Get your Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 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 Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 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 Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. 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 Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 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 Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 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 Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 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 | Frontiers Behav Neurosci requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Structured, single paragraph, following IMRAD format (Introduction, Methods, Results, And Discussion). No specific word limit stated in the general guidelines; authors should follow requirements of the specific article type. For clinical trial articles, must include the unique identifier and URL of the trial registry. Must minimize abbreviations and not cite references, figures or tables |
| Main text | Word count limits vary by article type: Original Research/Systematic Review/Methods/Review/Hypothesis and Theory/Clinical Trial: 12,000 words max; Mini Review: 3,000 words max; Perspective: 3,000 words max; Brief Research Report: 4,000 words max; Case Report/Data Report: 3,000 words max; Opinion: 2,000 words max; General Commentary: 1,000 words max; Editorial: 1,000-5,000 words depending on number of articles in Topic; FAIR Data: 12,000 words max. Word count includes main body text, footnotes, and citations, but excludes abstract, section titles, figure/table captions, funding statement, acknowledgments, 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 | Minimum of 5 and a maximum of 8 keywords required for all article types |
| References | Frontiers journals use either Harvard (author-date) or Vancouver (numbered) style. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience uses Harvard (author-date) reference style. References must include full last name and first name initials of first six authors followed by et al., year in brackets, alphabetical order in reference list, DOI when available |
| Peer review | Transparent/open peer review. Names of reviewers and editors appear on published articles. The peer review process is described as 'objective, rigorous and transparent.' |
| Submission | www.frontiersin.org/submission/submit?domainid=1&fieldid=134&specialtyid=0&entitytype=2&entityid=1589 |
Read the Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience 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 Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience in under a page.
Skim two or three recent Frontiers Behav Neurosci 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 Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through the journal's submission system.