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Samuel Vaisrub, MD

JAMA. 1976;236(10):1151.

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

Why are editors so fastidious about titles of manuscripts? Clearly, a title is not just a name, even when it is an eponym. It should have some logical link with the manuscript's topic.

If the title is, in fact, eponymic, the name is usually that of the discoverer of the disease (Parkinsonism, Paget disease) under discussion. Occasionally, the name is that of a patient in whom the discussed disease was first observed (Hartnup disease, Christmas disease) or that of a fictional or mythical person who evokes some of its features (Persephone syndrome, Munchausen disease) or that of a geographic location in which the disease was first observed (Oroya fever, St Louis encephalitis).

The link between topic and title should be even closer when the latter is descriptive. A descriptive title, however, poses the challenge of space. It must be informative, yet brief—an ofttimes unattainable goal. Hence the prevailing temptation to . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

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Senior Editor

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