Formatting, Style And Language

General Formatting Guidelines

Specific File Formats 

The following word processor file formats are acceptable for the main manuscript document:

All manuscript files (text, figures, tables, etc.) must be submitted as editable files. If your submission is accepted and it includes any non-editable files (such as PDFs), you will be notified to re-submit an editable file.

Figures must be submitted as separate files, not as part of the submitted manuscript file. For more information, see Figures.

Additional Information For TeX/LaTeX Users

Please use BioMed Central’s TeX template and BibTeX stylefile if you use TeX format. Submit your references using either a bib or bbl file. When submitting TeX submissions, please submit both your TeX file and your bib/bbl file as manuscript files. Please also convert your TeX file into a PDF (please do not use a DIV file) and submit this PDF as a supplementary file with the name ‘Reference PDF’. This PDF will be used by our production team as a reference point to check the layout of the article as the author intended. Please also note that all figures must be coded at the end of the TeX file and not inline.

The Editorial Manager system checks for any errors in the Tex files. If an error is present then the system PDF will display LaTex code and highlight and explain the error in a section beginning with an exclamation mark (!).

For efficient and timely publication, all relevant editable source files must be uploaded during the submission process.

TeX template: Use the template provided by BioMed Central (Zip format)

Style and Language

For editors and reviewers to accurately assess the work presented in your manuscript you need to ensure the English language is of sufficient quality to be understood. If you need help with writing in English you should:

Please note that the use of a language editing service is not a requirement for publication in INNOVATION. We do not ask if such service has been used. Therefore, using such a company does not imply or guarantee that your manuscript will be selected for peer review or accepted for publication.

Tables

Tables should be numbered and cited in the text in sequence using Arabic numerals (i.e. Table 1, Table 2 etc.).

Tables less than one A4 or Letter page in length can be placed in the appropriate location within the manuscript.

Tables larger than one A4 or Letter page in length can be placed at the end of the document text file. Please cite and indicate where the table should appear at the relevant location in the text file so that the table can be added in the correct place during publication.

Larger datasets, or tables too wide for A4 or Letter landscape page can be uploaded as Supplemental Data [internal link].

Tabular data provided as Supplemental Data can be uploaded as an Excel spreadsheet (.xlsx) or comma separated values (.csv). Please use the standard file extensions.

Table titles and captions should be included above the table.

Tables should not be embedded as figures or spreadsheet files. Tables must be formatted using the ‘Table’ function in your word processing program.

Do not use color or shading in your table. Superscript numbering, lettering, symbols or bold text may be used and the meaning of each must be explained in the table caption.
Commas should not be used to indicate numerical values (e.g. 100000 rather than 100,000).

Supplemental Data

As the length and quantity of data is not restricted for INNOVATION articles, authors can submit datasets, tables, movies, or other information as Supplemental Data.

All Supplemental Data files will be published along with the accepted manuscript. Do not include files such as patient consent forms, certificates of language editing, or revised versions of the main manuscript document with tracked changes. Such files, if requested, should be sent by email to INNOVATION’s Editorial email address (innovation@ctor.press), quoting the manuscript reference number in the Subject line.

Authors must not use “data not shown” in the main manuscript. Instead, “data not shown” must be included as Supplemental Data. Data submitted in Supplemental Data must adhere to INNOVATION’s Publishing and Editorial Policies. All Supplemental Data files will be virus-scanned on submission. Each Supplemental Data file should be named, cited and uploaded in the sequence they appear within the main manuscript.

General Guidelines
Supplemental Data is limited to data and other materials that substantively support the main conclusions or models presented in the manuscript, but are considered additional or secondary support.

Supplemental Data must be within the conceptual scope of the manuscript.

The quality and presentation of Supplemental Data should be equal to that in the manuscript, as it will be held to the same scientific standards.

Format
Files appear online alongside the relevant article in the form in which they are sent (or are converted to PDF files if sent as Word documents). Although Supplemental Data files are styled by the Editorial Team, no additional editorial work is carried out on these files once an article is accepted. You should therefore ensure that the text is as accurate as possible and is consistent with the manuscript (e.g., with respect to gene nomenclature, compound terminologies, taxonomic nomenclature, etc.).

Supplemental Data must be a “stand-alone” document (e.g., references should not follow on from those in the article itself). If possible, authors must ensure that all elements of the Supplemental Data are included in one file only (e.g., embed figures in the Word document so that they sit alongside the relevant caption or point of citation). The layout of text files containing figures is not altered by the typesetters.

If you are submitting video or audio files, provide a short description of each. This text will appear online as a caption alongside the link to the Supplemental Data file.

Include the manuscript title and author names at the top of the Supplemental Data, preceded by Supplemental Data as shown below:

Supplemental Data
Title
Authors
Institutional Affiliation(s)
Corresponding Author

Each type of Supplemental Data should be continuously numbered independent of the numbering of figures and tables in the manuscript (example: Figure S1, Figure S2; Table S1, Table S2; Movie S1, Movie S2, etc.). Authors should order the Supplemental Data files according to the main figures or tables to which each relates.

Supplemental Data file names should make it clear which main figure they are most related to (examples: Figure S1, related to Figure 1; Movie S1, 3D image of Arabidopsis flower, related to Figure 1).

All Supplemental Data files, including Supplemental figures, movies, and tables, should have legends that briefly describe the data presented.

Cite each Supplemental Data file in the manuscript at least once. They should also be cited at the end of the legend of the main figure or table to which they are linked (i.e., “see also Online Supplemental Data Figure S1”). The following information will be added automatically between the Acknowledgments and the References sections of the manuscript in the final version as follows:

In tables, references should be cited in numbers, in square brackets, in a separate column. Any tables should be styled according to the manuscript style.

Literature citations (even if already listed in the main article) should be listed again at the end of the Supplemental Data as Supplemental Data References and numbered with S1, S2, etc.

Please note that, as references in Supplemental Data do not contribute toward citation measures for those papers, authors are encouraged, when possible, to include references in the main body of the paper.

References should be listed in order of citation, not alphabetically, with one reference per number and should follow our Reference Guidelines.

Submission of Supplemental Data Files
Provide Supplemental Data Files as follows:

The types of Supplemental Data files and their preferred formats are as follows: