Critical Care Explorations Template
Writing for Critical Care Explorations? This template gives you a submission-ready structure—sections, abstract, and references—so you focus on the research, not the formatting.
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How to Use the Critical Care Explorations Template | A Step-by-Step Guide
Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 25 July, 2026
Submitting to Critical Care Explorations goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Critical Care Explorations 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 Critical Care Explorations Template?
It is a manuscript shell aligned to Critical Care Explorations. 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 Critical Care Explorations journal page before you draft.
What's actually in a CCE 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 Critical Care Explorations 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 Critical Care Explorations guide for authors before you submit.
What does this Critical Care Explorations Template include?
The shell mirrors what editorial staff check first: article-type fit, the abstract rules, required declarations, and the journal's reference style. When your draft is ready, upload it through Editorial Manager.
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 CCE.
- Edit the prompt with your topic and article type, and note any requirement from the Critical Care Explorations 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 Editorial Manager.
Critical Care Explorations Template Structure at a Glance
| Element | CCE requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | 300 words maximum for all abstracts. Structure varies by article type: - Original clinical reports: Objectives (Background), Design, Setting, Patients/Subjects, Interventions, Measurements and Main Results (Limitations), Conclusions - Original basic science reports: Context (What is the problem or knowledge gap?), Hypothesis (State the overarching study hypothesis), Methods and Models (What models, techniques, and methods; include statistical methods), Results (What are your primary findings?), Interpretation and Conclusions (What new knowledge has your work generated?) - Observational/cohort studies: Importance, Objectives, Design/Setting/Participants, Main Outcomes and Measures, Results, Conclusions and Relevance - Reviews (narrative and systematic): Objectives, Data Sources, Study Selection, Data Extraction, Data Synthesis, Conclusions - Case reports: 150 words including Background (What does this report add?), Case summary (Chief complaint, diagnosis, interventions, outcomes), Conclusion (Main takeaway lesson) - Research reports: Objectives (Background), Design, Setting, Patients/Subjects, Interventions, Measurements and Main Results (Limitations), Conclusions - Commentaries and letters: 150 words, unstructured - Methodology articles, QI reports, Qualitative/Mixed methods, and protocols have their own structured formats as detailed in article type grid |
| Main text | Section order and length per article type |
| Declarations | Ethics, competing interests, funding, data as required |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | Five (5) keywords required for indexing, using terms from the NLM's Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) thesaurus (https://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/meshhome.html) |
| References | National Library of Medicine (NLM) style. References numbered consecutively in the order cited in text, in parentheses. Journal titles abbreviated per NLM's MeSH thesaurus (spell out if not in MeSH). Include all named authors up to the first three, then add 'et al.' Inclusive page numbers required. Format follows ICMJE guidelines (www.icmje.org) |
| Peer review | Single-blind (also called single-anonymous). Editors and reviewers know the identities of the authors, but authors do not know the identities of the reviewers. |
| Submission | editorialmanager.com |
Quick Tips for Using the Critical Care Explorations Template
Read the Critical Care Explorations 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 Critical Care Explorations in under a page.
Best Practices
Skim two or three recent CCE 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 Critical Care Explorations 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 Critical Care Explorations guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through Editorial Manager.
