Shorter or longer!  We need to introduce the Best attractive Words. 

Research title is very close to the importance of the trade mark of any product, therefore you have to correct the full attention to be more attractive and short of understanding by the reader

Thanks my brother Salam for your contribution. So, does the word count matters? What do you think? Best regards

Dickson

You are more welcome bor, Yes I think if these words meaningful, it dose

Best Regards

It depends on Journal to Journal. generally, title must be short using 8-10 words and representing the whole research work. 

8 upto 12 words

The very first that you see is title, second is the abstract... So, as better title, better visibility. Number of words in title does not neccessarilly mean the better response of the reader. @Emad's proposal seems fine. 

Serious readers do always read abstracts if key words (topics) are OK.

The titles of the research papers should be crisp indicating the essence of the contribution. Though there is no formula for the limit on the word count, a word count above 15 may start loosing the cognitive attention of the reader.

I agree with Prof Jacić  ,

Rather than a count , it needs to be careful chosen to justify your work not too lengthy nonetheless.

I read the Abstract /Intro /Conclusion  and if needed the details :)

What should be the word count for the titles of research papers?

Agreed with the many good comments form other researchers / scholars.  Suggesting not more than 15 words so that to train the author(s) using minimal words to bring out the maximum meaning of the paper.  The author(s) can provide a tentative draft title to guide them to complete the research & write up of their paper inclusive the abstract.  They can then finalize their tile by including abstract's key words into the title.

Dear,

Thanks for sharing. Certainly it involves some variables, as already well placed by colleagues. In summary, I fully agree with Prod. Dr. Ljubomir.

Greetings!

This depends on the journal itself. But I think that up to 8 words is too enough. Regards

It depends on the journal. Title is important as it's the 1st line whether someone will continue to read the full journal or not. Keep it short and sweet but cover the main message. Best Regards.

Dear Prof. Kundu,

I express my full gratitude for your wonderful input to the discussion. Best regards

Dickson

Dear Prof Emad,

Great and insightful contribution from your outfit. Thank you.

Dickson

Prof Ljubomir,

It is interesting how you colorfully added your voice to the discussion. Thanks a lot.

Dickson

Dear Prof. Murthy,

I am always appreciative of your invaluable contributions like the one you have offered to this question. Best regards

Dickson

Dear Prof. Sushil,

I am grateful for the enlightenment you have offered to the subject under discussion. Thank you

Dickson

Dear Prof. Han,

Your opinion to the discussion is simply an eye opener and very valuable. Thank you.

Dickson

Hello Prof. Osmar,

Your highly weighed views expressed on this subject is superb. Thank you.

Dickson

Dear Prof. Arwa,

It's always a great pleasure to hear your great inputs to discussions like this very one. I am grateful my sister.

Dickson

Dear Prof Okeke,

Concise but powerful opinion. Thank you for adding your great voice to the discussion.

Dickson

Dear Prof. Lai,

It is a great opportunity hearing your helpful comments to the discussion. Medaase (Thank you in my local language).

Dickson

What is a title?

 The most important component of any textual document is its title. Semantically speaking, a title should be captivating, informative and should introduce the subject of the paper to the reader in a clear and concise manner. From a syntactic point of view, a title “is metadata with a structure that can be a word, phrase, expression, or sentence, that serves to indicate a paper or one of its parts and give its subject”. Consequently, a good title should provide reasonable answers to the following two questions:

• Does the title of your manuscript, seen in isolation, give a full yet concise and specific indication of the work reported?  
• Would someone interested in the exact topic of your paper, reading this title, be inclined to read the abstract?

Are long titles bad?

You should not shy away from making the title longer, if necessary, since the words in a title are often used for indexing by the search engines. While short titles look good, it is not always possible and desirable to write a short title...

 A recent study on choosing a title has concluded that “A longer, more comprehensive title is both more likely to contain any given search term and, therefore, be identified, and also if the title provides a clear description of the study or its findings, is also more likely to be identified as relevant on the initial search screening process”

https://mamidala.wordpress.com/2013/08/11/making-your-research-paper-discoverable-title-plays-the-winning-trick/

It doesn't matter the word count in the title of an article. What matters is how attractive the title is and how it relates to the entire work.

Top ten longest titles of research papers (2006):

http://vocaro.com/trevor/blog/2006/09/12/top-ten-longest-titles-of-research-papers/

Thanks again Prof. Ljubomir for the great insight.

Dickson

Im grateful Prof. Kong for the wonderful opinion of yours.

Dickson

Dear Prof. Yau,

I am very appreciative of the link. It interesting to see such long titles. Please, how do you personally view them, Prof?

Thanks

Dickson

Dear Dickson Adom,

Yes, it is a bit long to me. I won't use that long as a title. A title can be short, but smart enough to catch people's eyes.

Also here, the 'shortest' Editorial, Abstract and paper have ever been published. Especially, the 'shortest paper', very funny and smart (and see what the reviewer said about this paper).

http://www.realclearscience.com/blog/2014/01/shortest_science_papers.html

The title should clearly depict the theme of the paper in less than 12 words.

Which one is better--shorter titles or longer titles?

According to a report from the prestigious Science journal (2015 Aug): "In brief, papers with shorter titles get more citations, study suggests."

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2015/08/brief-papers-shorter-titles-get-more-citations-study-suggests

Shorter or longer!  We need to introduce the Best attractive Words. 

The shortest title ever written!

I replied that there is nothing I can possibly talk about that would be of any interest, so she replied: “You are such a good speaker, so that it would be a good talk even if you talked about nothing”. That gave me the idea to indeed talk about my favorite subject: “nothing“, and at the same time fullfil an old dream of mine to give a talk, and write a paper, with the absolutely shortest possible title, containing zero characters. The abstract, however was non-empty...

http://eloquentscience.com/2009/11/the-shortest-title-ever-written/

http://sites.math.rutgers.edu/~zeilberg/mamarim/mamarimhtml/nothing.html

http://reu.dimacs.rutgers.edu/2007/abstracts.html#061407

The beauty of this, if we can refer to in this form, is  that it is part of the "art of writing the paper". Concise and informative titles are indeed the desired path, but I think we should refer to "appropriate" titles that provide the hints to exposing the nature of the work and its potential impact. Also, it depends on a number of factors and each person may have a different view on this. Thanks.

Thanks so much for your continued valuable information you share on this subject Professors Sircar, Zolotas, Ljubomir, Abdenor, and Yau. Best regards

Dickson Adom

You are welcome, Dickson Adom. Good topic. I enjoy reading all the answers.

Yuan-Yeu Yau

it actually varies from journal to journal...yes this is right that it should reflect the resrach work as much as possible.....but i belive title should be attractive enough so that it can attract the readers....

Thank you so very much, Prof. Sadia for adding your great view to the discussion. Best regards

Dickson Adom

Official title + Running title

Actually when you summit your papers for publishing, some publishers will ask for TWO titles from you. One is the official title, and the other one called 'Running Title". The running title is usually shorter than the official title (see attachment 1). The running title is  printed at the top of every left-hand text page or sometimes of all text pages. It allows readers to know which papers or chapters they are at by just glancing at the top of the pagese (see attachment 2). Sometimes, I think the shorter title (running title) is harder to come up than the official title.

Dear Prof Yau,

Its interesting to reckon the interplay of both long and short titles in the publishing process. Of course, they all have their roles to play. The stem point is attractiveness and effectiveness to depict beautifully the main ingredients of the work. I am appreciative of your continued enlightenment. Thank you

Dickson Adom

How to write an effective title and abstract and choose appropriate keywords?

More often than not, when researchers set about writing a paper, they spend the most time on the "meat" of the article (the methods, results, and discussion sections). Little thought goes into the title and abstract, while keywords get even lesser attention, often being typed out on-the-spot in a journal’s submission system. Ironically, these three elements—the title, abstract, and keywords—may well hold the key to publication success. A negligent or sloppy attitude towards these three vital elements in the research paper format would be almost equivalent to leaving the accessibility of the research paper up to chance and lucky guessing of target words, indirectly making the effort and time expended on the research and publication process almost null and void...

http://www.editage.com/insights/how-to-write-an-effective-title-and-abstract-and-choose-appropriate-keywords

Dear Prof. Ljubomir,

Great submission. Thank you for sensitizing the academic community the magic that titles as well as abstracts and keywords could play in the eventual success of academics papers. I trust our colleagues will read more on it from the link you have kindly provided. Thanks so much.

At a recent thesis clinic I attended, the coordinator often stressed in his presentation to the MPhil and PhD students that 'make your titles very short so that your thesis title can be at a quick glance on shelves of libraries as well as running topics on academic online databases.'

Dear Prof. Chalamala,

Thank you immensely for your valuable information you have provided on the subject. Best regards

Dickson Adom

From my own understanding, 18 words is the highest.

Dear Prof. Tariq,

Indeed, your comment is very rich and has been endorsed by many exponents in research. Thank you

Dickson Adom

Dear Prof. Olutosin,

Thanks for your word count offered. I think it is very useful and I have seen many journals set that word count for titles. Best regards

Dickson Adom

Long research titles ‘have lower impact’!

Lengthy titles of journal papers are a turn-off for fellow academics and lead to fewer citations, claims new analysis ...

https://www.timeshighereducation.com/news/long-research-titles-have-lower-impact

This rule often limits the feeling that the authors wish to convey in their publications. A very long title also does not allow a good assimilation by the reader. In my opinion, it should have a creative journalistic appeal, that is, let the know about the intention of the scientific work, and also allow the conquest of readers from other areas of knowledge.

Dear Prof. Ljubomir,

Thanks so much for the great source of information on why we must be cautious of lengthy titles for our research papers. Best regards

Dickson Adom

Dear Prof. Francisco,

I appreciate your insightful comment, especially, your beautiful phrase 'a creative journalistic appeal'. Of course, our titles must be very creatively couched and they must be attractive enough to pull a greater number of academic fishes from the always dazzling academic sea. Many thanks

Dickson Adom

It should be as crisp as possible.

Many thanks to you Prof. Anirbid for the valuable suggestion. Best regards

Dickson Adom

In writing, the rule of thumb is: be short, compact and precise. I think the same goes with the titles. Although a long title is not negative in any sense, short and precise titles are more catchy and help the paper receive more attention (and therefore citations)

Dear Prof. Dimitrios,

I am grateful for your very valuable comment. Thank you and Best regards

Dickson Adom