Guide for Authors
Instructions for Authors Submitting Written Works
This includes articles, editorials, commentaries, original reports, publications, theses, etc. Note this is a recommendation for how to organize papers. If authors present information clearly and concisely, other variations to this format are allowed.
Written Work Order
Many authors find it useful to organize their work sections as follows: title page, abstract, significance statement, introduction, results, discussion, materials and methods, acknowledgments, references, and figure legends. If authors present information clearly and concisely, other variations to this format are allowed.
Title Page
Title: Titles should be no more than three typeset lines (generally 135 characters including spaces) and should be comprehensible to a broad scientific audience.
Author Name: Include the preferred author name as you would like it to appear (including any initials, hyphenations, or abbreviations).
Author Affiliation: Include department, institution, and complete address, with the ZIP/postal code, for each author. Use superscripts to match authors with institutions.
Corresponding Author: The name, complete address, phone number, and email address of the author to whom correspondence and proofs should be sent. Email addresses will appear in the article footnotes.
Resource Type: Authors must identify the resource type. For a complete list of allowed resource types visit: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/pubtypes.html
Keywords: Keywords are listed below the article abstract. At least three keywords are required at submission.
Abstract
Provide an abstract of no more than 250 words. Abstracts should explain to the general reader the major contributions of the article.
Significance Statement
Authors must submit a 120-word-maximum statement about the significance of their research paper written at a level understandable to an undergraduate-educated scientist outside their field of specialty. The primary goal of the Significance Statement is to explain the relevance of the work in broad context to a broad readership. The Significance Statement appears in the article itself and is required for all research papers.
Text
Write the body of the manuscript as concisely as possible. Use a common font such as Helvetica, Arial or Times fonts at 12-point size. Include the following headers within the text: introduction, results, discussion, materials and methods.
Figures and Tables
Select one figure to be the Feature Image of the paper. This file must be less than 210 MB. Allowed file types: png gif jpg jpeg. Images must be larger than 300×160 pixels.
All other figures/tables must conform to the following requirements: Files must be less than 210 MB. Allowed file types: jpg jpeg gif png txt doc docx xls xlsx pdf ppt pptx pps ppsx odt ods odp mp3 mov mp4 m4a m4v mpeg avi ogg oga ogv weba webp webm zip.
Acknowledgments and Funding
List acknowledgments and funding sources. Acknowledgments should include any contributors who did not meet the requirements for authorship and any science writers or corporate employees who participated in the development of the work. Grants and funding statements acknowledge all private or public sources of funding for the research, composition, or publication of the work.
References
Number references in the order in which they are cited in the text.
Instructions for Authors Submitting Non-Written Works and other Resource Types
All other resource type files must conform to the following requirements: Files must be less than 210 MB. Allowed file types: jpg jpeg gif png txt doc docx xls xlsx pdf ppt pptx pps ppsx odt ods odp mp3 mov mp4 m4a m4v mpeg avi ogg oga ogv weba webp webm zip.
ORCID
ORCID provides a persistent digital identifier that distinguishes you from every other researcher and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between you and your professional activities ensuring that your work is recognized. Authors are encouraged to sign up for an ORCID number and include this number for all authors (corresponding, first, and co-authors) in their submission.