Child Development Template
Get your Child Development 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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How to Use the Child Development Template | A Step-by-Step Guide
Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 3 August, 2026
Submitting to Child Development goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Child Development 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.
What is the Child Development Template?
It is a manuscript shell aligned to Child Development. 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 Child Development journal page before you draft.
What's actually in a Child Dev submission:
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 Child Development guide for authors lists, and cite figures and tables in order.
What separates a clean submission from one that gets kicked back:
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 Child Development guide for authors before you submit.
What does this Child Development Template include?
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).
Steps to Use This Template with SciSpace Agent
- Click Start Writing on this page. The SciSpace Agent prompt screen opens with the template loaded.
- Use the loaded template, or upload a version your group already uses for Child Dev.
- Edit the prompt with your topic and article type, and note any requirement from the Child Development guide for authors.
- Run the prompt. The agent drafts into the correct structure and reference style.
- Use View Outputs to verify required statements and formatting are present.
- Export and submit through ScholarOne (Manuscript Central).
Child Development Template Structure at a Glance
| Element | Child Dev requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Unstructured abstract with maximum 200 words for all article types (Empirical Articles, Brief Reports, Registered Reports, Reviews, Commentary/Response). As of September 2020, abstracts must contain: (1) demographic information about participants (age, sex/gender, race/ethnicity, dates of data collection), (2) sample size, and (3) characterization of focal effect size (generally as d or r for quantitative studies). Editors will be sensitive to international challenges in collection/presentation of demographic data |
| Main text | Empirical Article: no longer than 40 manuscript pages (including text, tables/figures, but excluding references and appendices); Brief Report: no longer than 4,000 words (including text, tables/figures, but excluding references and appendices); Review: no longer than 40 manuscript pages (including text, tables/figures, but excluding references and appendices); Registered Report: no specific limit stated in main guide (authors should review SRCD Registered Report guidelines); Commentary and Response: no specific main text limit stated |
| Declarations | Ethics approval/consent as applicable; competing interests; funding; data availability |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | Minimum 3 and maximum 6 keywords required for all article types |
| References | APA style. List in alphabetical order by authors' surname. Include DOI when available. All (and only) works cited in body text must appear in reference list. No limit for Empirical Articles, Registered Reports, and Reviews; Brief Reports may not exceed 3 manuscript pages; Commentary/Response may not exceed 8 manuscript pages |
| Peer review | Double-anonymized (double-blind) peer review. Identities of authors are hidden from reviewers, and reviewers' identities are hidden from authors. Editors know the identity of both reviewers and authors |
| Submission | mc.manuscriptcentral.com/childdev |
Quick Tips for Using the Child Development Template
Read the Child Development 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 Child Development in under a page.
Best Practices
Skim two or three recent Child Dev 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 Child Development journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Before You Submit: Final Check
Do one focused pass against the Child Development guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through ScholarOne (Manuscript Central).
