Get your Annals of Botany paper right the first time: a ready-made structure with the right abstract and citations, so editors see your science, not formatting slips.
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Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 30 July, 2026
Submitting to Annals of Botany goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Annals of Botany guide for authors before peer review, so formatting, structure, and required statements should be right on the first draft rather than repaired during upload. This template sets that structure up for you.
It is a manuscript shell aligned to Annals of Botany. It covers front matter, the abstract the journal expects, a body organized to the journal's article types, and a reference list in the journal's required style. Confirm current scope and article types on the Annals of Botany journal page before you draft.
Prepare the title, authors, affiliations, and ORCID iDs. Write the abstract to the journal's rule and word limit, organize the body to the article type, and apply the required reference style from the first citation. Complete every declaration (ethics, competing interests, funding, data availability) the Annals of Botany guide for authors lists, and cite figures and tables in order.
The common failure modes are formatting or reference style that does not match the guide for authors, missing required statements, and an incomplete portal checklist. Clear all three against the Annals of Botany guide for authors before you submit.
The shell mirrors what editorial staff check first: article-type fit, the abstract rules, required declarations, and the journal's reference style. For more detail see the author resources. When your draft is ready, upload it through ScholarOne (Manuscript Central).
| Element | Ann Bot requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | 300 words, structured with bulleted headings (Background and Aims, Methods, Key Results, Conclusions for Original Articles; Background, Scope and Conclusions for Reviews) |
| Main text | Original Articles and Technical Advances: not normally exceed 10 PDF pages; Perspectives: generally <12,000 words; Research in Context: <15,000 words; Educational Reviews: 4,000-10,000 words; Botanical Briefings: <3,000 words; Letters: brief or >1,000 words; Book Reviews: <1,500 words |
| Declarations | Ethics approval/consent as applicable; competing interests; funding; data availability |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | 3-12 |
| References | Author-date format with alphabetical Literature Cited section; in-text citations as (Author, Year); 6 or fewer authors listed in full, 7+ authors show first 3 et al. last author; DOI included when available |
| Peer review | Single-blind (author names visible to reviewers, reviewer identities not shared with authors) |
| Submission | mc.manuscriptcentral.com/aob |
Read the Annals of Botany guide for authors once before drafting and once before upload. Draft the abstract after results are stable. Set the reference style before adding citations. Keep a cover letter that states your contribution and fit to Annals of Botany in under a page.
Skim two or three recent Ann Bot papers to calibrate depth and figure style. Make the novelty clear in the first two pages. Deposit data and code when the policy on the Annals of Botany journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Annals of Botany guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through ScholarOne (Manuscript Central).