I got calls from few of us asking me the meaning of "keywords" and why it is needed in most, if not all research works. My dear, the most intelligent people are those who ask questions, because they learn always. Hence, your questions were in place. A keyword is a reserved word, which appears more often than normal and has special meaning in your research work. Whenever a keyword in your work is mentioned, especially in the internet domain, your work should pop up among other research works listed by the search routine. So, what are the words that should be used as a keyword in your paper?

Follow the below tips:
1. Include your techniques and/or specific methodology.
The most important experimental techniques used in your article are worth considering as keywords, for example, IoT, X-ray crystallography, Immunohistochemistry, etc. Just make sure that the formatting of the keyword (e.g., IoT vs IOT, FT-IR vs. FTIR) is the most commonly used in the literature so that your paper does not get left out of searches for that term. Using IOT may give you no search result as the right word for Internet of Things is IoT.

2. Focus on the main topic of your research.

For example, if your research is based on diabetes, possible keywords could be blood glucose, insulin, glucometer, etc. If the topic is hypertension, keywords to include could be blood pressure, circulation, stroke, pulse rate, heart, etc. Just remember to be specific enough, so that your main area of research is included.

3. Avoid keywords too long and too short:

Ensure that the keywords that you select are not too long but also not too short. Keywords that are too short will render the search unspecific, whereas keywords that are too long may filter articles to such a great extent that your paper could be excluded. For example, if your research is on pediatric diabetes, use long tail keywords that are relevant to your study. In this case, ‘blood glucose’ or ‘insulin’ may be too broad, and your paper would be lost in a sea of papers on diabetes.

4. Avoid overlapping keywords in your title and those in your keyword list.

Don’t waste keyword space on words used in your title. This is generally advised by most journals (but always check your journal guidelines).

5. Perform keyword research before submitting your article:
Do a search yourself using the keywords you intend to submit with your article. Do these keywords pull up articles that are very similar to your own? This technique will also give you insight into your competition. For example, which keywords do those papers use that you want to compete with?
Otuu Obinna Ogbonnia.