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Taylor & Francis

Prepare your manuscript for Journal of Freshwater Ecology.

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
Methods Article
Protocol
Original Article
Review Article
Editorial
Clinical Trial
Systematic Review
Letter
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 300 words.
  • Use a unstructured abstract.
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  • Should contain an unstructured abstract of 300 words.
  • The abstract structure should be as follows: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion.
  • There are no strict formatting requirements, but all manuscripts must contain the essential elements needed to evaluate a manuscript: abstract, author affiliation, figures, tables, funder information, and references.

Keywords

  • Provide 3-6 keywords chosen by the author.
  • Should contain between 3 and 6 keywords.

Reference style

  • Articlo formats your supplied references to the journal's stored style and checks that citations match the reference list; source validity is not verified.
  • All bibliographic entries must contain a corresponding in-text citation.
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  • Software and Code Availability: Authors must include a software availability statement, which authors should add to the end of the article, before the references list.
  • This should include the hyperlink, DOI, or other persistent identifier associated with the data set(s).
  • Readers should be able to interpret the table without reference to the text.
  • Software and Code Availability: Code and software should be cited in the body of your article, be added to your reference list as you would any other bibliographic citation.
  • Authors are required to deposit the dataset(s) in a recognized data repository that can mint a persistent digital identifier, preferably a digital object identifier (DOI) and recognizes a long-term preservation plan.
  • 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.
  • Figures should be high quality (1200 dpi for line art, 600 dpi for grayscale and 300 dpi for colour, at the correct size).
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  • Figures should be of sufficient resolution to enable refereeing.
  • Figures should be supplied in one of our preferred file formats: PS, JPEG, GIF, or Microsoft Word (DOC or DOCX).
  • Tables should present new information rather than duplicating what is in the text.

Funding statement

  • 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].

Competing interests

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

Data availability statement

  • Add or confirm the author-written Data availability statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
  • If data cannot be made open, authors should state why in the data availability statement.
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  • Authors are required to provide a data availability statement (DAS), detailing where data associated with a paper can be found and how it can be accessed.
  • Authors are required to cite any data sets referenced in the article and provide a Data Availability Statement.
  • Software and Code Availability: Authors must make the source code available on a Version Control System (VCS) such as GitHub and provide details of the repository and the license under which the software can be used.
  • Data Availability: Further to the data sharing policy for the journal, authors of laboratory protocols are required to provide a data availability statement (DAS), detailing where data associated with the paper can be found and how it can be accessed.

Ethics statement

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

Blinded manuscript

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

Cover letter

  • A CCBY, CC0 or equivalent license should be applied to any datasets to allow reuse by any third party for any lawful purpose.
  • License: Must be an open license and preferably an OSI-approved license.
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  • Using Third-Party Material in your Paper You must obtain the necessary permission to reuse third-party material in your article.
  • 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

  • Submitting authors should be prepared to submit CRediT roles for themselves and their co-authors (where applicable) as part of the submission process.

Title page and author information

  • All authors of a manuscript should include their full name and affiliation on the cover page of the manuscript.
  • 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

  • Key policy highlights (3 to 5 in total) should have approximately 100 words, which set out the main findings of the paper that are of specific relevance to policy makers.
  • Should be at between 2500 and 4000 words in length.
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  • It should be a maximum width of 525 pixels.
  • Review: These instructions will ensure we have everything required so your paper can move through peer review, production and publication smoothly.
  • Please note that discounts must be applied at the Charges stage of the submission process when the APC quote is confirmed and may not be considered after submission.
  • These key policy highlights should be presented as a bulleted list of concise but complete sentences.
  • Note that, regardless of the file format of the original submission, an editable version of the article must be supplied at the revision stage.
  • These should include adequate and appropriate validation to be considered.
  • Any datasets associated with the paper must publish all experimental controls and make full datasets available where possible.
  • If there are concerns about identifying factors in datasets, these should be discussed with the Editor-in-Chief prior to submission.
  • Please note, this is not required for submission but is encouraged.
  • Data must be deposited in a recognized FAIR-aligned data repository prior to or at the time of submission.
  • Data should meet with FAIR standards established by the subject area.
  • Queries Should you have any queries, please visit our Author Services website or contact us here.
  • 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.
  • The article should provide examples of suitable input data sets and include an example of the output that can be expected from the tool and how this output should be interpreted.
  • Use RRIDs where appropriate.
  • 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.
  • Please do not embed it in the manuscript file but save it as a separate file, labelled GraphicalAbstract1.
  • 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.

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.

Article type and manuscript length

  • Preparing Your Paper Structure Your paper should be compiled 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).
  • 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; author contributions 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, Methods, Results, Use Cases, Discussion; Acknowledgments; Declaration of Interest Statement; Data Availability Statement; Software Availability Statement; References; Appendices (as appropriate); Table(s) with caption(s) (on individual pages); Figures; Figure captions (as a list).
  • Protocol: Should be written with the following elements in the following order: Title page; Abstract; Keywords; Main text: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Protocol, Expected Results; Acknowledgments; Declaration of Interest Statement; Data Availability Statement; References; Appendices (as appropriate); Table(s) with caption(s) (on individual pages); Figures; Figure captions (as a list).

Manuscript structure

  • Laboratory Protocols should be submitted for publication after the research activity has been completed, and the results achieved.
  • Protocol: Materials and Methods: Include details of required equipment, materials, and reagents that researchers running the protocol would need to use.
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  • Authors are required to make the data and materials supporting the results or analyses presented in their paper freely available.
  • 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.

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: 300 words
Keywords: 3-6 keywords
Declarations: Data availability, Artificial intelligence

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