Hepatology Formatting Requirements: Complete Author Guide

Hepatology requires a structured abstract for Original Manuscripts. The abstract limit is 250 words. You must use these specific headings:

For Original Manuscripts:

• Background and Aims

• Approach and Results

• Conclusions

This three-section format is specific to Hepatology. Most medical journals use a four-part structure (Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions), but Hepatology combines Methods and Results into "Approach and Results." Don't split them into separate headings.

The Background and Aims section should be 2-3 sentences covering the knowledge gap and your specific objective. Don't waste space on general statements about liver disease prevalence that every hepatologist already knows.

Approach and Results is the longest section and should cover both what you did and what you found. Include specific numbers: sample sizes, effect sizes, P values, and confidence intervals for primary outcomes. Hepatology reviewers expect quantitative data in the abstract.

Conclusions should be 1-2 sentences directly supported by your results. Don't overstate implications or suggest clinical practice changes unless your data directly support them.

For Review Articles, the Instructions for Authors give no abstract format or word limit; they ask for three to six key points.

Hepatology requires a title page as the first page of your manuscript file. Include:

• Full title (concise and descriptive, with the study design included, no abbreviations or formulae where possible, and no proprietary or brand names for drugs)

• All author names with full first name, middle initials, last name, degrees, and departments and institutions

• Author contributions statement using the CRediT taxonomy

• Corresponding author's current email and full mailing address

• Financial support and sponsorship statement

• Conflicts of interest statement

• 5 to 7 keywords that do not appear in the title, ideally MeSH terms

• List of abbreviations used in the manuscript

Wolters Kluwer's publisher-wide policy also asks for a statement of the sponsor's role on the title page: say whether the funder had any involvement in study design, data collection, analysis, the writing of the report, or the decision to submit it, or state that the sponsor had no such involvement. For randomized controlled trials, Hepatology's instructions separately ask for disclosure of funding sources and their role in the writing of the manuscript or the decision to submit it.

Hepatology allows no more than 8 figures and tables combined in an Original Manuscript, with a maximum of 6 panels per figure. Nonessential figures and tables can go in supplemental material for online publication only.

Figure requirements:

• Resolution: line art at 1200 DPI, halftones at least 300 DPI, and combination halftones (pictures with text labeling) at 600 DPI

• Final digital figures for accepted manuscripts: EPS, TIFF, or MS Office (DOC, PPT, XLS)

• Scale art to the size intended for publication, with the same image orientation

• Label composite figures with uppercase letters in Arial or Helvetica bold, or submit separate unlabeled panels

• Designate each figure grayscale or color

• Authors are charged $500 for each page (whole or partial) of color figures; removing all color from figures and tables before upload avoids the charge

• Each figure uploaded as a separate file during submission

Table requirements:

• Each table typed on a separate word processing document in 1.5 spacing and uploaded individually; do not embed tables in the manuscript file or submit them as photographs

• Every table has a brief title as a heading and appropriate column heads

• No vertical rules

• Tables are text-only; do not embed images within the table file

• Place explanatory matter in the footnote, not in the heading

• All abbreviations used in the body of the table defined in footnotes, in alphabetical order; no abbreviations in table titles

• Report actual P values, whether significant or not

Graphical abstract. Hepatology's Instructions for Authors describe a graphical abstract as a feature that accompanies a research article and visually conveys its key findings, and they provide a PowerPoint template. In the standard static format, keep the Key Question section to 15 words and the body of the abstract to 30 words. The instructions give no pixel dimensions or file format for it.

The graphical abstract is meant to help a reader decide whether to read the article, so make it visually clear without requiring the reader to have seen your paper. Avoid dense text. Use arrows, simple icons, and clear labeling.

Hepatology's Instructions for Authors direct authors to the AMA Manual of Style, with JAMA style for other reference management software. References are numbered consecutively in the order they are cited in the text, using superscript Arabic numerals.

Key formatting rules:

• Superscript numerals go outside periods and commas and inside colons and semicolons

• List all authors if 6 or fewer; for more than 6, list the first 3 followed by "et al"

• Journal names abbreviated and italicized according to the style in PubMed (NLM Journals Database)

• Give full page ranges in expanded form (426-429, not 426-9)

• Follow the pattern Author(s). Article Title. Journal Name. Year;volume:inclusive pages

Example reference. Compare the Hepatology AMA format against the APA habit authors carry over from other journals:

Correct (AMA style as the Instructions for Authors show it; no comma after surname, period after the journal name, semicolon before volume):
1. Chen YX, Zhang JQ, Liu WM. Hepatic stellate cell activation in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. *Hepatology*. 2025;**81**:1245-1258.
Wrong (APA habit: surname-comma-initials, parenthetical year):
Chen, Y. X., Zhang, J. Q., & Liu, W. M. (2025). Hepatic stellate cell activation in NASH. Hepatology, 81, 1245-1258.

For books:

1. Zakim D, Boyer TD, eds. Hepatology: A Textbook of Liver Disease. 7th ed. Philadelphia: Elsevier; 2024:312-340.

Note the formatting details: the Instructions for Authors show the journal name followed by a period, then the year, a semicolon, the volume, and the page range. This trips up authors who copy formatting from other journals that use slightly different punctuation. Check your reference manager's output style. The instructions say EndNote users can download the JAMA style, and that authors using other reference management software should use JAMA style.

Hepatology calls its supplementary material Supplemental Digital Content (SDC). SDC files are available online through links placed at the citation points in the article, and they are not copyedited by the publisher. Journal policies on peer review, patient anonymity, ethics, financial disclosure, copyright, and permissions also apply to SDC.

SDC can include:

• Text, tables, and figures

• References peripheral to the information provided as SDC

• Audio and video files

Each SDC file needs a visual header such as "SDC, Figure 1" or "SDC, Materials and Methods," with a matching citation in the main body text, and SDC is numbered separately from other material. SDC may be presented in any format, and PDF is preferred. When uploading, select "Supplementary Material for Review" as the file designation. Videos should use .wmv, .mov, .flv, .qt, .mpg, .mpeg, or .mp4 formats, run no longer than 10 minutes, and include English audio narration.

For each submission, the SDC cannot exceed a total size of 10 MB. SDC should supplement rather than replace the main manuscript. If reviewers can't evaluate your paper without reading a 50-page supplement, you need to restructure.

Hepatology's Instructions for Authors list .DOC and .DOCX as the acceptable file types for text and tables and say not to submit a PDF. They do not mention LaTeX. The journal takes submissions through ScholarOne Manuscripts (mc.manuscriptcentral.com/hep) and is published by Wolters Kluwer (Lippincott).

Word submissions:

• Initial submission: a single Word document with text and artwork together is acceptable, with no strict formatting requirements

• Revised manuscripts: 1.5 line spacing, with body text no smaller than 10 pt and no larger than 12 pt

• Do not add line numbers; the system generates them when the PDF is built

• Title page, footnotes, abbreviations, and abstract pages go in the main body file, not in separate files

• Figures and tables are uploaded as separate files; figure legends go on a separate page at the end of the manuscript document, after the references

LaTeX: The Instructions for Authors do not mention LaTeX or LaTeX source files, so prepare the manuscript in Word.

Word is the safer choice for hepatology manuscripts. If your paper has extensive mathematical notation, ask the editorial office how to submit it before you upload.

Hepatology has several formatting and policy requirements that differ from other liver journals. These are the ones that most commonly cause delays.

1. A graphical abstract template is provided. The Instructions for Authors describe the graphical abstract as a feature that accompanies a research article and provide a PowerPoint template, so budget time for it during manuscript preparation.

2. "Approach and Results" abstract heading. This combined heading is unique to Hepatology. The instructions specify these headings, and manuscripts not conforming to journal format will be returned to authors for modification.

3. Hepatology Communications transfer. If your paper is rejected from Hepatology, a transfer to Hepatology Communications, the AASLD's open-access companion journal, may be possible; the AASLD journals page advertises transfers within the AASLD portfolio with expedited review and decision. Hepatology Communications' instructions say a transferred paper may go through a second round of peer review if the reviews are not transferred with the manuscript or the Editor-in-Chief feels another round is required.

4. APC and color charges. Open access in Hepatology carries a 2026 APC of $3,900 for either license, charged on acceptance. The AASLD journals page lists reduced article processing charges for members for Hepatology Communications, not for Hepatology. Color figures are charged at $500 per page (whole or partial) unless you remove all color.

5. Data deposition. Before publication, data sets such as microarray data and DNA or protein sequences must be deposited in an approved database, with an accession number or access address included in the published paper. Wolters Kluwer's publisher-wide policy also says manuscripts reporting clinical-trial results must contain a data sharing statement.

For manuscripts targeting Hepatology, four patterns generate the most consistent desk-rejection outcomes.

Structured abstract uses wrong headings for Hepatology/AASLD format. Hepatology uses a 250-word structured abstract with specific sections: Background and Aims, Approach and Results, and Conclusions. Papers using generic clinical headings (Methods, Results, Discussion) or Background/Objective format are returned before peer review. The "Background and Aims" section must state the specific gap and the study aim; the "Approach and Results" must summarize the study design and key quantitative findings.

Liver fibrosis staging not reported using standard scoring systems. Hepatology reviewers apply METAVIR, Ishak, or NASH CRN scoring systems for liver fibrosis staging in biopsy-based studies. Papers that report fibrosis as "mild," "moderate," or "severe" without specifying the validated staging system used are returned for revision. For NAFLD/NASH studies, the NASH CRN histological scoring system is the expected standard.

Statistical handling of liver biomarkers does not account for skewed distributions. Liver enzyme data (ALT, AST, GGT, bilirubin) are typically right-skewed; Hepatology reviewers expect either logarithmic transformation or non-parametric statistical approaches. Papers comparing liver enzymes across groups using unadjusted means with t-tests are flagged for methodological revision.

Mechanistic liver biology study lacks in vivo validation. Hepatology is a translational journal. Basic mechanistic studies that identify a hepatic signaling pathway or transcription factor in cell culture without a corresponding mouse model, patient biopsy correlation, or genetic association are desk-rejected as insufficient for the journal's translational standard.

Across these four patterns, the common thread in our review work is that the science is usually sound but a Hepatology-specific convention is missing. The abstract uses the wrong headings, the fibrosis staging omits the validated scoring system, the statistics ignore the skew in the liver-enzyme data, or the methods stop at cell culture. Each is a formatting-and-rigor convention an AASLD editor checks before peer review, and each is fixable in the manuscript before submission rather than discovered as an administrative return weeks later.

A Hepatology submission readiness check evaluates manuscript scope, AASLD abstract format, and liver-specific reporting standards against these desk-rejection patterns.