Cleaner Materials Template
Get your Cleaner Materials 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 Cleaner Materials Template | A Step-by-Step Guide
Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 3 August, 2026
Submitting to Cleaner Materials goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Cleaner Materials 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 Cleaner Materials Template?
It is a manuscript shell aligned to Cleaner Materials. 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 Cleaner Materials journal page before you draft.
What's actually in a Clean Mater 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 Cleaner Materials 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 Cleaner Materials guide for authors before you submit.
What does this Cleaner Materials 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 the journal's submission system.
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 Clean Mater.
- Edit the prompt with your topic and article type, and note any requirement from the Cleaner Materials 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 the journal's submission system.
Cleaner Materials Template Structure at a Glance
| Element | Clean Mater requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Unstructured abstract, maximum 250 words. Should briefly state the purpose of research, principal results and major conclusions. Must stand alone (avoid references and non-standard abbreviations). No specific headings or structured format required. No variation by article type specified in the guide |
| Main text | Original article: 6000-8000 words. Review article: up to 12,000 words (must include Methods section explaining how literature for review was selected). Short Communication: brief communication for urgent matters or preliminary findings (no specific word 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 | 1 to 7 keywords required for indexing purposes. Keywords should be written in English. Authors should try to avoid keywords consisting of multiple words (using 'and' or 'of'). Abbreviations should only be used in keywords if they are firmly established in the field |
| References | Numbered reference style. References indicated by numbers within square brackets in text, numbered in order of appearance. Journal names abbreviated according to List of Title Word Abbreviations (LTWA). Format includes author names, article title, journal name, volume, year, pages, and DOI |
| Peer review | Single anonymized review process (also called single-blind review). Submissions are initially assessed by editors for suitability, then typically sent to a minimum of two reviewers for independent expert assessment of scientific quality |
| Submission | submit.elsevier.com/CLEMA |
Quick Tips for Using the Cleaner Materials Template
Read the Cleaner Materials 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 Cleaner Materials in under a page.
Best Practices
Skim two or three recent Clean Mater 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 Cleaner Materials 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 Cleaner Materials guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through the journal's submission system.
