For authors
Instructions for Authors
How to prepare a manuscript for International Marine Science Journal, and what the journal asks you to report.
Sections one to six apply to every manuscript. Section seven sets out reporting expectations by study type — field and sampling work, fisheries, ecology, oceanography and environmental studies — and applies only where relevant to your work.
Types
Article types and limits
Word counts are for the main text and exclude the abstract, references, tables and figure captions. Limits are guidance, not thresholds: a manuscript that needs more space for a good reason will not be declined for length alone, but should say why in the cover letter.
| Article type | Abstract | Main text | References | Figures and tables |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Original research | 300 words | 6,000–8,000 words | No limit | Up to 10 |
| Review article | 350 words | 8,000–12,000 words | No limit | Up to 12 |
| Short communication | 200 words | 2,500–3,500 words | 30 maximum | Up to 4 |
| Technical note | 200 words | 3,000–4,000 words | 40 maximum | Up to 6 |
Whether the subject of your manuscript fits the journal at all is a separate question, settled on the Aims and Scope page.
Structure
Manuscript structure
Original research follows IMRAD — introduction, methods, results, discussion. Reviews and technical notes may depart from it where the material requires.
- Title
- Up to 20 words. State what was studied and where. Avoid questions, declarative claims of significance, and abbreviations other than those a marine scientist would read without expansion.
- Abstract
- Unstructured, within the limit for the type. State the question, the system and location, what was done, the principal findings in terms appropriate to the study design, and what it means. Abstracts should not cite references.
- Keywords
- Four to eight, chosen so that a researcher in the field would use them to search. Do not repeat words already in the title.
- Introduction
- The question and why it is open, ending with the specific aim or hypothesis. Not a general review of the field.
- Methods
- Enough detail for the work to be repeated, including the reporting items in section seven that apply to your study type.
- Results
- Findings with the quantities that support them — effect sizes, variability, sample sizes — not significance alone. Do not interpret here.
- Discussion
- What the results show, how they relate to existing work, and their limits. Conclusions must be proportionate to the evidence: a local, short-duration or single-season observation does not support a general ecosystem or policy claim.
- Nomenclature
- Give the full scientific name with authority at first mention, then the abbreviated binomial. State the taxonomic authority or key used for identification.
- Units
- SI units throughout, with oceanographic conventions where standard — practical salinity as a dimensionless quantity, depth in meters, coordinates in decimal degrees with the datum stated.
- Language
- English. Either consistent British or American spelling is accepted, provided one is used throughout.
Display
Figures, tables and supplementary files
- Figure files
- Separate files, not embedded in the manuscript. Vector formats for line art; at least 300 dpi at final size for photographs and raster images.
- Captions
- Each figure and table is understandable without the text: state the location, period, sample size and what error bars or shading represent.
- Maps
- Include a scale bar, a north arrow, and the coordinate system or datum. Show the study location in a regional context where a reader would not otherwise place it.
- Image integrity
- Adjustments must be applied to the whole image and must not obscure, remove or introduce a feature. Supply unprocessed originals on request.
- Tables
- Editable text, never images. Each column headed with its unit.
- Supplementary files
- Each with a short description. Material essential to the argument belongs in the article, not in supplementary files.
- Reused material
- Written permission is required for any figure, table or extract reproduced from another source, and the source is cited in the caption.
Citation
References
List the first three authors, then et al. Cite the DOI where one exists. Datasets, software and preprints are cited in the reference list like any other source, with their own DOI or accession.
- Journal article — Author AB, Author CD, Author EF, et al. Title of the article. Journal Name. 2024;12(3):145–159. doi:10.xxxx/xxxxx
- Book — Author AB. Title of the Book. 3rd ed. Publisher; 2022.
- Chapter — Author AB. Title of the chapter. In: Editor CD, ed. Title of the Book. Publisher; 2021:88–104.
- Dataset — Author AB. Title of the dataset. Repository; 2023. doi:10.xxxx/xxxxx
- Preprint — Author AB. Title of the preprint. Preprint server. Posted 4 March 2024. doi:10.xxxx/xxxxx
- Report — Organization. Title of the Report. Report No. 000. Organization; 2023.
- Web page — Organization. Title of the page. Accessed 11 September 2026. https://example.org/page
Declarations
Declarations
Required on every manuscript. A statement is required even where the answer is none.
- Author contributions
- What each author did, in enough detail to show that each meets the ICMJE authorship criteria.
- Funding
- All funding and material support, with grant numbers where they exist.
- Competing interests
- Financial and non-financial interests that could be seen to influence the work.
- Data availability
- Every empirical research manuscript must include a data-availability statement, naming the repository and accession, or stating why data cannot be released and how access may be requested.
- AI use
- Any use of generative AI in producing text, figures, code or analysis, naming the tool and what it was used for. An AI tool cannot be an author.
- Acknowledgments
- Contributors who do not meet the authorship criteria, named with their permission. Vessel crews, field assistants and sample providers are normally acknowledged here.
Compliance
Ethics and permits
Applied where the work involves them. The full rules are on the Editorial Policies page.
- Permits
- Studies involving protected species, marine protected areas or sensitive habitats require the appropriate permits. Report the issuing authority and the permit reference in the methods.
- Animal welfare
- Animal research must comply with institutional guidelines. For vertebrates and cephalopods, report the approving body, the approval reference, and the measures taken to minimize harm.
- Specimen provenance
- Where specimens were collected, by what method, and where vouchers are deposited, with their accession numbers.
- Genetic resources
- Where access-and-benefit-sharing obligations apply, declare the permissions obtained.
- Sensitive locations
- Where precise coordinates would create a risk to a vulnerable population or site, raise this at submission so that reduced precision can be agreed and stated in the article.
- Human participants
- Where a study involves people — interviews with fishers, for instance — report ethics approval and the consent obtained.
By study type
Reporting expectations by study type
These apply where they fit the work. They are not a universal checklist, and a manuscript is not expected to satisfy categories that do not apply to it.
- Field and sampling studies
- Sampling location with coordinates and datum; sampling design and why it was chosen; gear and collection method; dates, season and duration; number and independence of replicates; the environmental variables measured and how; the basis for species identification; and the permits held.
- Fisheries studies
- The stock or population under study and how it is defined; the data source and whether fishery-dependent or fishery-independent; gear, effort and selectivity; how bycatch and discards were treated; the assumptions of any assessment model and their sensitivity; and the permissions under which the data are used.
- Marine ecology
- The study system and habitat; whether observational or experimental; the unit of replication and the level at which it is independent; the community or population metrics used and why; the environmental context; and the statistical design, including how non-independence in space or time was handled.
- Oceanographic studies
- Instruments and their calibration; sampling resolution in space, depth and time; the period of coverage; processing steps and version-controlled routines; quality-control procedures and how flagged data were treated; and the accuracy and precision of the reported quantities.
- Pollution and environmental studies
- The sampling matrix; analytical method; limits of detection and quantification; recovery, blanks, reference materials and other quality-assurance measures; how values below detection were handled; and interpretation of concentrations against an ecological benchmark rather than against magnitude alone.
- Modeling and remote sensing
- Model or sensor and version; forcing, inputs and boundary conditions; resolution; evaluation appropriate to the model and its claims, including analytical checks, simulation benchmarks or independent observations as appropriate, with the metrics reported; and the domain over which results are held to apply.
- Molecular and genomic work
- Primers, protocols and platform; controls; how sequences were assigned to taxa and against which reference; and the accessions under which sequences are deposited in a public database.
Before submitting
Submission checklist
Single-blind by default; double-blind review is available on request. Manuscripts that proceed to external peer review are normally evaluated by at least two independent subject-matter experts.
For double-blind review, remove author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, funding details, institution names, and other identifying information from the reviewer manuscript. Provide identifying information separately in the title-page file or submission form.
- The work is within the journal's scope, and the article type is chosen.
- Abstract, main text, references and figure counts are within the limits for that type.
- Title page carries all authors, affiliations, ORCID iDs and the corresponding author's details.
- The manuscript has continuous line numbering and numbered pages.
- Figures are separate files at publication resolution; tables are editable text.
- Maps carry a scale bar, north arrow and datum.
- Scientific names are given in full with authority at first mention.
- Permits, ethics approvals and their references are reported in the methods.
- The reporting items in section seven that apply to the study type are addressed.
- Data-availability, funding, competing-interests, contribution and AI-use statements are present.
- References follow the house style, with DOIs where they exist.
- Permission is held for any reused material.
- All co-authors have approved the submission.
Primary route — ManuscriptZone
Alternative route — manuscript submission form
Assisted route — editorial office
Authors must use only one submission route for the same manuscript.
Full guidance on the submission process is on the submission page. An article processing charge applies on acceptance and plays no part in the assessment; the terms are on the Article Processing Charges page.