For authors
Everything you need before you submit
We try to make submitting straightforward. This section collects everything you need. If something is unclear, write to the editorial office — we would rather answer a question than reject a paper on a technicality.
Start here
- Author guidelines — formatting, structure and word limits.
- The submission process — what happens after you press submit.
- Open access and copyright — licensing and self-archiving.
- Publication ethics — authorship, misconduct and corrections.
Costs
There are none. We do not charge submission fees, article processing charges, page charges or colour charges. You do not need a funder or an institutional agreement to publish with us.
Before you submit, check that you have
- a manuscript in Word format using built-in heading styles;
- an abstract of 150–300 words under a heading called "Abstract";
- three to eight keywords on a line beginning "Keywords:";
- a reference list under a heading called "References";
- the full name, email, affiliation and ORCID iD of every author;
- funding, conflict of interest, data availability and ethics statements.