Get your Fish and Fisheries 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 11 August, 2026
Submitting to Fish and Fisheries goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Fish and Fisheries 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 Fish and Fisheries. 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 Fish and Fisheries 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 Fish and Fisheries 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 Fish and Fisheries 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's submission system.
| Element | Fish Fisheries requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Unstructured abstract. Maximum 250 words. Must contain the major keywords. No mandatory subheadings specified. For original articles (not Ghoti articles), a table of contents follows the abstract in the manuscript |
| Main text | Original articles: up to 10,000 words (including references, suggested length). Ghoti forum articles: up to 4,500 words (including references, suggested). Policy Perspectives: 4,000-6,000 words (including references, suggested). Methods and Practices: 4,000-8,000 words (including references, suggested). Note: Suggested lengths are not strict limits; longer manuscripts can be accepted if justified by content per editors' and reviewers' judgment |
| Declarations | Ethics approval/consent as applicable; competing interests; funding; data availability |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | Exactly 6 keywords required, arranged in alphabetical order. Keywords should not include words already in the title |
| References | References may be submitted in any style or format for initial submission, as long as the style is consistent throughout the manuscript |
| Peer review | Single-anonymized (single-blind). Manuscripts are peer reviewed by at least two anonymous reviewers. do not know the authors' identities, but authors know the reviewers' identities are anonymous |
| Submission | authors.wiley.com/journal/FAF |
Read the Fish and Fisheries 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 Fish and Fisheries in under a page.
Skim two or three recent Fish Fisheries 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 Fish and Fisheries journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Fish and Fisheries guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through the journal's submission system.