The pre-submission checklist for journal articles

Start with the journal’s author guidelines

Before you submit, check the manuscript against the target journal’s author guidelines, assemble the required declarations and files, and give the whole package a final read-through with your co-authors’ approval. Many delays at this stage are avoidable: a missing declaration, a figure in the wrong format, or an unfamiliar reference style can send a manuscript back to the authors before review even begins.

Author guidelines go by several names, including instructions for authors, guide for authors, and submission guidelines. Read them in full for your specific article type, not only the general section, and note whether the journal points to a style manual or to broader recommendations such as the ICMJE guidance on preparing a manuscript for submission (external link).

Manuscript structure and front matter

Check that the manuscript follows the structure the journal expects. Many empirical journals use an Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion format; others, especially in the humanities and parts of the social sciences, allow a more flexible structure. Section headings, numbering, and the placement of tables and figure legends should all follow the guidelines.

Title page

The title page usually carries the title, every author’s name and affiliation, and the corresponding author’s contact details. Depending on the journal, it may also need a running title, word count, keywords, funding information, and declarations. For double-anonymous review, it is normally uploaded as a separate file so reviewers do not see it.

Abstract and keywords

Confirm the abstract’s word limit and whether it must be structured under set headings. Make sure the numbers and conclusions in the abstract match the main text exactly. Choose keywords a reader would actually search for, and follow any instruction not to repeat words already in the title. Our guide to writing a clearer title and abstract covers this in more depth.

References

Check that every in-text citation appears in the reference list and every listed reference is cited, that one style is applied consistently, and that details such as author names, years, page ranges, and DOIs are accurate. Reference management software helps, but it does not catch errors in the underlying records.

Figures, tables, and supplementary files

Journals specify accepted file formats, minimum resolution, color requirements, and font sizes for figures, and some require tables as editable text rather than images. Check that each figure and table is cited in the text in order, and that axis labels and legends are readable at the size they will appear.

If you reproduce or adapt a figure, table, or image published elsewhere, you may need permission from the rights holder, and you must credit the source. Depending on the license under which it was published, this can apply to your own earlier work too. Start permission requests early, because they can take time.

Declarations and statements

Many journals require a set of declarations, in the manuscript, in the submission system, or both. Prepare them early, because some depend on documents held by others, such as ethics approval letters or grant numbers.

• Ethics approval. Name the approving committee or board and, where applicable, the approval number. If approval was not required, explain why, using the journal’s preferred wording.
• Consent. State how informed consent was obtained, and whether consent for publication was obtained for any identifiable information or images.
• Conflicts of interest. Disclose financial and non-financial relationships that could be seen as relevant. Some journals use the ICMJE disclosure form (external link); others use their own.
• Funding. List funders and grant numbers, and describe any role the funder played in the work.
• Data availability. Say where the data can be accessed and under what conditions, or why they cannot be shared.
• Author contributions. Many journals ask for a contribution statement, often using the CRediT taxonomy (external link) of contributor roles. See our article on authorship, acknowledgments, and contributor roles.
• Use of AI tools. Check whether, and where, the journal requires you to disclose the use of AI tools in writing, analysis, or image preparation.

Reporting guidelines

Reporting guidelines set out the minimum information readers need to understand and evaluate a particular type of study. The EQUATOR Network (external link) maintains a searchable library of them for health research, including CONSORT for randomized trials, STROBE for observational studies, PRISMA for systematic reviews, and ARRIVE for animal research. Many journals in these areas ask for a completed checklist at submission, sometimes with page or line numbers showing where each item is reported.

Outside health research, formal reporting guidelines are less common, but many fields have their own expectations for reporting qualitative methods, statistical results, software, or data. Check the author guidelines and recent articles in the journal.

Cover letter and submission details

A cover letter introduces the manuscript to the editor. Keep it brief: give the title and article type, explain in a few sentences what the paper contributes and why it suits the journal’s readers, and include any statements the journal requires, such as confirmation that the manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere.

Author details and ORCID

Check every author’s name, affiliation, and email address, and agree on who will be the corresponding author. Many journals request or require an ORCID iD (external link), a free, persistent identifier that distinguishes researchers with similar names and connects them to their work.

Suggested and excluded reviewers

If the journal invites suggestions, propose reviewers with relevant expertise and no conflict of interest, which usually rules out recent collaborators, colleagues at your institution, and close associates. Give accurate institutional contact details. Editors decide whether to use any suggestion. If the journal lets you ask for someone to be excluded, keep the request short and give a professional reason.

Preprints and prior posting

If you have posted or plan to post a preprint, check the journal’s policy first. The ICMJE recommendations on overlapping publications (external link) ask authors to tell the journal about a preprint and provide a link to it. Open policy finder (external link) summarizes many publishers’ policies on sharing different versions of an article.

The final read-through

When everything else is done, read the complete submission as the editor will see it. If the submission system generates a PDF proof, check it carefully: file conversion can drop special characters, misplace figures, or reveal tracked changes and comments that should have been removed.

A checklist cannot judge whether the research is sound or the argument persuasive; that remains with you and, after submission, with the editor and reviewers. What it can do is make sure nothing distracts from the work itself when an editor opens your manuscript. If you need help preparing files to a journal’s specifications, Revise and Resubmit offers journal formatting and submission preparation.