5 minutes
Stop-sign screen
Use the six red flags below. If one is unresolved, pause the submission and assign an owner.
Open educational resource
Research Manuscript Submission Checklist
A multidisciplinary final-pass checklist for researchers preparing a journal article. Use it to verify journal fit, reporting, claims, methods, authorship, ethics, data and code, references, accessible figures, and the files that will actually be submitted.
The complete HTML version is available below. No account, email, or Manusights product is required. Libraries, writing centers, graduate schools, and research offices may link, copy, or adapt the original checklist under CC BY 4.0.
Choose the depth you need
Three ways to use the checklist
This is a decision aid, not a score. A single unresolved ethics, authorship, reporting, or evidence problem can matter more than dozens of completed formatting checks.
20 minutes
Core readiness pass
Review the 29 items marked "Submission blocker" with the manuscript and journal instructions open.
45 to 60 minutes
Full team sign-off
Complete all 42 checks, record exceptions, and archive the final package with the submission confirmation.
Pause before submission
Six stop signs
These are not automatic-rejection predictions. They are unresolved issues that should have a named owner and a documented decision before submission.
- 1The journal or article type does not fit the work.
- 2Authorship, ethics approval, consent, or required disclosure is unresolved.
- 3A required reporting guideline, registration, or protocol record is missing.
- 4The abstract, main results, and figures disagree on a primary number or claim.
- 5The data-availability statement promises access that cannot actually be provided.
- 6The exact submission package has not been approved by every author.
Full team sign-off
The 42-point checklist
Work from the selected journal's current instructions. Record status, responsibility, and evidence for each decision. “Not applicable” only counts as resolved after you record why it does not apply.
Private readiness workspace
Move from a checklist to a documented submission decision
Record status, ownership, and the evidence behind each decision. This workspace stays in this browser until you export it; Manusights does not receive the manuscript name, journal, deadline, notes, or selections.
Local to this deviceNo upload or account required
Name the submission
Optional context makes the exported docket useful to coauthors and support teams.
Current checkpoint: Add the target journal’s official source trail. Next action: Build a journal Evidence Pack.
Start with the controlling evidence
Add the target journal’s official source trail.
A generic checklist cannot settle journal-specific article type, anonymity, disclosure, or file-package rules.
This checkpoint orders recorded evidence and attestations. It does not verify compliance or predict acceptance.
- Official evidence
- Not attached
- Open blockers
- 29
- Decisions resolved
- 0/42
02 · Work the evidence
Readiness checks
Journal and submission route
Confirm that the venue, article type, audience, costs, and policies fit the work before the team spends time on final formatting.
0/6resolved
- Submission blockerNot started
The journal's current aims and scope match the manuscript's subject, method, and intended audience.
Check the official scope page and several recent articles. A topic match alone is not enough if the article type, method, or audience differs.
Add owner or evidence note
- Submission blockerNot started
The journal accepts this article type and the manuscript meets its current length and structure rules.
Use the journal's own author instructions. Save the access date because requirements can change during revision.
Add owner or evidence note
- Submission blockerNot started
The journal's identity, peer-review process, fees, ownership, and policies are transparent.
Use Think. Check. Submit. when a journal or invitation is unfamiliar. Do not rely on indexing or a metric claim shown only on the journal's website.
Add owner or evidence note
- Not started
Publication charges, waiver routes, institutional agreements, and funding limits are understood.
Ask the library or research office about agreements and funder rules before selecting a paid open-access option.
Add owner or evidence note
- Submission blockerNot started
Preprint, prior-publication, and overlapping-manuscript disclosures follow the journal's policy.
Describe related manuscripts and reused material honestly. A preprint is not treated the same way by every journal.
Add owner or evidence note
- Submission blockerNot started
The manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere unless the journal explicitly permits it.
Concurrent submission is prohibited by many journals. Confirm the selected journal's rule before submission.
Add owner or evidence note
Reporting and study record
Make the research record complete enough for readers, reviewers, and future researchers to understand what was planned and what was done.
0/5resolved
- Submission blockerNot started
The correct reporting guideline or disciplinary standard has been identified.
For health research, search EQUATOR by study type and specialty. For other fields, check the journal, professional society, repository, or funder standard.
Add owner or evidence note
- Submission blockerNot started
Every applicable reporting item is addressed, with page locations recorded if a checklist is required.
Do not mark an item as complete merely because the topic appears somewhere. Confirm that the requested information is actually reported.
Add owner or evidence note
- Not started
Registration, protocol, preregistration, or analysis-plan identifiers are included where applicable.
State material deviations from the registered plan or protocol and explain why they occurred.
Add owner or evidence note
- Submission blockerNot started
Study design, setting, dates, participants or materials, and inclusion or exclusion rules are explicit.
A qualified reader should not have to infer the basic design from scattered details.
Add owner or evidence note
- Not started
Limitations, missing information, uncertainty, and departures from plan are reported proportionately.
A limitation section should explain what changes interpretation, not simply list generic cautions.
Add owner or evidence note
Title, abstract, and claims
Make the first screen accurate, internally consistent, and appropriately calibrated to the evidence.
0/5resolved
- Submission blockerNot started
The title accurately identifies the subject and, when required, the study design.
Remove claims the study did not test and labels that imply a stronger design than the methods support.
Add owner or evidence note
- Submission blockerNot started
The abstract follows the journal's format and matches the main text, tables, and figures.
Check sample sizes, outcomes, effect estimates, dates, and conclusions against the final manuscript, not an earlier draft.
Add owner or evidence note
- Not started
The primary question, contribution, or argument is visible without inflated novelty language.
State what this work adds and for whom. Avoid claiming a field-changing contribution when the evidence supports a narrower advance.
Add owner or evidence note
- Submission blockerNot started
Causal, comparative, and generalization claims match the design and population.
Use association language for observational evidence unless the design and analysis justify a causal claim.
Add owner or evidence note
- Not started
Keywords, names, and plain-language terms make the work findable by its intended readers.
Use the journal's keyword rules and include established terms a researcher would actually search.
Add owner or evidence note
Methods, results, and evidence
Check whether the evidence can be followed, evaluated, and reconciled across every part of the manuscript.
0/5resolved
- Submission blockerNot started
Methods identify the materials, instruments, software, versions, procedures, and decision rules needed to understand the work.
Use persistent identifiers and repository links when they improve reproducibility or access.
Add owner or evidence note
- Submission blockerNot started
Sample size, stopping rules, exclusions, missing data, and analytic populations are explained.
Report these decisions even when the study was exploratory or no formal power calculation was appropriate.
Add owner or evidence note
- Submission blockerNot started
The analysis matches the design, measurement scale, assumptions, and stated research questions.
Involve a statistician or methods specialist when the validity of the analysis cannot be resolved by a checklist.
Add owner or evidence note
- Submission blockerNot started
Numbers and labels agree across the abstract, text, tables, figures, supplements, and data files.
Check denominators, units, rounding, confidence intervals, p values, category labels, and figure-panel references.
Add owner or evidence note
- Not started
Null, negative, unexpected, and sensitivity results are reported when they affect interpretation.
Do not let the narrative hide results that qualify the central claim.
Add owner or evidence note
Authorship, ethics, and transparency
Resolve responsibility and disclosure questions before they become submission or publication disputes.
0/6resolved
- Submission blockerNot started
Every listed author meets the applicable authorship standard, and contributor order is approved.
Resolve disputed additions, removals, and ordering before submission. Acknowledgment is different from authorship.
Add owner or evidence note
- Not started
Contributor roles are recorded using CRediT or the journal's required taxonomy.
A contribution statement describes roles. It does not by itself determine who qualifies as an author.
Add owner or evidence note
- Not started
Names, affiliations, corresponding-author details, and researcher identifiers are current.
Confirm ORCID identifiers and institutional names directly with each author where they are supplied.
Add owner or evidence note
- Submission blockerNot started
Ethics approval, exemption, consent, registration, and community or cultural permissions are reported where applicable.
Use the wording and identifiers required by the responsible institution, community, field, and journal.
Add owner or evidence note
- Submission blockerNot started
Funding, financial and non-financial relationships, and other competing interests are complete.
Check each author's disclosure against the selected journal's form and policy.
Add owner or evidence note
- Submission blockerNot started
Use of AI and other automated tools is disclosed exactly as the journal requires.
Do not list an AI system as an author. Human authors remain responsible for accuracy, originality, citations, confidentiality, and the submitted text.
Add owner or evidence note
Data, code, materials, and rights
Make access claims true and settle repository, reuse, and permissions questions while the full research record is still available.
0/5resolved
- Submission blockerNot started
The data-availability statement matches what a reader can actually access and under what conditions.
Name the repository, persistent identifier, embargo, license, and controlled-access process where applicable.
Add owner or evidence note
- Not started
Code, computational environments, instruments, and materials have the documentation needed for reuse or evaluation.
Include versions, dependencies, licenses, and a short README when code or digital materials are shared.
Add owner or evidence note
- Submission blockerNot started
Sensitive, proprietary, community-governed, or restricted material is not exposed by the sharing plan.
State the legitimate access path instead of promising open availability that would violate consent, law, contract, or community expectations.
Add owner or evidence note
- Submission blockerNot started
Permissions or documented exceptions cover reused figures, tables, instruments, images, and substantial text.
Keep written permissions and the exact credit language with the submission records.
Add owner or evidence note
- Not started
Funder deposit rules, institutional open-access policy, rights retention, and the accepted-manuscript plan have been checked.
Ask the library before signing away rights or paying an avoidable charge.
Add owner or evidence note
References, figures, and accessibility
Verify that sources support the claims and that visual evidence remains understandable across formats and users.
0/5resolved
- Submission blockerNot started
Each citation supports the nearby claim and represents the cited source accurately.
Open the source for high-stakes, disputed, surprising, or numerical claims. Do not verify only the citation metadata.
Add owner or evidence note
- Submission blockerNot started
Reference metadata, links, and identifiers are correct, and material updates are accounted for.
Check for retractions, expressions of concern, corrections, and newer versions that change the use of a source.
Add owner or evidence note
- Not started
Every in-text citation appears in the reference list and every listed reference is cited.
Remove duplicates and confirm author names, title, venue, year, volume, pages or article number, and DOI where applicable.
Add owner or evidence note
- Submission blockerNot started
Figures and tables define units, groups, denominators, uncertainty, symbols, and analysis details.
A caption should let a reader interpret the display without reconstructing basic definitions from the main text.
Add owner or evidence note
- Not started
Visual information does not depend on color alone and has appropriate text alternatives.
Check contrast, labels, patterns, reading order, captions, and the journal's method for supplying alt text. Avoid using an image of a table when a real table is possible.
Add owner or evidence note
Files and final sign-off
Submit the intended version with a complete package and a record the author team can reconstruct later.
0/5resolved
- Submission blockerNot started
The manuscript is anonymized or identified according to the journal's review model.
Check file properties, acknowledgments, self-citations, tracked changes, comments, repository links, and supplement metadata.
Add owner or evidence note
- Submission blockerNot started
File types, names, word limits, figure resolution, supplements, and required forms meet the current instructions.
Open every final file after export. Confirm that equations, fonts, links, symbols, figures, and tables render correctly.
Add owner or evidence note
- Submission blockerNot started
The cover letter and submission-form answers are accurate, consistent, and free of unsupported claims.
Disclose related work, preprints, conflicts, and reviewer information exactly as requested. Do not copy an inflated abstract into the letter.
Add owner or evidence note
- Submission blockerNot started
Every author has approved the exact manuscript, author list, declarations, and target journal.
Record approval before the corresponding author presses submit.
Add owner or evidence note
- Not started
The submitted package and confirmation record will be archived together.
Keep the final files, forms, cover letter, reporting checklist, submission date, manuscript ID, and portal confirmation in a shared location.
Add owner or evidence note
Study-design module
Find the reporting guideline before the final pass
This table covers common health-research study designs. EQUATOR indexes hundreds of guidelines and extensions. Researchers outside health fields should use the standard named by their journal, professional society, repository, or funder.
| Study type | Starting guideline | Official source |
|---|---|---|
| Randomized trial | CONSORT | Open guidance |
| Observational study | STROBE | Open guidance |
| Systematic review or meta-analysis | PRISMA | Open guidance |
| Study protocol | SPIRIT or PRISMA-P | Open guidance |
| Diagnostic or prediction study | STARD or TRIPOD | Open guidance |
| Qualitative study | COREQ or SRQR | Open guidance |
| Animal research | ARRIVE | Open guidance |
| Case report | CARE | Open guidance |
| Quality improvement | SQUIRE | Open guidance |
| Economic evaluation | CHEERS | Open guidance |
Scope
What this checklist does not replace
- The selected journal's current author instructions and submission forms
- Discipline-specific reporting and ethical standards
- Statistical, methodological, legal, accessibility, or research-ethics review
- Advice from a librarian on open access, author rights, repositories, and funder deposit rules
- Independent verification of every factual claim, citation, or analysis
Method
How the checklist was built
Manusights mapped the final submission workflow against current primary guidance from Think. Check. Submit., EQUATOR, ICMJE, COPE, NISO CRediT, ORCID, and the W3C Web Accessibility Initiative. We then separated universal workflow questions from medical-journal and health-reporting guidance that requires an explicit scope label.
The checklist converts those standards into operational questions. It does not reproduce or replace any source checklist. When this resource and a journal or disciplinary standard differ, follow the controlling standard.
Evidence ledger
Primary sources
Sources were checked on August 5, 2026. Each source remains under its own copyright and terms.
Think. Check. Submit.
Think. Check. Submit. journal checklist
Journal identity, transparency, peer review, fees, policies, and preservation
EQUATOR Network
Reporting Guidelines
Health-research reporting guideline search by study type and specialty
ICMJE
Recommendations for Scholarly Work in Medical Journals
Medical-journal authorship, disclosure, manuscript preparation, and AI use; updated January 2026
Committee on Publication Ethics
Core Practices
Authorship, conflicts, data, ethical oversight, and publication responsibility
Committee on Publication Ethics
Handling concurrent and duplicate submissions
Journal and author responsibilities for concurrent and duplicate submission
NISO CRediT
Contributor Roles Taxonomy
Standard contributor-role vocabulary
ORCID
ORCID researcher identifiers
Persistent researcher identifiers
W3C Web Accessibility Initiative
Images Tutorial
Purpose-based text alternatives and accessible image treatment
For libraries and research-support teams
Ready for a LibGuide or workshop
You may link to the permanent HTML page, distribute the PDF, or adapt the checklist with attribution. No permission, reciprocal link, purchase, or institutional endorsement is required.
- Suggested placement
- Publishing Your Research / Manuscript Preparation
- Permanent URL
- https://manusights.com/resources/pre-submission-checklist
- Corrections
- hello@manusights.com
Suggested listing copy
Research Manuscript Submission Checklist
A free, evidence-linked 42-point checklist covering journal fit, reporting guidelines, authorship, research ethics, data and code, reference integrity, accessible figures, and final submission files. Available as HTML and print PDF. No login required. CC BY 4.0.
Cite this resource
Citation formats
- APA
- Manusights. (2026). Research manuscript submission checklist (Version 1.0.0). https://manusights.com/resources/pre-submission-checklist
- MLA
- Manusights. "Research Manuscript Submission Checklist." Version 1.0.0, 5 Aug. 2026, https://manusights.com/resources/pre-submission-checklist.
- Chicago
- Manusights. "Research Manuscript Submission Checklist." Version 1.0.0. Last reviewed August 5, 2026. https://manusights.com/resources/pre-submission-checklist.
License and disclosure
Open reuse, clear ownership
Original Manusights checklist text and downloadable files are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Attribute Manusights, name the resource, link to the permanent URL, and indicate whether you changed it.
Manusights is a for-profit manuscript review company. This checklist is an open educational resource. Access does not require a purchase, and a library link does not imply endorsement of Manusights or its services.
Version 1.0.0. First published February 20, 2026. Substantially revised August 5, 2026 to add multidisciplinary coverage, direct downloads, source mapping, open-license terms, accessibility checks, and institutional reuse guidance. The browser-local readiness workspace was added August 26, 2026.
Maintenance policy: Manusights reviews this resource at least twice per year and earlier when a named standard changes materially. Corrections are dated in the version note. The permanent URL will remain unchanged.