Tips for Submitting Your Manuscript

Find Submission Guidelines #

Once you choose your journal and write the manuscript, you will want to look carefully at submission guidelines.
Failure to follow the guidelines could cause your manuscript to be sent back to you.
Pay particular attention to limits on the number of words in the abstract and text as well as limits on the numbers of tables, figures, and references.

Determine if any submission forms, checklists, copyright agreements, patient consent forms, or conflict of interest forms need to be submitted with the manuscript.
EQUATOR has checklists that you can download for different types of studies (for instance, observational studies, systematic reviews, and randomized trials).
You will want to obtain the emails, academic credentials, and addresses of every author.
Some journals will also require that the individual submitting the article have an ORCID account. Researchers can apply for an account free of charge on the ORCID website.

You will need to write a cover letter from the corresponding author that is addressed to the journal editor.

Here is a cover letter template that you can use.

A lot of medical journals will require that you have a blinded or anonymous copy of your manuscript. You will see this in the submission guidelines if required.
A blinded copy should not have any information in it that would allow you to identify authors or institutions.
From the title page, you will want to remove author names and institutions and replace them with the words “redacted.”
At the end of the manuscript, you will also want to delete acknowledgments, contributions, disclosures, funding, and any specific details about institutional review boards and replace them with the word “redacted.”

What a blinded cover page should look like.

Before submitting your manuscript, be sure to accept any track changes. To do this in Word, go to Review > Accept > Accept All Changes and Stop Tracking.
The submission guidelines may also ask for line numbers. In Word, go to Layout > Line Numbers.

Once you are ready to submit, you will create an author submission username and password.
Upon submitting your manuscript, you will want to periodically check its status. This will require that you remember the journal name as well as your username and password.

There are several steps to finalize the publication, which typically include the following: copyright transfer forms, disclosure forms, and color figure forms.
You will want to proofread the entire manuscript within 2 to 3 days. Follow the instructions carefully and answer all author queries. Be sure to double-check the accuracy of author names and affiliations.