Get your Frontiers in Climate 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 Climate goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Frontiers in Climate 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 Climate. 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 Climate 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 Climate 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 Climate 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 Climate requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | The abstract should be no longer than a single paragraph and should be structured (for example, according to the IMRAD format - Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion). The specific structure depends on the article type or journal requirements. No specific word limit is stated in the general guidelines, though abstracts are described as 'single paragraph'. Published articles show abstracts around 200-250 words in practice. For Policy Brief articles specifically, abstracts are up to 125 words in bullet point format. Minimize abbreviations and do not cite references, figures, or tables in the abstract |
| Main text | Word count limits by article type: Original Research, Systematic Review, Methods, Review, Policy and Practice Reviews, Clinical Trial, Classification, Technology and Code, Study Protocol, and FAIR² Data articles: 12,000 words. Brief Research Report: 4,000 words. Perspective, Data Report, and Policy Brief: 3,000 words. Registered Report Stage 1: 3,000 words; Stage 2: 12,000 words. General Commentary: 1,000 words. Editorial: 1,000 words for Topics with 5-10 articles; up to 5,000 words for 50+ articles. Word count includes main body text, footnotes, and all citations, but excludes abstract, section titles, figure/table captions, funding statement, acknowledgments, and bibliography |
| Declarations | Ethics approval/consent as applicable; competing interests; funding; data availability |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | All article types require a minimum of 5 and a maximum of 8 keywords. Use a mix of generic and more specific terms on the article subject(s) |
| References | Harvard (author-date) reference style. In-text citations list author name(s) and year. Reference list entries are arranged alphabetically, then chronologically if multiple works by same author(s). Format includes author names, year, title, journal/book, volume, pages, and DOI where applicable |
| Peer review | Open/transparent peer review. Reviewer names are published alongside the article upon publication. The process involves 'direct online dialogue' between authors, reviewers, and editors (termed 'interactive review') for transparent, rigorous, and constructive peer review. This is an open identity model where reviewers' names appear on published articles |
| Submission | www.frontiersin.org/submission/submit |
Read the Frontiers in Climate 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 Climate in under a page.
Skim two or three recent Frontiers Climate 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 Climate journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Frontiers in Climate guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through the journal's submission system.