Get your Engineering Research Express 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 25 July, 2026
Submitting to Engineering Research Express goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Engineering Research Express 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 journal specifically expects a Highlights list; build these in from the start. This template sets that structure up for you.
It is a manuscript shell aligned to Engineering Research Express. 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 Engineering Research Express 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 Engineering Research Express 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 Engineering Research Express 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 (IOP).
| Element | ERE requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Unstructured abstract; should not normally be more than 300 words. Must include methodology used, main results obtained, and conclusions drawn. Should be complete in itself without undefined acronyms/abbreviations, table/figure numbers, references or equations. The guide states 'Some journals ask for abstracts to follow a particular structure' but does not specify that ERX requires structured abstracts. |
| 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 |
| Submission | mc04.manuscriptcentral.com |
| References | Either Vancouver numerical system (numbered sequentially in square brackets) or Harvard alphabetical system (author-year format). Authors may use either system consistently. The guide explicitly states: 'it is not necessary to format your references in the ways shown in the guidelines... We will ensure your references adhere to house style during the production process, whatever format you submit them in.' |
| Peer review | Single-anonymous or double-anonymous (author's choice) |
| Keywords | Author-supplied; required ("you will be asked to supply some keywords"). No specific number, range, minimum, or maximum specified in the official author guidelines—only states "some keywords" (plural implied). Keywords are used to index the article and make it discoverable. |
Read the Engineering Research Express 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 Engineering Research Express in under a page.
Skim two or three recent ERE 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 Engineering Research Express journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Engineering Research Express guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through ScholarOne (IOP).