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Publishing Resources for STEM Authors: Instructions for Authors

A guide with resources to accompany the workshops on publishing for gradute students and post-doctoral researchers.

Introduction - Instructions to Authors

Journal editors and publishers will usually provide instructions to their authors describing the process of submission, style guide or template to follow and other directions to help assure that submitted articles meet the quality standards of the journal. Instructions will vary from publisher to publisher, and even, sometimes, from journal to journal within the same publisher. The detail of information provided may vary as well, and some publishers have extensive sites devoted to helping authors succeed in their publishing.

Links to publishers' instructions to authors

Note: If you don't see the society you are looking for, they probably publish through a commercial publisher. Look up the individual journal to see where it is published.

American Astronomical Society

Includes sections on preparation submission, AAS style guide, graphics, data, and policies

American Chemical Society Publications

This new site includes a variety of courses for authors and reviewers. Note, however, that most of them are NOT free of charge.

Lets authors find the ACS journal best suited for their article, including funding agency requirements, and any institutional agreements that their university might have with ACS Publications.

American Institute of Physics

Includes sections on how to publish an article; how to publish a book; open science; ethics.

Includes journal selector tool; figure creation; English language editing; translation

American Physical Society

Includes basic information for authors for Physical Review journals; links to information for referees

Beilstein Institut Journals

The Electrochemical Society

Publication policies and requirement; open access information

Institute of Physics

Includes guidelines and services for authors and reviewers.

Optica (formerly the Optical Society of America)

Includes manuscript preparation instructions; editorial policies; open access.

Royal Society of Chemistry

SciPost

SciPost is a platinum open access publisher, mainly in physics, though it is expanding into other fields. Go to individual journals to see their authoring guidelines, though most are similar.

Society for Applied Spectroscopy

Includes manuscript preparation information, citation style, (Note: AS follows the ACS Style Guide, 3rd ed.)

Note: If you don't see the society you are looking for, they probably publish through a commercial publisher. Look up the individual journal to see where it is published.

American Association of Immunologists

American Medical Association

American Physiological Society

American Psychological Association

American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology

See homepages of individual journals for instructions for authors

American Society for Cell Biology

Includes policies and guidelines, information about peer review

American Society for Microbiology

American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics

See individual journals for instructions to authors.

American Society of Plant Biology

  • See Oxford University Press in Multidisciplinary/Commercial section

American Veterinary Medical Association

https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/250/3/javma.250.3.260.xmlrskey=TnZWCQ&result=1

Editorial policies, publishing ethics, manuscript categories and preparation and style, submission, etc.

Biochemical Society / Portland Press

List of journals; note that each journal has its own "Submit Your Work" page, though each page is similar.

BioOne

Biophysical Society

Includes links to individual journals, publications FAQs, ORCID, editing services. Note: The Biophysical Journal is published through Cell Press.

Botanical Society of America

Both contain preparation, submission, policies, open access and post-publication information.  See also Wiley author resources.

British Medical Journal

Includes submission instructions, policies, and guidelines for new authors.

Dove Medical Press

Manuscript preparation and submission, editorial policy, peer review, ethics, data deposition and more

Ecological Society of America

Endocrine Society

Links to guidelines for individual society journals.

Includes information on ORCID, altmetrics and other ways of promoting your research.

European Molecular Biology Organization

Includes editorial policies, scientific integrity, manuscript preparation instructions

Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology

See individual journals for author instructions and article submission

Genetics Society of America

GSA Publications https://genetics-gsa.org/publications/

See individual journals for instructions for authors, reviewers

Life Science Alliance

Author Guidelines  https://www.life-science-alliance.org/authors

Editorial policies, manuscript preparation, submission instructions.

Life Science Global

Guidelines for Authors https://www.lifescienceglobal.com/guidelines-for-authors-ijbwi

Information on copyright, manuscript preparation and submission, research ethics, reference style, etc.

Microbiology Society

  •  Microbiology Society information for authors page https://www.microbiologyresearch.org/information-for-authors

The Microbiology Society does not have a central "Instructions for Authors" page. However, at the top of the homepage is a drop-down menu including pages on preparing and submitting articles, open access, and promoting your research.

New England Journal of Medicine

FAQ, policies and guidelines, manuscript preparation, link for online submission.

open Exploration

Editorial Policies https://www.explorationpub.com/oep/Editorial_Policies

RNA Society

Includes manuscript preparation and submission, and policies, including ethics and open access.

Rockefeller University Press

RUP Author Guides https://rupress.org/pages/rup-author-guides

Twelve guides to each step of the publishing process. Note that each of the RUP journals also has its own "instructions for authors" pages.

Society for Conservation Biology

Includes manuscript preparation and submission, information, review process and post-acceptance points.

Society for Laboratory Automation and Screening

Guideline questions for authors on content, presentation and ethics.

Society for Marine Mammalogy

Includes manuscript preparation, authorship information, data sharing, ORCID, ethics and submission information.

Society for Neuroscience

See individual journals for information. Note: you must create an account with SfN to see submission information.

Note: Most environmental  geographical and marine science journals are published by one of the commercial publishers, rather than by society publishers. Check the publisher of the journal you're interested in.

American Association of Petroleum Geologists

Includes link for electronic submissions, paper sections and parameters, references format

American Geophysical Union

  • AGU Read, Publish & Review 

    Includes sections on how to submit; how to review; open access; data policy; scientific integrity and professional ethics; and more.

American Meteorological Society 

Includes: Manuscript preparation, submission, peer review, ethical guidelines and policies.

Geological Society of America

Geological Society of London

International Water Association

  • IWA Journals 

    See individual journals for author guidelines.

Mineralogical Society of America

Hold cursor over "Submit to Am. Min." tab to see a list of resources for authors, including information for first-time authors, and a how to submit video., as well s the link below.

Includes information on manuscript format, figures, references, symbols and submission information.

Royal Geographical Society (with Institute of British Geographers)

  • RGS Journal List 
  • Each journal has its own instructions for authors section, though instructions are similar for all, and they use a common (Wiley) submission platform.

Seismological Society of America

See left-hand sidebar for links to submission information, and policies.

Soil Science Society of America

Includes links to forms and resources for all individual SSSA journals, as well as links to online submission, author services and policies.

Note: If you don't see the society you are looking for, they probably publish through a commercial publisher. Look up the individual journal to see where it is published.

American Ceramic Society

Links to webinars and workshops on getting published, increasing your impact, writing titles and abstracts, and more. Note also: ACerS journals are published by Wiley, so see also Wiley author instructions.

American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics

Includes preparation, submission, reviewing and promotion instructions; open access, publication fees and "How-to" videos.

American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers (ASABE)

  • Authors https://www.asabe.org/Authors

Open access, manuscript submissions, copyright, journal descriptions, author FAQ and more

American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE)

Peer review, publication polices, ethics 

Includes instructions on selecting a journal, preparation, submission reviews and promotion.

American Society of Mechanical Engineers

Association for Computing Machinery

ASTM International

Info on books, software and journals. Links to journal titles, ethics, style guide, instructions for authors, open access

Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers

Institution of Engineering and Technology

Society of Automotive Engineers International

Select individual journal for link to its Editorial Manager for submission

https://www.sae.org/binaries/content/assets/cm/content/publications/journals/resources/ifasfinal.pdf

PDF with general instructions for authors of SAE journals.

Society of Petroleum Engineers

Forms and templates for articles, supplementary material, general policies.

SPIE: International Society for Optics and Photonics

Note: If you don't see the society you are looking for, they probably publish through a commercial publisher. Look up the individual journal to see where it is published.

American Mathematical Society

American Statistical Association

  • Journals https://www.amstat.org/publications/journals

Note: Each journal has its own instructions for authors page.  See, for example:

Journal of the American Statistical Association  https://www.tandfonline.com/action/authorSubmission?show=instructions&journalCode=uasa20

INFORMS

  • INFORMS Author Portal https://pubsonline.informs.org/authorportal#_gl=1*tpuqtd*_gcl_au*OTEyMjg2MDcuMTY4NTU0OTg4OQ..

Authorship, copyright, submission guidelines

Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM)

​​​​​​​Information for Journal Authors https://epubs.siam.org/journal-authors

Submission information, open access, other policies

American Association for the Advancement of Science

Bentham Science

Note: Each Bentham journal has its own set of instructions and policies for authors.  Locate the desired journal and search there.

Cambridge University Press

Canadian Science Publishing

Includes author guidelines, how to handle figures, author rights, open access.

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization

De Gruyter

edp Sciences

Elsevier Science Publishers

Includes Elsevier Journal Finder; “Prepare your paper”; “Submit and revise”

Tutorials on multiple aspects of being a researcher, including publisher (requires registration)

Emerald Publishing

F1000 Research

  • How to Publish https://f1000research.com/for-authors/publish-your-research

Submitting articles, tracking submissions, article guidelines, data guidelines.

Future Science Group

Hindawi Publishing

Submitting research, peer review, payment and funding, ethics, research data, and more

IET Digital Library

  • Author Guide - submission instructions, open access information, data handling
  • Referee Guide - Policies and criteria for referees.

IGI Global

Links to editorial system, open access, ethics, fair use, and more.

​​​​​​Inter-Research Science Publisher

IOS Press

Copyright, authorship, ethics, open access, etc.

JoVE (Journal of Visual Experiments)

Manuscript preparation and review, filming and video production, publication and indexing, link to submission instructions.

Karger Publishing

List of journals, with links to author guidelines for each journal

Allows you to enter your article text and match it to appropriate Karger journals.

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

MDPI

National Academy of Sciences

Oxford University Press

OUP Journals A-Z https://academic.oup.com/journals/pages/journals_a_to_z

Each OUP journal has its own "instructions for authors" page. Browse for the desired journal and then look within its pages.

PLoS

List of PLOS journals; submission, publishing FAQs, fees, metrics, more.

Royal Society

SAGE Publications

Springer Nature

Links to information for authors for Springer, Nature, BMC and Palgrave/Macmillan

Guides and resources including: journal suggestor; how to write; open access options; using your ORCID; and more.

Includes “Publishing 101: Free Quizzes and Tutorials”, “Maximize Your Impact”; author services; using your ORCID.

Taylor & Francis (includes CRC Press)

Tech Science Press

Tech Science Press Guidelines for Authors https://www.techscience.com/ndetail/authors

Covers editorial policies, peer review and research ethics.

Thieme Publishing

Wiley

World Scientific Publishing

Note: Preprint servers often provide minimal instructions for authors.

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