mSystems Template
Format your manuscript to the mSystems requirements — abstract, ASM numbered references, and required declarations — and submit through the ASM submission site without a formatting rejection.
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How to Use the mSystems Template | A Step-by-Step Guide
Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 19 August, 2026
Most manuscripts sent to mSystems don’t stumble on the science — they stumble on formatting caught at the first editorial check. This template is built around mSystems’s actual requirements — its abstract rules, ASM numbered references, and the required declarations — so your submission clears screening on the first pass. Everything below tracks the mSystems author guidelines; check it directly if anything looks out of date by the time you submit.
What is the mSystems Template?
It’s a manuscript shell set up to mSystems’s specifications for systems-level microbiology, microbiomes, and computational microbial ecology. mSystems is published by the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). The shell covers the title page, the abstract, a body in Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion (IMRaD) order, and a reference list in ASM numbered style.
What’s actually in a standard mSystems submission:
Start with the title page (authors, affiliations, and ORCID iDs). The abstract is an unstructured abstract within the journal's limit. The body follows Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion (IMRaD), and the reference list uses ASM numbered. Close with the declarations block: ethics approval, conflict of interest, funding, and data availability.
What separates a clean submission from one that gets kicked back:
The details that trip up most first submissions: an abstract over the word limit, missing data/strain/sequence accession statements, and references not in ASM format. Beyond that, match your article type’s specific limits rather than assuming the defaults apply, keep ASM numbered formatting consistent from the first draft, and submit only through the ASM submission site — email submissions aren’t processed.
What does this mSystems Template include?
The shell mirrors what mSystems’s editorial staff check first: abstract format and length, ASM numbered reference formatting, and a complete declarations block. For the journal’s full aims and scope, see the mSystems journal home page. mSystems is fully open access; check the current publication fee and member discounts before submitting. Manuscripts go in through the ASM submission site, which also tracks your paper through peer review.
Steps to Use This Template with Scispace Agent
- Click Start Writing on this page — you land on the Scispace Agent prompt screen with the template already loaded.
- Use the loaded template as-is, or upload your own version if you have one.
- Edit the prompt with your actual details: topic, article type, and any word or figure limits specific to that type.
- Run it. The agent drafts directly into the correct structure — abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion (IMRaD) body, figure placeholders, ASM numbered references, and the full declarations block — with no manual reformatting afterward.
- Review the draft in View Outputs and regenerate any section that needs tightening.
- Export to Word or LaTeX once it’s ready for submission.
mSystems Template Structure at a Glance
| Element | mSystems requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | an unstructured abstract within the journal's limit |
| Main text | Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion (IMRaD) |
| Declarations | Ethics approval, conflict of interest, funding, and data availability |
| Figures / tables | Captioned, cited in order; check format and resolution rules in the guide |
| Supplemental | Large datasets, extra tables, code — uploaded separately and cited in text |
| Submission | the ASM submission site |
Quick Tips for Using the mSystems Template
Read the mSystems author guidelines once before drafting and once before upload. Draft the abstract after your results are stable so it matches the paper. Set ASM numbered as your reference style before adding a single citation — retrofitting it later is where errors creep in.
Best Practices
Skim two or three recent mSystems papers to calibrate depth, structure, and figure style. State your contribution in the first two paragraphs, not on page ten. Write a data-availability statement that names a real repository rather than a placeholder, and disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in your cover letter. Confirm current open-access pricing and any institutional agreement before committing to a fee.
Before You Submit: Final Check
Do one focused pass against the mSystems author guidelines: scope fit, abstract format, length, ASM numbered references, required declarations, and figure quality. Re-check the items that most often cause a bounce here — an abstract over the word limit, missing data/strain/sequence accession statements, and references not in ASM format. Then submit through the ASM submission site.
