Frontiers in Plant Science Formatting Requirements: Complete Author Guide

Frontiers in Plant Science publishes numerous article types, each with distinct length requirements. These limits are enforced during submission, and the system will reject manuscripts that exceed them.

The word limits include the abstract, body text, figure legends, and acknowledgments but exclude references. This is different from journals that only count body text, so watch your total carefully. A 12,000-word limit sounds generous, but once you subtract the abstract (350 words), figure legends (often 500+ words), and acknowledgments, you're working with roughly 10,000-11,000 words of actual body text.

Some specialty sections within Frontiers in Plant Science apply tighter limits. Research articles submitted to certain sections cap at 8,000 words. Check the specific section you're targeting before writing.

Frontiers in Plant Science requires unstructured abstracts for most article types. The maximum length is 350 words for Original Research and Review articles.

The abstract should cover:

• Background and motivation (1-2 sentences)
• Objective or hypothesis
• Methods overview (briefly)
• Main results with quantitative data
• Conclusions and implications

Unlike journals that require structured abstracts with headings (Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions), Frontiers uses a flowing paragraph format. However, the content should still follow a logical sequence from context through findings to significance.

Frontiers explicitly states that abstracts should not include citations, undefined abbreviations, or references to figures or tables in the manuscript. Keep it self-contained.

Mini Reviews and Perspectives don't require a separate abstract. Instead, the first paragraph of the text serves as an introduction that provides context for readers.

Frontiers in Plant Science doesn't impose a fixed limit on the number of figures for Original Research and Review articles. However, every figure should be necessary and clearly referenced in the text.

Figure requirements:

• Minimum resolution: 300 DPI for all figure types
• Accepted formats: TIFF, JPEG, PNG, EPS, or PDF
• Maximum file size: 10 MB per figure
• Figure width: 85 mm (single column) or 180 mm (full width)
• Font in figures: Arial or Helvetica, minimum 8-point after sizing
• Panel labels: uppercase letters (A, B, C) in bold
• Scale bars required on all microscopy and imaging panels
• Color figures are free (open access, no print edition)

Table requirements:

• Tables must be created using the Word table function or LaTeX tabular environment
• Every column must have a header
• Avoid vertical lines
• Use horizontal lines to separate headers from data and to close the table
• Footnotes go below the table, referenced with superscript lowercase letters

Supplementary Material:

Frontiers calls it "Supplementary Material" (not Supporting Information or Data Supplement). It's submitted as separate files and published alongside the article with its own DOI. Supplementary Figures use the prefix "Supplementary Figure" (spelled out, not abbreviated). There are no strict limits on supplementary content.

Frontiers in Plant Science uses an author-year citation format similar to Harvard style but with Frontiers-specific details.

In-text citation rules:

• Single author: (Smith, 2025)
• Two authors: (Smith and Jones, 2025)
• Three or more authors: (Smith et al., 2025)
• Multiple citations: (Smith, 2024; Jones et al., 2025) ordered chronologically
• Direct quote or specific page: (Smith, 2025, p. 42)

Reference list formatting:

• Alphabetized by first author's last name
• All authors listed for papers with up to and including 13 authors
• For 14+ authors, list the first 13 followed by "et al."
• Journal names written in full (not abbreviated)
• DOIs required for all entries that have them

Example journal article:

Smith, J. A., Jones, B. C., and Williams, D. E. (2026). Root architecture remodeling under phosphate deficiency in Arabidopsis thaliana. Front. Plant Sci. 17:1234567. doi: 10.3389/fpls.2026.1234567

Example book chapter:

Brown, L. M. (2025). "Photosynthetic regulation in C4 crops," in Advances in Plant Physiology, eds. R. K. Green and S. T. White (Academic Press), 145-178.

Note a few Frontiers-specific details: the reference list spells out journal names in full, the DOI is required, and the format for edited book chapters puts the chapter title in quotes. If you're using a reference manager, Zotero and Mendeley both have a Frontiers-specific output style. Make sure you're using the current version.

Both LaTeX and Word are fully supported, and there's no preference from the journal's perspective.

Word submissions:

• Use the Frontiers Word template
• Times New Roman, 12-point, single-spaced (the template handles this)
• Don't manually format headings; use the built-in styles
• Embed figures in the manuscript at the appropriate locations
• Also upload each figure as a separate high-resolution file

LaTeX submissions:

• Use the Frontiers LaTeX template (frontiersSCIENS.cls)
• The template includes example files showing correct section usage
• BibTeX is supported with the frontiersinSCIENS_ENG_HUMS.bst style file
• Submit compiled PDF plus all source files
• Upload figures separately as TIFF or EPS at 300+ DPI

For plant science manuscripts, Word is more commonly used than LaTeX, but if your paper includes complex phylogenetic notation, mathematical models, or extensive equations, LaTeX is the better tool.

1. Collaborative review means your manuscript is seen by reviewers with their names attached. Frontiers uses an open review model where reviewers and authors interact directly. This doesn't change formatting requirements, but it does mean your manuscript needs to be polished at submission because reviewers won't be anonymous.

2. Section-specific requirements vary. Frontiers in Plant Science has over 30 specialty sections (Plant Abiotic Stress, Plant Biotechnology, Crop Biology, etc.). Some sections have additional requirements, such as data deposition mandates or specific figure expectations. Check the section page before submitting.

3. Author contributions are mandatory. You must include an Author Contributions section listing each author's specific role. Generic statements like "All authors contributed equally" are not accepted. Use the CRediT taxonomy: "JA: Conceptualization, Methodology, Writing - original draft. BK: Data curation, Formal analysis." This is enforced during production.

4. Data Availability Statement required. Every article must include a Data Availability Statement. For sequencing data, that means GEO, SRA, or DDBJ accession numbers. For proteomics, PRIDE accession numbers. Generic statements like "data available upon request" are discouraged and may be rejected.

5. Ethics declarations and plant material sourcing. Studies involving genetically modified organisms, human subjects, or animal experiments require ethics statements. For field studies involving wild plant species, you need to confirm that collection complied with local regulations and that specimens were identified by a qualified botanist.

6. The 12,000-word limit includes figure legends. This catches a lot of authors. If you have 15 figures with detailed legends, those words eat into your total. Plan accordingly.

A Frontiers in Plant Science Original Research article follows this structure:

1. Title (no abbreviations unless standard)
2. Author names and affiliations
3. Abstract (350 words max, unstructured)
4. Keywords (5-8 keywords, at least one from the Frontiers keyword list)
5. Introduction
6. Materials and Methods
7. Results
8. Discussion
9. Conclusion (optional separate section)
10. Data Availability Statement
11. Ethics Statement (if applicable)
12. Author Contributions
13. Funding
14. Acknowledgments
15. Conflict of Interest
16. References
17. Supplementary Material

The Introduction should provide enough context for a broad plant science audience, not just specialists in your subfield. Frontiers is a broad-scope journal, and your paper will be read by researchers outside your immediate area.

Results and Discussion can be combined or kept separate. Both approaches are standard in the journal. If you combine them, clearly label the section "Results and Discussion."

As a fully open-access journal, Frontiers in Plant Science charges an article processing charge (APC) upon acceptance. The current fee for an Original Research article is approximately $2,490 USD. Brief Research Reports cost less (roughly $1,350). Fee waivers and institutional discounts are available.

The APC is charged after peer review and acceptance, not at submission. You won't need to pay anything to submit your manuscript for review.

These errors cause the most delays at Frontiers in Plant Science:

• Exceeding the word limit (remember, figure legends count toward the total)
• Using a non-Frontiers reference style (especially common when reformatting from another journal)
• Missing the Data Availability Statement
• Generic Author Contributions that don't specify individual roles
• Figures below 300 DPI resolution
• Keywords not matching the Frontiers keyword list
• Forgetting to include DOIs in references

For authors considering other open-access venues, see our Nature formatting requirements guide for a very different formatting system. If you're working in a related field, our Science formatting requirements page covers another common submission target.

For the official author instructions, visit the Frontiers in Plant Science author guidelines.