Get your Geography Compass paper right the first time: a ready-made structure with the right abstract and citations, so editors see your science, not formatting slips.
4.1
Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 13 August, 2026
Submitting to Geography Compass goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Geography Compass 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 Geography Compass. 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 Geography Compass 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 Geography Compass 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 Geography Compass 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 | Geogr Compass requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Abstract is required and must be correctly styled. No specific word limit is stated in the guide. The guide provides examples of well-optimized abstracts for search engine optimization, recommending that key phrases appear in the title and abstract, and that abstracts should be written for researchers (not just search engines). The abstract section focuses on optimization rather than specifying structure (structured vs unstructured) or word limits |
| Main text | 3000-5000 words (excluding references). Longer articles can be considered at the Section Editor's discretion. All required sections should be contained in the manuscript, including abstract, introduction, methods, results, and conclusions |
| Declarations | Ethics approval/consent as applicable; competing interests; funding; data availability |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | 7 keywords required |
| References | APA style (Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association, 6th edition) is typically used, though this is no longer a requirement for submission under Free Format. References may be submitted in any style or format at initial submission, as long as it is consistent throughout the manuscript. DOI should be provided for all references where available |
| Peer review | Double-blind peer review. The guide explicitly states: 'the journal operates a double-blind peer review policy' and 'manuscripts are double-blind peer reviewed.' Authors must anonymise their manuscript and supply a separate title page file, with the main text file not including any information that might identify the authors |
| Submission | authors.wiley.com/journal/GEC3 |
Read the Geography Compass 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 Geography Compass in under a page.
Skim two or three recent Geogr Compass 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 Geography Compass journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Geography Compass guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through the journal's submission system.