Do declarative titles affect readers' perceptions of research findings? A randomized trial.
Elizabeth WagerDouglas G AltmanIveta SimeraTudor P TomaPublished in: Research integrity and peer review (2016)
We found no evidence that the use of a declarative title affected readers' perceptions about study conclusions. This suggests that editors' fears that declarative titles might unduly influence readers' judgements about study conclusions may be unfounded, at least in relation to reports of randomized trials. However, our study design had several limitations, and our findings may not be generalizable to other situations.