Get your Human Relations paper right the first time: a ready-made structure with the right abstract and citations, so editors see your science, not formatting slips.
4.5
Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 13 August, 2026
Submitting to Human Relations goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Human Relations 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 Human Relations. 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 Human Relations 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 Human Relations 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 Human Relations 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 ScholarOne (Manuscript Central).
| Element | Hum Relations requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | 100-200 words, unstructured. Content should include the research topic and questions, participants, methods used, results, data analysis, conclusions, practical implications and suggested future research. The journal encourages making abstracts digestible and inviting by posing a question, making a clear statement, or making a controversial claim so that students, practitioners, the press, and academics outside of the research area know what the main contribution is |
| Main text | 13,000 words maximum including abstract, text, endnotes, references, and appendices, but excluding tables and figures |
| Declarations | Ethics approval/consent as applicable; competing interests; funding; data availability |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | 3-4 main key phrases plus 3-4 additional keywords (6-8 total). Where more than one phrase (or abbreviation) is often used to describe the same thing, include both/all variants (e.g., both 'human resource management' and 'HRM') |
| References | SAGE Harvard style (author-date system). References listed alphabetically after text and notes. Format: Author Last Name (year) for citations; full bibliographic details in reference list with journal title in full and italicized, including volume and issue numbers |
| Peer review | Double-blind review process whereby the reviewer is not aware of the identity of the author(s) and the author is not aware of the identity of the reviewers |
| Submission | mc.manuscriptcentral.com/hr |
Read the Human Relations 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 Human Relations in under a page.
Skim two or three recent Hum Relations 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 Human Relations journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Human Relations guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through ScholarOne (Manuscript Central).