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Taylor & Francis

Prepare your manuscript for Political Communication.

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

Checked 2026-08-02
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Article types

Review
Original Article
Lectio
Editorial
Clinical Trial
Protocol
Letter
Systematic Review

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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  • Should be no more than 8,000 words, inclusive of: Abstract.
  • Should contain an unstructured abstract of 250 words.
  • 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 3-5 keywords chosen by the author.
  • Should contain between 3 and 5 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.
  • Should be no more than 8,000 words, inclusive of: References.
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  • The author’s name and affiliation should not appear in the manuscript, nor references to unpublished own work.
  • The data availability statement should be included within the article manuscript, before the ‘References’ section.
  • 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).
  • Datasets should be deposited in a recognized data repository that can mint a persistent digital identifier, preferably a digital object identifier (DOI) that recognizes a long-term preservation plan.
  • 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 no more than 8,000 words, inclusive of: Tables.
  • Should be no more than 8,000 words, 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

  • 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.
  • Open Science, Open Data, and Data Review Authors submitting to Political Communication should read this section carefully.
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  • If data cannot be made open, authors should state why in the data availability statement.
  • 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.
  • Authors are required to cite any data sets referenced in the article and provide a Data Availability Statement.
  • Articles need to meet the Open Science Badges criteria in order to earn a badge.

Ethics statement

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

Cover letter

  • Using Third-Party Material You must obtain the necessary permission to reuse third-party material in your article.
  • 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.
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  • 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.

Supplementary files

  • Lectio: Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.
  • Letter: Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.
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  • Review: Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.
  • Protocol: Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.
  • Editorial: Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.
  • Clinical Trial: Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.
  • Original Article: Include every cited supplementary file and use matching labels in the manuscript.
  • Embed or attach the author-supplied supplementary material so Articlo can extract and label it for the package.
  • All accepted manuscripts will require Supplementary Material, such as the data used in the analyses and data treatment files, except in cases where advance permission has been obtained from the editor.

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

  • Text should appear in 12-point Times New Roman or other common 12-point font.
  • This could be adapted from your departmental website or academic networking profile and should be relatively brief (e.g. no more than 200 words).
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  • Margins Margins should be at least 2.5cm (1 inch).
  • Should be no more than 3000 words.
  • These instructions will ensure we have everything required so your paper can move through peer review, production and publication smoothly.
  • All submissions must be original, unpublished, and not under consideration or in the process of being published elsewhere.
  • 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.
  • The main document should be double-spaced, with one-inch margins on all sides, and all pages should be numbered consecutively.
  • Note that data should only be shared if doing so does not violate the protection of human subjects or other valid ethical, privacy, or security concerns.
  • For all NIH/Welcome-funded papers, the grant number(s) must be included in the declaration of interest statement.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Preparing Your Paper Data and Code Even if authors submit their data and code only for data review and do not intend to publish them later, they must prepare a repository, following the journal’s guidelines.
  • Across all types of studies (surveys, experiments, content analysis, computational studies, qualitative studies), authors must include the following information: A definition of the population under study and its geographic location, and the precise sampling criteria, or criteria for subject eligibility, both for human subjects (in the case of surveys, experiments and qualitative studies) and other types of observations such as content (in the case of (computational) content analysis); and an assessment of the sample’s coverage of the target population.
  • Across all types of studies (surveys, experiments, content analysis, computational studies, qualitative studies), authors must include the following information: Dates of data collection.
  • Across all types of studies (surveys, experiments, content analysis, computational studies, qualitative studies), authors must include the following information: Duration of research participation if research subjects were involved, and any compensation/incentives provided to subjects.
  • Across all types of studies (surveys, experiments, content analysis, computational studies, qualitative studies), authors must include the following information: Description of any relevant stimuli (in qualitative studies) or treatments (in experiments), such as visual or sensory exhibits.
  • Even if authors submit their data and code only for data review and do not intend to publish them later, they must prepare a repository, following the journal’s reproducibility guidelines.
  • 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.

Manuscript structure

  • 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.
  • 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.
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  • Across all types of studies (surveys, experiments, content analysis, computational studies, qualitative studies), authors must include the following information: The number of observations, that is, either the number of participants (surveys, experiments and qualitative studies), or the number of content elements (content analysis and computational methods).
  • Across all types of studies (surveys, experiments, content analysis, computational studies, qualitative studies), authors must include the following information: The name of any third-party sample supplier (surveys and experiments) and their methods of participant recruitment, e.g., probability vs.
  • Across all types of studies (surveys, experiments, content analysis, computational studies, qualitative studies), authors must include the following information: Exact wording and presentation of questions and response options (surveys and experiments), or the questionnaires/discussion guides (qualitative studies).
  • non-probability panels, or the name of any other type of data suppliers or sources of data collection (content analysis and computational methods).

Statistical reporting

  • Across all types of studies (surveys, experiments, content analysis, computational studies, qualitative studies), authors must include the following information: Description of how the content analysis was conducted (content analysis or computational studies), including training of human coders or automated software used, inter-code reliability statistics and steps taken to increase level of agreement.

Article type and manuscript length

  • Please include a word count for your paper.
  • Should be written with the following elements in the following order: title page, main text, reference list, tables, figures.
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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, 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).

Language and text style

  • Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary (11th ed.) should be consulted for spelling.
  • Please use American spelling style consistently throughout your manuscript.
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  • Please use double quotation marks, except where “a quotation is ‘within’ a quotation”.
  • Please note that long quotations should be indented without quotation marks.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • 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
Paper: 3,000 words
Keywords: 3-5 keywords
Declarations: Data availability, 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