Preparing and submitting your paper
Author Instructions
A journal's author instructions are an excellent place to find guidance on both broad and specific information about a journal. This should be your first resource for varied information on a journal's subject area coverage, accepted article types, manuscript style notes, submission formats and post-publication policies.
Reading and following these instructions will help you avoid delays during production and publication.
Click here to view a full list of the journals we publish.
Manuscript preparation guides
- How to write an effective abstract/select keywords
- Cambridge journals artwork guide
- Supplementary material information
- Seeking permission to use copyrighted material
- Anonymising your manuscript (for double-or triple anonymized peer review)
- Preparing accessible materials
- LaTeX
Submitting your paper
The author instructions for each journal will explain the process for submitting your paper to that journal, including guidance on additional information you should include alongside your manuscript.
Most of our journals use an online submission system to help manage the submission and peer-review process. These systems enable you to submit and track your paper online and help us to make sure the editorial process is both efficient and fully accountable.
How do I decide which affiliation to list on my manuscript?
As per Cambridge’s author affiliation policy, any affiliations listed in your manuscript should represent the institution(s) at which the research presented was conducted and/or supported and/or approved. For non-research content, any affiliations should represent the institution(s) with which each author is currently affiliated. For more information, please see our author affiliation FAQs.
Who should I list as the corresponding author?
When submitting your paper, you will need to assign a corresponding author. This author must be able to carry out the responsibilities of the corresponding author on behalf of any co-authors, and must meet the authorship criteria for the article. For more information, please see our corresponding author FAQs.
Who should I list as the corresponding author?
When submitting your paper, you will need to assign a corresponding author. Please make sure you are familiar with the responsibilities of the corresponding author. The author assigned must be able to carry out these responsibilities on behalf of any co-authors, and the corresponding author must meet authorship criteria for the article. More information can be found in our corresponding author FAQs.
Peer review
The peer- review process plays a critical role in both the evaluation and development of scholarly material submitted for publication. Its purpose is to ensure that published papers meet rigorous academic standards, through objective and independent assessment by experts in a given field. Peer review is not simply a filter for acceptance or rejection- it is a key part of the collaborative editorial process with the ultimate goal of refining the content and expression of a paper to maximise its contribution to scholarship.
What happens to my paper once I submit it to a journal?
Every journal operates a slightly different review process. Typically, your article will initially be looked at by the journal's editor(s), who will consider its relevance to the scope of the journal, as well as its methodology, the quality of its language and clarity of its argument. The editor(s) will decide whether your submission is suitable to be sent out to one or more peer reviewers who are experts in the field. They will offer comments to help the editor(s) assess your paper's suitability for publication. In most cases, they will offer you feedback to help you improve your paper.
The most common types of peer review are: 'single-anonymized', where you will not know the identity of the reviewers and 'double-anonymized', where neither reviewers nor authors know one another's identity. The exact review process and time it takes will vary in different subject areas and journals. More information can be found in the in the peer review section of your journal’s information pages.
Revisions
The editor(s) will make a decision regarding your paper based on peer reviewers' input. It is common for the first draft of an article not to be accepted in which case you may be asked to revise and resubmit. If this happens, you will be given access to the peer reviewers' reports which may also include some additional comments from the editor(s). and will advise you on what you need to revise before resubmitting. Sometimes the revisions requested are minor; other times they may be more substantial.
What happens to my paper after I revise and resubmit?
If you were asked to make minor revisions, usually the editor(s) will check that you have made the necessary revisions before informing you that your paper has been accepted for publication.
If major revisions were suggested, some journals will send your revised paper back to the original reviewers, who will assess whether the paper is now suitable for publication.
The editor(s) will then inform you whether your paper is accepted or whether further revisions are necessary.
What happens if my paper is rejected?
If your paper is rejected after peer review, you will may receive feedback including the comments made by the reviewers or editor(s). This can help you revise your work or find a more suitable journal.
Accepted papers
Once accepted, your manuscript will be prepared for publication. Many journals will ask you to prepare a final version of your manuscript according to the journal's particular style guidelines. If you are asked to do this, you should follow the guidelines sent to you by the editor and any instructions about how to submit images or other files. At this stage you will usually be asked to sign a publishing agreement and declare any relevant conflicts of interest. For more information, please see our publishing agreement FAQs.
Some research funding bodies require authors to deposit a copy of their accepted manuscript in an online repository at this stage. Please see Cambridge’s Green Open Access policy for information about complying with these sorts of requirements.