In this study, we attempted to determine the frequency and types of metaphors in a corpus of titles from a single medical journal collected over one year. The frequency of metaphor tokens (4.6%) was highest among editorials and other opinion articles and consisted predominantly of primary metaphors, which require explanation using a visual, cultural or other physical vehicle. When the metaphor was used only in the title and not in the body of the text, as was common in letters to the editor or in editorials, the metaphor may constitute a para-textual device used for engaging the reader. Other metaphors among research article titles were present not only in the title, but also used repeatedly in the body of the text. Among these research articles, metaphors were frequently used to endow the focus words of the metaphor with a precise and meaningful significance which, when used repeatedly in the text, may constitute a mechanism by which sub-technical language or internal jargon may arise. Being syntactically simple but endowed with a high communicative import, titles as a text type may help improve academic literacy, among beginners. (Adapted from the source document) (LLBA, Accession Number 200809212, (c) CSA [2008]. All rights reserved.)