Writing and language
Make sure your submission is accurate and readable
Submitting a well-written, accurate, properly structured manuscript gives your work its best chance for editors and reviewers to understand and evaluate it fairly. We provide tools and tips that can help you to get your work ready for submission.
Tips for writing and structure
- Submissions should be accessible to non-specialists; you should ensure that your findings are communicated clearly.
- A basic scientific knowledge may be assumed, but be aware that language and concepts that are standard in one field may be unfamiliar to colleagues working in another area.
- Technical jargon should be avoided, and clearly explained where its use is unavoidable.
- Abbreviations should be kept to a minimum and should be defined when first used.
- The background, rationale and main conclusions of the study should be clearly explained.
- Titles and abstracts should be easily understood by any scientist.
- No paper will be rejected for poor language.
Language and manuscript preparation services
Our experts can assist you with getting your manuscript and language into shape, including:
- English language improvement.
- Scientific in-depth editing and strategic advice.
- Figures and tables formatting.
- Manuscript formatting to match your target journal.
- Specialist academic translation to English from Spanish, Portuguese, Japanese, or simplified Chinese.
Please note that using these tools, or any other service, is not a requirement for publication, nor does it imply or guarantee that editors will accept the article, or even select it for peer review.