Get your Frontiers in Physiology 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 Physiology goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Frontiers in Physiology 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 Physiology. 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 Physiology 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 Physiology 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 Physiology 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 Physiol 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). For the specific structure of the abstract, authors should follow the requirements of the article type or journal to which they're submitting. No specific word limit is stated in the general guidelines (only that it should be 'no longer than a single paragraph'). Policy Brief article type requires an abstract up to 125 words in bullet point format. For clinical trial articles, the abstract must include the unique identifier and the URL of the publicly accessible website on which the trial is registered |
| Main text | Word count limits vary by article type (as stated in the Article types page). Main article types: Original Research: maximum 12,000 words; Systematic Review: maximum 12,000 words; Methods: maximum 12,000 words; Review: maximum 12,000 words; Hypothesis and Theory: maximum 12,000 words; Clinical Trial: maximum 12,000 words; Technology and Code: maximum 12,000 words; Study Protocol: maximum 12,000 words; Conceptual Analysis: maximum 8,000 words; Community Case Study: maximum 5,000 words; Brief Research Report: maximum 4,000 words; Mini Review: maximum 3,000 words; Perspective: maximum 3,000 words; Case Report: maximum 3,000 words; Policy Brief: maximum 3,000 words; Opinion: maximum 2,000 words; General Commentary: maximum 1,000 words; Editorial: 1,000 words (for 5-10 articles) up to 5,000 words (for 50+ articles). The manuscript length includes only the main body of text, footnotes, and all citations within it, and excludes the abstract, section titles, figure and table captions, funding statement, acknowledgments, and references in the 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 | 5-8 keywords are required. All article types require a minimum of five and a maximum of eight keywords. Authors should use a mix of generic and more specific terms on the article subject(s). No mention of MeSH terms or editor-assigned keywords |
| References | Frontiers journals use one of two reference styles: either Harvard (author-date) or Vancouver (numbered). Authors must check the help center to find the correct style for the specific journal. Based on third-party sources, Frontiers in Physiology uses Harvard (author-date) style. References should include the full last name and first name initials of the first six authors, followed by et al. References are listed in alphabetical order. DOIs should be provided when available |
| Peer review | Single anonymized model (also referred to as single-blind peer review). Reviewers know the identity of authors, but authors do not know the identity of reviewers during the review process. When a manuscript is accepted for publication, the names of the reviewers who endorsed its publication appear on the published article. The process involves an interactive review phase |
| Submission | www.frontiersin.org/submissioninfo |
Read the Frontiers in Physiology 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 Physiology in under a page.
Skim two or three recent Frontiers Physiol 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 Physiology journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Frontiers in Physiology guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through the journal's submission system.