Small Formatting Requirements: Complete Author Guide

Treat Small formatting as an editorial-readiness check, not a production chore. If the length, ToC image, figure resolution, Data Availability Statement, and Supporting Information are already clean before upload, the editor can focus on whether the nanoscience claim deserves review. If those pieces are loose, the submission starts by signaling that the evidence package is not yet under control.

Wiley's Small author guidelines describe four article types: Research Articles, Reviews, Perspectives, and Correspondence (the journal's aims and scope call the last type Comments). The guidelines give typical lengths but no hard cap.

Wiley counts display items as figures, schemes or tables, and says the scientific contents should justify the length. A Research Article should include an introduction that summarizes the objectives and main conclusions, the main text, a conclusion, and optionally an experimental or methods section.

Reviews can be submitted without an invitation from the editorial office, although unsolicited Reviews judged too specialized for the readership are referred to a sister journal or returned without external peer review. Reviews and Perspectives may include a passport-type photo and a short biography of up to 100 words for the main contributing authors.

Supporting Information does not carry the argument. Wiley states that the main article must stand on its own in the absence of the Supporting Information, so check that the main text and display items make the case before you move material into the SI.

The abstract requirement applies to primary research articles and reviews.

Research Articles, Reviews and Perspectives:

• Word limit: 200 words maximum

• Style: Present tense and impersonal (avoid "we")

• Citations: Not allowed

• Abbreviations: Define them when first used

• Keywords: 3-7 required, placed before the abstract in Wiley's section order

The 200-word abstract should cover the problem, approach, main result, and significance. Small covers nanoscience broadly, so make the abstract accessible to non-specialists in your subfield. A researcher working on nanoparticle drug delivery should be able to understand the abstract of a paper on nanoscale mechanical resonators.

Keywords: Between 3 and 7 keywords are required. Choose specific terms that help with indexing. "Nanoparticles" alone is too broad; "gold nanorod photothermal therapy" is specific and useful.

Title: Wiley asks that the title clearly describe the research using relevant keywords and avoid catchy but non-descriptive phrases. Do not cite references in the title, and avoid chemical and mathematical formulae. Wiley publishes no title character limit.

Figures drive Small papers. Electron microscopy images, spectral data, device performance curves, and schematic illustrations are central to almost every publication.

Figure specifications:

Wiley's Manuscript Preparation Checklist lists a wider set of acceptable file formats (TIFF, JPG, EPS, DOCX, WMF, PDF, XLSX, PPTX, CDX, PNG, AI), while the Graphics FAQ asks for TIFF or PNG for bitmap images because JPG is lossy. Wiley's documents differ here, so use TIFF or PNG for photographs and micrographs. Do not artificially increase the resolution of an image from an instrument that cannot produce more pixels; tell the editorial office that it is the maximum size your instrument produces.

ToC text and image:

• Text: describe the main results in 50 to 60 words, written for a general audience and in the third person

• Image dimensions: either 55 mm wide x 50 mm high or 110 mm wide x 20 mm high

• Resolution for bitmap images: 650 pixels wide for the 55 mm x 50 mm size, 1300 pixels wide for the 110 mm x 20 mm size

• Labels at least 10 point; insets are discouraged

• The image should convey the main message of the article, and the author must hold the copyright to it and to any images used to create it

The ToC image is your paper's calling card. When readers browse Small's table of contents, the ToC image is what determines whether they click through. Wiley says it can be a combination of figures or a new, original figure composed to represent the topic, so design a purpose-built image that conveys the concept at a glance.

Nanoscale image conventions:

• Include scale bars on all microscopy images

• State the microscopy technique (SEM, TEM, AFM, STM) in the caption

• For particle size distributions, include the mean and standard deviation

• For crystal structure images, indicate crystallographic directions

Table formatting:

• Provide a brief legend for each table

• Subdivide tables only with three horizontal lines (head rule, neck rule, foot rule)

• Build tables with a table function, not as graphics

• Avoid tables with only one or two columns and columns with only one or two entries

• Use Roman lowercase letters followed by a closing parenthesis for table footnotes

There is no submission requirement for formatting references. Wiley asks for a consistent style throughout the manuscript, and the typesetters update the formatting into the journal style if the manuscript is accepted.

In-text citations: Numbered citations in inline square brackets, with references numbered in the order of their citation. Each numbered reference should contain only one literature citation, not multiple sub-parts (a, b, c).

Reference list content:

• Author name(s)

• Journal title or book title

• Article title (where applicable)

• Year of publication

• Volume and issue, or book chapter

• Pagination

• DOI (optional but highly recommended)

Wiley's examples use Chicago style: list all authors, but if the number exceeds six, list three followed by "et al." Include the full-length article title and the full-length journal name.

Wiley does not state a reference limit for Research Articles. The Review guidance asks that the reference list be well balanced and that unpublished results not be included.

Small calls its supplementary content "Supporting Information" (SI), following Wiley convention. Wiley describes it as information that is not essential to the article but provides greater depth and background. It is hosted online and appears without editing or typesetting.

What goes in SI:

• Detailed experimental procedures

• Additional characterization data (XRD, DLS, TGA, etc.)

• Extended microscopy images

• Video files (in situ experiments, nanoparticle dynamics)

• Computational details

SI requirements:

• Submit succinct text and the necessary graphics, where possible, as a separate document (Word or PDF)

• Include the title and the names of all the authors; the manuscript template includes a page you can use

• Embed graphics in the SI file rather than submitting them as separate graphics files

• Provide multimedia files, raw data and code separately, with large files in a compressed format such as .zip or .rar

• Keep a copy of the SI, which you must make available to readers on request

Reviewers expect detailed SI and will check it carefully, so keep it error free; Wiley notes that the material is not edited.

These are the details that regular Small authors know:

Free Format submission. Wiley offers Free Format submission for new submissions, and states that you do not need to reformat a manuscript for a new submission. Authors are, however, asked to follow the guidelines and templates when preparing a revised manuscript.

Length is guidance, not a cap. Wiley describes typical Research Articles as 3,000 to 8,000 words with 3 to 8 display items, but any length can be submitted if the science justifies it.

American English. Manuscripts must be written in American English and be grammatically and linguistically correct. Wiley says a manuscript may be sent back for revision if the quality of English is poor.

ToC text and image. Prepare the 50 to 60 word ToC text and the graphic as part of your manuscript development process, not as a last-minute addition.

SI header is required. The Supporting Information document should include the title and the names of all the authors.

Wiley typesetters edit reference formatting. If the manuscript is accepted, the typesetters update the reference formatting into the journal style. Review your proofs carefully, especially figure quality.

Revised manuscripts. Wiley asks for a point-by-point author response letter, a list of changes, a "Main document - tracked changes" file with the changes highlighted in a different color, and an unmarked version as the primary revised manuscript file.

Data Availability Statement required. Wiley's guidance says authors are required to provide a data availability statement that describes the availability or the absence of shared data. Include a brief statement describing where the data supporting your results can be found (repository link) or state that data are not shared and why. Wiley expects data supporting primary research results to be archived in an appropriate public repository, and does not expect authors to share data when doing so would compromise ethical standards or legal requirements.

These cause delays at Small:

1. ToC image dimensions. Either 55 mm wide x 50 mm high or 110 mm wide x 20 mm high. Many authors confuse width and height, so check the dimensions in your image software.

1. Keyword count. 3 to 7 keywords are required.

1. Length that the science does not justify. Wiley describes typical lengths but says the scientific contents should justify the length.

1. SI first page missing. The Supporting Information document needs the title and the names of all the authors. The manuscript template includes a page you can use.

1. Required statements. The data availability statement, funding statement, conflict of interest disclosure, ethics approval and patient consent statements (where applicable), and permission to reproduce material from other sources are part of what Wiley lists for submission.

For manuscripts targeting Small, four patterns generate the most consistent desk-rejection and revision outcomes.

TOC image with inverted dimensions. The Small author guidelines specify the ToC graphic as 55 mm wide x 50 mm high or 110 mm wide x 20 mm high. Many authors submit a square or landscape-oriented image that matches neither size. Check your image dimensions explicitly in your image software before uploading; do not rely on visual estimation.

Revised manuscript without the full response package. The Small author guidelines ask for a point-by-point author response letter addressed to the reviewers, a list of changes made in response to each comment, a rebuttal to any comment you disagree with, a tracked-changes file, and an unmarked version. Revisions that supply only a short cover note leave the reviewers to find the changes themselves.

Length that the science does not justify. Wiley describes a typical Research Article as 3,000 to 8,000 words and says the scientific contents should justify the length. A manuscript that runs well beyond that range, or that moves half its figures to the SI, invites the question of whether the main article stands on its own, which Wiley requires.

Missing or incomplete Data Availability Statement. Wiley requires a data availability statement describing the availability or the absence of shared data. The statement should specify the repository (Zenodo, Figshare, institutional repository) and accession number or DOI for any datasets that underlie the figures. Wiley expects data supporting primary research results to be archived in an appropriate public repository.

A Small formatting and readiness check evaluates TOC image dimensions, manuscript length, Data Availability Statement, and structural completeness against journal-specific standards before you submit.

For Small-targeted manuscripts, three patterns consistently predict formatting desk-screen failure at Small (Wiley). 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. Small editors move fastest on manuscripts whose contribution is obviously aligned with nanoscale science. The named failure pattern: subdiscipline-bounded papers without broader nano/micro-impact framing extend revision rounds. Check whether your abstract reads to Small's scope

Methods package incomplete for the journal's reviewer pool. Small reviewers expect specific methodological detail. Characterization without state-of-the-art benchmark comparison extends reviewer consultation. Check if your methods package is reviewer-complete

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

Manusights submission-corpus signal for Small (Wiley). Of the manuscripts our team screened before submission to Small and peer venues in 2025, the editorial-culture mismatch most consistent across the cohort is small editors emphasize cross-subdiscipline impact at the nano/micro scale; subdiscipline-bounded papers extend revision rounds. In our analysis of anonymized Small-targeted submissions,