Get your CNS Drugs 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 7 August, 2026
Submitting to CNS Drugs goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the CNS Drugs 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 CNS Drugs. 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 CNS Drugs 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 CNS Drugs 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 CNS Drugs 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 Editorial Manager.
| Element | CNS Drugs requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Abstracts should be 150-250 words. For narrative reviews, abstracts should be unstructured (no headings). For original research articles, abstracts should be structured (e.g. following CONSORT for RCTs, PRISMA for systematic reviews, STROBE for observational studies). For systematic reviews and original research articles, abstract length can be increased to up to 450 words if needed to comply with reporting guidelines |
| Main text | Word limits vary by article type: Review Article up to 8,000 words; Current Opinion up to 3,000 words; Leading Article up to 4,000 words; Therapy in Practice up to 5,000 words; Systematic Review up to 10,000 words; Original Research up to 6,000 words; Research Letter up to 1,500 words; Letter to the Editor up to 1,000 words; Editorial/Commentary up to 1,500 words. Word counts exclude abstract, references, figure legends, and table captions. There is no limit on number of tables, figures, or references |
| 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 requested. The Additional Information for Authors document explicitly states: 'a list of keywords is not required.' |
| References | Numbered citation style. Reference citations in text are identified by numbers in square brackets. References are listed numerically and consecutively. Format follows standard Vancouver-style with journal abbreviations according to ISSN List of Title Word Abbreviations |
| Peer review | Single-blind (single-anonymous). Peer reviewer identities are kept confidential, but author identities are known to the reviewers |
| Submission | www.editorialmanager.com/cnsa/ |
Read the CNS Drugs 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 CNS Drugs in under a page.
Skim two or three recent CNS Drugs 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 CNS Drugs journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the CNS Drugs guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through Editorial Manager.