Author guidelines look like pages of small print, but only a handful of items decide whether your manuscript is ready. Read those first, in a fixed order, and write them down.
Why author guidelines deserve one careful read
Every journal publishes its own rules for authors. They go by different names (instructions for authors, guide for authors, submission guidelines, information for authors), but they answer the same questions: what the journal publishes, how long each article type can be, which policies you must meet, what it costs, and how the files should look.
Even journals that follow shared standards leave many details to the individual journal. The ICMJE recommendations on preparing a manuscript say so repeatedly: authors should prepare abstracts "in the format specified by the journal", tables "according to the specific journal's requirements", and "must consult the Information for Authors of the particular journal" on units of measurement. What one journal accepts, the next may return.
The problem is not that guidelines are hard. It is that they are long, and most authors read them top to bottom, spend their attention on reference formatting, and miss the one line about article types or ethics that decides the outcome. A reading order fixes that.
Find the complete, current guidelines first
Before reading anything, make sure you have the right document and all of it.
- Use the journal's own website. Navigate there from a source you trust, not from an email invitation. Cloned journal sites copy real guidelines word for word; our guide to spotting hijacked journal websites shows how to check you are on the genuine site.
- Collect every linked page. Requirements are often split across the main guidelines, article-type pages, editorial or ethics policies, fee pages and the publisher's general policies. Open each link from the main page.
- Ignore old copies. PDFs saved by colleagues, and templates from a previous submission, may be out of date. Some guidelines show a revision date; if yours does, note it.
A fast reading order: seven passes
Read in this order. Each pass answers one question, and the early passes can end the process before you waste time on the later ones.
1. Confirm scope and article type
Read the aims and scope, then the list of article types. Does the journal publish your topic, and does it have a type that matches your manuscript? Note the exact name the journal uses. "Brief report", "short communication" and "research letter" can mean different things at different journals, with different limits. If the fit is weak, stop here and choose another journal; nothing later in the guidelines will fix it.
2. Record the limits for your article type
Limits are usually set per article type, not per journal. Write down:
- main text word limit, and what it excludes (ICMJE suggests a word count that excludes the abstract, acknowledgments, tables, figure legends and references, but check how your journal counts)
- abstract length and whether it must be structured, and under which headings
- maximum tables and figures, references and, sometimes, authors
- title length, and whether a short or running title is needed
If your draft is far over a limit, you know now how much cutting the submission needs.
3. Check policies that can block submission
These are the requirements an editorial office can check before peer review, and missing one can send a manuscript back. Look for the journal's position on:
- ethics committee approval and the wording of the ethics statement
- patient consent for publication, especially for case reports and images
- clinical trial registration
- reporting guidelines and whether a completed checklist must be uploaded (the EQUATOR Network hosts most of them)
- data availability or data sharing statements
- preprints, competing interests, funding statements and the use of AI tools
If the journal requires a reporting checklist, our guide to choosing between CONSORT, PRISMA and STROBE helps you pick the right one.
4. Check fees and licence
Find the article processing charge, if any, when it is payable (on submission or on acceptance), whether waivers or discounts exist and how to request them, and which licence the article will be published under. Check what your funder or institution requires before you commit.
5. List the files and declarations the system expects
Note each file the journal wants: manuscript, title page, figures as separate files, supplementary material, checklists, cover letter. If the journal uses double-anonymous peer review, it will usually ask for an anonymised manuscript with author details kept on a separate title page. Also note what the submission form itself asks for, such as ORCID iDs, author contributions, or suggested reviewers.
6. Check formatting last
Look first for a statement on whether the initial submission must follow the journal's style. Some publishers let journals accept a first submission in any reasonable format and require full formatting only later; Elsevier's Your Paper, Your Way is one example, offered journal by journal. Where formatting is required from the start, note the reference style, figure file types and resolution, and any template.
7. Fill in a one-page requirements sheet
Record each item with the link where you found it. This sheet becomes your working brief while you revise, and a quick check before you upload.
Where requirements usually hide
| Requirement | Often found on |
|---|---|
| Article types and their limits | A separate article-types page, or a table near the end of the guidelines |
| Ethics, consent and registration | Editorial policies or publication ethics page |
| Data sharing and preprints | Publisher-wide policy pages |
| Fees, waivers and licence | Open access or fees page |
| Required declarations | The submission system form |
| Figure and file specifications | Artwork or file-preparation pages |
Page names and locations vary, so treat this as a list of places to look rather than a map of any one journal.
Common misreadings
- Applying the research-article limits to every type. A case report or letter usually has its own, tighter limits.
- Counting words differently from the journal. Check what the limit includes before you cut or pad.
- Missing the abstract structure. A structured abstract with the wrong headings is still a formatting error.
- Leaving identifying details in an anonymised file. Check acknowledgments, funding text, file names and document properties.
- Treating "recommended" as "required", or the reverse. Note the journal's exact wording.
- Relying on a template from a previous submission. Re-read the current page each time.
Your one-page requirements sheet
- Journal name, link to guidelines, and date you read them
- Article type, using the journal's exact name
- Word, abstract, table, figure and reference limits for that type
- Ethics, consent and registration statements required
- Reporting guideline and whether a checklist must be uploaded
- Data availability, competing interest, funding and AI statements
- Fee, waiver route and licence
- Files to upload and whether anonymisation is required
- Whether the first submission must be formatted, and the reference style
- Open questions for the editorial office
When the sheet is complete, move on to our manuscript submission checklist for the upload itself.
When the guidelines are unclear or contradict each other
Guidelines are sometimes ambiguous, and pages written at different times can disagree. Do not guess. Send the editorial office a short, specific question that names the article type and quotes the two conflicting lines, and ask which applies. Keep the reply. If you follow advice that differs from the published page, mention it briefly in your cover letter so the handling editor is not surprised.
Directive Publications brings its author guidance, article types and editorial policies together on its For Authors page. Read it in the same order before you submit your manuscript.
Frequently asked questions
What are journal author guidelines?
They are the journal's own rules for what it publishes and how manuscripts must be prepared and submitted. Journals call them instructions for authors, a guide for authors, or submission guidelines. They usually cover scope, article types, length limits, ethics and data policies, fees, and file and reference formatting.
What should I check first in a journal's instructions for authors?
Check scope and article types first, because no amount of formatting fixes a paper the journal does not publish. Then check the limits for your specific article type, and the policies that can stop a submission, such as ethics approval, consent, trial registration and reporting checklists. Formatting details can wait until you have decided to submit.
Do I need to format my manuscript exactly before the first submission?
It depends on the journal. Some journals accept a first submission without journal-specific formatting and ask for full formatting only at revision, while others return manuscripts that do not follow their style. The guidelines usually say which approach applies, so look for that statement before you spend time reformatting.
Where are the requirements that are not on the main guidelines page?
They are often on separate pages for article types, editorial policies, ethics, data sharing, fees and the submission system itself. Publisher-wide policies can apply in addition to the journal's own page. Follow every link from the main guidelines page and check what the submission form asks for before you finish preparing files.
What should I do if a journal's guidelines are unclear or contradict each other?
Write a short, specific question to the editorial office and ask which instruction applies to your article type. Keep the reply, and mention it in your cover letter if you follow it. Asking before submission is far cheaper than having the manuscript returned for corrections.