Get your Frontiers of Medicine paper right the first time: a ready-made structure with the right abstract and citations, so editors see your science, not formatting slips.
4.3
Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 13 August, 2026
Submitting to Frontiers of Medicine goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Frontiers of Medicine 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 of Medicine. 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 of Medicine 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 of Medicine 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 of Medicine 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 Med requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Structured abstract recommended (e.g., IMRAD format), no longer than a single paragraph. No specific word limit stated in general guidelines except Policy Brief (125 words in bullet point format). Abstract should minimize abbreviations and not cite references, figures, or tables. For Clinical Trial articles, must include trial registry number and URL. Opinion and General Commentary articles do not require abstracts. Specific structure varies by article type - authors should follow requirements for their chosen article type |
| Main text | Main text word count limits vary by article type (includes only main body text, footnotes, and citations; excludes abstract, section titles, figure/table captions, funding, acknowledgments, and references): Original Research/Systematic Review/Methods/Review/Hypothesis and Theory/Clinical Trial/Classification/Technology & Code/Policy & Practice Reviews: 12,000 words max; Brief Research Report: 4,000 words max; Mini Review/Perspective/Case Report/Data Report/Policy Brief: 3,000 words max; Community Case Study/Curriculum Instruction Pedagogy: 5,000 words max; General Commentary: 1,000 words max; Opinion: 2,000 words max; Editorial: 1,000-5,000 words depending on Research Topic size |
| 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 recommended, using a mix of generic and more specific terms on the article subject(s), as stated in the Search Engine Optimization guidelines |
| References | Frontiers journals use either Harvard (author-date) or Vancouver (numbered) reference style. The specific style for Frontiers in Medicine must be checked via the Frontiers help center. Both styles are fully documented in the author guidelines with detailed citation examples |
| Peer review | Single-anonymized (reviewers can see authors' names, but authors do not know reviewers' identities). When manuscript is accepted for publication, the names of reviewers who endorsed publication appear on the published article |
| Submission | www.frontiersin.org/submission/submit |
Read the Frontiers of Medicine 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 of Medicine in under a page.
Skim two or three recent Frontiers Med 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 of Medicine journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Frontiers of Medicine guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through the journal's submission system.