Manuscript Guidelines

To ensure consistency and quality, please read the entirety of these guidelines when working on DLS projects.

Please note, all journals have associated article processing charges (APCs) and DOI fees, which must be evenly divided among the authors. As the first author, you are responsible for collecting these fees from the co-authors, typically via Venmo, and submitting the total amount to the corresponding author responsible for submitting the paper. Co-authors should be prepared to promptly pay their share of the publication costs.

  • Put your full name, credentials, and affiliation with the city, state, and country at the top.

  • Be mindful of appropriate paragraph length which is on average 6-9 sentences.

  • A paragraph should have no more than 3 to 4 references.

  • There cannot be back-to-back references/articles discussed without talking about the implication of the studies/their relevance to our abstract.

    • Good Ex: Smith et al. reported xyz. Xyz implies 123. Moreover, this has the potential to... Additionally, Jones et al. discussed xyz. This could implicate...

  • As outlined in the point above, FLESH OUT ALL IDEAS and make them your own with unique perspectives! You MUST have original thought content as well.

  • Do NOT end a paragraph in a reference. If you did so that would imply you did not follow the point above and flesh out ideas.

  • Do NOT be REDUNDANT, use different synonyms/ways of expressing ideas so the paper reads well. This includes being redundant with content.

  • DO BE RELEVANT! Ensure all studies incorporated are relevant and make sure it is very clear WHY the content is relevant.

  • Use smooth transitions.

  • Start and end paragraphs with full names of abbreviations. Within the paragraph it is appropriate to use the abbreviation. Ex: pediatric atopic dermatitis versus pediatric AD.

  • Italicize scientific names of organisms, gene names, foreign words (in vivo, in vitro)

  • Introductions should not be lengthy, around 5 paragraphs is appropriate. Introduce background epidemiology information in this section when applicable.

  • Conclusions should be one paragraph ending the paper strongly.

  • At the end of a sentence, include your reference(s) as (Author, Date).

  • Put your references in APA format at the bottom of the paper in the references section IN ORDER of which they appeared within your assigned section. NOT alphabetical!

    • Include hyperlink for all references.

  • EDIT your work to the best of your ability BEFORE you place it in the google doc for final edits.

  • If you do not notify the first author of any difficulties that you may be having with reaching a deadline, or do not respond to a message about the paper you are on within 24 HOURS you will be removed from the paper.

  • As a first author, you are responsible for setting all manuscript deadlines.

  • When you are done, add a comment to the title of your section notifying the first author you have completed your section and acknowledge you have completed this checklist.

  • As a first author, you are in charge of creating an outline for your manuscript.

  • As a first author, you are then responsible for dividing up sections in your paper among your supporting authors (in appropriate text color) UNLESS you share with the group that it is up to them to decide their respective sections.

  • As a first author, create placeholder titles of the sections below your outline for your supporting authors to enter their text beneath. This includes the creation of the section References.

    • ALL AUTHORS must place references in the designated References section at the end of the manuscript!

  • As a first author, it is not appropriate to take one small section (ex: introduction). You must assign yourself to the “meat” of the paper which can vary from one or more sections depending on the topic.

  • As a first author, remove outlines and scrap work and fix formatting before notifying us that the manuscript is ready for edits.

  • As a first author, run through this checklist for all sections to ensure that the paper is truly ready for edits to be made before contacting your final editor.

    • If you notice something is missing with content in a section (paragraph has back-to-back references, contains large content gaps etc.), reach out to that supporting author with specific instructions from the checklist of what they need to improve within their section. However, try to fix grammar and wording yourself when you can! Please be KIND when reaching out to others.

  • Be ready to contribute to managing the citations at the end of a paper after it has been fully completed if you are one of the first three to four authors on the list.

  • Be ready to contribute to edits by team members or from journals if you are one of the first three to four authors on the list.

  • If an author below you takes over editing, they can bump other authors on the list downward.