RR:C19 Manuscript Author Guidelines and Requirements

For authors whose manuscripts have been selected by RR:C19 for publication, we ask that the following guidelines are adhered to in their formal submissions for the journal.

I. Style Guides by Discipline

• Biological Science [CSE-SSF 8]

• Chemical Science [ACS]

• Humanities and Social Sciences [CMS 17, author-date]

• Medical and Public Health [AMA 11]

• Physical Sciences and Engineering [TBD]

II. Final Submission

Once an article final submission, files must be provided in Word or LaTeX in using the correct reference style and following the guidelines below. 

Word submission requirements:

• Single-column

• Standard 12 pt. serif font (e.g., Times)

• Text, references, and figure legends all double spaced

• Equations in Math Type (not images)

LaTeX submission requirements:

• Use an article class file with a single column of standard 12 pt. serif font (e.g., Times)

• Text, references, and figure legends all double spaced

• Provide all elements of the TeX package

• Include a compiled PDF

Figure requirements, Word and TeX:

Figures may appear inline, but please also supply them as separate files. Appropriate formats include EPS, JPG, and TIFF. High-resolution (300 dpi) figures are desirable, and individual figure files should be no larger than 10Mb. Figure labels and lettering should be legible once figures are reproduced at their publication sizes (no larger than 7x10 inches). Separate panels should be labeled clearly and fully referred to in the figure legend. Authors are strongly encouraged to design their figures so that they reproduce well in the final pdf layout.

Table requirements:

Table should appear inline and be formatted as tables, not tab or comma delimited text.

III. Accessibility of Data and Other Materials

If you plan to publish data sets or tools, please cite these materials in the text of your article and include entries for them in your references list (including a link to a public repository where the materials can be accessed). We strongly recommend that you place your supporting materials in a repository with a robust persistence policy that will register and supply you with a persistent identifier like a DOI. Include this persistent ID in your reference listing.

RR:C19 strongly urges all authors to openly share all data and other materials that are essential for reproducing the article’s key findings and conclusions, and for building on the published work. Small (<100Mb) data and tools can be shared as Supplementary Materials which will be directly linked to the article. Larger packages should be hosted at a public repository. They should be referenced in the manuscript and a persistent URL or identifier (DOI) should be provided. . Data and materials should be available or accessible to editors and reviewers at the time of first submission for the purpose of evaluating the suitability and quality of the manuscript, and should be made freely and openly accessible to the public at the time of acceptance. Authors will be queried about sharing of data and other materials on first submission.

Sharing of data and materials is strongly encouraged for Research articles and is an absolute requirement for Methods and Data articles. Original data or other materials should not be linked to Review and Perspective articles.

IV. Publication Ethics

RR:C19 adheres to a set of ethical principles that guide the publication process.

Authorship. The corresponding author is responsible for the appropriateness and completeness of the authorship list and agreement of all authors to the journal’s open access, data sharing and ethical policies. 

Originality. All articles published in RR:C19 must represent original work. While under consideration at the journal they cannot be submitted for publication elsewhere.

Plagiarism and Research Fraud. A determination of plagiarism or fabrication by the journal will require contacting the corresponding author’s institution and possibly funding agencies. If plagiarism or fabrication is determined post-publication, the journal will investigate potential courses of action, up to and including formal retraction of the article.

Competing Interests. Competing interests are usually financial in nature and negatively impact (or create the impression that they might negatively impact) an articles quality or integrity. Examples are research support from or employment by organizations, or personal financial interests (such as stock ownership, consultation agreements) in companies, that may gain or lose from the findings in the article. All articles must be accompanied by a Competing Interest Statement. If competing interests exist, the corresponding author is responsible for entering a brief statement describing them at the time of first submission.

More information can be found here.

Bioethics

For any manuscripts that involve experimentation on live vertebrates and/or higher invertebrates, the corresponding author (on first submission) must certify that these experiments were performed in accordance with relevant guidelines and regulations. The manuscript must include a statement (usually within the Methods section of the article) regarding approval from the relevant institutional committee, or equivalent. When reporting animal studies we suggest following the ARRIVE guidelines (PLOS Biology 8, e1000412).

For any manuscripts that include data from human subjects, the committee approving the experiments must be named and identified in the text of the article (usually as part of the Methods section). In addition, there must be a statement in the article that confirms that informed consent was obtained from all human subjects.

Any special issues regarding bioethics or biosafety (e.g. stem cell research, gene editing or biosecurity) must be brought to the attention of the Editor at the time of first submission.