Formatting your paper

These are general formatting guidelines across BMJ, please always refer to journal-specific instructions for authors for article type specifications. You can browse the titles on our Journals website. If you are looking to submit to The BMJ, please visit this section.

If you are unable to find the answer to your question, our editorial team will be on hand to offer assistance throughout the submission process. Contact details for the editorial team are on the journal’s Contact Us page.

You can also refer to our formatting checklist to make sure you have covered everything on submission.

Submission prefill tool

BMJ has introduced a submission prefill tool to help authors populate various fields on submission of their manuscript to ScholarOne. When authors start their submission they will have the option, when prompted, to upload their manuscript enabling the system to automatically extract and populate the following submission fields if available in the main manuscript document: Title, Abstract, Authors, Institutions, Funders. This tool typically reduces the time taken to submit a manuscript by 25%

Keywords

Keywords are specific terms that define what your paper is about. Keywords are important for search engine optimisation and enhance the discoverability of your work and its impact. They also help editors to identify peer reviewers for your manuscript.

You can start to type in a term and select from a list of suggested matches or search the full list of keywords. If your required MeSH descriptor is not available in the keyword list please contact the editorial office who will arrange for it to be added. You will be able to include this at revision.

Authors and Institutions

On submission of your article through our submission system you will be asked to provide a name, email address and institutional affiliation for all contributing authors. In the final published article author names, institutions and addresses will be taken from these completed fields and not from the submitted Word document. Refer to the BMJ policy on authorship for more information.

Manuscript format

The manuscript must be submitted as a Word document ( BMJ Case Reports request that authors submit using a template which should also be in Word format). PDF is not accepted.

The manuscript should be presented in the following order:

BMJ has introduced a submission prefill tool to help authors populate various fields on submission of their manuscript to ScholarOne. When authors start their submission they will have the option, when prompted, to upload their manuscript enabling the system to automatically extract and populate the following submission fields if available in the main manuscript document: Title, Abstract, Authors, Institutions, Funders. This tool typically reduces the time taken to submit a manuscript by 25%.

Figures must be uploaded as separate files (view further details under the Figures/illustrations section). All figures must be cited within the main text in numerical order and legends should be provided at the end of the manuscript.

Online Supplementary materials should be uploaded using the File Designation “Supplementary File” on the submission site and cited in the main text.

Please remove any hidden text headers or footers from your file before submission.

Style

Acronyms and abbreviations should be used sparingly and fully explained when first used. Abbreviations and symbols must be standard. SI units should be used throughout, except for blood pressure values which should be reported in mm Hg.

Whenever possible, drugs should be given their approved generic name. Where a proprietary (brand) name is used, it should begin with a capital letter.

To ensure a consistent approach, submitted articles should not include Trademark or Registered trademark symbols in the main text, tables or figures.

Figures and illustrations

Authors should upload any images and figures in the highest resolution possible, and these should be uploaded as separate files. Any cleaning or image enhancement should be clearly described in the submission and in the figure legend. All images must be cited within the main text in numerical order and legends must be provided (ideally at the end of the manuscript). Video: How to improve your graphs and tables.

Colour images

For certain journals, authors of unsolicited manuscripts that wish to publish colour figures in print will be charged a fee to cover the cost of printing. Refer to the specific journal’s instructions for authors for more information.

Alternatively, authors are encouraged to supply colour illustrations for online publication and black and white versions for print publication. Colour publication online is offered at no charge, but the figure legend must not refer to the use of colours. Detailed guidance on figure preparation

File types

Figures should be submitted in TIFF, EPS, JPEG or PDF formats. Please note, figures submitted in TIFF formats should be a single-layered flat file; we can not accept TIFF files which contain multiple pages. In EPS files, text (if present) should be outlined. For non-vector files (eg TIFF, JPEG) a minimum resolution of 300 dpi is required, except for line art which should be 1200 dpi. Histograms should be presented in a simple, two-dimensional format, with no background grid.

For figures consisting of multiple images/parts, please ensure these are submitted as a single composite file for processing. We are unable to accept figures that are submitted as multiple files.

Figures are checked using automated quality control and if they are below the minimum standard you will be alerted and asked to resupply them.

Please ensure that any specific patient/hospital details are removed or blacked out (e.g. X-rays, MRI scans, etc). Figures that use a black bar to obscure a patient’s identity are not accepted.

Tables

Tables should be in Word format and placed in the main text where the table is first cited. Tables must be cited in the main text in numerical order. Please note that tables embedded as Excel files within the manuscript are NOT accepted. Tables in Excel should be copied and pasted into the manuscript Word file.

Tables should be self-explanatory and the data they contain must not be duplicated in the text or figures. Any tables submitted that are longer/larger than 2 pages will be published as online only supplementary material. Video: How to improve your graphs and tables

Multimedia files

You may submit multimedia files to enhance your article. Video files are preferred in .WMF or .AVI formats, but can also be supplied as .FLV, .Mov, and .MP4. When submitting, please ensure you upload them using the File Designation “Supplementary File – Video”.

References

BMJ reference style
BMJ formats references using Vancouver style; references are sequentially numbered within the text of the main document and match the reference list at the end of the article. The first three authors are listed by last name and initials, with additional authors acknowledged by the use of ‘et al’ if applicable.

Depending on the type of reference, we may also include: the publication name, date of publication, volume and page numbers, chapter, DOI, URL, PubMed ID, access date, and any other necessary information.

Exception: Medical Humanities uses Chicago author-date referencing which is more commonly used in social sciences; references are listed by author and date within the text of the main document with the an alphabetical reference list at the end of the article. Please see the online style manual for details and this published article for examples.

Preparing references

    1. author names in any format
    2. article title
    3. DOI or PubMed ID

    Example references

    Journals:

    Databases and websites:

    Books and Legal:

    Acknowledgements

    Authors whose research has been presented at a scientific meeting are of course still able to publish in any of our journals, but we ask that prior presentation of the work at a conference should be acknowledged in the manuscript and any published conference abstract(s) should be cited

    Supplemental material

    Additional information such as figures, tables, raw data and methodology statements, may be submitted and published alongside your manuscript as ‘supplemental material’. Supplemental material shall only be accepted subject to the following criteria: