Journal of Colloid and Interface Science Formatting Requirements: Complete Author Guide

JCIS enforces word limits more strictly than many Elsevier journals. The 8,000-word cap for Regular Articles includes virtually everything except references.

The 8,000-word count includes the abstract, body text, figure legends, table content, and acknowledgments. Only the reference list is excluded. This is tighter than it sounds. If you have 8 figures with detailed legends (100 words each) and a 200-word abstract, you've already used 1,000 words before you start writing body text.

Rapid Communications are intended for work of exceptional urgency or novelty. They go through the same peer review process but with a faster editorial decision target. The 4,000-word limit makes them roughly half the length of a Regular Article.

JCIS uses unstructured abstracts for Regular Articles, capped at 200 words. There are no section headings within the abstract.

The abstract should include:

• The problem or question being addressed (1 sentence)
• The approach or methodology (1-2 sentences)
• Main results with quantitative data (2-3 sentences)
• Significance and implications (1 sentence)

Elsevier's editorial system checks the word count automatically and will flag abstracts that exceed 200 words. Be precise.

Avoid referencing figures, tables, or citations in the abstract. Don't use abbreviations that aren't universally recognized. Elsevier's guidelines specify that the abstract should be "a concise and factual representation of the paper" that can stand alone from the article.

JCIS requires 3-5 highlights for every submission. Each highlight is a single bullet-point statement limited to 85 characters including spaces. These appear prominently on the article's ScienceDirect page and in search results.

Rules for highlights:

• Minimum 3, maximum 5 statements
• Each statement: 85 characters max including spaces
• Must describe specific findings, not general statements
• No abbreviations, acronyms, or references
• Written in complete sentences or clear noun phrases

Good highlights:

• "Au-Pd nanoalloys achieved 98% dye removal in 15 min under visible light"
• "Surfactant concentration below CMC produced stable Pickering emulsions"
• "Contact angle measurements confirmed superhydrophobic surface modification"

Bad highlights:

• "Novel nanoparticles were synthesized" (too vague)
• "We present results on colloidal stability" (no specific finding)

The 85-character limit is the hardest part. Most authors need several rounds of editing to get highlights under the cap. Write your highlights after the paper is complete, when you can identify the most impactful findings.

JCIS strongly encourages a graphical abstract but doesn't make it strictly mandatory. That said, submitting one significantly increases your article's visibility on ScienceDirect and social media.

Graphical abstract specifications:

• Dimensions: 530 x 300 pixels minimum (landscape orientation)
• Resolution: 300 DPI minimum
• File format: TIFF, EPS, JPEG, or PDF
• Single image summarizing the main finding
• Minimal text allowed (labels only)
• Must be legible at thumbnail size
• No copyright-protected content from other sources

The most effective graphical abstracts in JCIS combine a material characterization image (TEM, SEM, or confocal) with a schematic showing the mechanism or application. Don't try to capture every experiment. Show the starting material on the left, the process in the middle, and the outcome on the right.

JCIS doesn't impose a fixed figure limit, but most published Regular Articles contain 5-10 figures. Quality expectations are high.

Figure requirements:

• Minimum resolution: 300 DPI for photographs, 600 DPI for line art
• Accepted formats: TIFF, EPS, JPEG, PNG, or PDF
• Column widths: 90 mm (single column) or 190 mm (full width)
• Font in figures: Arial or Helvetica, minimum 6-point after sizing
• Panel labels: lowercase letters (a, b, c) or (A, B, C), consistent throughout
• Scale bars required on all microscopy images (TEM, SEM, AFM, confocal)
• Axis labels must include units in parentheses
• Color figures are free in the online version; print color costs extra

Table formatting:

• Tables created using Word table function or LaTeX tabular
• Every column must have a header
• Units go in column headers, not repeated in cells
• Use horizontal lines only (top, below headers, bottom)
• Footnotes referenced with superscript lowercase letters
• Tables numbered consecutively and referenced in text

Supplementary Material:

Elsevier calls it "Supplementary Material" or "Appendix" depending on the content type. It's submitted as separate files through Editorial Manager. Common supplementary content in JCIS includes additional characterization data (XRD, FTIR, TGA), detailed synthesis protocols, and extended datasets.

JCIS uses Elsevier's standard numbered reference style with square bracket citations in the text.

Key formatting rules:

• References numbered in order of first appearance
• Cited in text using square brackets: [1], [2-4], [1,5,7]
• All authors listed up to 6; for 7+, list first 6 followed by "et al."
• Journal names abbreviated using standard abbreviations
• Volume in bold, followed by issue number in parentheses, page range
• Year in parentheses after the journal name

Example journal article:

[1] Y. Zhang, T. Liu, W. Chen, S.R. Patel, Self-assembly of amphiphilic block copolymers at the oil-water interface: a molecular dynamics study, J. Colloid Interface Sci. 642 (2026) 234-243.

Example book reference:

[2] D.F. Evans, H. Wennerstrom, The Colloidal Domain: Where Physics, Chemistry, Biology, and Technology Meet, second ed., Wiley-VCH, New York, 2025.

Note the Elsevier style details: author initials come after the surname, there's no "and" before the last author, and the year appears in parentheses after the abbreviated journal name. If you're using a reference manager, select the "Journal of Colloid and Interface Science" output style specifically, as generic Elsevier styles may differ in minor details.

JCIS accepts both formats through Elsevier Editorial Manager.

LaTeX submissions:

• Use the elsarticle document class, maintained by Elsevier
• The elsarticle-num.bst bibliography style handles JCIS reference formatting
• Submit the compiled PDF plus all source files (.tex, .bib, figures)
• Elsevier's LaTeX template includes options for single-column review format and two-column final format
• Use the review option (\documentclass[review]{elsarticle}) for submission

Word submissions:

• No specific template required, but Elsevier provides one
• Times New Roman or Arial, 12-point, double-spaced
• Number all pages
• Include line numbers (Insert > Line Numbers in Word)
• Figures can be embedded in the text or submitted separately

For JCIS, both formats are equally common. The colloid and interface science community has a mix of chemistry-trained researchers (who tend to use Word) and physics-trained researchers (who often prefer LaTeX). Choose whichever you're comfortable with.

1. The CRediT author statement is mandatory. JCIS requires a CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) author statement listing each author's contribution using the standardized taxonomy. This goes in the manuscript and also in the submission form. Roles include Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data Curation, Writing - Original Draft, Writing - Review and Editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration, and Funding acquisition.

2. Declaration of competing interest is required even if there are none. The submission system requires a competing interest statement. "The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper" is the standard wording for no conflicts.

3. Data availability statement. JCIS now requires a data availability statement. Options range from "Data will be made available on request" to depositing data in a public repository. This is a relatively new requirement and is enforced during production.

4. Structured keywords. JCIS asks for 4-6 keywords that appear below the abstract. These should include specific terms (not generic words like "nanoparticles" or "colloid"). Include the material system, technique, and phenomenon: "gold nanorod self-assembly," "dynamic light scattering," "Pickering emulsion."

5. The journal distinguishes between Results/Discussion formats. You can present Results and Discussion as separate sections or combined. Both are accepted, but JCIS papers in applied areas tend to combine them while fundamental studies keep them separate. The choice is yours.

A standard JCIS Regular Article follows this structure:

1. Title (concise, specific, no abbreviations)
2. Author names and affiliations
3. Highlights (3-5 bullet points, 85 characters each)
4. Graphical abstract (recommended)
5. Abstract (200 words max, unstructured)
6. Keywords (4-6 terms)
7. Introduction
8. Experimental (or Materials and Methods)
9. Results and Discussion (combined or separate)
10. Conclusions
11. CRediT Author Statement
12. Declaration of Competing Interest
13. Data Availability
14. Acknowledgments
15. References
16. Figure legends (if figures not embedded)
17. Figures and Tables

The Introduction should establish the context, identify the specific gap, and state what this study does to address it. JCIS editors look for clear justification of novelty. The Conclusions section should be a brief paragraph (not a list) summarizing findings and their implications. Don't introduce new data or speculation.

JCIS uses Elsevier's Editorial Manager system. The upload process requires:

1. Article type selection
2. Manuscript file upload (Word or LaTeX with source)
3. Individual figure file uploads (even if embedded in manuscript)
4. Graphical abstract file (separate upload)
5. Supplementary material files
6. Highlights entry (typed directly into the form, not in the manuscript file)
7. Cover letter
8. Suggested and opposed reviewers (typically 3-5 suggested)
9. CRediT author contributions
10. Data availability statement selection

The highlights are entered directly into Editorial Manager's web form during submission, separate from the manuscript file. However, it's good practice to also include them in the manuscript itself for reviewer convenience.

These errors cause the most delays at JCIS:

• Highlights exceeding 85 characters (the system enforces this strictly)
• Missing CRediT author statement
• Abstract over 200 words
• Figures below 300 DPI, especially when downsized from the original
• References in a non-Elsevier style (common when reformatting from ACS or Nature journals)
• Missing data availability statement
• Keywords that are too generic

For authors comparing Elsevier journals with other publishers, see our Nature formatting requirements page. If you're working in a related materials science area, our guide on Chemical Engineering Journal formatting requirements covers another high-impact Elsevier venue with similar but not identical requirements.

For the official author instructions, visit the JCIS Guide for Authors.

In our pre-submission review work with manuscripts targeting Journal of Colloid and Interface Science, four patterns generate the most consistent desk-rejection outcomes.

Highlights that exceed the 85-character limit or describe methods rather than findings. JCIS author guidelines specify 3 to 5 bullet-point Highlights, each no more than 85 characters including spaces, submitted as a separate file. Manuscripts where highlights run long, repeat the abstract, or focus on what was done rather than what was found are returned for correction. The guidelines explicitly state highlights should capture the "core findings" of the study.

Novelty framing insufficient for a full Research Article versus a Short Communication. JCIS editors distinguish between incremental characterization studies and papers with mechanistic or application-level advances. Submissions that report synthesis and characterization of a new material without demonstrating a property advantage or mechanistic insight over existing systems are deprioritized at triage. The editorial guidance asks authors to clearly state in the cover letter why the work warrants a full article rather than a communication.

Statistical analysis section absent or inadequate for reproducibility claims. JCIS reviewers expect a statistical methods section when authors claim reproducibility, significance, or quantitative comparison between experimental conditions. Manuscripts presenting triplicate measurements or comparative sorption data without specifying the statistical tests used, sample sizes per condition, and confidence intervals are flagged at review. This applies particularly to environmental remediation studies where variability claims require documentation.

Graphical abstract that reproduces a main figure rather than summarizing the key finding. JCIS strongly encourages a graphical abstract sized at 530 x 300 pixels minimum. Submissions where the graphical abstract is a copy of Figure 1 rather than a purpose-built visual summary of the main result are asked to revise. The figure legend in the graphical abstract file must be self-explanatory without reference to the manuscript text.

A Journal of Colloid and Interface Science formatting and readiness check evaluates manuscript structure, highlights compliance, and visual abstract quality against these desk-rejection patterns before you submit.

Submit to JCIS when the manuscript explains a colloidal, interfacial, wetting, adsorption, emulsion, surfactant, nanomaterial, or soft-matter mechanism and the formatting package makes that mechanism easy to verify. Who should avoid JCIS: authors with a mostly synthetic materials paper, a biomedical application without interfacial science at the center, or a characterization-only manuscript where the novelty is a new sample rather than a new phenomenon.

Our internal analysis shows that JCIS formatting problems usually appear together: long highlights, vague graphical abstracts, and missing statistical details often point to the same underlying problem, the manuscript has not yet reduced the work to one testable interfacial finding. We observe that papers with concise highlights, a mechanism-first graphical abstract, and a clear comparison to existing systems are easier for editors to route and easier for reviewers to evaluate.