Formatting guidelines
Please prepare your article according to the journal's formatting requirements before submission. The journal's article template is available in the Microsoft Word format (*.docx) and contains style sheets for all article components.
Adherence to these standards is mandatory for acceptance of articles for the review process.
If you have any questions or issues, please contact our editorial office.
Download
➟ [MS Word template - *.docx]
Formatting guidelines
Below you will find detailed specifications for formatting articles that correspond to the MS Word template and are stored there as style sheets.
In general
• File format: Microsoft Word (*.docx)
• Font: Calibri
• Font color: Black
• Underline: Text is generally not to be underlined, with the exception of URL addresses.
• Typesetting: Left-aligned, no block text
• Line numbering: Continuous throughout the manuscript
• Page numbers: Consecutive from the first page
Authors
• Names: The names of all authors must be given.
• Affiliation: The affiliation of all authors must be stated. If authors do not belong to an institute, the respective profession and hometown must be given.
• ORCID: The ORCID iDs of all authors must be given.
Title and subtitle
• Title: 28 pt, bold, spacing: 0 pt before, 24 pt after
• Subtitle: 14 pt, spacing: 24 pt before, 24 pt after
Keywords
• Formatting: 10 pt, spacing: 12 pt before, 6 pt after
• Position: Directly after the abstract
• Separation: Individual words are separated by commas
Headings
• Order: Maximum up to 3rd order. E.g.: 1.2.3 = 3rd order heading.
• Formatting of 1st order headings: 12 pt, bold, spacing: 24 pt before, 12 pt after.
• Formatting 2nd order headings: 12 pt, spacing: 18 pt before, 6 pt after
• Formatting 3rd order headings : 12 pt, spacing: 18 pt before, 6 pt after
Continuous text
• Font size: 10 pt
• Line spacing: 1.5
• Abbreviations: Abbreviations must be defined in the text, including those of institutions and organizations. Abbreviations such as percent or euro must be written out.
• Omissions: Omissions are to be presented as follows: [ ... ]
Numbers and dates
• Numbers: Numbers 1-12 must be written out in full. E.g.: one to twelve. Numbers of 1,000 or more are divided by a period (e.g.: 1,012 or 32,450). Millions and billions must be written out. E.g.: two million, 14 billion.
• Years: Years must be written out in four digits. E.g.: 1998 instead of '98 and 1950s instead of 50s.
• Dates: April 24, 1983 in the body text (dd. month YYYY), 04/24/1983 in the references (dd.MM.YYYY).
Equations
• Display: Word Equation Editor
• Reference in text: All equations must be referenced in the text. E.g.: "equation 1"
• Position: At an appropriate position in the text, not at the end of the manuscript.
• Label position: To the right of the formula. E.g.: a + b = c (1) )
• Numbering: Consecutively in the article: equation 1, equation 2, equation 3, ...
Footnotes
• Position: At the bottom of the respective page. Footnotes are not references.
Tables
• Grid: Black, horizontal lines only
• Colors: Table fields may not be filled with colors except for light gray
• Font size: 10 pt
• Reference in text: All tables must be referenced in the text. E.g.: "Table 1"
• Position: At an appropriate position in the text, not at the end of the manuscript.
• Caption: 9 pt, spacing: 18 pt before, 6 pt after
• Caption position: Above the table, e.g. "Table 1: Label text of the table".
• Numbering: Consecutively in the article: Table 1, Table 2, Table 3, ...
Figures
• Format (for submission): pixel graphic as *.png, embedded in MS Word document
• Format (for production): pixel graphic as *.png (300 dpi and at least 1200 pixels in width), or ideally as vector graphic = *.pdf / *.eps
• Source and rights: The source must be indicated including the image rights.
• Reference in body text: All figures must be referenced in the text. E.g.: "Fig. 1".
• Position: At an appropriate position in the text, not at the end of the manuscript.
• Caption: Calibri, 9 pt, spacing: 6 pt before, 18 pt after.
• Caption position: Below the figure, e.g.: "Figure X: Caption text of the figure".
• Numbering: Sequentially in the article: Fig. 1, Fig. 2, Fig. 3, ...
• Figure composition: Figures consisting of several graphics or images must be divided into pannels A, B, C. In the text, references should then be made to e.g. Fig. 1A, B or C.
• File names: Graphic files for article production are to be named identically to the label in the text: "Fig_1", "Fig_2", ...
References
• Position: At the end of the manuscript
• Citation style: APA, 7th edition.
• DOI: DOIs of individual references must be provided, if available.
• URLS: Addresses of web pages must be written out.
Reference examples according to APA, 7th edition
• Journal article:
Hisakata, R., Nishida, S. & Johnston, A. (2016). An adaptable metric shapes perceptual space. Current Biology, 26(14), 1911–1915. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.05.047
• Website:
Price, D. (2018, March 23). Laziness does not exist. Medium. https://humanparts.medium.com/laziness-does-not-exist-3af27e312d01
• Book and book chapter:
Sambrook, J. & Russell, D. W. (2001). Molecular cloning: a laboratory manual. CSHL Press.
Hogue, C. W. V. (2001). Structure databases. In A. D. Baxevanis & B. F. F. Ouellette (Eds.), Bioinformatics (pp. 83–109). Wiley-Interscience.
