Hepatology Formatting Requirements: Complete Author Guide

Hepatology requires structured abstracts for Original Articles, Rapid Communications, and Brief Communications. The abstract limit is 275 words. You must use these specific headings:

For Original Articles:

• 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 abstract is unstructured (no headings) and limited to 275 words.

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

• Full title (avoid abbreviations except universally understood ones)
• Short running title (40 characters max, including spaces)
• All author names with academic degrees (MD, PhD, etc.)
• Numbered institutional affiliations
• Corresponding author's name, address, telephone, fax, and email
• Word count of the manuscript body and abstract (listed separately)
• Number of figures and tables
• List of abbreviations used in the manuscript
• Financial support statement
• Conflict of interest disclosure

One Hepatology-specific requirement: the title page must include a statement about the role of the funding source in the study. Did the funder have any involvement in study design, data collection, analysis, or the decision to publish? If not, state that explicitly. This isn't optional and has been a requirement since the AASLD updated its transparency policies.

Hepatology allows up to 6 figures in an Original Article. Multipanel figures (A, B, C, etc.) count as one figure, which is your main strategy for fitting more visual data into the limit.

Figure requirements:

• Minimum resolution: 300 DPI for photographs, 600 DPI for line art and graphs
• Accepted formats: TIFF, EPS, or high-resolution PDF
• Single column width: 3.25 inches (83 mm)
• Double column width: 6.78 inches (172 mm)
• Font in figures: Arial, 8-12 point after sizing
• Color figures are published free of charge in both print and online
• Each figure uploaded as a separate file during submission

Table requirements:

• Created in Word using the table editor (not as images or Excel pastes)
• Every column must have a header
• Horizontal rules only: at top, bottom, and below column headers
• No vertical rules, no shading, no colored cells
• Footnotes use superscript lowercase letters
• All abbreviations defined in table footnotes
• P values reported to 2-3 decimal places

Graphical abstract requirement. Hepatology requires a graphical abstract for all Original Articles and Review Articles. The graphical abstract must be a single image (no multipanel), at least 531 x 1328 pixels, and should visually summarize the study's main finding. Submit it as a separate file in TIFF, EPS, or high-resolution JPEG format.

The graphical abstract is displayed in the online table of contents and on social media, 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 follows Vancouver (NLM) reference style. References are numbered consecutively in the order they first appear in the text and cited using superscript numbers.

Key formatting rules:

• Superscript citation numbers in text, placed after punctuation
• List all authors if 6 or fewer; for 7 or more, list the first 3 followed by "et al"
• Journal titles abbreviated per NLM/Index Medicus standards
• Include volume, issue number, and full page range
• Year follows the journal abbreviation, preceded by a space and followed by a semicolon
• DOIs encouraged but not strictly required

Example reference:

1. Chen YX, Zhang JQ, Liu WM. Hepatic stellate cell activation in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis. Hepatology 2025;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: Hepatology uses a space (not a period) between the journal abbreviation and the year, followed by a semicolon before the volume number. This trips up authors who copy formatting from other Vancouver-style journals that use slightly different punctuation. Check your reference manager's output style. Both Zotero and EndNote have Hepatology-specific styles.

Hepatology calls its supplementary material "Supporting Information." It's published online and undergoes peer review with the main manuscript.

Supporting Information can include:

• Supporting figures and tables
• Extended methods and protocols
• Additional statistical analyses
• Video files (MP4 preferred)
• Large datasets

Supporting items are labeled as "Supporting Figure S1," "Supporting Table S1," "Supporting Information S1," etc. Compile all supporting material into a single Word or PDF document for submission. Videos are uploaded as separate files.

There's no strict size limit, but the editorial office expects Supporting Information to 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 accepts manuscripts in both Word and LaTeX. The journal uses ScholarOne for submissions and is published by Wolters Kluwer (Lippincott Williams & Wilkins).

Word submissions:

• 12-point Times New Roman or Arial
• Double-spaced throughout, including references and legends
• Continuous line numbering
• 1-inch margins
• Page numbers on every page
• Tables at the end of the document, one per page

LaTeX submissions:

• Use a standard article class or the Wolters Kluwer template if available
• Submit compiled PDF plus all source files (.tex, .bib, .bst, .sty)
• Ensure all custom macros are defined in the preamble
• Include a separate file listing all LaTeX packages used

Word is the safer choice for most hepatology manuscripts. The field rarely requires complex mathematical notation, so LaTeX's equation advantages don't apply to most submissions. If your paper includes pharmacokinetic modeling or Bayesian statistical methods with extensive notation, LaTeX is reasonable. Otherwise, Word avoids potential conversion issues during production.

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

1. Graphical abstract is mandatory, not optional. Unlike some journals where graphical abstracts are encouraged but not required, Hepatology won't accept a submission without one for Original Articles. Budget time for this during manuscript preparation.

2. "Approach and Results" abstract heading. This combined heading is unique to Hepatology. Submitting with separate "Methods" and "Results" sections will get your paper returned for reformatting. It seems minor, but the editorial office enforces it.

3. Hepatology Communications transfer. If your paper is rejected from Hepatology, you can opt for transfer to Hepatology Communications, the AASLD's open-access companion journal. Formatting requirements are very similar, and your reviews transfer with the manuscript. This saves time compared to starting a fresh submission elsewhere.

4. AASLD member benefit. AASLD members get a small APC discount if publishing open access in Hepatology. If any author is a member, note this during submission.

5. Data availability statement. Hepatology requires a data availability statement in the manuscript. You must specify whether data will be shared, what data is available, and how to access it. This goes after the Conclusions section, before the References.

The most frequent reasons for administrative return at Hepatology:

• Missing graphical abstract
• Using "Methods" and "Results" instead of "Approach and Results" in the abstract
• Exceeding the 275-word abstract limit
• Missing data availability statement
• Figures below minimum resolution
• Running title exceeding 40 characters
• No funding source role statement on the title page

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

Structured abstract uses wrong headings for Hepatology/AASLD format. Hepatology uses a 300-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.

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