Writing for Gut Microbes? This template gives you a submission-ready structure—sections, abstract, and references—so you focus on the research, not the formatting.
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Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 25 July, 2026
Submitting to Gut Microbes goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Gut Microbes 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 Gut Microbes. 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 Gut Microbes 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 Gut Microbes 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 Gut Microbes 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 Taylor & Francis submission portal.
| Element | GM requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Unstructured abstracts with word limits by article type: Research Articles 250 words, Review Articles 150 words, Rapid Communications 200 words, Data Notes 250 words, Meeting Reports 200 words, Article Commentaries 200 words. Creative Commentaries do not require an abstract. Podcast articles are peer-reviewed based on discussion points with no specific abstract word limit listed. |
| Main text | Section order and length per article type |
| Declarations | Ethics, competing interests, funding, data as required |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | Research Articles, Review Articles, Rapid Communications, Data Notes, Meeting Reports, and Article Commentaries: 5 to 10 keywords. Creative Commentaries: 3 to 5 keywords. MeSH not specifically requested; authors advised to choose keywords for search engine optimization and discoverability. |
| References | Format-free submission: any consistent scholarly citation format accepted at initial submission (must include author names, journal/book title, article/chapter title, year, volume, issue, and page numbers; DOI recommended but not essential). Post-acceptance: Taylor & Francis Council of Science Editors (CSE) citation-sequence style (numbered) is applied. |
| Peer review | Single anonymous peer review (also called single-blind peer review) by two independent expert reviewers. For podcast articles: anonymized peer review of discussion points followed by editorial review of the recording. |
| Submission | authorservices.taylorandfrancis.com |
Read the Gut Microbes 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 Gut Microbes in under a page.
Skim two or three recent GM 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 Gut Microbes journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Gut Microbes guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through the Taylor & Francis submission portal.