Earth's Future Template
Get your Earth's Future 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 Earth's Future Template | A Step-by-Step Guide
Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 10 August, 2026
Submitting to Earth's Future goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Earth's Future 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 Earth's Future Template?
It is a manuscript shell aligned to Earth's Future. 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 Earth's Future journal page before you draft.
What's actually in an Earth's Future 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 Earth's Future 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 Earth's Future guide for authors before you submit.
What does this Earth's Future 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 Earth's Future.
- Edit the prompt with your topic and article type, and note any requirement from the Earth's Future 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.
Earth's Future Template Structure at a Glance
| Element | Earth's Future requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Unstructured (single paragraph), less than 250 words. Must not include table or figure mentions. Should avoid reference citations unless dependent on or directly related to another paper (e.g., companion, comment, reply, or commentary). All abbreviations must be defined. No variation by article type stated |
| Main text | Research Articles: up to 25 publication units (PU), where 1 PU = 500 words or 1 display element (figure or table). Commentaries: limited to 6 publication units (recommended ~2000 words and 1-2 figures). Word count excludes: title, authors, affiliations, key points, keywords, text in tables (but not captions), and 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 | Up to 5 index terms from the AGU Index Set (required at submission; do not use terms ending in '00'), plus up to 6 optional free-form keywords (not included in word count) |
| References | Name-date format (author-date system), not numbered references. Citations enclosed in parentheses: (Zhu et al., 2016) or Zhu et al. (2009). Detailed citation style in AGU's Style Guide |
| Peer review | Single-blind (single anonymized): author names are visible to editors and reviewers, but reviewer names are kept confidential |
| Submission | earthsfuture-submit.agu.org/cgi-bin/main.plex |
Quick Tips for Using the Earth's Future Template
Read the Earth's Future 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 Earth's Future in under a page.
Best Practices
Skim two or three recent Earth's Future 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 Earth's Future 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 Earth's Future guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through the journal's submission system.
