Preparing your manuscript

A well-prepared manuscript helps editors and reviewers assess your work efficiently and enables accepted articles to be processed accurately. Authors submitting to journals published by Premier Academics Publishers should use this guidance alongside the Instructions for Authors and any journal-specific requirements. Requirements may differ by discipline and article type; where a journal provides more specific instructions, follow those instructions.

1. File Formats and Editable Documents

Submit the main manuscript as an editable Microsoft Word document (.doc or .docx). LaTeX files may be used where accepted by the relevant journal. Use the journal’s template if one is available; templates are helpful but are not mandatory unless the journal states otherwise. If you do not use a template, make section headings, subheadings, and the order of manuscript components clear and consistent.

PDF files may be supplied for reference when requested, but a PDF should not replace the editable source file. Tables, text, and equations should remain editable. Place figures and tables near their first mention unless the journal’s instructions specify separate files or another arrangement.

2. Language and Presentation

Manuscripts should be written in clear, accurate, professional English. Check grammar, spelling, punctuation, terminology, and sentence structure before submission. The writing should communicate the research clearly to readers in the relevant field, including readers who may not specialise in the precise topic.

Use a consistent, readable font and layout. Unless the journal specifies otherwise, Times New Roman, 12-point type and double line spacing are suitable defaults. Use standard fonts for symbols, avoid decorative formatting, and apply heading styles consistently. Define abbreviations at first use and avoid introducing abbreviations that are not needed. Use SI units where appropriate and keep scientific names and technical notation consistent.

3. Organising the Manuscript

The required structure depends on the manuscript type and the selected journal. A typical original research article includes front matter, the main text, and back matter. Review articles, case reports, short communications, methods papers, and other article types may require a different structure.

3.1. Title

Choose a concise, informative title that accurately communicates the subject and focus of the paper. Avoid vague wording, unsupported claims, and unnecessary abbreviations. Follow any word-count or punctuation rules specified by the journal.

3.2. Author Details and Affiliations

Provide each author’s full name and institutional affiliation, including the relevant department or unit, institution, city, and country. Identify the corresponding author and provide an active email address. ORCID identifiers may be included where available. Check spelling and affiliation details carefully because they are used in publication records and indexing services.

Authorship should reflect substantial contributions to the work. All listed authors should approve the final version and accept responsibility for their contributions. AI systems and other non-human tools must not be listed as authors.

3.3. Abstract

Provide a concise abstract that accurately summarises the article. For original research, it should normally cover the background or rationale, objective, methods, principal results, and conclusion. A case report may summarise the background, case presentation, and conclusion. Use a structured abstract when required by the journal. Follow the journal’s specified word limit; where no limit is provided, check with the editorial office rather than assuming a universal limit.

The abstract should stand on its own, generally without citations or footnotes. Do not include findings absent from the main text or overstate the strength or implications of the results.

3.4. Keywords

Supply the number of keywords requested by the journal. Select specific terms that reflect the article’s central topics, methods, population, or setting and are likely to be used by readers searching the literature. Avoid keywords that merely repeat broad words already prominent in the title.

3.5. Introduction

Explain the background to the study, define the problem, and establish why it matters. Summarise the most relevant literature, identify the gap or question the study addresses, and state the objectives or hypotheses. Keep the introduction focused and ensure key claims are supported by appropriate citations.

3.6. Materials and Methods

Describe the study design, setting, materials or participants, sampling approach, procedures, outcome measures, and analytical methods in enough detail for readers to evaluate the work and, where appropriate, reproduce it. Use subsections for multiple methods or complex procedures. Identify statistical methods and software, and report ethical approval, informed consent, and trial registration details where applicable. Cite established methods and explain important modifications.

3.7. Results

Present findings accurately and in an order that follows the objectives or research questions. Include relevant descriptive and inferential statistics, sample sizes, effect estimates, confidence intervals, and exact significance values where appropriate. Use tables and figures when they improve clarity, but avoid repeating all their contents in the text. Data must not be fabricated, selectively misrepresented, or inappropriately manipulated.

3.8. Discussion

Interpret the principal findings and relate them to relevant published evidence. Explain important agreements, differences, and possible reasons for unexpected results. Discuss the significance and implications of the work, acknowledge limitations and potential sources of bias, and identify useful directions for further investigation. Avoid simply repeating the results or making conclusions unsupported by the study.

3.9. Conclusion

State the main conclusion and its significance briefly. Ensure that it answers the study objective and is supported by the reported evidence. Do not introduce new results or make claims beyond the scope of the study. Recommendations, where included, should follow logically from the findings.

3.10. Declarations

Include the declarations required by the journal and appropriate to the study. These commonly include:

• Acknowledgements: Recognise contributions that do not meet the journal’s authorship criteria, such as technical assistance or organisational support. Obtain permission from individuals named where appropriate.
• Funding: Identify all sources of financial support, the funding organisation’s full name, and grant or award numbers where applicable. Disclose the funder’s role in study design, data collection, analysis, manuscript preparation, and the decision to publish. State when the funder had no such role.
• Author contributions: Describe each author’s role in the conception or design of the work, data collection, analysis, interpretation, software development, drafting, critical revision, supervision, or other relevant activities.
• Conflicts of interest: Disclose financial and non-financial interests that could reasonably be perceived to influence the work. If none exist, include a clear no-conflict statement.
• Ethics approval and consent: For research involving people, identifiable human data, tissues, or animals, state the relevant approval and consent information, including the approving committee and reference number where available. Explain any waiver where applicable.
• Data availability: State whether the data supporting the findings are available, where they can be accessed, and any restrictions on access.
• Supplementary materials: Identify supplementary files and explain their relevance; cite them in the main text where appropriate.

4. Figures and Images

• Number figures in the order in which they are first cited in the text and refer to each figure in the manuscript.
• Provide a descriptive caption for every figure. Captions should explain essential symbols, abbreviations, panels, and relevant units.
• Use legible lettering and consistent font sizes. Ensure adequate contrast and do not rely on colour alone to convey important information.
• Embed figures in the manuscript near the relevant text unless the journal requests separate files. Supply high-resolution originals when requested.
• Obtain permission to reuse or adapt copyrighted figures and acknowledge the source in the caption.
• Do not alter images in ways that misrepresent the underlying evidence. Image processing should be scientifically justified and applied transparently.

5. Tables

• Create tables as editable Word table objects rather than inserting them as images or spreadsheet screenshots.
• Number tables consecutively and cite them in the text in numerical order.
• Give each table a clear title and explain abbreviations, symbols, units, and statistical notation in notes below the table.
• Keep tables concise and avoid duplicating data already fully presented in the text or figures.
• Use consistent formatting and ensure all values agree with the manuscript. Follow the selected journal’s requirements for shading, borders, decimal places, and numerical notation.
• Credit previously published material and obtain permission where required.

6. Equations, Symbols, and Footnotes

Create equations using an equation editor so that they remain editable. Number equations consecutively if they are referred to in the text, and define non-standard symbols when first used. Keep notation consistent and express units clearly, using SI units where appropriate. Long derivations or proofs may be placed in an appendix if the journal permits this.

Use footnotes sparingly for brief explanatory material that would interrupt the flow of the main text. Number them consecutively and do not use footnotes as a substitute for the required reference list.

7. Headings, Italics, and Formatting

Use a logical heading hierarchy and avoid excessive levels of subdivision. Numbered headings may be used where appropriate, provided numbering is consistent. Apply capitalisation consistently and follow the journal’s house style when specified.

Use italics for scientific genus and species names and where conventional in the relevant discipline. Avoid unnecessary bolding, decorative fonts, and text or symbols inserted as pictures. Check that special characters remain visible after saving and reopening the manuscript.

8. References and Citations

Cite sources for ideas, methods, data, quotations, and claims drawn from other work. The selected journal’s referencing style takes precedence over any general recommendation. Some journals use numbered citations, while others use an author–date system; authors should not assume that one style applies across every journal.

Check that every in-text citation has a matching reference-list entry and that reference details are complete and accurate. Include DOIs or stable URLs where available and relevant. Reference-management software may help reduce formatting errors and duplicate entries, but authors remain responsible for checking the final list.

For journal articles, books, book chapters, conference proceedings, theses, datasets, and websites, include the bibliographic details required by the chosen style. Ensure cited sources support the statements for which they are used. Do not include fabricated, unverifiable, or misleading references.

9. Research Ethics, Originality, and Responsible Reporting

Before submission, confirm that the work complies with relevant ethical, legal, and institutional requirements. Obtain necessary approvals and consent before conducting the research and report them transparently. Protect participants’ privacy and do not include identifying information without an appropriate basis and consent.

Manuscripts must be original, and all borrowed text, ideas, figures, and data must be appropriately acknowledged. Do not submit the same manuscript simultaneously to multiple journals. Disclose substantial overlap with related publications or manuscripts. Authors should also disclose material use of generative AI tools in accordance with the selected journal’s policy and verify all AI-assisted text, citations, and factual claims.

Journal-Specific Requirements

This page provides general manuscript-preparation guidance for journals published by Premier Academics Publishers. It does not replace the Instructions for Authors of an individual journal. Before submission, consult the selected journal’s website for requirements that may differ, including article categories, abstract and keyword limits, referencing style, templates, file requirements, and mandatory declarations.