Get your Cerebral Cortex 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 3 August, 2026
Submitting to Cerebral Cortex goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Cerebral Cortex 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 Cerebral Cortex. 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 Cerebral Cortex 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 Cerebral Cortex 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 Cerebral Cortex 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 | Cereb Cortex requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Unstructured (without headings such as background, objectives, etc.). Word limits by article type: Original Research article: 200 words; Review article: 200 words; Commentary: 120 words; Letter to the Editor and Reply: N/A (no abstract required) |
| Main text | Word count limits by article type: Original Research article: 5,000 words; Review article: 8,000 words; Commentary: 3,000 words; Letter to the Editor and Reply: 500 words. Section order: Introduction (without separate heading), Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgments, Funding, References, Tables, Figures |
| Declarations | Ethics approval/consent as applicable; competing interests; funding; data availability |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | Up to five keywords should be provided, in alphabetical order, and should characterize the scope of the paper, the principal materials, and main subject of work. Keywords should not repeat words that appear in the title |
| References | CSE Style Name-Year system (Council of Science Editors, 9th ed.). References are cited in-text as author-year format (e.g., 'Author 1989' or 'Author and Author 1985') and listed alphabetically in the reference list. all author names unless there are more than 5, when et al. should be used |
| Peer review | Single-anonymized (also called single-blind). The identity of the authors is known to the editors and reviewers, but reviewers' identities are known only to the editors and are hidden from the authors |
| Submission | mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cercor |
Read the Cerebral Cortex 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 Cerebral Cortex in under a page.
Skim two or three recent Cereb Cortex 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 Cerebral Cortex journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Cerebral Cortex guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through ScholarOne (Manuscript Central).