Science Formatting Requirements: Complete Author Guide

Science asks that the abstract of a Research Article explain to the general reader why the research was done, what was found and why the results are important.

• Word limit: 125 words or less

• Structure: Brief background first (a sentence giving a broad introduction to the field, then a sentence of more detailed background specific to your study), then the objectives and methods, then the results, with a final sentence on the main conclusions in terms comprehensible to all readers. There are no paragraph breaks in the title, author list or abstract.

• Citations and abbreviations: Not allowed in the abstract.

• Subject area: The submission system asks you to select at least one subject area that pertains to your paper.

At 125 words, Science has one of the shortest abstract limits among top journals. Nature gives you 150. The Lancet gives you 300. Science's 125-word cap forces extreme compression.

A practical tip: write the abstract last, and count every word. Science asks you to open with a sentence of broad background and a sentence of specific background, so spend those words on the context a general reader needs, then state the finding.

Science is strict about both count and quality.

Science's two documents differ slightly on resolution: the initial-manuscript page says a higher resolution applies at the revision stage, while the revised-manuscript page sets a 300 dpi minimum and says higher where possible. Aim for the higher value.

Distinct panels of one numbered figure are labeled with uppercase letters and each is described in order within the caption. Symbols and lettering must stay legible after reduction, so check a panel at its printed width before you submit.

Color figures: Science charges for color images in print: $650 for the first color figure and $450 for each additional color figure, with a comparable charge for color in reprints. Payment is arranged when you receive your galley proofs.

Figure legends: Each caption begins with a short figure title in bold as its first line, followed by explanatory text. No single caption should be longer than 200 words, and that is a ceiling rather than a target. A legend near the limit for a single panel suggests the figure isn't self-explanatory.

Science uses numbered references in parentheses (not superscript, which is the Nature style).

In-text citations: Numbers in parentheses, italicized, e.g., (1, 2). References are numbered in the order they are cited: main text, text boxes, figure and table captions, reference notes and acknowledgments, and finally the supplementary materials.

Reference list format:

1. A. B. Author, C. D. Author, Example article title. Example Journal Name 55, 100-108 (2021).

Key formatting details specific to Science:

• Author initials come before the family name, which is spelled out in full (e.g., "J. K. Smith" not "Smith, J. K.")

• Use commas between all authors, not "and"

• Give the full list of authors; Science does not allow et al., op. cit. or ibid.

• Include the article title, followed by a period

• Journal title in italics; volume number in bold

• Do not place a comma before the volume number or before any parentheses

• Give the full page range, with the numbers separated by an en dash

• Year in parentheses at the end, and a period to end each listing

• Any dataset that has a DOI must be cited in the reference list

Research Articles allow about 50 main-text references, or up to 100 in the extended online format. Reviews can go up to 150 references and Analytical Reviews up to 200.

One Science-specific detail: Science allows citations to papers posted at preprint servers (e.g., arXiv, bioRxiv). For bioRxiv and similar servers, include "[Preprint]" after the article identifier and the DOI at the end. Personal communications cannot be cited, and unpublished or "in press" references are not allowed at the time of publication.

Science calls its supplementary content "Supplementary Materials" (SM), and it has its own formatting rules that are more structured than most journals.

What goes in SM:

• Materials and Methods (the full Methods section lives here and must allow replication of the study)

• Supplementary Text (additional information on control or supplemental experiments, field sites, observations and hypotheses that bear directly on the main argument)

• Supplementary Figures (fig. S1, S2, etc.)

• Supplementary Tables (table S1, S2, etc.)

• Data files, including tabulated data underlying the figures as "data S1" in a machine-readable format

• References cited only in SM

Formatting rules:

• SM is submitted as a single separate file, in .docx or PDF format at initial submission; the revised-manuscript page asks for supplementary text, figures and tables as a separate PDF

• SM has its own sequential figure and table numbering (fig. S1, table S1, etc.)

• SM references continue from the main text numbering. If your main text ends at reference 28, SM references start at 29, and references cited only in SM go at the end of the main reference list.

• Data, code and materials availability statements go in the Acknowledgments of the main paper, not in SM

Size limits: The SM file cannot exceed 50 MB. Multimedia or large data files that cannot be included go in as auxiliary supplementary materials (up to 10 files, total size limited to 25 MB) or movies (limited to 50 MB each). If you have essential files that exceed these limits, contact submit_help@aaas.org. All data must be shown in the main text or the SM, or be available in a permanent, publicly accessible repository; Science has partnered with Dryad so data files can be deposited from its tracking system.

A major formatting detail: Science asks for the Materials and Methods in the supplementary materials. For Research Articles that are not a good fit for the print format, the methods section runs after the main text as part of the online article, and other supporting information stays in the supplementary materials. This catches many first-time Science authors off guard.

Science does not use a separate cover page. The manuscript opens with the Title, Authors, Affiliations and Abstract, and the submission system extracts metadata from the file; you approve or modify the title, abstract, cover letter and funding sources on the Manuscript Information tab.

Required submission components:

• Title: No more than 96 characters, including spaces, with no paragraph breaks. You may also add a short title in the submission system.

• Author list and affiliations: Listed beneath the title on the opening page, with affiliations linked by superscript numbers.

• Corresponding author: Each submission needs a first author and a corresponding author (who can be the same person), and a valid email address is required for each author.

• Cover letter: The only required file on the Related Documents tab. It should state the title and main point of the paper, give any information needed for a fair review, reference any pre-submission discussions with editors, list colleagues who saw the paper, state that none of the material is published or under consideration elsewhere, and say where all data are available or will be deposited.

ORCID iDs: Strongly encouraged for all authors, and required for the first and corresponding authors of revised manuscripts.

These are the details that separate experienced Science authors from first-timers:

The print summary. A Research Article that is not a good fit for the print format appears in full online, with a one-page print summary of about 500 words divided into four sections ("Introduction," "Rationale," "Results" and "Conclusion") plus a summary figure and caption of no more than 65 words. This is separate from the abstract.

Methods in Supplementary Materials. Science asks for the detailed Materials and Methods in the SM, so the full protocol, reagent details and statistical descriptions go in the supplementary file. This is the opposite of journals like Cell, where Methods are in the main text.

Subheadings. The main text is divided into brief subheadings, which should be descriptive clauses rather than full sentences, with up to three levels allowed. The manuscript should start with a brief introduction describing the paper's significance and giving enough background for readers in other disciplines.

Structured data availability. Science asks for a "Data, code, and materials availability" section in the Acknowledgments, after the final numbered reference. It must disclose any restrictions on materials (such as MTAs), list accession numbers or cite archived data and code, and include a materials availability statement even if there are no newly created materials. The Science data availability statement guide shows what that section should contain for data, code and materials, and which wording gets a paper sent back.

Ethics and competing interests. All authors must fill out the conflict-of-interest form, and competing interests are listed in the Acknowledgments. Clinical trials should generally be registered, with the registration number given in the acknowledgments. Research on humans needs a statement that informed consent was obtained and IRB approval, and laboratory animal work must state in the Methods adherence to the NIH Guide or equivalent and the institutional approvals.

Preprints and embargo. Science supports posting research papers on preprint servers such as arXiv, bioRxiv, ChemRxiv and medRxiv. While a manuscript is under consideration, no versions revised in response to editorial input and peer review should be posted on a preprint server. Submitted and accepted papers must remain privileged documents and must not be released to the press or the public before publication.

1. Single spacing and US letter. Use single spacing throughout the text, tables, figure captions and reference list, and format files for US letter paper (8.5 by 11 inches). Times New Roman is recommended. Science does not ask for line numbers or double-spacing.

1. Figure callouts in order. Figures must be cited in numerical order in the text. If you reference Fig. 3 before Fig. 2, you'll need to renumber.

1. Supplementary Materials references. SM references continue the main text numbering. Don't restart at 1 in the SM section.

1. Author order and equal contributions. Science does not permit the designation of co-senior or co-first authors. Use the standard statement "These authors contributed equally to this work." The asterisk is reserved for corresponding authors, and other footnote symbols run in the order †, ‡, §, ¶, #.

1. Defined terms. Define technical terms, symbols, abbreviations and acronyms the first time they are used.

For Science-targeted manuscripts, three patterns consistently predict formatting desk-screen failure at Science. The patterns below are the same ones the journal's handling editors and outside reviewers flag at first-pass triage.

Scope-fit ambiguity in the abstract. Science editors move fastest on manuscripts whose contribution is obviously aligned with broad-impact research. The named failure pattern: manuscripts that require specialist translation in the discussion get desk-rejected by BoRE within 7 days. Check whether your abstract reads to Science's scope

Methods package incomplete for the journal's reviewer pool. Science reviewers expect specific methodological detail. Cover letters that don't name the multidisciplinary audience the work targets extend editorial consultation. Check if your methods package is reviewer-complete

Reference-list and clean-citation failure mode. Editorial team at Science screens reference lists for retracted-paper inclusion. Check whether your reference list is clean against Crossref + Retraction Watch

Manusights submission-corpus signal for Science. Of the manuscripts our team screened before submission to Science and peer venues in 2025, the editorial-culture mismatch most consistent across the cohort is science board of reviewing editors (BoRE) screens for cross-disciplinary impact in the first 7-10 days; subfield-bounded papers get desk-rejected fast. In our analysis of anonymized Science-targeted submissions,

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

Breakthrough framing fails Science's bar for a broadly important advance. Science seeks papers that are influential in their fields or across fields and that will substantially advance scientific understanding. Editors reject most manuscripts not because the science is incorrect, but because the advance does not rise to cross-disciplinary significance. Manuscripts where the Introduction explains importance entirely within the specialty, without articulating why a chemist, physicist, or biologist outside the immediate field should care, are declined within days. Science editors read hundreds of manuscripts per week and recognize specialist-framing immediately.

Research Article exceeds the 3,000-word limit without the extended format. Research Articles should not exceed 3,000 words of main text, with 3 to 5 display items and about 50 main-text references. A few papers are presented in an extended online format of up to 6,000 words, 6 display items and 100 references, and the cover letter should say why the additional length is merited. Authors should verify the actual word count and display-item count against the format selected before submission.

Abstract not written for a general scientific audience. Science asks that the abstract of a Research Article, in 125 words or less, explain to the general reader why the research was done, what was found and why the results are important. Abstracts that read at the same technical level as a specialist paper, or that use unexplained jargon, weaken the case at the first editorial read. The abstract is the first thing many editors read as evidence of whether the work can communicate to the broad Science readership.

Data availability and code deposit not completed at submission. Science requires all data underlying the results to be publicly and immediately available, either in the paper, in the supplementary materials, or in a permanent public repository. "Available upon request" is not accepted. Custom code should be archived in a permanent public repository such as Zenodo or Code Ocean, and code kept on GitHub should be archived in a permanent repository before publication. The cover letter should say where all data underlying the study are available or will be deposited.

A Science formatting and readiness check evaluates manuscript structure, cross-disciplinary significance framing, and data availability compliance against these desk-rejection patterns before you submit.

Or see example reports before you finalize.