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I am writing a thesis and the title goes like this:

"Interaction of Proteins with Small Molecules and Peptides"

I studied the interactions of various different proteins with various different small molecules and peptides. For example I studied the interactions of protein A with small molecule A and small molecule B; and then interactions of protein B with peptide A and small molecule C and so on. Therefore, in the title proteins mean protein in general and small molecules indicate small molecule in general.

So, will it be better if I write:

"Interactions of Protein with Small Molecule and Peptide"

Or should I use all plural:

"Interactions of Proteins with Small Molecules and Peptides"

Does the above mentioned fragment sounds good as a title? Should I use something like "Studies on" on the beginning? Can "Studies on" be implicit?

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  • I can't see a case where any of these is singular or a group, so I would use plurals. Is there a reason you considered singular nouns? – user3169 Jun 23 '15 at 21:02
  • @user3169 I was most worried about the first word. I thought if I use "Interactions", I should write it like interactions of this and that (e.g. Interactions of man and his environment). Whereas if I use interaction, I should write Interaction of this with that (e.g. Interaction of man with his environment). I googled those examples. I'm not sure if those are correct though. Again, in both the examples they used man, not men. And by protein I want to mean any protein, not confined to the particular group of proteins I studied. Because main subject of my study is how they interact. – Uttam Pal Jun 23 '15 at 21:33
  • I think this is going to be a question of writing style, esp. in a title. You might ask this on Writers SE. – user3169 Jun 23 '15 at 21:43
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Use the all plural title you first wrote. However, changing it to "The Interaction of Proteins with Small Molecules and Peptides" makes it sound a bit better depending on your preference.

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  • I disagree with adding "The", because that seems to imply there is only one interaction being studied. – Stew C Apr 8 '17 at 18:54
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Your example sounds perfect to me for the following reasons:

  1. it copies the style other authors have used for your context,
  2. it is accurate; using singulars instead of plurals would change the meaning (to inaccurate)
  3. the use of protein (singular) suggests that the type of protein does not matter; I'm assuming this is not what you mean, but if it is then use it.
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