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Taylor & Francis

Prepare your manuscript for Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment & Trauma.

Review the checklist, choose your article type, and turn your draft into a cleaner submission package.

Checked 2026-08-01
Check readiness freePrepare this manuscript

Article types

Review
Research Article
Data Note
Case Report
Brief Report
Book Review
Commentary
Original Article
Review Article
Letter
Editorial
Clinical Trial
Protocol
Systematic Review
Lectio

Readiness requirements

Review the key details below, or download the complete checklist with every stored source-backed requirement.

Abstract length

  • Provide an author-written abstract of no more than 250 words.
  • Use a unstructured abstract.
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  • Both include abstract and keywords and must adhere to APA 7th Edition formatting and style guidelines.
  • Should be between 30 and 35 pages, inclusive of: Abstract.
  • Should contain an unstructured abstract of 250 words.
  • Should be no more than 3000 words, inclusive of: Abstract.
  • Should contain a structured abstract of 250 words.
  • Should be between 10 and 20 pages, inclusive of: Abstract.
  • Submissions should not exceed 30 double-spaced pages, including abstract, references, tables, and figures.
  • The abstract structure should be as follows: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion.
  • Your abstract should focus on what your research is about, what methods have been used, and what you found out.
  • The instructions for authors for each journal will give specific guidelines on what’s required here, including whether it should be a structured abstract or graphical abstract, and any word limits.

Keywords

  • Provide 3-6 keywords chosen by the author.
  • The title page should also include the author(s) address and contact information for correspondence, affiliation, and 8 keywords or phrases for abstracting.
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  • Should contain no more than 8 keywords.
  • Should contain between 3 and 6 keywords.

Reference style

  • Articlo formats your supplied references in APA style and checks that citations match the reference list; source validity is not verified.
  • Should be between 30 and 35 pages, inclusive of: References.
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  • Should be no more than 3000 words, inclusive of: References.
  • Should be between 10 and 20 pages, inclusive of: References.
  • Readers should be able to interpret the table without reference to the text.
  • If you reply yes, you will be required to provide the DOI, pre-registered DOI, hyperlink, or other persistent identifier associated with the data set(s).
  • Academic references, all (or at least the majority of which) need to be Author contact info provided during submission should match the info provided in the non-anonymized manuscript.
  • The DAS should include the hyperlink, DOI or other persistent identifier associated with the data set(s), or information on how the data can be requested from the authors.
  • A declaration must be included within the submission stating: Confirmation the authors take full responsibility for the integrity of the whole content, including accuracy of references.

Figure and table rules

  • Keep every figure and table numbered, captioned, and cited in the manuscript. Keep figures embedded; Articlo also extracts numbered source files for the package.
  • Group figures at the end of the manuscript.
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  • Group tables at the end of the manuscript.
  • Should be between 30 and 35 pages, inclusive of: Tables.
  • Should be between 30 and 35 pages, inclusive of: Figure or table captions.
  • Should be no more than 3000 words, inclusive of: Tables.
  • Should be no more than 3000 words, inclusive of: Figure or table captions.
  • Should be between 10 and 20 pages, inclusive of: Tables.
  • Should be between 10 and 20 pages, inclusive of: Figure or table captions.
  • Figures should be high quality (1200 dpi for line art, 600 dpi for grayscale and 300 dpi for colour, at the correct size).
  • Tables and figures Show clearly in your article text where the tables and figures should appear, for example, by writing [Table 1 near here].
  • Figures should be saved separately from the text.
  • Tables should present new information rather than duplicating what is in the text.
  • It’s very important that you have been given permission to use any tables or figures you are reproducing from another source before you submit.
  • Figures should be supplied in one of our preferred file formats: PS, JPEG, TIFF, or Microsoft Word (DOC or DOCX) files are acceptable for figures that have been drawn in Word.
  • Check the instructions for authors to see how you should supply tables and figures, whether at the end of the text or in separate files, and follow any guidance given on the submission system.

Funding statement

  • Letter: Add or confirm the author-written Funding statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
  • You should declare only the acquired funds and grants that are directly relevant to the work reported in your article; for example, This work was supported by the [Funding Agency #1] under Grant [number xxxx]; [Funding Agency #2] under Grant [number xxxx]; and [Funding Agency #3] under Grant [number xxxx].
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  • Letter: Authors who have received NIH funding are required to disclose funding sources in their cover letter at the time of submission.

Competing interests

  • Review: Please submit a separate document clearly outlining if: (a) if the author has any financial conflicts of interest, (b) if you have approval from your Institutional Review Board for a study involving animal or human patients, (c) if there are any informed consent notifications to state.

Data availability statement

  • Add or confirm the author-written Data availability statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
  • Data Note: Further to the data sharing policy for the journal, Data Note submissions must include a data availability statement and describe data available via a repository.
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  • Authors are required to provide a data availability statement, detailing where data associated with a paper can be found and how it can be accessed.
  • If data cannot be made open, authors should state why in the data availability statement.
  • Authors are required to cite any data sets referenced in the article and provide a Data Availability Statement.
  • Review / Letter: Statement of explanation: If a review of data or a dataset then this should be mentioned in the cover letter or within the manuscript, along with a data availability statement (DAS should be de-identified for peer review where appropriate).
  • Articles need to meet the Open Science Badges criteria in order to earn a badge.

Ethics statement

  • Add or confirm the author-written Ethics statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
  • Language about informed consent and ethics should be included in the methods as well (when applicable).

Cover letter

  • Letter: Provide the claims and editor-specific context for the cover letter; Articlo creates an editable companion without inventing content.
  • Review: Provide the claims and editor-specific context for the cover letter; Articlo creates an editable companion without inventing content.
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  • Using Third-Party Material You must obtain the necessary permission to reuse third-party material in your article.
  • Letter: A Cover Letter is required for all new submissions and should be specific to the journal – i.e., include the name of the submission journal and relevance of the manuscript to the scope of the journal.
  • Letter: If a research project does not include any interaction with subjects or any interventions, then no IRB approval is needed but a statement of explanation is still required in the cover letter.
  • Letter: If the work was derived from a thesis, dissertation, or other previous work, this should be mentioned in the cover letter and acknowledgments (on the version with author details).
  • Review: The use of short extracts of text and some other types of material is usually permitted, on a limited basis, for the purposes of criticism and review without securing formal permission.
  • If you wish to include any material in your paper for which you do not hold copyright, and which is not covered by this informal agreement, you will need to obtain written permission from the copyright owner prior to submission.

Author contributions

  • Add or confirm the author-written Author contributions statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
  • Submitting authors should be prepared to submit CRediT roles for themselves and their co-authors (where applicable) as part of the submission process.
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  • Review: Cover letters should include a statement about originality and author contribution – i.e., stating original work, this is original research, not submitted to other journals while under review, author/co-author contribution, etc.

Title page and author information

  • Provide the author, affiliation, and correspondence details for the separate title page; Articlo creates the editable companion file.
  • All authors of a manuscript should include their full name and affiliation on the cover page of the manuscript.
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  • One author will need to be identified as the corresponding author, with their email address normally displayed in the article PDF (depending on the journal) and the online article.

Article structure and word limits

  • NOTE: APA 7th Edition Formatting required for our journals.
  • Text should appear in 12-point Times New Roman or other common 12-point font.
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  • NOTE: APA 7th Edition Formatting is required.
  • Margins Margins should be at least 2.5cm (1 inch).
  • Review: These instructions will ensure we have everything required so your paper can move through peer review, production and publication smoothly.
  • If research with human subjects, they should state whether they have IRB approval, noting which IRB approved, when, and helpful if also approval #.
  • Review / Book Review: Activities/manuscripts not involving human subjects or considered research (i.e. a book review) do not require IRB statements.
  • NIH grantees should therefore choose a gold open access publishing option for their article.
  • Letter: All revisions must include an “Author Response to Decision Letter” or will be unsubmitted/rejected.
  • Editorial: Author response letters should address reviewer and editorial office feedback point-by-point.
  • Your research funder or your institution may require you to publish your article open access.
  • Use our APC finder to view the APC for this journal.
  • Titles and abstracts should follow APA guidelines for length and style.
  • Book Review: All book reviews are by invite only and any proposals should first be sent to journals@ivatcenters.org / Attn: Kirsten May.
  • The main document should be double-spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides, and all pages should be numbered consecutively.
  • You will also need to upload your LaTeX source files, which should be uploaded as a single zip file alongside your submission and marked as “LaTeX Source Files”.
  • Before you submit your article, make sure you’ve checked the instructions for authors for your chosen journal, so you are aware of everything required.
  • Most journals create image descriptions during the production process, but a minority may require authors to provide image descriptions.
  • Review: Running heads and received dates These aren’t required when submitting a manuscript for review.
  • A declaration must be included within the submission stating: Originality and accuracy of content has been confirmed by the authors.
  • Authors must provide full methodological details and adhere to relevant reporting guidelines where applicable.
  • Authors must retain the original and revised versions which must be shared upon request.
  • The PLSP guidelines for authors must be followed at all times.
  • If you submit a paper to a participating journal, you will then receive an email upon submission with: Details of the badges offered by the journal.
  • If you submit a paper to a participating journal, you will then receive an email upon submission with: Links to additional information.
  • If you submit a paper to a participating journal, you will then receive an email upon submission with: An open practices disclosure form.
  • If you submit a paper to a participating journal, you will then receive an email upon submission with: The journal editor’s email address.
  • Data Note: Data Notes should only describe the data.
  • Please use SI units (non-italicized).
  • Please note that data should only be shared if it is ethically correct to do so, where this does not violate the protection of human subjects, or other valid ethical, privacy, or security concerns.
  • Special characters If you are preparing your manuscript in Microsoft Word and your article contains special characters, accents, or diacritics, we recommend you follow these steps: European accents (Greek, Hebrew, or Cyrillic letters, or phonetic symbols): choose Times New Roman font from the dropdown menu in the “Insert symbol” window and insert the character you require.
  • Special characters If you are preparing your manuscript in Microsoft Word and your article contains special characters, accents, or diacritics, we recommend you follow these steps: Asian languages (such as Sanskrit, Korean, Chinese, or Japanese): choose Arial Unicode font from the dropdown menu in the “Insert symbol” window and insert the character you require.
  • Such as: The standards on Data, Materials, and Analytical Code Transparency speak to the items generated over the course of the study and how you should preserve or share them.
  • If you are at the early stage of your research, you may also need to read how to start writing a journal manuscript.
  • Image descriptions are typically used by systems such as pronouncing screen readers to make images accessible to people that cannot read or see the object due to a visual disability.
  • COS currently offers three badges in its program: The Open Materials badge is earned by making publicly available the components of the research methodology needed to reproduce the reported procedure and analysis.

Reporting guidelines

  • Include or confirm the reporting guidelines required by the journal. Articlo checks this item and flags anything that still needs author input.

Preprints and prior publication

  • If you have shared an earlier version of your Author’s Original Manuscript on a preprint server, please be aware that anonymity cannot be guaranteed.

Artificial intelligence disclosure

  • Add or confirm the author-written Artificial intelligence statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
  • Please include a statement disclosing whether and how generative AI has been used in the research and manuscript preparation process.
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  • Use of AI tools as part of ethical research studies is permitted.
  • A declaration must be included within the submission stating: The name and version number of the AI tool used.
  • Systematic Review: Use of AI tools as part of ethically conducted literature reviews, systematic reviews, meta-analysis and bibliometrics studies is permitted.
  • Use of AI tool assisted plain language summaries (PLS) of authors own work is permitted.
  • Please read our guidance on using AI tools in your research and manuscript preparation to understand scenarios where their use may be permissible, and the required information that must be disclosed.
  • A declaration must be included within the submission stating: Confirmation the authors have checked terms of use for the specific AI tool used, and therefore confirm suitability for publication.

Blinded manuscript

  • Required: Two complete copies of the Manuscript – Manuscript with Author information, Manuscript without Author details (anonymous).
  • The PDF should be uploaded as the “Manuscript - with author details”/“Manuscript - anonymous” file.

Article type and manuscript length

  • Abstracts should be unstructured (paragraph format), relevant and concise (no more than 250 words), following APA 7th Edition standards for the article type.
  • Should be written with the following elements in the following order: title page; abstract; keywords; main text introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion; acknowledgments; declaration of interest statement; references; appendices (as appropriate); table(s) with caption(s) (on individual pages); figures; figure captions (as a list).
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  • Should be written with the following elements in the following order: title page; abstract; keywords; main text introduction, materials and methods, Data description, discussion; acknowledgements; declaration of interest statement; author contributions statement and ethics; data availability statement; references; appendices (as appropriate); table(s) with caption(s) (on individual pages); figures; figure captions (as a list).
  • Should be written with the following elements in the following order: title page; main text introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion; acknowledgments; declaration of interest statement; references; appendices (as appropriate); table(s) with caption(s) (on individual pages); figures; figure captions (as a list).

Manuscript structure

  • Data Note: Data Notes do not include any interpretation or conclusion of the data (see preparing your paper).
  • Letter: Headings This will show you the different levels of the heading section in your article: First-level headings (e.g. Introduction, Conclusion) should be in bold, with an initial capital letter for any proper nouns.
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  • Authors must retain full records of the methods undertaken, including full descriptions and records of the prompts used, which must be shared with the journal upon request.

Language and text style

  • Please use American spelling style consistently throughout your manuscript.
  • Please use double quotation marks, except where “a quotation is ‘within’ a quotation”.
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  • Please note that long quotations should be indented without quotation marks.
  • Headings must follow APA format with bold, italics, and indentation as appropriate.
  • Headings This will show you the different levels of the heading section in your article: Fourth-level headings should be in bold italics, at the beginning of a paragraph.
  • Headings This will show you the different levels of the heading section in your article: Fifth-level headings should be in italics, at the beginning of a paragraph.
  • Letter: Headings This will show you the different levels of the heading section in your article: Second-level headings should be in bold italics, with an initial capital letter for any proper nouns.
  • Letter: Headings This will show you the different levels of the heading section in your article: Third-level headings should be in italics, with an initial capital letter for any proper nouns.

Study reporting guidelines

  • Authors must provide full methodological details and adhere to relevant reporting guidelines where applicable (e.g. CONSORT-AI, STARD-AI, GAMER, TRIPOD-AI, etc).
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What your package checks

Abstract: 250 words
Keywords: 3-6 keywords
References: APA
Title page: separate file
Declarations: Data availability, Ethics, Author contributions, Acknowledgements, Artificial intelligence
Format: Times New Roman, double spacing, 1" margins

Source transparency

This preparation guide uses published journal-specific author requirements. Journal instructions can change, so authors should complete a final review before submission.

Open official guideline source