Get your Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences paper right the first time: a ready-made structure with the right abstract and citations, so editors see your science, not formatting slips.
4.3
Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 7 August, 2026
Submitting to Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences 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 Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences. 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 Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences 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 Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences 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 Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences 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 the journal (invitation-only).
| Element | Current Opinion Behav Sci requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Unstructured abstract, maximum 250 words. Must be concise and factual, briefly stating the purpose of research, principal results, and major conclusions. Abstracts must stand alone; avoid references unless essential (cite author(s) and year(s) if included); avoid non-standard or uncommon abbreviations (define if essential) |
| Main text | Review articles: 2000 word limit (excluding abstract, references, and figure captions) exploring the most important developments in the last 2 years. No more than 4 tables or figures (at least one figure required). No more than 5 authors |
| Declarations | Ethics approval/consent as applicable; competing interests; funding; data availability |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | Required: 1 to 7 keywords for indexing purposes. Keywords should be written in English. Authors should avoid keywords consisting of multiple words (using 'and' or 'of'). Use abbreviations in keywords only if firmly established in the field |
| References | Numbered Vancouver style in square brackets in text, following ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals. References numbered in order of appearance in text. Maximum 50 references. At least 10% must be annotated as papers of special interest (*) or outstanding interest (**), with annotations from the past 2 years only. Journal abbreviations follow List of Title Word Abbreviations (LTWA) |
| Peer review | Single anonymized review process (single-blind). Submissions initially assessed by editors for suitability, then typically sent to a minimum of two reviewers for independent expert assessment of scientific quality. Final decisions made by editors |
| Submission | Invitation-only / commissioned; details provided to invited authors |
Read the Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences 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 Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences in under a page.
Skim two or three recent Current Opinion Behav Sci 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 Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Current Opinion in Behavioral Sciences guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through the journal (invitation-only).