Guidelines for Article Preparation for Submission
Article Guidelines
F1000Research publishes a number of different articles types. We aim to make it easy for authors and, where possible, offer some flexibility in terms of formats and structure. Specific requirements do apply to some article types, however; please choose from the article type-specific instructions listed below.
Please review the details of F1000Research’s post-publication
peer-review model and our
policies before you submit.
Manuscripts can be submitted as Word (DOC or DOCX) or rich text format (RTF) files. If you have any questions about suitable file formats, please
email us.
Research Articles
Research Articles should present originality in findings and insights and offer theoretical, empirical, experimental and/or methodological advances to their respective fields of research. Null and negative findings and reanalyses of previous studies leading to new results, as well as confirmatory results, are also encouraged.
Brief Reports
Brief Reports are small, often preliminary studies, that contain only essential references, and minimal tables and figures, placing full attention on empirical methods, results and data analysis, and the implications of those results. Brief Reports focus on issues of methodology and observation.
Data Notes
Data Notes are brief descriptions of datasets that promote the potential reuse of
research data and include details of why and how the data were created; they do not include any
analyses or conclusions.
Genome Notes
Genome Notes are brief descriptions of genome sequences that promote the potential reuse of sequences and include details of why and how the genomes were sequenced; they do not include any analyses or conclusions.
Policy Briefs
Policy Briefs provide a succinct overview and analysis of a policy or policy-related issue. The article should include a section on implications while actionable recommendations and policy options are encouraged.
Case Studies
Case Studies are a process or record of research into the development of a person, group or situation over a period of time. They are an empirical inquiry that investigate research application through real-life context or imagined scenarios. A description of a legal case or a hypothetical case study used as a teaching exercise would also fit into this category.
Case Reports
A medical Case Report should be original and provide adequate detail of a single patient case. It
does not need to describe an especially novel or unusual case as there is benefit from collecting
details of many standard cases.
Clinical Practice Articles
Clinical Practice Articles describe case series (i.e. group or series of case reports involving
patients who were given similar treatment), but should not be based on a single case (single cases
are published as
Case Reports).
Software Tool Articles
A Software Tool Article should include the rationale for the development of the tool and details of
the code used for its construction. The article should provide examples of suitable input data sets
and include an example of the output that can be expected from the tool and how this output should
be interpreted.
Method Articles
Method Articles describe new and well tested experimental, observational, theoretical or computational methods or procedures, either quantitative or qualitative. This includes new study methods, substantive modifications to existing methods or innovative applications of existing methods to new models.
Study Protocols
Study Protocols describe in detail any study design, including (but not limited to) experimental design of basic and applied research, systematic reviews, or protocols defining research questions and empirical methods. Study pre-protocols (i.e. discussing provisional study designs) may also be submitted and will be clearly labelled as such when published. Study Protocols for pilot and feasibility studies are also considered.
Registered Reports
Registered Reports are a form of empirical article in which the methods and proposed analyses are
published and reviewed prior to research being conducted. This format of article seeks to
neutralise a variety of inappropriate research practices, including inadequate statistical power,
and selective reporting of results.
Reviews
Reviews should provide a balanced and comprehensive overview of the latest discoveries in a
particular field.
Systematic Reviews
Systematic reviews should deal with a clearly formulated question and use systematic and explicit methods to identify, select, and critically assess the relevant research.
Living Systematic Reviews
Living Systematic Reviews (LSRs) are defined by
Cochrane as “a systematic review that is continually updated, incorporating relevant new evidence as it becomes available”. LSRs employ a methodology of constant surveillance of the literature to identify new evidence that becomes available following the publication of the baseline systematic review. LSRs are updated at regular intervals following recurring searches of the literature to incorporate the new evidence.
Opinion Articles
Opinion Articles give the authors’ perspective on a topical issue. Where appropriate, authors
should provide a balanced view of different opinions in the field, and make it clear where they are
expressing their own personal views and why.
Correspondence
Correspondence articles are short, peer reviewed comments directly relating to one or more articles
published in F1000Research or elsewhere. Correspondence articles must provide
scholarly discussion, supported by evidence from the published literature.
Editorials
Editorials are short personal perspectives about topics relevant to F1000Research’s aims and its gateways. They are usually commissioned from authors closely associated with F1000Research, e.g. Gateway Advisors.