It may seem obvious, but the title is a clue as to the subject matter being discussed in the article. Academic article titles typically have two parts separated by a colon.
The first part is designed to grab the reader's attention. The second part, after the colon, clarifies the topic—giving perhaps a date range, geography, methodological perspective, or some other insight.
For example, this article's title gives us several clues about what the author is going to discuss.
“One Nation Over Coals: Cold War Nationalism and the Barbecue”
The first part of the title “One Nation Over Coals” alludes to the pledge of allegiance (“One nation under God”) but places coals—or barbecue as we can see from the broader title context—as the uniting force, rather than religion.
The subtitle—that part after the colon—gives us a time period and a subject. This article will be addressing the Cold War era (about 1945-1990) and focusing on the subject of nationalism. As a whole, the title suggests that in the U.S., the barbecue, or grilling, was an important element of nationalism during the Cold War era.