, helping researchers and readers gauge its relevance to their interests.

Identifying keywords is vital for effective research because it enhances discoverability. Researchers use keywords to navigate vast databases efficiently, ensuring they find relevant papers on their topic. Precise keywords ensure that articles align closely with a researcher’s needs, saving time and effort. Well-chosen keywords improve a paper’s visibility, increasing its chances of being found and cited. Accurate keyword selection improves the dissemination of knowledge and facilitates collaboration among scholars by facilitating access to related works.

Keywords serve several key purposes in research papers. Firstly, they aid in information retrieval. By including relevant terms, researchers make their work easily discoverable by peers. Secondly, keywords enhance the paper’s visibility, increasing its chances of being cited and referenced. Thirdly, keywords establish a common language for researchers within a particular field, facilitating communication. Lastly, they offer a concise snapshot of the paper’s core themes, assisting readers in quickly determining the paper’s applicability to their own work or interests.

References:

• George, E. Identifying keywords for scientific papers: A simple 5-step guide. Researcher.Life Blog. Available online at https://researcher.life/blog/article/identifying-keywords-for-scientific-papers-a-simple-5-step-guide/
• Herron, C. How to Choose the Best Keywords for Your Research Manuscript. Redwood Ink. Available online at https://redwoodink.com/resources/how-to-choose-the-best-keywords-for-your-research-manuscript

Related Reads:

• 3 Easy Ways for Researchers to Improve Their Academic Vocabulary
• Scientific Writing Style Guides Explained
• Research Paper Writing: A 15-Point Academic Writing Checklist
• 5 Reasons for Rejection After Peer Review

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Keyword Research: The Complete Guide to Find the Best Keywords

Keyword research is the first and most important part of your SEO strategy.

Before you start writing content for your website, you will need to identify suitable high-volume search terms .

The SEO keywords will inform the direction of your content, ensuring that the content produced will be relevant and easily searchable on Google. And that is, in summary, what keyword research is all about.

It’s usually a pretty time-consuming task and involves a lot of effort to pour through details, numbers, and comparing long lists of keywords. But it’s incredibly important to do it well. A thorough keyword research will be the foundation of your SEO strategy and content development.

What is keyword research?

Keyword research is defined as the activity of analyzing and finding a list of valuable keywords for the purpose of SEO copywriting . The keywords, or search terms, often become a guide for the direction of your content and marketing strategy.

A keyword can consist of a single word but more often than not it’s made out of several words. For example, “ search terms ” is a keyword, as is “ best keyword search tool “.

Why is keyword research important?

Finding high-volume search terms itself is not enough. You need to ensure that the SEO keywords used in your content matches with your brand, product, or service to the keywords that your customer use. And this is where keyword research happens.

Once you have performed adequate and thorough research, only then will you be able to craft a viable SEO strategy. With a good strategy, you can then create a detailed plan of action to achieve your goals.

For example, if you are in the business of leasing out vacation homes, you may choose your focus keyword as “ vacation house. ” However, by doing a quick keyword research, we find out that the keyword ‘vacation home’ is much better to use in terms of search volume data.

Both terms might mean the same thing, but your target audience is searching for something different, as you can see above. Search volume for ‘vacation home’ is 33,100, whereas search volume for ‘vacation house’ is 6,600.

You would have never guessed the difference if not for keyword research.

Keywords that you choose to use should be those that your target audience is searching . Only then will it make the effort of optimizing your page worthwhile.

But more importantly, two similar keywords often have different search volumes, trends, and competition levels. Choosing a more relevant, higher volume keyword could give you better results compared to its other semantic or related keywords.

How to do keyword research

There are many ways to do it, either manually or using a keyword research tool like Keyword Tool . But whichever way you choose, there are a number of important steps that you need to take.

From outlining your goals to executing your keyword plan, follow these detailed step-by-step guide to performing a proper and thorough keyword research:

Step 1: Study your niche

Before you figure out what are the best keywords to optimize your page, it’s best that you start by diving deep to learn more about your topic or niche. It can give you out-of-the-box ideas and help discover angles to your marketing and SEO strategy that you might not have thought about before.

Here are a few ideas on how to study your niche :

• Talk with your existing customers and get to know them better. Find out the terms that they use when describing your brand, company, product or service.
• Try to think from the perspective of your potential customers. If you were to share the brand’s offering to a friend, how will you talk about it?
• Get involved in your topic or niche’s online communities, like forums and social media networks. Read the discussions and find out any pain points that are mentioned regarding your niche.

Step 2: Define your goals

A plan needs to always begin by defining the end goal . But before that, you should ask important and introspective questions like:

• Who are you?
• What is your brand about?
• What makes you special?
• What is your website about?
• What promises do you make on your website?

Once you have effectively answered these questions, then you need to specify what is your brand’s mission . Do you want to increase the number of subscribers? Or do you have a sales target by a certain date?

It’s important to define your goal because it will provide a direction for your SEO strategy and plan. The search terms that you will eventually use should be aligned to your goals, ideally segmented into different content marketing funnels . Your goals will also inform the purpose of your SEO copywriting and content.

Write down your goals. Draw charts. Document them. These will provide the framework and direction needed for your top-level content and online marketing strategy.

Step 3: Make a list of relevant topics

Based on your the main category of your brand and the goals you aim to achieve, break it down to smaller topic buckets . Make a list of all the topics related to your brand that you want to rank on Google.

For example, if you’re an FMCG brand specializing in men’s personal care products, some topics that are related to your brand can be:

• men’s facial wash
• antiperspirant deodorant
• male pattern baldness

They need to be topics that are important to your business and related to your buyer personas . Think about what type of topics will your target audience search for on Google? These topic buckets can then later be broken down to keywords that are related to those topics.

Step 4: Create a list of seed keywords

Now that you’ve broken down your main category to different buckets of sub-topics, you can start creating a list of seed keywords. These keywords need to be related to your various topics , and more importantly, are terms that your target audience might be searching on Google.

Seed keywords, or focus keywords, are important as they will become the foundation of your keyword research. They define your niche and identify your competitors.

If you’re wondering how to find the seed or focus keywords of your brand or product, it’s actually a lot easier than you think. All you need to do is describe your offering as simple as possible and brainstorm how other people might search for it on Google.

Step 5: Use good keyword research tools

You might assume, “ shouldn’t keyword research begin with using a keyword tool? ” There’s no right or wrong answer there, to be honest. But there is an obvious advantage to researching search terms from your brand or business perspective first and foremost .

It avoids you from getting too bogged down with keywords and helps you gain a wider perspective for your content and SEO strategy.

Once you have identified your goals, topics, and a list of seed keywords, it’s time to use keyword research tools to further refine your search terms .

One option is to use Google Keyword Planner . Unfortunately, Google only gives approximated search volumes. Instead, you can use a tool like Keyword Tool . It will give you a lot more details and help you narrow down on the right direction for your search terms. On top of that, it can also give additional ideas on related keywords.

All you need to do is type in the topic (or seed keyword) into the search box and it will give you a list of alternative keywords, including those that contain prepositions and questions :

Step 6: Study the search intent

Plugging in high-volume keywords to bump up rankings for a page used to work pretty easily. But it’s not so simple anymore these days. Today, Google’s machine learning search algorithms compare search terms with user queries to learn about search intent.

Search intent is defined as the intent or reason behind why people search for a specific term. There are many driving factors behind people’s search habits, such as:

• Why are they searching?
• Are they searching because they have a question and want an answer to that question?
• Are they searching for a specific website?
• Are they searching because they want to buy something?

Try to put yourself in your target audience’s shoes. Why would they search for your topic? How will they key in the terms? Are they looking to buy something? Or are they looking for a service to solve a specific problem?

Once you have a good idea of the search intent behind potential readers or customers, you will be able to use it to fine-tune your keyword research . Getting a list of high-volume keywords related to your brand or topic is great. But finding keywords that directly match  your target audience’s search intent is even better.

Step 7: Identify long tail keywords

Seed keywords are often shorter search terms that are closely related to your brand’s main topic or category. Long tail keywords , on the other hand, are more descriptive and often related to your brand’s smaller buckets of sub-topics. Matching your target audience’s search intent to long tail keywords is far easier compared to seed keywords.

For example, if your website published content about golf equipment reviews, using long tail keywords like “ what is the best 9 iron golf club ” will attract a more relevant audience compared to the seed keyword “ golf club .”

Long tail keywords usually get fewer clicks, but since they are focused on a specific topic or product, they often get a higher conversion rate .

Step 8: Find out about your competitors

Doing keyword research on Google about your brand alone is not nearly enough. You also need to be aware of what your competitors are doing . The better you understand the content landscape of your industry, the better it will be for your SEO.

Understanding the competitiveness of different keywords will also allow you to identify search terms that might be too difficult to rank . But most importantly, you will be able to find keyword opportunity gaps . These opportunities occur when you find related keywords that are related to your brand or industry with low to medium competition level .

To find these keyword opportunities, you can perform a keyword search on your competitors . The paid version of  Keyword Tool Pro  has a competitor analysis function that does exactly that. Key in the URL of your competitor into the search box and the results will show all the keywords that the page ranks for.

Once you’ve gone through these steps, you should have enough insights to craft a good content and SEO strategy . You would also have gotten adequate data for SEO copywriting for your content.

Whether you’re running a content-focused blog, a small business, or a brand marketer, you will need keyword research to kick-start your content and marketing activities.

Doing keyword research can be a tedious and time-consuming task. But more often than not, it pays off handsomely in the long run.

Frequently Asked Questions

⭐ what is keyword research.

Keyword research is the process of finding keywords that people use when searching online. Keywords can be used to create content that will attract visitors from the search engines.

⭐ Why keyword research is the most important part of SEO?

To get more traffic from search engines, you need to understand what people are searching for online and produce content that targets popular keywords. If you produce content without doing a prior keyword research, your chances of getting meaningful traffic from the search engines are slim.

⭐ What is the best source of keywords?

The search engines themselves are the best source of keyword ideas. To easiest way to find good keywords from various search engines is to use the tools like Keyword Tool .

⭐ How do I know how many people search for a particular keyword on Google in a given month?

The easiest and probably the cheapest way of getting this data is using Keyword Tool Pro . Alternatively, you can start running paid Google Ads, and might be able to eventually see the number of searches for a keyword in Google Keyword Planner.

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Creating and formatting Keywords for paper submission and communication

By charlesworth author services.

• Charlesworth Author Services
• 15 March, 2022

Let’s say this straightaway: keywords are the most neglected part of a manuscript . They are often hastily put together right at the end and often only to meet the submission criteria . However, this is unfortunate, because selecting keywords after some careful deliberation can bring you multiple benefits as a researcher trying to get noticed in your academic community , not least by making your paper more discoverable .

This article explains the importance of keywords and gives you some tips on how to choose the right keywords, what to avoid as keywords, and, once you have chosen the appropriate keywords, how to format them.

Importance of keywords

Well-chosen keywords bring your paper to the attention of those who are actively looking for information on the topic of your paper. For all you know, those people will not only read your paper but may even cite it . By treating keywords as a mere formality or even a chore, you are doing injustice to your paper. (Read more here about how keywords – and other elements of a paper – can help improve its discoverability: Maximise discoverability of your research through Titles, Abstracts and Keywords )

Developing keywords

A. think of synonyms for words used in the title.

Keywords used in the title are automatically indexed, so using terms found in the title as keywords is a wasted opportunity . Instead, think of synonyms which make good keywords.

For example…

If you have used a botanical name as part of the title of the paper (e.g. Zea mays or Oryza sativa ), then the corresponding common name will be a good keyword (e.g. maize or rice). If ‘renewable energy’ is part of your title, you might consider ‘sustainable energy’ as a keyword. A few more examples are ‘adrenaline’ and ‘epinephrine’, and ‘weight training’ and ‘strength training’.

b. Think of terms that expand or narrow down the scope of your paper

For instance…

If your paper is about vertebrates, consider whether ‘mammals’ or even ‘primates’ are appropriate as keywords. If ‘design of blades’ is a phrase you have used in the title, ‘wind turbines’ might work as a keyword.

c. Use ‘keyphrases’ rather than ‘keywords’

Understand that keywords do not have to be single words. In fact, single words – because they are too broad – rarely make good keywords . It is best to use two- or three-word phrases as keywords.

‘Monsoon’ is too broad: How about ‘southwest monsoon’ or ‘northeast monsoon’?  ‘Fitness’ is somewhat vague: phrases such as ‘Levels of fitness’, ‘Cardiovascular fitness’ or ‘Measuring fitness levels’ would be more effective and targeted.

d. Avoid using abbreviations as keywords

In general, abbreviations do not make good keywords, because a given abbreviation or acronym may be used for different terms depending on the domain.

For example, SDI can mean ‘strategic defence initiative’ but also stand for ‘selective dissemination of information’.

Testing your keywords

Instead of settling for the first terms that come to your mind, it is a good idea to test them out. Paste each keyword or multiple keywords into the search box of several search engines and scan the results. If most of the search results are relevant, the keywords are fine; if not, you need to revise them.

Formatting the keywords to match the journal’s style

Before you submit your manuscript, examine the style specifications of your target journal to determine how exactly the keywords are to be presented, because styles can differ across journals.

• Journals do not even agree on whether it should be ‘keywords’ or ‘key words’ (one word or two).
• The formatting can differ – Keywords or KEYWORDS (all capitals), bold or normal, italics or normal.
• So too the punctuation that follows (usually a colon or space).
• Notice the capitalisation : do all keywords start with a capital letter or is only the first keyword capitalized?
• Lastly, check the journal’s style guide to see how the keywords are separated : with commas , semicolons , bullets or only spaces.
• Some journals even show keywords as a list , each keyword occupying a separate line. However, you need not do that in your manuscript — you could use spaces and leave the final formatting to the journal.

Tip : For specifications about the keywords, check the Information for Authors page of your journal’s website, or simply look up published articles in the journal.

Keywords are the ‘key’ to wider and easier access to your paper; choose them with care.

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Understanding Research

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• Search the Databases
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Can't think of any synonyms? Try using the internet to help! ​

Basic Google Search

Thesaurus.com

Merriam Webster Thesaurus

You can also ask a librarian through email, text, phone, or chat!

What are keywords?

Unlike Google and other web searches, databases work best when you enter keywords instead of full phrases or questions. Each database has its own set of recognized vocabulary, so having a variety of keywords can help you avoid frustration while searching.

• Keywords represent the major concepts of your topic
• Try variations of a keyword, or synonyms.
• Add new vocabulary or keywords from your initial search results
• Get additional keywords from the title, abstract, and subject headings of articles.

Identifying main concepts within your research question/topic

Research Question:  How does lack of access to food affect child development?

Main Concepts:  lack of access to food, child development (words like how, does, and, to, etc. are not important)

There are a few types of keywords that you can work with, depending on your topic.

• Narrow - can you use a more focused word or idea? (ex. brain development, physical health)
• Broad - what is the big picture idea behind your topic? (ex. Wellness, Health)
• Related - are there concepts that closely relate to your topic? (ex. hunger, nutrition)
• Similar - are there synonyms for your topic/concepts? (ex. hunger, food insecurity, food security, food desert)

Identifying Keywords (Video)

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How to Choose Keywords for Research Paper Writing

You may think that after drafting an article targeted for submission to a specific journal, figuring out how to write keywords in research paper will be the easiest part. But that is not true, in fact, p ublishing an article requires a lot of work, not only research based, but for the preparation of the manuscript itself. You need to deal with formatting, follow guidelines, and make sure that all the basic requirements are met, and finally decide which journal is the best fit and how to choose keywords in research papers to make sure your article is found by the appropriate audience. And l et me tell you that as a reviewer and editor with way too many years of experience, more than 90% of authors slip up when writ ing keywords in research papers and find this a challenging task . And I will tell you why this mistake is so common and how to write keywords in a research paper effectively .  

Table of Contents

What are keywords in a research paper ?

Keywords   in research papers are words that help online search engines and indexes tag papers in the most relevant manner . The purpose of keywords in research paper is to ensure these database s and search engines quickly identify and show your manuscript to users looking for related topics , thereby enabling readers to find your work easily .   

The importance of keywords in research papers

Let us put this into context by starting with the definition of keywords in research papers . Keywords are words that define the research field or topic and are used to make your paper more discoverable to others. Perhaps this is more related to semantics, but keywords are different from key words. All journals will tell you that these are used for indexing purposes. So, what’s indexing? It refers to the process used to make articles discoverable in databases so that more readers can find, read, and cite your article. Considering that most search engines, online research databases , and journal websites organize information in a manner that enables a super-fast response to a query, adding keywords in research papers and indexing are essential to identify your work . Now that you understand the importance of keywords in research paper s, you will realize that keywords are not just a list of key words.  

How to select keywords for research paper s correctly  

To get this process right, you can follow these steps and tips to understand how to find keywords for your research paper s.  

• First, try that not all keywords are used in the title. Concise titles will attract more readers. But most importantly, the title is the main indexing source because it is the main input to databases. Adding alternative keywords to the title will increase your searchability.  
• Think of the research field or subfield covered in your article, readers will search for these. Also, focus on key terms that are most relevant to your work and not something that was barely covered in your article.  
• Use synonyms but do it effectively. If the title uses degradation of a pollutant using microorganisms, then you can use bioremediation as the keyword in research papers ; even chemical elements can be used whether the symbol or name has been used in the title. If you are discussing genes (or their protein counterpart) and it is an essential part of your research, chances are you will mention the gene symbol in the title, then provide the full name as a keyword in research papers . Species names can be replaced by their common name.  
• As you may know, most journals require a subscription to access the full content of articles. Yet most abstracts of publications are easily accessible when you use various search engines such as Google Scholar. So, if you use keywords in the abstract of your research paper, it will also improve the chances of readers finding and reading the full manuscript, even citing it in their own work.  
• Be specific by avoiding long phrases. Most journals would ask that keywords in research papers remain between one to three words. Avoiding conjunctions such as “and” is also recommended.  
• Only use abbreviations or acronyms that are quite common and well-known. By common abbreviations I mean not only those known by your field of expertise but also to the general audience, such as hplc, qPCR, CCTV, DNA or RNA, AI, etc. But if the abbreviation is used in the title, then use the definition as a keyword.  
• Finally, avoid using vague terms/expressions such as “treatment” or “technology” as a keyword in research papers ; this will not send your article to page one when others are conducting a search on the same topic. You can for example use “cancer treatment” or even better, add the cancer type “liver cancer treatment” or the approach “cancer nanotechnology” or “nanotechnology medical applications.”  

Now that you know the importance of keywords in research paper , go ahead and create keywords that will give your article a major boost!  

Researcher.Life is a subscription-based platform that unifies the best AI tools and services designed to speed up, simplify, and streamline every step of a researcher’s journey. The Researcher.Life All Access Pack is a one-of-a-kind subscription that unlocks full access to an AI writing assistant, literature recommender, journal finder, scientific illustration tool, and exclusive discounts on professional publication services from Editage.  

Based on 21+ years of experience in academia, Researcher.Life All Access empowers researchers to put their best research forward and move closer to success. Explore our top AI Tools pack, AI Tools + Publication Services pack, or Build Your Own Plan. Find everything a researcher needs to succeed, all in one place –  Get All Access now starting at just $17 a month !    

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Keywords for Research Article: an Effective Guide

Table of Contents

With the myriad of online resources, it can be challenging to find relevant information.

Keywords are a way we can cut through the clutter and discover what we are looking for quickly. This is why incorporating the right keywords into articles, blogs, and websites is crucial. Identifying relevant  keywords for research articles  and incorporating them into your paper is the best way to ensure a top search engine ranking. 

The more an article aligns with the keywords a user searches for, the higher it will rank on SERPs. Optimizing your content with relevant keywords that match users’ search terms improves the visibility of your research paper.

This post details how to choose relevant keywords for your research article.

What Are Keywords in a Research Paper?

Keywords are words or phrases searchers type into search engines to find specific information .

In research papers, keywords are the terms that define a given topic and make it easier for searchers to find the content. Keywords help search engines match relevant search results with search queries, providing users with the most relevant and valuable information. 

Importance of Keywords in Research Papers

Keyword helps search engines decide which research article is most relevant to a search query.

When an Internet user wants to find something online, they typically enter a keyword that describes what they’re looking for. Search engine algorithm scans webpages to find those with similar or the exact keywords searched for. The more matches a content has with the user’s keywords, the more likely the article will appear in search engine results. 

The goal of every researcher is to get their article on the first page of the search engine results page (SERP). Discovering and incorporating the relevant keywords into your paper will improve your chances of higher rankings on search engines.

How to Choose the Best Keywords for Research Article

Choosing relevant keywords will improve your search engine rankings and ensure your research paper is found . Here are some tips for selecting the right keywords for your research paper.

1. Follow the Guidelines of Your Target Journal

Every journal has specifications when it comes to selecting keywords. Take the time to learn and follow your target journal’s instructions on keywords. For example, most clinical papers use terms drawn from the  US National Library of Medicine’s Medical Subject Headings (MeSH).  Other fields have their guidelines and requirements.

Most journals ask authors to present 5-8 terms. Some journals request only  single-word  keywords, making it easy for publishers and databases to organize the article, while others request phrases . Ensure you understand the guidelines for your target journal and follow them appropriately.

2. Identify Terms Related to Your Topic

Consider the terms researchers may use to search for papers related to your topic. For example, if your research article is on climate change , your keywords may include climate , global warming , earth , and biosphere . Target these keywords in your manuscript to ensure your research paper appears in the results of relevant searches.

3. Identify Terms That Summarize Your Work As a Whole

Identify and use keywords that represent and summarize your article as a whole. Some of these terms may be the main features of your paper, like population, setting, or variables.

Remember to keep an eye on the bigger picture as well. Identify the theories, processes, or concepts your paper covers, even if the specific names do not appear in your manuscript.

4. Include Your Techniques or Methodology

You may use key methods or experimental techniques your research revolves around as keywords. Be careful with spelling and capitalization, and also ensure that you use the officially recognized form of each key term. This is so your paper isn’t left out of searches for that keyword.

You can find the official, correct, and most commonly used versions of field-specific terms using Google Scholar.

5. Include Both Generic and Specific Terms

Avoid single-word keywords that are too general and vague. Make sure your keywords aren’t too long and not too short. Too short keywords will make the search unspecific. On the other hand, too-long keywords may filter your article to the point where it will be unindexed in search engines.

Use specific and general terms your potential readers will look for. For instance, if your article is on climate change , you may use general terms like “Global Warming” and “Earth.” And also more specific long-tail keywords relevant to your study.

6. Perform a Search to Test Your Keywords

Search Google and academic databases like Google Scholar for the keywords you want to submit. Do the keywords bring up articles similar to yours? If not, you may need to make some changes. 

This technique will also give you an idea of who your competition is. Examine the keywords they target to get ideas on how to refine your keyword list.

Keywords are an integral part of every research paper. They’re the means through which search engines determine which content is most relevant to a search query.

Choosing the most relevant keywords for your research topic is critical. The wrong choice of keywords can be detrimental to your article and even cost you opportunities to get read! On the other hand, the right keywords can improve your search engine rankings.

When choosing keywords, follow the instructions of your target journal. Identify terms related to your topic, including those that summarize your work as a whole. Also, consider using the techniques or methodology your research revolves around as keywords. Avoid only single-word keywords; instead, use both generic and specific terms. Finally, perform a search to test your keywords and refine your keyword list if necessary.

Alexander De Ridder

Co-Founder of INK, Alexander crafts magical tools for web marketing. SEO and AI expert. He is a smart creative, a builder of amazing things. He loves to study “how” and “why” humans and AI make decisions.

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The 12 Best Keyword Research Tools to Find the Right Keywords for SEO

Updated: August 18, 2022

Published: February 13, 2020

Let's get right down to it: The key to successful SEO is concentrating on long-tail keywords.

Although these keywords get less traffic than more generic terms, they're associated with more qualified traffic and users that are typically further down their path of intent.

The good news is that choosing the right long-tail keywords for your website pages is actually a fairly simple process -- one that's made all the more simple and quick when you use the right tools to perform your keyword research.

Keyword Research Template

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Keyword Relevance

Relevance is the most important factor to consider when choosing the right keywords for SEO. Why? Because the more specific you are, the better.

For instance, if you own a company that installs swimming pools, it's likely that you'd attract more qualified prospects by targeting a keyword such as  "fiberglass in-ground pool installation," rather than "swimming pools." That's because there's a good chance that someone searching for "fiberglass in-ground pool installation" is looking for information on installation or someone to perform the installation ... and that could be you!

Sure, optimizing for "swimming pools" has its place. But there's no doubt that this keyword will attract a much more generic audience that may not be looking for what you have to offer. Go for the relevant, long-tail keywords instead.

Location-Based Keywords

Another major factor to consider when optimizing for the right keywords is location-based searches . When looking for contractors and services in their specific area, search engine users will usually include their location in the search. So, "fiberglass in-ground pool installation" becomes "fiberglass in-ground pool installation in Boston, MA."

If you operate in one geo-location, you may want to consider adding location-based keywords to all of your pages, since traffic from other locations isn't going to be very much help to you. If your business operates in several geo-locations, it is also a wise choice to create a separate web page dedicated to each location so you can make sure your brand is present when people are searching for individual locations.

Now, how do you choose the right keywords for your business? We certainly don't recommend guessing, for obvious reasons. Instead, there are many ways to research and find long-tail keywords that are right for your business.

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Here are nine awesome free and paid keyword research tools you can use to quickly and easily identify strong long-tail keywords for your SEO campaign.

Free Keyword Research Tools

• Google Keyword Planner
• Google Trends
• Keyword Tool.io

1. Google Keyword Planner

Google has a few tools that make it easy to conduct keyword research, and their free AdWords tool called Keyword Planner is a great place to start -- especially if you use AdWords for some of your campaigns. (Note: You'll need to set up an AdWords account to use Keyword Planner, but that doesn't mean you have to create an ad.)

When you input one keyword, multiple keywords, or even your website address into Keyword Planner, Google will spit out a list of related keywords along with simple metrics to gauge how fierce the competition is around each one and how many searches it gets on both a global and local search level.

It'll also show you historical statistics and information on how a list of keywords might perform -- and it'll create a new keyword list by multiplying several lists of keywords together. Since it's a free AdWords tool, it can also help you choose competitive bids and budgets to use with your AdWords campaigns.

Image Credit: Google

Unfortunately, when Google transitioned from Keyword Tool to Keyword Planner, they stripped out a lot of the more interesting functionality -- but you can make up for it somewhat if you take the information you learn from Keyword Planner and use Google Trends to fill in some blanks.

Which brings me to the next tool ...

2. Google Trends

Google Trends is another free tool from Google. It lets you enter multiple keywords and filter by location, search history, and category. Once you enter that information in, it'll give you results that show how much web interest there is around a particular keyword, what caused the interest (e.g., press coverage), and where the traffic is coming from -- along with similar keywords.

The best part about Google Trends is that it doesn't just give you static keyword volume numbers like most keyword research tools. Instead, it generates colorful, interactive graphs that you can play with, download, and even embed on your website. It'll also give you more dynamic insight into a keyword with information like relative popularity of a search term over time.

Interestingly, its data doesn't include in repeated queries from a single user over a short period of time, which makes results cleaner. It also groups together searches that it infers to mean the same thing, like misspellings .

One way to use Google Trends? If you're trying to decide between two keyword variations for your latest blog post title. Simply perform a quick comparison search in Google Trends to see which one is getting searched more often.

3. Keyword Tool.io

Keyword Tool is pretty rudimentary online keyword research tool, but if you're just looking for a list of long-tail keyword suggestions related to one you already have in mind, then it can be useful. It's also totally free -- to use the most basic version, you don't even need to create an account.

What Keyword Tool does is use Google Autocomplete to generate a list of relevant long-tail keywords suggestions. The search terms suggested by Google Autocomplete are based on a few different factors, like how often users were searching for a particular term in the past.

This type of suggestion tool can help you understand what people are searching for around your topics. For example, bloggers might use a tool like this to brainstorm blog post titles that'll do well in search .

Again, all the free version does for you is generate other keyword suggestions in alphabetical order -- it doesn't tell you anything about search volume or cost-per-click (CPC). To get that information, you'll have to upgrade to Keyword Tool Pro . The Pro version will also let you export the keywords and use them for content creation, search engine optimization, CPC/PPC, or other marketing activities.

Best Keyword Research Tools

• Term Explorer
• Moz's Keyword Difficulty Tool

Paid Keyword Research Tools 

4. term explorer, price: $34/mo. for basic; $97/mo. for pro; $499/mo. for agency.

Term Explorer offers probably the deepest research reports of any keyword research tool on the market. From one single seed term, you can get over 10,000 keyword variations.

Best of all, the tool does a great job of keeping the results as relevant as possible and pulling through lots of supporting metrics with them.

It'll give you data for all the results on page one of search engine results pages (SERPs), including the number of results, link strength, trust score, and keyword difficulty. To help you get a handle on your competitors, you can use the tool to research domain age, page ranking, and links, as well as the word count, page rank, links, outbound links, and the number of keyword occurrences in title, URL, and headers for individual webpages. You can also export all this data into a CSV for your own analysis.

Image Credit: Term Explorer

Note: If you only plan on using it a few times a day, there is actually a free version of this tool that'll do five tiny keyword jobs and five keyword analyses per day, with no queue priority.

5. Moz's Keyword Difficulty Tool

Price: $99/mo. for standard; $149/mo. for medium; $249/mo. for large; $599/mo. for premium.

The keyword difficulty tool from Moz is one of the most useful components of their paid suite. It's a fantastic resource for analyzing the competitiveness of a keyword and for unearthing low-hanging fruit.

When you input a keyword into this tool, it'll find the top 10 rankings for that keyword. Then, it'll assign that keyword a "Difficulty Score" based on the pages that currently rank for that word. You can look at search volume data for your keywords, then pull up the SERP to see the top 10 results for each term.

Image Credit: Moz

Want to do some competitive keyword analysis? You can use the tool to see who else is ranking for your targeted keywords, along with information like each site's page authority and the number of root domains linking to their page.

You can also export all this data into a CSV for your own analysis.

Price: $69.95/mo. for Pro; $149.95/mo. for Guru; $549.95/mo. for Business

SEMrush is a competitive research tool that lets you keep an eye on on your competitors' keywords to find opportunities to bump them out for a top position in Google's and Bing's organic search results. You can compare a number of domains against one another to evaluate the competitive landscape, including their common keywords and positions in Google's organic, paid, and shopping search results.

Position tracking is kind of like a sophisticated version of Google Trends, letting you see a keyword's position in SERPs and analyze the history of rises and drops. Their colorful, visual charts are also super helpful for more quickly understanding trends and analyzing results.

Image Credit: SEMrush

Price: $99/mo. for Lite; $179/mo. for Standard; $399/mo. for Advanced

Ahrefs Keywords Explorer is similar to SEMrush, but with some extra bonuses and a much more intuitive design. For example, it’s able to estimate how many searches become real page visits. Not all of them do so, since Google gives instant answers for some queries. With Clicks and Clicks Per Search metrics, you’ll figure out traffic-generating keywords and skip dead-end options.

When it comes to the number of relevant keyword suggestions, Ahrefs goes the extra mile. It runs the biggest database – 5.1 billion keywords for over 200 countries – which means it can detect opportunities other tools could be missing. Ahrefs can also help you with competitive research. Their Site Explorer tool lifts the veil on competitors' keyword strategies, while Content Gap lets you compare competitor keywords with your own to identify your might-have-beens.

Ahrefs will also email you about even the smallest ranking progress of your competitors. Backlinks have a direct impacton ranking, and backlink research is one of Ahrefs’ strongest muscles.

Brian Dean, founder of Backlinko, say that Ahrefs is his #1 go-to tool for backlink analysis: "I've tested over 25 link analysis tools and none come close to Ahref's in terms of index size, freshness, and overall usability."

8. SE Ranking

Price:  $39.00/mo. for essential, $89.00/mo. for pro, $189.00/mo. for business.

Keyword Research Tool by SE Ranking is a comprehensive keyword analytics tool that lets you investigate organic and paid search competitors, monitor SEO and PPC campaigns, and generates thousands of suggestions to expand your keyword list.

SE Ranking puts a strong emphasis on the accuracy of keyword SEO data. The platform uses ungrouping techniques and a unique algorithm to provide users with accurate search volumes and keyword difficulty. For one seed term, you’ll get a list of similar, related, low search volume terms, long tail, and question-based keywords. 

You can use convenient filters to select suggestions based on your target parameters and evaluate their efficiency by reviewing different metrics, including keyword relevance and more. This way, you can understand how well the suggestion fits into your content strategy.

9. GrowthBar

Price: 5-day free trial, $29/mo. for pro; $79/mo for scale.

GrowthBar is an SEO software tool for marketers and bloggers that helps perform keyword research, competitive analysis, rank tracking and content generation. GrowthBar enables you to explore your competitors’ backlink data, their paid Google ads, organic keyword rankings, and even their Facebook Ads. It also unlocks critical data points and gives recommendations through a simple and easy-to-use dashboard. 

What makes GrowhBar stand out is their AI-powered blogging tool. Once you enter a keyword you want to rank for, GrowthBar generates an outline for you to follow in order to write SEO-optimized content. In order to do this, GrowthBar uses OpenAI GPT-3, the largest language model ever created.     

10. Accuranker

Price: $19.95/mo. for beginner; $29.95/mo. for pro 300; $44.95/mo. for pro 600; $74.95/mo. for pro 1k.

Accuranker is a keyword rank tracking tool with a key differentiator: It's lightning fast while being extremely precise. So if you're used to spending hours monitoring the rank progression of your keywords, this'll end up saving you a ton of time.

Other advantages of this tool? It has built-in proxies to get a quick glance at whose ranking within the SERPs for any given keyword. If you plan to report keyword metrics to your manager or your team, you'll like its scheduled weekly reports feature.

Image Credit: Accuranker

It's also one of the best rank trackers out there that offers highly localized search engine rankings for your keywords. So if you're marketing your business to an international audience, it's a great tool for analyzing which pages are ranking in different countries.

Finally, it has integrations available with Google Analytics, Google Search Console, Social Monitoring, and YouTube so you can keep an eye on statistics and estimated search traffic for your keywords straight from your AccuRanker dashboard.

11. HubSpot

HubSpot also has its very own Content Strategy tool within the Marketing Hub. The Content Strategy tool helps you identify and research topics, find keywords or subtopics to go after, and ultimately help grow your content presence for generating more organic traffic over time.

If you're a HubSpot customer, you can access the Content Strategy tool, click on Content > Strategy.

12. Serpstat

Price: $69/mo. for lite, $149/mo. for standard, $299/mo. for advanced, $499/mo. for enterprise.

Serpstat provides you with a list of historically profitable keywords used by competitors to make them rank high in search results. It also figures the value of your keywords using different factors, like number of search results and cost-per-click. 

The software will offer suggestions for more suggestive keywords as well as provide long-tail keywords, which are low-volume keywords related to your business. Plus, if your business is international, you can adapt keywords to different countries in the tool's database. 

Finally, with Serpstat, you can check the relevancy of your webpages and analyze the trends that might be attractive to browsers. 

Serpstat will be extremely useful to you if you want full analyses of keywords that work well for competitors. It's also a great tool for making sure your page has a lower chance of losing a favorable ranking on SERPs. 

Now that you know about all these great tools, get out there and start discovering your best keywords for SEO.

What tools and methods do you use to find long-tail keywords? Share your favorites with us in the comments below.

Don't forget to share this post!

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General Library Research: Start Your Research

• Find Sources
• Start Your Research
• Advanced Search Strategies
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Identify Your Topic

Brainstorm ideas.

Selecting a topic can be tricky. Your professor will usually assign a general theme that reflects the course material and your paper will need to focus on some aspect of that theme. Look through lecture notes and assigned readings to find a topic. Start by thinking of a topic you are interested in or curious about. Researching a topic that sparks your interest can be a great motivator.

Create a Concept Map

Once you've selected a general topic, create a concept map. Concept maps help you identify subtopics and topic-related ideas.

Write down your central topic (if you don't have one yet, use the course theme). Around the central topic, write down as many subtopics as you can think of. Continue writing related ideas and subtopics. As you write, think about how the subtopics might interconnect with each other or how they relate. Think of questions you might have about those connections.

Some helpful websites for concept mapping:

Visuwords - an interactive thesaurus and dictionary. Provides related terms, synonyms, broader and narrower terms.

Bubbl - an online concept mapping tool. (3 maps are free)

Find Background Information

Browse information sources.

Once you've identified a topic you'd like to explore further, take the time to get to know more about that topic. This step is called  background research . Background research helps you:

• Gain familiarity with a topic
• Identify differing perspectives of a topic
• Identify the experts, researchers, and scholars familiar with a topic 
• Explore possible research topics
• Identify specialized terms or jargon that can be used for searches later

Here are some sources of background information to consider as you explore your research topic:

• Encyclopedias provide basic information on a wide range of subjects. There are general encyclopedias, such as Encyclopedia Britannica , and subject-specific encyclopedias, such as the Encyclopedia of Social Media and Politics .
• Newspapers and magazines are regular publications of events covering social, political, or cultural interests. They often document the reactions, perspectives and opinions of an event around the time it happened. They can help you learn more about a culture, time period, and provide historical perspective to past events.
• Google - Search engines like Google can lead you to both good and bad information. Be critical of the websites you visit. For more help on evaluating sources go to the "Evaluate Your Sources" section below.
• Wikipedia - Wikipedia is a useful resource to start learning more about a topic, but remember that anyone can edit Wikipedia. Use the References of Further Readings at the end of an entry to verify information within the article. 

For more help, check out the Quick How To page on g enerating a research question .

Narrow Your Topic or Research Question

Identify open vs. close-ended questions.

Close-ended questions can be answered by a simple "yes" or "no," whereas open-ended questions go beyond a simple answer and require mindful, detailed responses.  Your research question should be open-ended. Open-ended questions require more critical thinking and sources of information to answer compared to close-ended questions.   Research questions often start with "how" or "why". Here is an example of a close-ended question modified into an open-ended question: Close-ended : Do many children in the U.S. have allergies? Open-ended : How does country of birth affect a child's chances of developing asthma?

Ask Who? What? When? Where? Why?

Once you have a basic understanding of your topic and the issues surrounding it, narrow your research question by asking the following questions:

• Who? - Are you interested in a specific group of people? Can you narrow your focus to a group or demographic, such as age, gender, ethnicity, location, or socio-economic status?
• What? - What are current issues around this topic? Anything in the news?
• When? - Is your topic current or historical? Was it during a specific time period? Are there any important events surrounding your topic? 
• Where? - Can your topic focus on a specific location? Where, geographically, might this topic be significant?
• Why? - Why is this topic important? Why should others be interested?

It's okay for your research question to change over time as you find more information about your topic, or take out ideas that don't work.

For more help, check out the libraries' Quick How To page on Generating a Research Question .

Refine Your Searches

Use keywords, not sentences.

The  keywords  you use are an important part of your search strategy.  Keywords , or  search words , are words or short phrases that represent the main ideas or concepts in your topic. Identify main concepts by writing down your research question and selecting nouns important to the meaning of your research question. For example, the research question "How is climate change affecting agriculture in Nevada?" has three main concepts:

• climate change
• agriculture

It's important to have additional keywords on hand, in case a search fails or doesn't produce desired results. For each main concept, write a list of related terms, synonyms, broader or narrower ideas. Brainstorm related terms, ask a classmate/professor/librarian for help, use a thesaurus, or continuing reading about your topic.

For more help, check out the Quick How To page on Choosing Keywords .

Evaluate Your Sources

As you search for information you will come across many different types of sources such as websites, journal articles and books, but how do you know if the information is suitable or appropriate for your research assignment? What does it mean for a source to be credible? And why is it important to use credible sources?

To learn more, check out the Quick How To page on Evaluating Sources .

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APA Style provides guidelines to help writers determine the appropriate level of citation and how to avoid plagiarism and self-plagiarism.

We also provide specific guidance for in-text citation, including formats for interviews, classroom and intranet sources, and personal communications; in-text citations in general; and paraphrases and direct quotations.

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