Manuscript preparation: Transform your research into compelling content
Develop a polished, high-quality manuscript through effective writing practices and responsible research conduct.
How to get your article submission-ready
Preparing your manuscript for submission is a pivotal stage in your publication journey.
A well-structured, robust article that adheres to ethical standards not only strengthens your chances of acceptance but also ensures your research is communicated effectively to your audience.
The three key areas of manuscript preparation are outlined below with links to our resources.
Writing a manuscript
A clear, concise and well-organized manuscript helps editors, reviewers and readers engage with your research. Start by consulting your target journal’s guide for authors, which provides details on formatting, word limits, structure and submission requirements.
Adequately sharing and citing your research data is important. Proper data citation not only ensures reproducibility but also enhances the credibility of your research. You can use Data in Brief to publish your data, methods or protocols related to your original article to maximize the impact of your research. Include clear descriptions of your data sources, how to access them and any restrictions that may apply to reuse.
Research integrity
Research integrity is the bedrock of credible research. Maintaining high ethical standards protects your reputation, ensures the credibility of your work, fosters transparency in the research process and strengthens trust in the scientific community. Familiarizing yourself with these standards before submission helps prevent delays or complications during peer review.
Key ethical considerations include attributing authorship properly, ensuring originality while appropriately building on existing work, avoiding plagiarism through careful citation practices, and following rigorous reporting standards so that your findings are presented accurately and honestly.
Generative AI tools are increasingly being adopted by researchers, but their use must be transparent and comply with journal policies. Our generative AI policies provide clear guidance on acceptable use, disclosure requirements and guidelines.
Language services
Strong research achieves its full impact when it’s clearly communicated. By refining your text before submission, you improve readability for reviewers and increase the likelihood of acceptance.
Our language editing services can help improve your manuscript’s spelling, grammar and sentence structure. We also provide translation services for a wide range of languages to expand your research’s potential audience and impact by making your work accessible to international readers.
These professional services complement your own expertise rather than replace it — you remain the author and decision-maker for your research content.
Frequently asked questions
Manuscript preparation supportManuscript length varies significantly by journal and article type. Check your target journal’s guide for authors for specific word limits.
Plagiarism takes many forms, from ‘passing off’ another’s paper as the author’s own paper, to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another’s paper (without attribution), to claiming results from research conducted by others. These practices violate ethical publishing standards and are strictly prohibited.
Where authors use generative AI and AI-assisted technologies in the writing process, these technologies should only be adopted to improve the readability of the work. AI should be used with human oversight and control. Authors should carefully review and edit results, because AI can generate authoritative-sounding output that can be incorrect, incomplete or biased.
Summary
By focusing on clear writing, upholding research integrity and leveraging language services to refine your work, you set the stage for a successful submission.
Once you’ve completed this stage of the publication journey, you’re ready to move on to the next: Submission and awaiting decision.