Diabetes Care Formatting Requirements: Complete Author Guide

Diabetes Care's structured abstract headings are unique and mandatory. They don't follow the standard Background/Methods/Results/Conclusions format.

• Word limit: 250 words for Original Articles; 150 words for Brief Reports
• Required sections: OBJECTIVE, RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS, RESULTS, CONCLUSIONS
• Headings must be uppercase and bold
• No citations in the abstract
• No abbreviations unless universally known

The ADA headings are specific:

• OBJECTIVE (not "Purpose," "Aim," or "Background")
• RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS (not just "Methods")
• RESULTS
• CONCLUSIONS (not "Conclusion" singular)

Using the wrong headings will result in an administrative return. This is one of the most common formatting errors at Diabetes Care. The headings reflect the journal's emphasis on study design transparency. "Research Design and Methods" forces you to name your study design (randomized controlled trial, prospective cohort, etc.) explicitly.

The 250-word limit with these specific sections means you need to be disciplined. OBJECTIVE should be 1-2 sentences. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS should name the design, setting, sample size, and primary outcome in 2-3 sentences. RESULTS should include the primary endpoint with effect size and confidence interval. CONCLUSIONS should be 1-2 sentences with no speculation beyond the data.

Diabetes Care enforces a combined limit of 4 figures and 3 tables for Original Articles.

Figure requirements:

Table requirements:

• Word table format (not images)
• Every column needs a header
• Horizontal rules only
• No vertical lines
• Standard ADA abbreviations for diabetes-specific terms
• HbA1c values reported as both % and mmol/mol (dual reporting)
• Glucose values in mg/dL with mmol/L in parentheses (or vice versa, depending on primary audience)

Diabetes-specific figure standards:

• HbA1c trajectories should show mean with standard deviation or confidence intervals
• Time-in-range plots for CGM data should follow international consensus standards
• CONSORT flowcharts required for all randomized trials
• Forest plots should follow standard formatting conventions

The dual-reporting requirement for HbA1c and glucose values is critical and specific to ADA journals. You must report HbA1c in both % and mmol/mol. Glucose should be in mg/dL with mmol/L conversion (or the reverse if your primary audience is outside the United States). This applies to figures, tables, and text. Missing the dual reporting will trigger a revision request.

Diabetes Care uses the ADA reference style, which is a numbered Vancouver-based system.

In-text citations: Superscript numbers after punctuation. Multiple references: (1-3) or (1,3,5). Note: Diabetes Care uses parenthetical numbers, not superscript, for some contexts. Check recent published articles for the current style.

Reference list format:

1. Smith AB, Jones CD, Brown EF. Effect of empagliflozin on cardiovascular outcomes in type 2 diabetes. Diabetes Care 2025;48:1234-1242

Key formatting rules:

• List up to 6 authors; for 7+, list first 3 followed by "et al."
• Journal titles abbreviated per NLM standards
• No period after the journal abbreviation
• Year immediately after journal abbreviation (no period before year)
• Volume, colon, page range (no issue number in most cases)
• No period at the end of the reference
• DOIs encouraged

The ADA style has subtle differences from standard Vancouver. The most notable is the absence of a period at the end of each reference and the year placement directly after the journal abbreviation without intervening punctuation. These small details matter because the ADA production team checks them, and inconsistencies can delay proof preparation.

If you're using a reference manager, search for the "Diabetes Care" specific output style. Both Zotero and EndNote have dedicated Diabetes Care styles. Don't use a generic Vancouver style; the differences will show.

Diabetes Care hosts supplementary material online through the ADA's website.

Common supplementary content:

• Extended methods and statistical analysis plans
• Additional tables with subgroup analyses
• Sensitivity analyses and per-protocol results
• CGM data summaries and ambulatory glucose profiles
• Questionnaires and survey instruments
• Extended demographic and baseline characteristic tables

Formatting:

• Submit as separate files through the submission system
• Label as Supplementary Fig. 1, Supplementary Table 1, etc.
• Include a Supplementary Data section in the manuscript
• Supplementary material undergoes peer review

For clinical trials, Diabetes Care encourages submission of the full statistical analysis plan as supplementary material. This is becoming standard in the field and can preempt reviewer questions about post-hoc analyses.

Word is the standard for Diabetes Care. LaTeX submissions are extremely rare.

Word submissions:

• Times New Roman or Arial, 12-point
• Double-spaced throughout
• Continuous line numbering
• Page numbers on every page
• Figures placed at end of manuscript, tables on separate pages after figures

LaTeX submissions:

• No ADA-specific LaTeX template
• Use standard article class
• Submit compiled PDF and source files
• Will be converted to Word during production

There's virtually no benefit to using LaTeX for Diabetes Care. The journal's content is clinical and rarely requires complex equations or mathematical notation. Word is the right choice here.

Diabetes Care has several requirements that set it apart from other diabetes and endocrinology journals.

1. ADA Standards of Care alignment. If your paper relates to a clinical practice topic, you should reference the relevant section of the ADA Standards of Care in Diabetes. This is the ADA's flagship clinical guidelines document, updated annually. Citing it shows awareness of current practice standards and helps editors assess your paper's relevance.

2. Dual reporting of glucose and HbA1c. As noted above, all glucose and HbA1c values must be reported in both conventional and SI units. This is strictly enforced and not negotiable. The ADA uses mg/dL as the primary glucose unit for US-focused content and mmol/L for international content.

3. Person-first language. Diabetes Care requires person-first language: "people with diabetes" not "diabetics," "person with obesity" not "obese person." This applies throughout the manuscript, including tables and figures. The ADA published a specific consensus statement on diabetes language, and adherence is expected.

4. Nomenclature for diabetes types. Use "type 1 diabetes" and "type 2 diabetes" (lowercase, spelled out). Don't use abbreviations like "T1D" or "T2D" in the title or abstract. These abbreviations are acceptable in the body text after first use, but the full terms must be used at least once.

5. ADA conflict of interest policy. All authors must complete the ADA COI form. The ADA has specific requirements around disclosure of relationships with pharmaceutical companies, device manufacturers, and food industry sponsors. Given the commercial interests in diabetes treatment, these disclosures are scrutinized.

6. Clinical trial data sharing. For clinical trials, Diabetes Care expects compliance with ICMJE data sharing requirements. The data sharing statement must describe what data will be available, to whom, and through what mechanism.

Diabetes Care enforces reporting standard compliance:

The CGM consensus reporting standards are particularly relevant for Diabetes Care. If you're reporting continuous glucose monitoring data, you must include time-in-range, time-below-range, coefficient of variation, and other standardized metrics as defined by the international consensus.

Frequent reasons for administrative returns at Diabetes Care:

• Wrong structured abstract headings (using "Methods" instead of "RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS")
• Missing dual reporting of HbA1c or glucose values
• Not using person-first language throughout
• Abbreviating diabetes types in the title or abstract
• Missing CONSORT checklist for randomized trials
• Figures without dual-unit axis labels
• Exceeding figure/table combined limits
• References not in ADA format

For quick answers to the most common Diabetes Care formatting questions, see the FAQ section at the top of this page.

In our pre-submission review work with manuscripts targeting Diabetes Care, four patterns generate the most consistent desk-rejection outcomes.

Abstract exceeds the 250-word limit or uses wrong structured headings. Diabetes Care requires structured abstracts with specific ADA headings: Objective, Research Design and Methods, Results, and Conclusions. The word limit is 250 words for Original Articles. Papers using generic clinical headings (Background, Methods) or exceeding the word limit are returned before peer review. The Objective section must state the specific clinical question, not background context.

Glycemic data not reported using ADA-standard metrics. Diabetes Care reviewers apply the ADA's own glycemic standards: HbA1c as the primary glycemic outcome for long-term studies, time-in-range (TIR) for continuous glucose monitoring data, and fasting plasma glucose with OGTT in standardized protocol. Papers that report glycemic control using non-standard metrics, or that omit HbA1c as an outcome in clinical trials where it is expected, are sent back for revision before review.

CONSORT or STROBE checklist absent for the study design. ADA journals require CONSORT checklist for randomized trials and STROBE checklist for observational cohort and cross-sectional studies. These must be submitted as supplementary files with line-number references matching manuscript sections. Missing checklists cause administrative return through ScholarOne.

Clinical scope is mechanism only, without patient or population data. Diabetes Care is a clinical journal. Basic mechanistic studies in cell lines or rodent models without a patient cohort, clinical correlation, or direct therapeutic relevance to human diabetes are desk-rejected for scope. The journal's emphasis is on research applicable to clinical practice and diabetes management.

A Diabetes Care submission readiness check evaluates manuscript scope, ADA abstract format, and glycemic reporting standards against these desk-rejection patterns before you submit.