Get your Clinical Microbiology and Infection paper right the first time: a ready-made structure with the right abstract and citations, so editors see your science, not formatting slips.
4.1
Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 7 August, 2026
Submitting to Clinical Microbiology and Infection goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Clinical Microbiology and Infection 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 Clinical Microbiology and Infection. 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 Clinical Microbiology and Infection 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 Clinical Microbiology and Infection 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 Clinical Microbiology and Infection 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 | Clin Microbiol Infect requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Structured abstract required for most article types with specific headings by type. Original Article and Research Note: structured, 300 words maximum, sections - Objectives; Methods; Results; Conclusions. Systematic Review (interventions): structured, 300 words maximum, sections - Background; Objectives; Methods (Data sources, Study eligibility criteria, Participants, Interventions, Assessment of risk of bias, Methods of data synthesis); Results; Conclusions. Systematic Review (diagnostic tests): structured, 300 words maximum, sections - Background; Objectives; Methods (Data sources, Study eligibility criteria, Participants, Test/s, Reference standard, Assessment of risk of bias, Methods of data synthesis); Results; Discussion. Narrative Review: structured, 300 words maximum, sections - Background; Objectives; Sources; Content; Implications. Commentary, Editorial, and Letters: no abstract published (4-5 sentences for peer-reviewers only, not published) |
| Main text | Original Article: not exceed 2500 words. Research Note: maximum 1400 words. Systematic Review: limited to 3500 words. Narrative Review: 2500 words or fewer. Commentary: 1400 words or less. Editorial: same as Commentary. Letters: not exceed 800 words. All manuscripts must be double-spaced with wide margins and continuous line numbers. Text should be divided into sections (Introduction; Methods; Results; Discussion for Original Articles) |
| Declarations | Ethics approval/consent as applicable; competing interests; funding; data availability |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | Not specified in the official author guidelines |
| References | Vancouver Numbered style. Authors must include Digital Object Identifiers (DOI) in references. cited in text by numbers. Number references in list in order they appear in text. Example format provided: Liu J, Chen Y, Li R, Wu Z, Xu Q, Li Z, et al. Intravenous immunoglobulin treatment for patients with severe COVID-19: a retrospective multi-center study. Clin Microbiol Infect. 2021; 27:1488–93. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cmi.2021.07.012 |
| Peer review | Peer reviewed; blind model not specified in the official author guidelines |
| Submission | mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cmi |
Read the Clinical Microbiology and Infection 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 Clinical Microbiology and Infection in under a page.
Skim two or three recent Clin Microbiol Infect 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 Clinical Microbiology and Infection journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Clinical Microbiology and Infection guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through ScholarOne (Manuscript Central).