Key Points About Keywords

Sometimes when submitting a paper for publication, the journal will require you to include a few descriptive keywords in order to facilitate its discovery on web searches. Here is an example of such a request, taken verbatim from the JALT Journal submission guidelines (Notes on editing & formatting, n.d.):

Following the Japanese translation of the abstract, include between two and five keywords, in alphabetical order, separated by a semi-colon. The use of keywords is a new addition to JALT Journal, so articles in past issues may not contain them.
Keywords: abstract; American Psychological Association; reference list; style guide

Choosing keywords is no big deal, right? Just pull a few terms off the top of your head and be done with it. Well, even though such a casual approach will technically fulfill a submission requirement, bringing a bit more awareness and attention to optimizing keywords is worth the effort. In short, effective keywords can put your paper on the first or second page of a search result, thus making it more convenient for other researchers to cite. The more citations the better, as this is a measure of your paper’s effectiveness and a reflection of your credibility and expertise as an academic (Miranda, 2016). Fortunately, choosing effective keywords does not require in-depth knowledge of sophisticated SEO (search engine optimization) techniques. In this column, I will cover a few key points about keywords to help get you started quickly and easily. I will also introduce a few free online tools that automate this task and help you test out and fine-tune your ideas.