PLOS

Prepare your manuscript for PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases.

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

Checked 2026-07-15

Check readiness free Prepare this manuscript

Article types

Research Article

Review

Systematic Review

Clinical Trial

Letter

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.
The Abstract should be succinct; it must not exceed 250–300 words.

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Abstracts should follow PRISMA for Abstracts, using the PLOS abstract format.
Review / Systematic Review: Authors whose systematic review was prospectively registered (e.g., in a registry such as PROSPERO ) should provide the registry number in their abstract.
Authors should always state the organism(s) studied in the Abstract.
Distinct from the scientific abstract, the Author Summary should highlight where the work fits in a broader context of life science knowledge and why these findings are important to an audience that includes both scientists and non-scientists.

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.
Match the label of your figure with the name of the file uploaded at submission (e.g. a figure citation of “Fig 1” must refer to a figure file named “Fig1.tif”).

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References for the design of the study and statistical methods should be to standard works when possible (with pages stated).
In-text citations We recommend that you cite supporting information in the manuscript text, but this is not a requirement.
If you cite supporting information in the text, citations do not need to be in numerical order.
Accession numbers or a citation to the DOI should also be provided when the data set is mentioned within the manuscript.
Do not include any citations.
Do not include citations in abstracts.
Do not provide a shortened DOI or the URL.
In some cases authors may not be able to obtain accession numbers of DOIs until the manuscript is accepted; in these cases, the authors must provide these numbers at acceptance.
Authors must complete the appropriate reporting checklist not only with page references, but also with sufficient text excerpted from the manuscript to explain how they accomplished all applicable items.
If Mendelian randomization studies replicate previously published work, authors must provide a sound scientific rationale for the submitted work and clearly reference and discuss the existing literature.
Authors must complete the appropriate reporting checklist not only with page references, but also with sufficient text excerpted from the manuscript to explain how they addressed all applicable items.
Do not cite the following sources in the reference list: Submitted research should not rely upon retracted research.
Do not cite the following sources in the reference list: Unavailable and unpublished work, including manuscripts that have been submitted but not yet accepted (e.g., “unpublished work,” “data not shown”).
Letter: Do not cite the following sources in the reference list: Personal communications (these should be supported by a letter from the relevant authors but not included in the reference list).
Repositories may be subject-specific (e.g., GenBank for sequences and PDB for structures), general, or institutional, as long as DOIs or accession numbers are provided and the data are at least as open as CC BY.

Figure and table rules

Keep every figure and table numbered, captioned, and cited in the manuscript.
Tables require a label (e.g., “Table 1”) and brief descriptive title to be placed above the table.

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Use graphs as an alternative to tables with many entries; do not duplicate data in graphs and tables.
The file number and name are required in a caption, and we highly recommend including a one-line title as well.
You may also include a legend in your caption, but it is not required.
Cite figures in ascending numeric order at first appearance in the manuscript file.
At a minimum, include the following in your figure captions: A figure label with Arabic numerals, and “Figure” abbreviated to “Fig” (e.g. Fig 1, Fig 2, Fig 3, etc).
Do not submit captions in a separate file.
Do not submit your tables in separate files.
At a minimum, include the following in your figure captions: A concise, descriptive title.
Restrict tables and figures to those needed to explain the argument of the paper and to assess supporting data.
Place each table in your manuscript file directly after the paragraph in which it is first cited (read order).
Place legends, footnotes, and other text below the table.
Upload a separate file with the corresponding caption.

Funding statement

Add or confirm the author-written Funding statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
Do not include funding sources in the Acknowledgments or anywhere else in the manuscript file.

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Financial Disclosure Statement This information should describe sources of funding that have supported the work.
The statement should include: URLs to sponsors’ websites.
If a prospective analysis plan (from the study's funding proposal, IRB or other ethics committee submission, study protocol, or other planning document written before analyzing the data) was used in designing an observational study, authors must include the relevant prospectively written document with the manuscript submission for access by editors and reviewers and eventual publication alongside the accepted paper.
Funding information should only be entered in the financial disclosure section of the submission system.

Competing interests

Review: Add or confirm the author-written Competing interests statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.

Data availability statement

Add or confirm the author-written Data availability statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
Accession numbers (and version numbers, if appropriate) should be provided in the Data Availability Statement.

Ethics statement

Add or confirm the author-written Ethics statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
It must be stated in the Methods section of the paper whether informed consent was written or oral.

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Review: Authors should be able to submit, upon request, a statement from the research ethics committee or institutional review board indicating approval of the research.
We also encourage authors to submit a sample of a patient consent form, and may require submission on particular occasions.
Complete anonymity is difficult to achieve, and informed consent for publication should be obtained if there is any doubt.
When informed consent has been obtained it should be indicated in the published article.
If data were anonymized and/or aggregated before access and analysis, informed consent is generally not required.
Note that Terms of Use contracts do not qualify as informed consent, even if they address the use of personal data for research.
Review: Human and animal research All research involving humans and animals must have been approved by the authors' institutional review board or equivalent committee(s), and that board must be named by the authors in the manuscript.
For research involving human participants, informed consent must have been obtained (or the reason for lack of consent explained, e.g. the data were analyzed anonymously) and all clinical investigation must have been conducted according to the principles expressed in the Declaration of Helsinki.
If informed consent was oral, it must be stated in the paper: (a) why written consent could not be obtained, (b) that the IRB approved the use of oral consent, and (c) how oral consent was documented.
Identifying information should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication.
For papers that include identifying information, or potentially identifying information, authors must download the Consent Form for Publication in a PLOS Journal (below), which the patient, parent, or guardian must sign once they have read the paper and been informed about the terms of the PLOS content license.
Once authors have obtained the signed consent form, it should be filed securely in the patient's case notes and the manuscript submitted to PLOS should include this statement indicating that specific consent for publication was obtained: “The patients in this manuscript have given written informed consent (as outlined in the PLOS consent form) to publication of their case details.”.
Animal research All research involving vertebrates or cephalopods must have approval from the authors' Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) or equivalent ethics committee(s), and must have been conducted according to applicable national and international guidelines.
Manuscripts reporting animal research must state in the Methods section: The full name of the relevant ethics committee that approved the work, and the associated permit number(s).
Manuscripts reporting animal research must state in the Methods section: Where ethical approval is not required, the manuscript should include a clear statement of this and the reason why.
If humane endpoints were not used, the manuscript should report: Whether the institutional animal ethics committee specifically reviewed and approved the anticipated mortality in the study design.
Observational and field studies Methods sections for submissions reporting on any type of field study must include ethics statements that specify: Permits and approvals obtained for the work, including the full name of the authority that approved the study; if none were required, authors should explain why.
Observational and field studies Methods sections for submissions reporting on any type of field study must include ethics statements that specify: Whether the land accessed is privately owned or protected.
Observational and field studies Methods sections for submissions reporting on any type of field study must include ethics statements that specify: Whether any protected species were sampled.
Observational and field studies Methods sections for submissions reporting on any type of field study must include ethics statements that specify: Full details of animal husbandry, experimentation, and care/welfare, where relevant.
In the Ethics Statement, authors should declare any potential risks to individuals or individual privacy, or affirm that in their assessment, the study posed no such risks.
For interventional studies, which impact participants’ experiences or data, the study design must have been prospectively approved by an Ethics Committee, and informed consent is required.
The manuscript file must include the following information: Description of informed consent obtained from participants.
In addition, the following Ethics and Data Protection requirements must be met.
Review / Clinical Trial: For all clinical trial submissions, authors must include the following: Details of prior approval for human subjects research by an institutional review board (IRB) or equivalent ethics committee(s).
Additional requirements apply in the following circumstances: If information used could threaten personal privacy or damage the reputation of individuals whose data are used, an Ethics Committee should be consulted and informed consent obtained or specifically addressed.
Additional requirements apply in the following circumstances: If authors accessed any personal identifying information, an Ethics or Data Protection Committee should oversee data anonymization.
Informed consent for this purpose requires that the patient be shown the manuscript to be published.
We cannot publish any data that would identify a patient unless we have the patient’s written consent.

Cover letter

Include your statement in the Financial Disclosure section of the initial submission form.
Personal data from third-party sources For all studies using personal data from internet-based and other third-party sources (e.g., social media, blogs, other internet sources, mobile phone companies), data must be collected and used according to company/website Terms and Conditions, with appropriate permissions.

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Do not add it to the author list in the submission system.
Letter: The cover letter should address the following questions: Why is this manuscript suitable for publication in PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases?
Submit your striking image to the submission system using the file type “Striking Image”.
Clinical Trial: For all clinical trial submissions, authors must include the following: Registration details (reported in the Methods section and in the submission form).
Research Article: Submit these manuscripts with the "Research Article" type in the submission system.
Letter: The cover letter should address the following questions: Why will your study inspire the NTDs community, and how will it drive the understanding of NTD pathobiology, epidemiology, prevention, treatment, control, or policy?

Author contributions

Add or confirm the author-written Author contributions statement; Articlo flags it if author input is still needed.
Use the CRediT taxonomy to describe each contribution.

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Author contributions Provide at minimum one contribution for each author in the submission system.

Supplementary files

Letter: Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.
Research Article: Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.

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Embed or attach the author-supplied supplementary material so Articlo can extract and label it for the package.
This checklist should be provided as supporting information alongside the submitted manuscript.
Review / Systematic Review: Authors must also state within the Methods section of their paper whether a protocol exists for their systematic review, and if so, provide a copy of the protocol as supporting information.
Diagnostic studies Reports of studies of diagnostic accuracy must adhere to the STARD requirements or alternative guidelines appropriate to the study design (see the EQUATOR web site ) and include a completed checklist as supporting information.
Observational studies For observational studies, including case control, cohort, and cross-sectional studies, authors must adhere to the STROBE Statement or alternative guidelines appropriate to the study design (see the EQUATOR web site ) and include a completed checklist as supporting information.
Clinical Trial: For all clinical trial submissions, authors must include the following: CONSORT checklist or relevant reporting guideline (uploaded as supporting information).
Clinical Trial: For all clinical trial submissions, authors must include the following: Trial protocol (uploaded as supporting information).

Title page and author information

Provide the author, affiliation, and correspondence details for the separate title page; Articlo creates the editable companion file.
Each author on the list must have an affiliation.

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Include an email address for each corresponding author listed on the title page of the manuscript.
Title page The title, authors, and affiliations should all be included on a title page as the first page of the manuscript file.
If your corresponding author is affiliated with a participating institution, they must follow the instructions below to demonstrate eligibility.
The corresponding author must provide an ORCID iD at the time of submission by entering it in the user profile in the submission system.
If your corresponding author is not from a participating institution and requires assistance paying publishing fees, please consider applying for a fee waiver at submission.

Article structure and word limits

All file types can be submitted, but files must be smaller than 20 MB in size.
Review: Authors must include two boxes: A box that lists the 3-5 key learning points in their review.

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Authors must include two boxes: A box that lists the 5 key papers in the field.
Microsoft Word documents should not be locked or protected.
Layout and spacing Manuscript text should be double-spaced.
Use continuous line numbers (do not restart the numbering on each page).
Do not use MathType, Equation Editor, or the Insert→Equation function for only a portion of an equation.
Equations should not contain a mix of different equation tools.
If you do not use these exclusively, provide the SI value in parentheses after each value.
Use the recommended name by consulting the appropriate genetic nomenclature database (e.g., HUGO for human genes).
Gene prefixes such as those used for oncogenes or cellular localization should be shown in roman typeface (e.g., v-fes, c-MYC).
Obtaining this service is the responsibility of the author and should be done before initial submission.
Manuscript Organization Most manuscripts should be organized as follows.
Titles should be written in sentence case (only the first word of the text, proper nouns, and genus names are capitalized).
Systematic Review / Clinical Trial: For clinical trials, systematic reviews, or meta-analyses, the subtitle should include the study design.
Contributions will be published with the final article, and they should accurately reflect contributions to the work.
Ideally aimed to a level of understanding of an undergraduate student, the significance of the work should be presented simply, objectively, and without exaggeration.
Authors should avoid the use of acronyms and complex scientific terms and write the author summary using the first-person voice.
Review: Include a brief review of the key literature.
If there are relevant controversies or disagreements in the field, they should be mentioned so that a non-expert reader can delve into these issues further.
PLOS journals require authors to make all data underlying the findings described in their manuscript fully available without restriction, with rare exception.
It should start with a brief summary of the main findings.
It should include paragraphs on the generalizability, clinical relevance, strengths, and limitations of your study.
To ensure equitable recognition and avoid any appearance of partiality, do not include editors or peer reviewers—named or unnamed—in the Acknowledgments.
You should avoid citing retracted articles unless you need to discuss retracted work to provide historical context for your submitted research.
Accession numbers All appropriate data sets, images, and information should be deposited in an appropriate public repository.
In all other cases, these numbers must be provided at full submission.
Identifiers should be provided in parentheses after the entity on first use.
All novel structures must have been deposited in a community endorsed database prior to submission (please see our list of recommended repositories ).
Striking images should not contain potentially identifying images of people.
The statement should include: Specific grant numbers.
The statement should include: Initials of authors who received each award.
If related work has been or will be submitted elsewhere or is in press elsewhere, then a copy must be uploaded with the article submitted to PLOS.
All animal work must have been conducted according to relevant national and international guidelines.
If data are changed to protect anonymity, authors should provide assurance that alterations of the data do not distort scientific meaning.
Clinical Trial: Registering Clinical Trials All clinical trials submitted to PLOS journals must be entered in a publicly accessible registry approved by the WHO or ICMJE.
They must also: Confirm that future trials will be registered prospectively.
If no prospectively written document exists, authors should explain how and when they determined the analyses being reported.
Approval must be received prior to beginning research.
Provide any relevant regulations under which the study is exempt from the requirement for approval.
Where the study may be confused as pertaining to clinical research, authors should also state the animal model in the title.
Collection Overviews should be concise, with suitable referencing, and provide the appropriate context for the publications in the Collection.
The Formal Comment should not be inflammatory or disrespectful in nature or tone.
Submit Your Manuscript PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases is the top Open Access tropical medicine journal, featuring an International Editorial Board and increased support for developing country authors.
Review: When you first submit to the journal, providing you include all the necessary information needed for editorial assessment and review, we will not ask you to make any formatting changes.
LaTeX manuscripts must be submitted as PDFs.
Allergens The systematic allergen nomenclature of the World Health Organization/International Union of Immunological Societies (WHO/IUIS) Allergen Nomenclature Sub-committee should be used for manuscripts that include the description or use of allergenic proteins.
For manuscripts describing new allergens, the systematic name of the allergen should be approved by the WHO/IUIS Allergen Nomenclature Sub-Committee prior to manuscript publication.
The current address should be listed in the byline and clearly labeled “current address.” At a minimum, the address must include the author’s current institution, city, and country.
Data reporting All data and related metadata underlying the findings reported in a submitted manuscript should be deposited in an appropriate public repository, unless already provided as part of the submitted article.
Small and macromolecule crystal data Manuscripts reporting new and unpublished three-dimensional structures must include sufficient supporting data and detailed descriptions of the methodologies used to allow the reproduction and validation of the structures.
Small molecule single crystal data Authors reporting X-Ray crystallographic structures of small organic, metal-organic, and inorganic molecules must deposit their data with the Cambridge Crystallographic Data Centre (CCDC), the Inorganic Crystal Structure Database (ICSD), or similar community databases providing a recognized validation functionality.
Macromolecular structures Authors reporting novel macromolecular structures must have deposited their data prior to submission with the Worldwide Protein Data Bank (wwPDB), the Biological Magnetic Resonance Data Bank (BMRB), the Electron Microscopy Data Bank (EMDB), or other community databases providing a recognized validation functionality.
In accordance with the recommendations of the Weatherall report, The use of non-human primates in research, we specifically require authors to include details of animal welfare and steps taken to ameliorate suffering in all work involving non-human primates.
The institution that approved the study must be named, and it must be stated in the paper that the study was conducted adhering to the institution's guidelines for animal husbandry.
Clinical Trial: Authors seeking evaluation by PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases of a non–prospectively registered clinical trial must provide a compelling reason for lack of prospective registration.
Clinical Trial: In addition, as for all PLOS journals, authors wishing to submit a clinical trial that was not publicly registered before participant enrollment began must register the trial retrospectively in a publicly accessible registry.
Microarray experiments Reports of microarray experiments must conform to the MIAME guidelines, and the data from the experiments must be deposited in a publicly accessible database.
Non-human primates Manuscripts describing research involving non-human primates must report details of husbandry and animal welfare in accordance with the recommendations of the Weatherall report, The use of non-human primates in research, including: Information about housing, feeding, and environmental enrichment.
Humane endpoints Manuscripts reporting studies in which death of a regulated animal (vertebrate, cephalopod) is a likely outcome or a planned experimental endpoint, must comprehensively report details of study design, rationale for the approach, and methodology, including consideration of humane endpoints.
You may wish to discuss the following points also: How can future research build on these observations and what are the key experiments that must be done?
The manuscript file must include the following information: An explanation of any deviation from the trial protocol.
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases staff editors do not consider unsolicited Collection Overviews.
We will consider manuscripts of any length; we encourage the submission of both substantial full-length bodies of work and shorter manuscripts that report novel findings that might be based on a more limited range of experiments.
Do not format text in multiple columns.

Reporting guidelines

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

Statistical reporting

This section should also include a section with descriptions of any statistical methods employed.
These should conform to the criteria outlined by the Uniform Requirements, as follows: Describe statistical methods with enough detail to enable a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data to judge its appropriateness for the study and to verify the reported results.

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As outlined in the Uniform Requirements, authors that present statistical data in the Results section should do the following: Give numeric results not only as derivatives (for example, percentages) but also as the absolute numbers from which the derivatives were calculated, and specify the statistical significance attached to them, if any.

Preprints and prior publication

Include or confirm the preprints and prior publication required by the journal. Articlo checks this item and flags anything that still needs author input.

Submission forms

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

Language and text style

Language Manuscripts must be submitted in English.
Do not use non-standard abbreviations unless they appear at least three times in the text.

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Journal name abbreviations should be those found in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) databases.
The writing style should be concise and accessible, avoiding jargon so that the paper is understandable for readers outside a specialty or those whose first language is not English.
Keep abbreviations to a minimum.

Authorship and originality

All authors must meet the criteria for authorship as outlined in the authorship policy.
If included, these individuals must qualify for authorship according to our criteria.

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Acknowledgments Those who contributed to the work but do not meet our authorship criteria should be listed in the Acknowledgments with a description of the contribution.
Those who contributed to the work but do not meet the criteria for authorship can be mentioned in the Acknowledgments.
When submitting a manuscript, all authors are asked to indicate that they do not have a related or duplicate manuscript under consideration (or accepted) for publication elsewhere.

Manuscript structure

Authors should mention the techniques used without going into methodological detail and summarize the most important results with important numerical results given.
Introduction The introduction should put the focus of the manuscript into a broader context.

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The Introduction should conclude with a brief statement of the overall aim of the experiments and a comment about whether that aim was achieved.
Methods This section should provide enough detail for reproduction of the findings.
Protocols for new methods should be included, but well-established protocols may simply be referenced.
Submit detailed protocols for newer or less established methods.
Results The Results section should include all relevant positive and negative findings.
The Results section should be written in past tense.
Discussion The Discussion should be concise and tightly argued.
Clinical Trial: They must also: Register all related clinical trials and confirm they have done so in the Methods section.
They must also: Explain in the Methods the specific reasons for failing to register before participant enrollment.
Manuscripts reporting animal research must state in the Methods section: Relevant details of steps taken to ameliorate animal suffering.
Full details of humane endpoints use must be reported for a study to be reproducible and for the results to be accurately interpreted.
All data sources must be acknowledged clearly in the Materials and Methods section.
For observational studies, authors are required to clearly specify (a) What specific hypotheses the researchers intended to test, and the analytical methods by which they planned to test them; (b) What analyses they actually performed; and (c) When reported analyses differ from those that were planned, authors must provide transparent explanations for differences that affect the reliability of the study's results.
Non-human primates Manuscripts describing research involving non-human primates must report details of husbandry and animal welfare in accordance with the recommendations of the Weatherall report, The use of non-human primates in research, including: Steps taken to minimize suffering, including use of anesthesia and method of sacrifice, if appropriate.
If humane endpoints were not used, the manuscript should report: A scientific justification for the study design, including the reasons why humane endpoints could not be used, and discussion of alternatives that were considered.
For studies in which death of an animal is an outcome or a planned experimental endpoint, authors should include the following information in the Methods section of the manuscript: The specific criteria (i.e. humane endpoints) used to determine when animals should be euthanized.
For studies in which death of an animal is an outcome or a planned experimental endpoint, authors should include the following information in the Methods section of the manuscript: The duration of the experiment.
For studies in which death of an animal is an outcome or a planned experimental endpoint, authors should include the following information in the Methods section of the manuscript: The numbers of animals used, euthanized, and found dead (if any); the cause of death for all animals.
For studies in which death of an animal is an outcome or a planned experimental endpoint, authors should include the following information in the Methods section of the manuscript: How frequently animal health and behavior were monitored.
For studies in which death of an animal is an outcome or a planned experimental endpoint, authors should include the following information in the Methods section of the manuscript: All animal welfare considerations taken, including efforts to minimize suffering and distress, use of analgesics or anaesthetics, or special housing conditions.

Study reporting guidelines

Clinical Trial: For all clinical trial submissions, authors must include the following: CONSORT flow diagram (uploaded as Fig 1).
Reports of Mendelian randomization studies must include a STROBE-MR checklist completed with page number and relevant text.

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Authors should take care to maximize the accessibility and reusability of the data by selecting a file format from which data can be efficiently extracted (for example, spreadsheets or flat files should be provided rather than PDFs when providing tabulated data).
Clinical Trial: Required Documentation Clinical trial reports must adhere to the relevant reporting guidelines for their study design, such as CONSORT for randomized controlled trials, TREND for non-randomized trials, and other specialized guidelines as appropriate.
Mendelian randomization studies Manuscripts reporting a Mendelian randomization study must report results of value to the field and should be reported according to STROBE-MR (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology using Mendelian Randomization) guidelines.
The manuscript file must include the following information: Any information on statistical methods or participants not indicated in the CONSORT documentation.

Article type and manuscript length

Word count should not exceed 5,000 words except in very exceptional circumstances (i.e., when the article is of particular public-health importance).
Authors must include the structure reference numbers within the main text and submit as Supplementary Information the official validation reports from these databases.

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Authors are also required to include the relevant structure reference numbers within the main text (e.g. the CCDC ID number), as well as the crystallographic information files (.cif format) as Supplementary Information, along with the checkCIF validation reports that can be obtained via the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr).
Systematic Review: Reports of systematic reviews and meta-analyses must adhere to the PRISMA Statement or alternative guidelines appropriate to the study design, and include the completed checklist and flow diagram to accompany the main text.
In very exceptional circumstances (i.e., when the article is of particular public-health importance), we will give authors a higher word limit, but this must be negotiated with the editors ahead of writing the article.

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What your package checks

Abstract: 300 words

Title page: separate file

Declarations: Data availability, Funding, Ethics, Author contributions

Format: double spacing

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