Manuscript Submission Readiness Checklist
A practical checklist for researchers preparing a journal submission.
This checklist helps authors organize a submission. It does not score manuscript quality or predict acceptance; the target journal’s current requirements take priority.
1. Verify journal identity and suitability
- Compare the journal title, ISSN and publisher with official records.
- Check aims, scope, accepted article types and recently published research.
- Verify any required Web of Science coverage through Clarivate’s Master Journal List; record the date and the relevant collection.
- Read fees, publication model, licensing and journal policies before proceeding.
2. Prepare the manuscript and files
- Check structure, word limits, abstract, keywords and reference style against the author instructions.
- Check figures, tables, captions, supplementary files and any anonymization requirements.
- Ensure the abstract, methods, results and conclusions are internally consistent.
- Resolve unclear citations and review similarity matches in context.
3. Confirm ethics and author approvals
- Confirm authorship, affiliations and corresponding-author details with all authors.
- Prepare applicable ethics approval, consent, funding and conflict-of-interest statements.
- Check data availability, prior dissemination and AI-use disclosures required by the journal.
- Obtain final author approval of the manuscript and declarations.
4. Assemble submission documents
- Prepare the cover letter and any journal-specific reporting checklist.
- Keep a copy of submitted files, confirmation and correspondence.
- Retain control of author accounts and final submission decisions.
What should I send for editing or submission-preparation support?
Send your subject area, article type, word count, target journal if known, requested service and deadline. Review our submission support or journal-selection guidance to choose the appropriate next step.
Sources and scope
Use Clarivate’s Master Journal List, the target journal’s official author instructions, COPE and appropriate reporting guidance from the EQUATOR Network. Requirements vary by discipline, journal and study type.