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JAMA. 2004;291:2026.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text and any section headings.

One of the interesting features of the editor's work in looking over other medical journals is to note the varieties in titles and the peculiarities of authors. The titles of some articles are so long that they almost make it unnecessary to read the paper. Harris Hawthorne Wilder, in a letter to Science, March 18, comments interestingly on long titles, which he classifies as "explanatory" or as "modest." In the first, an author endeavors to show exactly what he is covering in his paper; in the second, he seeks to bring out that he appreciates the vastness of the subject and how little he really has accomplished. One of the latter often begins, "A contribution to the study of." Wilder says that although composed in the most laudable spirit, such titles are hardly necessary, since there is little danger of misunderstanding on the point guarded against by the writer. . . . [Full Text of this Article]