Taylor & Francis manuscript layout guide
This layout guide will help you format your manuscript to get it ready to submit to a Taylor & Francis or Routledge journal.
To save even more time, our downloadable templates are a useful resource that can be used along with this guide to help you prepare your article for submission.
If you are at the early stage of your research, you may need to also read on how to start writing a journal manuscript.
How should I format my manuscript?
This guide contains advice to help you get started, but some journals will have specific layout and formatting requirements.
Before you submit your article, make sure you’ve checked the instructions for authors for your chosen journal, so you are aware of everything required. You can find the instructions for authors on the journal’s homepage on Taylor and Francis Online.
Below is a list of formatting considerations that are often specified by academic journals.
Font
Use Times New Roman font in size 12 with double-line spacing.
Margins
Margins should be at least 2.5cm (1 inch).
Title
Use bold for your article title, with an initial capital letter for any proper nouns.
Abstract
Indicate the abstract paragraph with a heading or by reducing the font size.
The instructions for authors for each journal will give specific guidelines on what’s required here, including whether it should be a structured abstract or graphical abstract, and any word limits.
If you need further guidance, learn more on how to write an effective abstract and title.
What is an abstract in a research paper?
This is your opportunity to ‘pitch’ your article to the journal editors, and later, its readers.
Your abstract should focus on what your research is about, what methods have been used, and what you found out.
Keywords
Keywords help readers find your article, so are vital for discoverability. If the journal instructions for authors don’t give a set number of keywords to provide, aim for five or six.
Headings
This will show you the different levels of the heading section in your article:
- First-level headings (e.g. Introduction, Conclusion) should be in bold, with an initial capital letter for any proper nouns.
- Second-level headings should be in bold italics, with an initial capital letter for any proper nouns.
- Third-level headings should be in italics, with an initial capital letter for any proper nouns.
- Fourth-level headings should be in bold italics, at the beginning of a paragraph. The text follows immediately after a full stop (full point) or other punctuation mark.
- Fifth-level headings should be in italics, at the beginning of a paragraph. The text follows immediately after a full stop (full point) or other punctuation mark.
Tables and figures
Show clearly in your article text where the tables and figures should appear, for example, by writing [Table 1 near here].
Check the instructions for authors to see how you should supply tables and figures, whether at the end of the text or in separate files, and follow any guidance given on the submission system.
You can find more detailed advice on including tables in your article and in our guide to submission of electronic artwork.
Here’s also our advice on obtaining permission for third party material if you choose to use or reproduce work from another source.
Do I need permission to reproduce a table?
It’s very important that you have been given permission to use any tables or figures you are reproducing from another source before you submit.
Data availability statement
If you’re submitting a data availability statement for your article, include it within the text of your manuscript, before your ‘References’ section. Remember to give it the heading ‘Data availability statement’ so that readers can easily find it.
Spelling and punctuation
Each journal will have a preferred method for spelling and punctuation. You’ll find this in the instructions for authors, available on the journal’s homepage on Taylor and Francis Online. Make sure you apply the spelling and punctuation style consistently throughout your article.
Special characters
If you are preparing your manuscript in Microsoft Word and your article contains special characters, accents, or diacritics, we recommend you follow these steps:
- European accents (Greek, Hebrew, or Cyrillic letters, or phonetic symbols): choose Times New Roman font from the dropdown menu in the “Insert symbol” window and insert the character you require.
- Asian languages (such as Sanskrit, Korean, Chinese, or Japanese): choose Arial Unicode font from the dropdown menu in the “Insert symbol” window and insert the character you require.
- Transliterated Arabic: choose either Times New Roman or Arial Unicode (unless the instructions for authors specify a particular font). For ayns and hamzas, choose Arial Unicode font from the dropdown menu in the “Insert symbol” window. Type the Unicode hexes directly into the “Character code” box, using 02BF for ayn, and 02BE for hamza.
Running heads and received dates
These aren’t required when submitting a manuscript for review. They will be added during the production process if your article is accepted for publication.
Consider using expert editors to help you meet deadlines and make sure your manuscript complies to your target journal’s requirements.
Format-free submission
An increasing number of Taylor & Francis journals allow format-free submission. If your article is consistent and includes everything necessary for review, you can submit without formatting your manuscript.
Check the instructions for authors for your chosen journal to find out if it uses format-free submission.
