Research paper

The manuscript should include an abstract that is between 200 and 250 words long.

Checks for a list of contributing authors names and affiliations in the manuscript.

Checks if the role and contributions of all credited authors are stated within the manuscript. For example: "SD, W-YJL, and MC designed and completed the experimental work. WI provided samples and insights from the HCV Research UK Biobank. ADSF, EA-C, CB, and JM completed the sequencing work and analysis..." This statement is usually placed after the conclusion.

Checks if citations appear in the abstract. The abstract should focus on the original research, be self-contained and fully understandable without external references.

To comply with this check, authors should report any relevant financial or personal relationships that could be viewed as inappropriately influencing the work or hindering transparency. If there is no disclosure to be made, that should be clearly mentioned in the manuscript too. This statement is usually placed after the conclusion.

Appropriate rights must be obtained to use copyrighted research methods. This check looks for mentions of known copyrighted methods in the manuscript.

The corresponding authors email address should be included in the manuscript to let editors know how to get in touch. It is usually placed after the abstract along with other metadata.

Research data should be made available to peers so that future research can validate the studys findings. The sources of all data referenced in the manuscript should be mentioned. For example: "Accession Numbers Sequence data from this article can be found in the EMBL/GenBank data libraries under the following accession number (s): AvrRpm1 (NP _ 114197), GmRIN4a (Glyma03g19920; NP _ 001235221).” This statement is usually placed after the conclusion.

Checks if ethics statements are included. To pass, authors should document the studys ethical compliance or declare that the manuscript does not report any studies involving human or animal participants. If the study involves human subjects, declare how written informed consent was obtained. If it includes case reports/case series, provide appropriate details. In case of animal subjects, declare whether the investigative methods conform to the standards of good research practice. The ethics statement is usually placed after the conclusion.

To pass this check, authors should not use more than 5 branded terms or phrases (® and ™ symbols). An example of excessive branding: "... he was treated with oral aspirin 100 mg and Plavix ® 75 mg, subcutaneous low molecular-weight heparin 0.4 mL, oral Coversyl ® 2 mg, and oral Lipitor ® 20 mg."

Checks if figure legends are included and appear consecutively within the manuscript.

Checks if figures and tables with legends are cited within the manuscript. Every visual element included in the manuscript should also be mentioned in the text.

Checks if funding statements are included. Authors should disclose all sources of funding, including grants, research programs and institutional support. For example: "The work was supported by the Wellcome Trust (grant no. 087792), and the Medical Research Council (grant nos. 0900278 and U117532067). The funders had no role in study design, data collection or analysis.” This statement is usually placed after the conclusion.

Checks for inappropriate language that marginalises, demeans, or excludes people or social groups. This check searches the manuscript for a predefined set of inappropriate words. Note that this check only identifies words or phrases; it does not evaluate context.

Checks if a list of keywords is provided. For example: "Keywords: Adoptive cellular immunotherapy, cancer, immunohistochemistry, prognosis." This is usually placed after the abstract along with other metadata.

The manuscript should be between 5,000 and 15,000 words long, excluding the reference section, and including words in legends and tables.

Checks if the manuscript structure follows the IMRaD structure (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion). Structure requirements may vary by article type. Please refer to journal submission guidelines for more information.

Cite recent sources when possible. To pass this check, less than 10% of references should be 10+ years old.

The manuscript should include a plain language summary. It is usually placed right after the abstract.

Every reference should be cited in the main text of the manuscript to pass this check.

The manuscript should include a reference section with at least 5 and at most 50 sources.

Including a large number of self-citations in the manuscript is discouraged. This check fails if more than 15 self-citations are found or more than 80% of the references are self-citations.

To pass this check, the abstract should be structured according to journal guidelines, with a methods, results, and conclusions section.

Checks if table legends are included and appear consecutively within the manuscript.

The title should include the key concepts investigated and have a length of 5 to 15 words.

A word count should be included in the manuscript. It is usually placed after the abstract along with other metadata.

Covers issues with capitalization, hyphenation, punctuation, spacing etc. Counts as failed if there are more than 20 suggestions per 1,000 words.

Covers conciseness, redundancy, transition and flow, and suggests improved phrasing. Counts as failed if there are more than 10 suggestions per 1,000 words.

Covers issues with fluency, informal usage, and word choice. Counts as failed if there are more than 10 suggestions per 1,000 words.

Covers issues with article usage, conjunctions, determiners, preposition usage, spelling, and phrasing. Counts as failed if there are more than 60 suggestions per 1000 words.

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