literature review template latex

LaTeX Ninja'ing and the Digital Humanities

The verb "to ninja" means "to act or move like a ninja, particularly with regard to a combination of speed, power, and stealth." latex adventures, demystifying digital tools for humanists, one tutorial at a time., preparing your literature review and excerpting: my workflow in latex.

It’s Halloween and while for me, this is a holiday which usually pretty much passed me by unnoticed, I know that many of you probably care and celebrate. So I thought: What topics in Academia or academic writing especially are spooky? The honest anwer is probably: Way too many. But one stood out in particular and that’s the dreaded part of the writing process which lends itself to procrastination like no other: The literature review and excerpting process. Without it, not a lot of writing can happen (except maybe if you start working on a case study or use our Article Outline Template to sharpen your argument). So anyway, I thought this counts as a sufficiently scary activity for Halloween 😉

Info: I think I might end up not having proper code formatting in this post. Sorry for the inconvenience but it seems that the backtick on my keyboard is broken and WordPress has long since removed the keyboard shortcut for formatting something as code (why did you do that to me?).

How do you do your literature review and excerpting?

The actual reason I had this post in the pipeline already is this: Recently I was asked by my friend the LaTeX Noob how I prepare my literature review and excerpt literature more generally. Did I use something like Citavi? Absolutely not! I don’t even know what that would look like, to be perfectly honest. All my writing process happens in simple plain LaTeX documents. I don’t personally believe in fancy-schmancy writing suites like they seem to have become popular (for example Scrivener ). I get the idea, it’s supposed to bring order into the mess. But honestly, how better to create order than by simplifying? And what’s simpler than a plain text document? My personal favourite academic writing software is and will always be LaTeX! But I now realize it doesn’t seem to be obvious to everybody how you can use LaTeX for every single step of the process. So let me give you a glimpse into my personal workflow. Whether something like that would work for you is a different question and I’m sure other people have different workflows entirely (let me know in the comments, I would love to know!).

Creating a set of quotes

I usually start a plain .tex file for each article I’m trying to write. There I copy or type down quotes from literature I’m using or digesting for this piece of writing. This document will usually contain more literature than I actually end up using. I also copy down stuff I find accidentally which I deem potentially useful for a future publication even when it’s not needed for now. I make sure to put all direct quotes into quote enviroments, so I don’t get confused who wrote what (was that me summarizing the content of the article or is this a direct quote?). I put it in the exact format I will be needing in the final article. I make sure to give a cite key even when I haven’t made a proper bib file yet (see subheading below on that topic). And I make sure to quote the exact range of pages or page the quote is from. I also make sure to give a heading or subsection title to each quote, so I can find them again quickly in my file contents outline (for exampe in TeXMaker or Overleaf). This section or subsection is usually one common theme or even named after a subsection of my future article, so I already know where I will likely need it. The subsection is a title of the pubication or the main argument this can be used to back up.

This is what it can lool like:

Usually, I work with this only in a .tex file. But if I find myself with lots of quotes but don’t already have a clear picture where I’m going with in the article or section I will be writing, I copy this text material (which doesn’t have proper LaTeX document structure of its own!) into a real LaTeX document (with \begin{document} and all), compile it as a PDF and print it out to read it again, so I can decide if I actually want or need this material in my article.

Curating a master cites document

Another thing I came up with for myself is to have a document which I call the “footcites” document because it’s just a `.tex` document which consists of a collection of footcites I often use. Whenever I create a new footcites which I think I might want to reuse in a later publication to quickly back up sth with a citation without actually discussing it much, I add it to this list.

Let me give you an example to see what such cites look like. Like I said, this is basically so I have some quick citations to back up sth or to give background on a topic for which I’m not intending to go into detail any further:

Those can be much longer, include page numbers if it’s to back up a more narrow detail argument, etc. But you get the gist. Just collections of what to cite for which topic. Since this footcites doc has become pretty large already, they are – of course – ordered by means of sections and subsections so I can quickly find the cites I need. Another advantage to having a pile of papers cluttering your room is also that this file is searchable. So even if my headings system fails me, I can usually still find citations quickly without having to think much about which papers were the most important ones to cite on a particular topic.

For the sake of completeness, I just wanted to add that I do use some printed out documents. Especially for some articles I want to reflect on deeply, I need to print them out and read them offline. This not only reduces potential distractions and screen time, it’s also essential for me to think clearly and actually take in and digest the arguments of a paper. I use different colour highlighters (pastel ones usually) and a pen to make notes on the paper and note down the main arguments of the paper (main topic, hypthesis, main argument, conclusion) along with my own reservations about it, if there are any. This analogue reading process can happen in the evenings when I don’t want to use screens anymore or in the early mornings. Or even at a café (it activates diffuse mode thinking which can be essential for creativity!)

Don’t forget to summarise the most important of those new references into the „cites“ document to have them available for quick citing in the style of „on topic XY, see..“ later (see workflow below in the following subsection).

Making sure everything’s cited and creating the bibliography

Some people excerpt on paper but there are multiple reasons why I wouldn’t recommend that: Mostly the fact that I’ve seen many people forget what the page was they were excerting from or not taking down proper notes on the bibliographical reference and then your excerpt is practically useless (or at least requires lots of extra work if you manage to find the page again). I’m also afraid I might produce accidental plagiarism when excerpting. Making a document with all my quoted text passages in quote environments ensures that I have a record of what exactly the original wording of the passages I used was. Thus I’m in less danger of accidentally plagiarizing without being aware of it. Also, everything is already cited so there’s no immediate danger of not knowing where your quotes came from.

But this means you need some self-discipline to always copy down the citiation and decide on a cite key while making this excerpt. I only sometimes create the .bib files at this stage. Usually I just copy down the information to be cited into a new .bib file without formatting (just copy from the metadata page of a publication as is) and then come back later to put them all neatly into their little bib items. This can take a long time if you have lots of new literature but can be done while you’re watching TV. I usually have my typical bib entries prepared in a way which allows for quick copy and paste. I keep this document from which I copy+paste the entry which is needed and then use copy+paste to fill it in.

I don’t usually approve of auto-downloading stuff as bib files. I find that the resulting bib entries tend to be very irregular if they come out alright at all. I prefer to do this by hand and so I have full control over the data consistency of my bib library. If you know of any really good foolproof way to auto-download bibs in a satisfactory manner, please let me know!

These are the prepared bib items I use:

Working with plain text documents might feel weird and chaotic at first

I get it, working with plain text documents might seem daunting at first. But that’s probably because you aren’t used to it. Ultimately, I find that plain text just takes away all the clutter. You really don’t need more than plain text and a simple but sturdy system. For me personally, that’s the one I have just shown to you. I also love the fact that I can put information into the comments and thus, keep some thoughts I think worthy of not throwing out just yet. But nobody sees them! (Ok, let’s be honest, this means I can never share my academic writing .tex files with anybody because some of those comments can be… angry 😉 )

But honestly, once you get used to working in a WYSIWYM editor (as opposed to the WYSIWYG editors like MS Word), it’s not a big deal. I actually sometimes get in trouble with the LaTeX compiler because I’m so used to the LaTeX environent as a my writing environment that I hardly ever compile. Then I realize I have introduced an error some time hours or even days ago and no clue where to go looking for it… Maybe don’t copy that part of my process 😉

Post-production: Submitting your text to a journal (possibly not in LaTeX format)

After the writing is done, for journal or conference proceedings which don’t allow or even ask for LaTeX submission (had this for the first time this year with two of my publications and absolutely loved not having the extra work of converting to MS Word! – Cheers to HistoCrypt and CHR !), I usually convert to MS Word using Pandoc .

In order for this to be possible without big danger of losing info, I make sure to use LaTeX as software for WRITING only, not for typesetting. No special effects please. They will likely get lost in the pandoc transformation ( learn how I do it here ). Also, you might have to reformat the bibliography. But I think, overall, this works well for me. It means I have all my writing in LaTeX format, I have all the bibliography in the format I need and can reuse without any extra work in monograph projects.

This might not seem like the best possible approach to you but I like it that way and you do get used to it. Until I had figured out this process, it seemed like a chore. But once you have done it multiple times, it really isn’t a big deal anymore. I hope this helped someone (especially maybe people who aren’t just to working in LaTeX and wonder what it would look like to have your whole writing workflow in LaTeX).

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What’s Included: Literature Review Template

This template is structure is based on the tried and trusted best-practice format for formal academic research projects such as dissertations and theses. The literature review template includes the following sections:

Before you start – essential groundwork to ensure you’re ready
The introduction section
The core/body section
The conclusion /summary
Extra free resources

Each section is explained in plain, straightforward language , followed by an overview of the key elements that you need to cover. We’ve also included practical examples and links to more free videos and guides to help you understand exactly what’s required in each section.

The cleanly-formatted Google Doc can be downloaded as a fully editable MS Word Document (DOCX format), so you can use it as-is or convert it to LaTeX.

PS – if you’d like a high-level template for the entire thesis, you can we’ve got that too .

FAQs: Literature Review Template

What format is the template (doc, pdf, ppt, etc.).

The literature review chapter template is provided as a Google Doc. You can download it in MS Word format or make a copy to your Google Drive. You’re also welcome to convert it to whatever format works best for you, such as LaTeX or PDF.

What types of literature reviews can this template be used for?

The template follows the standard format for academic literature reviews, which means it will be suitable for the vast majority of academic research projects (especially those within the sciences), whether they are qualitative or quantitative in terms of design.

Keep in mind that the exact requirements for the literature review chapter will vary between universities and degree programs. These are typically minor, but it’s always a good idea to double-check your university’s requirements before you finalize your structure.

Is this template for an undergrad, Master or PhD-level thesis?

This template can be used for a literature review at any level of study. Doctoral-level projects typically require the literature review to be more extensive/comprehensive, but the structure will typically remain the same.

Can I modify the template to suit my topic/area?

Absolutely. While the template provides a general structure, you should adapt it to fit the specific requirements and focus of your literature review.

What structural style does this literature review template use?

The template assumes a thematic structure (as opposed to a chronological or methodological structure), as this is the most common approach. However, this is only one dimension of the template, so it will still be useful if you are adopting a different structure.

Does this template include the Excel literature catalog?

No, that is a separate template, which you can download for free here . This template is for the write-up of the actual literature review chapter, whereas the catalog is for use during the literature sourcing and sorting phase.

How long should the literature review chapter be?

This depends on your university’s specific requirements, so it’s best to check with them. As a general ballpark, literature reviews for Masters-level projects are usually 2,000 – 3,000 words in length, while Doctoral-level projects can reach multiples of this.

Can I include literature that contradicts my hypothesis?

Yes, it’s important to acknowledge and discuss literature that presents different viewpoints or contradicts your hypothesis. So, don’t shy away from existing research that takes an opposing view to yours.

How do I avoid plagiarism in my literature review?

Always cite your sources correctly and paraphrase ideas in your own words while maintaining the original meaning. You can always check our plagiarism score before submitting your work to help ease your mind.

Do you have an example of a populated template?

We provide a walkthrough of the template and review an example of a high-quality literature research chapter here .

Can I share this literature review template with my friends/colleagues?

Yes, you’re welcome to share this template in its original format (no editing allowed). If you want to post about it on your blog or social media, all we ask is that you reference this page as your source.

Do you have templates for the other dissertation/thesis chapters?

Yes, we do. You can find our full collection of templates here .

Can Grad Coach help me with my literature review?

Yes, you’re welcome to get in touch with us to discuss our private coaching services , where we can help you work through the literature review chapter (and any other chapters).

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Summary literature review.

PDF of Summary template here
LaTeX source of Summary Template here
PDF of Literature Review template here
LaTeX source of template here plus opticsbooks.bib and opticsjournal.bib files.
EPS file used as demo here

Other style files

fullpage.sty give 25mm margins.
head.sty a fancy thee part header.
crest.eps the UoE crest in eps format
Download "templates", the two ".bib" files and the demo ".eps" file all to the same directory. If your are not using the School Linux system you will also need to download the ``Other style files''.
In that directory "latex Summary" and it should simply latex the document.
Ten "xdvi Summary" to view it.
In that directory "latex LiteratureReview" which will latex the template, but will give you a number of warning about undefined citations.
Now do "bibtex LiteratureReview" with no extension, this will build the "bbl" and "blg" files.
Now do "latex LiteratureReview" twice (the first time you will get undefined cross-reference errors)
Now to "xdvi LiteratureReview" and it should have worked! (you have now just used "bibtex" successfully!

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How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates

How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates

Published on January 2, 2023 by Shona McCombes . Revised on September 11, 2023.

What is a literature review? A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources on a specific topic. It provides an overview of current knowledge, allowing you to identify relevant theories, methods, and gaps in the existing research that you can later apply to your paper, thesis, or dissertation topic .

There are five key steps to writing a literature review:

Search for relevant literature
Evaluate sources
Identify themes, debates, and gaps
Outline the structure
Write your literature review

A good literature review doesn’t just summarize sources—it analyzes, synthesizes , and critically evaluates to give a clear picture of the state of knowledge on the subject.

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What is the purpose of a literature review, examples of literature reviews, step 1 – search for relevant literature, step 2 – evaluate and select sources, step 3 – identify themes, debates, and gaps, step 4 – outline your literature review’s structure, step 5 – write your literature review, free lecture slides, other interesting articles, frequently asked questions, introduction.

Quick Run-through
Step 1 & 2

When you write a thesis , dissertation , or research paper , you will likely have to conduct a literature review to situate your research within existing knowledge. The literature review gives you a chance to:

Demonstrate your familiarity with the topic and its scholarly context
Develop a theoretical framework and methodology for your research
Position your work in relation to other researchers and theorists
Show how your research addresses a gap or contributes to a debate
Evaluate the current state of research and demonstrate your knowledge of the scholarly debates around your topic.

Writing literature reviews is a particularly important skill if you want to apply for graduate school or pursue a career in research. We’ve written a step-by-step guide that you can follow below.

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Writing literature reviews can be quite challenging! A good starting point could be to look at some examples, depending on what kind of literature review you’d like to write.

Example literature review #1: “Why Do People Migrate? A Review of the Theoretical Literature” ( Theoretical literature review about the development of economic migration theory from the 1950s to today.)
Example literature review #2: “Literature review as a research methodology: An overview and guidelines” ( Methodological literature review about interdisciplinary knowledge acquisition and production.)
Example literature review #3: “The Use of Technology in English Language Learning: A Literature Review” ( Thematic literature review about the effects of technology on language acquisition.)
Example literature review #4: “Learners’ Listening Comprehension Difficulties in English Language Learning: A Literature Review” ( Chronological literature review about how the concept of listening skills has changed over time.)

You can also check out our templates with literature review examples and sample outlines at the links below.

Download Word doc Download Google doc

Before you begin searching for literature, you need a clearly defined topic .

If you are writing the literature review section of a dissertation or research paper, you will search for literature related to your research problem and questions .

Make a list of keywords

Start by creating a list of keywords related to your research question. Include each of the key concepts or variables you’re interested in, and list any synonyms and related terms. You can add to this list as you discover new keywords in the process of your literature search.

Social media, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, TikTok
Body image, self-perception, self-esteem, mental health
Generation Z, teenagers, adolescents, youth

Search for relevant sources

Use your keywords to begin searching for sources. Some useful databases to search for journals and articles include:

Your university’s library catalogue
Google Scholar
Project Muse (humanities and social sciences)
Medline (life sciences and biomedicine)
EconLit (economics)
Inspec (physics, engineering and computer science)

You can also use boolean operators to help narrow down your search.

Make sure to read the abstract to find out whether an article is relevant to your question. When you find a useful book or article, you can check the bibliography to find other relevant sources.

You likely won’t be able to read absolutely everything that has been written on your topic, so it will be necessary to evaluate which sources are most relevant to your research question.

For each publication, ask yourself:

What question or problem is the author addressing?
What are the key concepts and how are they defined?
What are the key theories, models, and methods?
Does the research use established frameworks or take an innovative approach?
What are the results and conclusions of the study?
How does the publication relate to other literature in the field? Does it confirm, add to, or challenge established knowledge?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of the research?

Make sure the sources you use are credible , and make sure you read any landmark studies and major theories in your field of research.

You can use our template to summarize and evaluate sources you’re thinking about using. Click on either button below to download.

Take notes and cite your sources

As you read, you should also begin the writing process. Take notes that you can later incorporate into the text of your literature review.

It is important to keep track of your sources with citations to avoid plagiarism . It can be helpful to make an annotated bibliography , where you compile full citation information and write a paragraph of summary and analysis for each source. This helps you remember what you read and saves time later in the process.

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To begin organizing your literature review’s argument and structure, be sure you understand the connections and relationships between the sources you’ve read. Based on your reading and notes, you can look for:

Trends and patterns (in theory, method or results): do certain approaches become more or less popular over time?
Themes: what questions or concepts recur across the literature?
Debates, conflicts and contradictions: where do sources disagree?
Pivotal publications: are there any influential theories or studies that changed the direction of the field?
Gaps: what is missing from the literature? Are there weaknesses that need to be addressed?

This step will help you work out the structure of your literature review and (if applicable) show how your own research will contribute to existing knowledge.

Most research has focused on young women.
There is an increasing interest in the visual aspects of social media.
But there is still a lack of robust research on highly visual platforms like Instagram and Snapchat—this is a gap that you could address in your own research.

There are various approaches to organizing the body of a literature review. Depending on the length of your literature review, you can combine several of these strategies (for example, your overall structure might be thematic, but each theme is discussed chronologically).

Chronological

The simplest approach is to trace the development of the topic over time. However, if you choose this strategy, be careful to avoid simply listing and summarizing sources in order.

Try to analyze patterns, turning points and key debates that have shaped the direction of the field. Give your interpretation of how and why certain developments occurred.

If you have found some recurring central themes, you can organize your literature review into subsections that address different aspects of the topic.

For example, if you are reviewing literature about inequalities in migrant health outcomes, key themes might include healthcare policy, language barriers, cultural attitudes, legal status, and economic access.

Methodological

If you draw your sources from different disciplines or fields that use a variety of research methods , you might want to compare the results and conclusions that emerge from different approaches. For example:

Look at what results have emerged in qualitative versus quantitative research
Discuss how the topic has been approached by empirical versus theoretical scholarship
Divide the literature into sociological, historical, and cultural sources

Theoretical

A literature review is often the foundation for a theoretical framework . You can use it to discuss various theories, models, and definitions of key concepts.

You might argue for the relevance of a specific theoretical approach, or combine various theoretical concepts to create a framework for your research.

Like any other academic text , your literature review should have an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion . What you include in each depends on the objective of your literature review.

The introduction should clearly establish the focus and purpose of the literature review.

Depending on the length of your literature review, you might want to divide the body into subsections. You can use a subheading for each theme, time period, or methodological approach.

As you write, you can follow these tips:

Summarize and synthesize: give an overview of the main points of each source and combine them into a coherent whole
Analyze and interpret: don’t just paraphrase other researchers — add your own interpretations where possible, discussing the significance of findings in relation to the literature as a whole
Critically evaluate: mention the strengths and weaknesses of your sources
Write in well-structured paragraphs: use transition words and topic sentences to draw connections, comparisons and contrasts

In the conclusion, you should summarize the key findings you have taken from the literature and emphasize their significance.

When you’ve finished writing and revising your literature review, don’t forget to proofread thoroughly before submitting. Not a language expert? Check out Scribbr’s professional proofreading services !

This article has been adapted into lecture slides that you can use to teach your students about writing a literature review.

Scribbr slides are free to use, customize, and distribute for educational purposes.

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If you want to know more about the research process , methodology , research bias , or statistics , make sure to check out some of our other articles with explanations and examples.

Sampling methods
Simple random sampling
Stratified sampling
Cluster sampling
Likert scales
Reproducibility

Statistics

Null hypothesis
Statistical power
Probability distribution
Effect size
Poisson distribution

Research bias

Optimism bias
Cognitive bias
Implicit bias
Hawthorne effect
Anchoring bias
Explicit bias

A literature review is a survey of scholarly sources (such as books, journal articles, and theses) related to a specific topic or research question .

It is often written as part of a thesis, dissertation , or research paper , in order to situate your work in relation to existing knowledge.

There are several reasons to conduct a literature review at the beginning of a research project:

To familiarize yourself with the current state of knowledge on your topic
To ensure that you’re not just repeating what others have already done
To identify gaps in knowledge and unresolved problems that your research can address
To develop your theoretical framework and methodology
To provide an overview of the key findings and debates on the topic

Writing the literature review shows your reader how your work relates to existing research and what new insights it will contribute.

The literature review usually comes near the beginning of your thesis or dissertation . After the introduction , it grounds your research in a scholarly field and leads directly to your theoretical framework or methodology .

A literature review is a survey of credible sources on a topic, often used in dissertations , theses, and research papers . Literature reviews give an overview of knowledge on a subject, helping you identify relevant theories and methods, as well as gaps in existing research. Literature reviews are set up similarly to other academic texts , with an introduction , a main body, and a conclusion .

An annotated bibliography is a list of source references that has a short description (called an annotation ) for each of the sources. It is often assigned as part of the research process for a paper .

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McCombes, S. (2023, September 11). How to Write a Literature Review | Guide, Examples, & Templates. Scribbr. Retrieved March 25, 2024, from https://www.scribbr.com/dissertation/literature-review/

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LaTeX forum ⇒ Graphics, Figures & Tables ⇒ Literature review table Topic is solved

Literature review table.

Post by ujjwal_11138 » Sun Mar 28, 2021 9:35 pm

$User avatar$

Post by Stefan Kottwitz » Mon Mar 29, 2021 6:05 am

Literature review table Topic is solved

Post by ujjwal_11138 » Mon Mar 29, 2021 6:20 pm

Post by rajirazee » Tue Jul 27, 2021 1:26 am

Post by rajirazee » Tue Jul 27, 2021 1:27 am

ujjwal_11138 wrote: literature review.JPG How can I make this table in latex beamer? please help

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Manuscripts are assessed using RRs at Royal Society Open Science criteria.

Data or code is almost always required for review and publication.
A link to an immutable repository where the data and/or code are accessible. Software in social coding platforms (e.g. Github , Gitlab ) MUST be deposited in an archival repository that provides a DOIs for the deposit; for example, this can be done through Zenodo .
or Supplemental file(s) containing the raw data and/or code (if filesize less than 30 MB)
Files must be machine-readable (Note that PDF, Powerpoint, images etc. are not accepted).
If the data are owned by a third party and not already publicly available, please obtain permission to publish. Alternatively, submit a statement from the owners explaining why they cannot be published on the grounds of privacy or safety.
If the dataset is too large, upload it to an online repository (e.g. Figshare , Zenodo , Dryad , etc). If this option is chosen, a DOI MUST be provided.
A DOI for software can be created by free services such as Zenodo . GitHub repositories can be archived directly by Zenodo , which creates a DOI. GitLab repositories must be " released ", downloaded as a .zip file and then uploaded to Zenodo to obtain a DOI. Figshare can also create a DOI for your research.
If making use of previously published author-written (or third-party) code, this must be cited appropriately , with a persistent identifier (a DOI or Software Heritage ID) provided where available. If authors are referring to a previous version of the same code, a DOI to this version should be provided.
If making use of third-party code for which a persistent identifier does not exist, the code writer(s) MUST be acknowledged. Authors should make all reasonable attempts to ensure that the unpublished third-party code can be found by subsequent readers, and encourage the code writer to preserve their project by obtaining a persistent identifier.
Linked data and/or code repositories must contain an exact copy of what was used to perform the study described within the research article or literature review. Zenodo supports DOI versioning , allowing a DOI to be obtained for specific versions of the repository. As such, the dataset and/or code can be built upon without disturbing the replicability of the published study.
Files that are not part of your main manuscript:
Ethics / Human participant / Field study / Vertebrate animals approval documents.
Example human participant consent form.
CONSORT flow diagram and checklist.
PRISMA flow diagram and checklist.
COREQ checklist.
Trial protocol.
Photo/video consent form.
Raw data or code (required).
Large supplemental datasets.
Figures and tables.
Video and audio.
Supplemental Files should not exceed 50 MB in total (30MB individual file limit). If you need more space please contact us.
Use line numbers .
2.5 cm margin on all edges.
12 point Times font for readability.
'Normal' style for text, 'Heading' styles for headings.
Do not use 'unusual' document styles/templates (e.g. 'Normal (Web)' ).
Left justify all text to the left margin. Do not 'full width' justify.
Be clear, appealing, interesting and specific.
Match the search queries used to find similar articles.
Be concise: ideally 20-60 words (250 character hard limit).
Avoid acronyms, abbreviations and jargon.
Accurately describe work.
A link to a repository where the data and/or code is accessible (e.g. Github , Gitlab ).
or Supplemental file(s) containing the raw data or code.
Machine-readable (PDF, Powerpoint, images etc. not accepted).
Data or code is almost always required:
If the data is owned by a third party, please obtain permission to publish. Alternatively, submit a statement from the owners explaining why they cannot publish on the grounds of privacy or safety.
If too large, upload it to an online repository (e.g. Figshare , Dryad etc).
Submit a single PDF with the full set of LaTeX source files.
Use line numbers.
Overleaf is a great LaTeX editor. Use our template .

Standard Sections

500 word (3,000 character) limit.
Self-contained, concise description of reason for the work, methodology, results, and conclusions.
Uncommon abbreviations should be spelled out at first use.
No footnotes or references (except when referencing a critiqued publication by DOI).

Background. The background section text goes here...

Do not acknowledge funders here, there is a separate Funding Statement for that. Everyone named in the acknowledgments section must be informed that they are named.

Literature Review standard sections

Describe the field and explain why this review is needed.
Explain relevance to readers in the field, and associated areas.
Cite previous reviews.
Explain how you ensured comprehensive and unbiased coverage of the literature.
We recommend that you subdivide your article into a small number of major topic areas.
Identify unresolved questions / gaps / future directions.

Author Cover Page Example

Author cover page

Article title
First given names (or first initials in combination with full middle names).
Middle name initial(s).
Family name (surname).
Affiliations (indicate multiple affiliations, or current addresses where appropriate).
Department, university, or organizational affiliation.
Location: city, state/province (if applicable).
Submission admin
First and Last name.
Email address.
If authored by a consortium, list names and affiliations in correct order in the Acknowledgments section.

Reference Format

Choose your style.

PeerJ prefers you spend your time doing science , not formatting references!

Submit your references in whatever style you like.

Just make sure they're full, clear, and consistent and we'll standardize at production.

For three or fewer authors, list all author names (e.g. Smith, Jones & Johnson, 2004) . For four or more, abbreviate with ‘first author’ et al. (e.g. Smith et al., 2005) .
Multiple references to the same item should be separated with a semicolon (;) and ordered chronologically.
References by the same author in the same year should be differentiated by letters (Smith, 2001a; Smith, 2001b) .
Cite articles accepted for publication as 'in press' . Include in reference section and upload as a Supplemental file.
Cite work unpublished, in preparation or under review as 'unpublished data' . Supply the author's first initial and surname, and the year of the data collection, in the text citation and do not include the citation in the reference section. Example: (A Castillo, 2000, unpublished data).
Avoid referencing personal communications. Reference as 'pers. comm.' , including the first initial and surname, and year. Example: (A Castillo, 2000, pers. comm.).
Journal reference format: List of authors (with initials). Publication year. Full article title. Full title of the Journal , volume: page extents. DOI (if available). Example journal reference: Smith JL, Jones P, Wang X. 2004. Investigating ecological destruction in the Amazon. Journal of the Amazon Rainforest 112:368-374 DOI: 10.1234/amazon.15886.
Gray Literature (e.g. patents, technical reports from agencies or research groups, working papers, white papers, preprints etc.) described thoroughly: Authors. Page/paper title. Publication date. Publisher name. URL (access date). Identification (e.g. patent or series) numbers. Example gray literature references: Boettiger C. 2013. knitcitations: citations for knitr markdown files. Available at https://github.com/cboettig/knitcitations (accessed 10 July 2012) Dorch B. 2012. On the Citation Advantage of linking to data. hprints. Available at http://hprints.org/hprints-00714715 (accessed 5 July 2012)
Example book reference: James FY. 2010. Understanding corn and wheat . Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Example book excerpt: Smith PG. 2011. Behavior in ants. In: Jones HY, ed. Insect behavior in the Andes. Berlin: Springer Verlag, 101–200.
Example thesis: Blair HJ. 1989. Structural modifications of the fern genus Lecanopteris (Polypodiaceae). D. Phil. Thesis, Cambridge University.
Example webpage: Johnson S. 2010. Italian Plants. Available at http://www.italianplants.com (accessed 22 March 2011).
Example abstract: Thomas D, Scharfenecker U, Schiltmeyer B. 2006. Low potential for drug-drug interaction of lacosamide. [Abstract 2.235] Epilepsia 47(Suppl 4): 200.
Reference Section sorted by Author, Year, Title. All citations must be present in the reference section, and all references cited in the text. Place non-cited references in a "Further Reading" section.
Zotero users please download PeerJ Zotero style .
Open EndNote.
Open library (the citation file).
Set style to "PeerJ".
Go to Edit --> Output Styles --> Edit "PeerJ".
Under Bibliography --> Author Lists, set "Abbreviated author list" to "List all author names".
If using Windows: Ctrl-A (Selects all the text in the manuscript). Ctrl-Shift-F9 (Changes the fields codes).
If using OSX: Command-A (Selects all the text in the manuscript). Command-6 (Changes the fields codes).

Figure and Table checks

Table formatting.

Vector images

Non-vector images

No titles or legends in images, multipart figures.

Whitespace, orientation, filenames

Style and Quality

Permissions for recognisable faces

All tables must be editable. Please do not upload tables as images.

To fit a US Letter page with 2.5cm margins.

Include units in parentheses in column and row headings.

Enter below the table.

Preferred file type

Other file types

DOC, ODT, TEX

Vector Images

Please use vector images where possible.

There is no minimum resolution for vectors as they do not blur when zoomed in.

Suitable image types

PDF (US Letter, 2.5cm margins)

When a program saves an image as a JPG , BMP or PNG , they are usually non-vectors.

Because non-vectors blur when zoomed, all your non-vector images must be a minimum size:

Check the resolution of your images with our online tool .

Non-vector image types

photographs

micrographs

screenshots

Preferred file formats

PNG JPG (for photos only)

Please don't include titles or legends in your images.

Image parts combined and submitted as one file.

Remove all whitespace around images.

Orientation

Upload images in correct orientation. Landscape is preferable in most cases.

Name your figures: Figure1 .png Figure2 .jpg Figure3 .eps etc . Name your tables: Table2 .docx Table2 .docx Table3 .docx etc .

Chart backgrounds

Charts to have white backgrounds.

Chart patterns

Only use patterned charts where necessary to aid communication.

Accessbility

For maximum accessibility consult R Cookbook , Mapbox and ColorBrewer .

Minimal processing

Maintain the highest image quality possible. Minimise re-saves to maximise quality.

Multi-page images

Multi-part or single images should not span multiple pages.

Your article is published under a CC BY licence, so any images or content with a more restrictive licence requires permission and/or referencing.

Referencing

Reference copyright holders in figure legends. View the referencing examples .

3rd Party Photography

Upload a completed photographer's permission letter as a supplementary file.

3rd Party Maps

Google, Yahoo, Bing etc. map images require a reference in the image and legend.

In the image

In the legend

Permission for recognisable faces

For images containing recognisable faces add a permission statement in the note to staff for each person depicted.

You can use this text

Note that if the person is under the age of 16, consent should be given by a parent or guardian.

Manuscript Checks

Manuscript filetype, author cover page, document formatting, header and footer, line and page numbering.

Non-LaTeX Submission

docx, doc, odt, rtf

LaTeX submission

pdf + source files

The first page of the manuscript you submit must be the Author Cover Page.

Note This page is used for verification only. The title, abstract and authors you entered online will be used in your published article. View example Download word template (DOC) View requirements

Use these settings to ensure your review manuscript is generated correctly.

US Letter size (8.5 x 11 inches)

Check and change document size.

Line numbers

How to add line numbers .

2.54cm margins

Check and change your margins.

12 point font

Change font size throughout doc.

Single-file and preprint submissions:

Multi-file submissions:

.DOCX (Preferred) and .DOC
.TeX (+ PDF with embedded figures and tables)
2.5cm margin on all edges.
Please upload as separate files (i.e. do not embed in manuscript).
'Figure' refers to graphs, charts, line drawings and photographs.
Lower quality images may be accepted for review, but these must be replaced with high-quality (300dpi) images on resubmission.
Include figure numbers in filenames e.g. 'Figure 1.png' .

All figures must be cited in the main text.
Figure 1 appears first in the text, and first cited.
Figure 2 appears second, and the next cited after Figure 1.
When citing use the abbreviation 'Fig.' . When starting a sentence with a citation, use 'Figure 1' .
Label with a readable, uniform font. Vertical height of 2mm suggested.

.DOCX (Preferred) or .DOC
Include table numbers in filenames e.g. 'Table 1.png' .

Table 1 appears first in the text, and first cited.
Table 2 appears second, and the next cited after Table 1.
Cite tables in text as 'Table 1 ', 'Table 2' etc.
Include units in column and row headings, in parentheses.
Tables must fit in a single 21.6 x 28 cm page with 2.5 cm margins.
Place footnotes below the table; these may be used to explain abbreviations.

Figure and table referencing

Upload a document with the copyright owner's permission to publish under a CC BY license ( download photo/video permission letter template ).
Add a credit attribution in the legend.
When submitting photographs please indicate the identity of the photographer.
Examples of credit attributions: Photo credit: San Diego Zoo Global. Photo credit: Ali Smith. Image credit: the MESH archive at http://ondemand.nssl.noaa.gov 3D model credit: Ishmael Kreill Map data © 2024 Google
Written consent from the human subject. If the subject is a minor, consent must be provided from their parent or guardian. ( download human subject permission letter template ).
In the figure legend.
On the figure.
Use maps which allow unrestricted re-use where possible.
All authors are responsible for making materials, code, raw data and associated protocols relevant to the submission available without delay.
Data or code should be submitted to a specialist database if appropriate (e.g. GenBank for sequences, Morphosource for 3D models and scans, etc.).
An institutional repository
Zenodo (free & unlimited)
Figshare (20GB free)
Dryad data storage
Galaxy server (1GB to 2TB+)
Git Large File Storage (1GB free)
Github (code)
Gitlab (code)
Google Drive (15GB)
Dropbox basic account (2GB free)
OneDrive basic account (50GB per dataset)
pan.baidu.com cannot be used.
Supplemental files are those published alongside the article, that are not an integral part of it.
Supplemental files may include information or data too large to include in the main article.
File naming format: 'Supplemental [Item] S [number] ' e.g. 'Supplemental Data S1'.
Titles are required for all figures (legends are optional).
Use the following style when citing Supplemental files in the text: Fig. S1, Table S1, Data S1, Video S1, Article S1, Audio S1.
Files intended for review but not publication can be uploaded as Review-only info Supplemental Files.
Data or code files must be understandable by an English language reader.

Style Considerations

Where possible and appropriate, use the International System of Units.
Use discipline specific (non-SI) units only where they are widely adopted within the field.
Symbols should be used in lieu of abbreviations for mathematical expressions & defined at first use.
Spell out the numbers 1-9 unless used with units.
Please use clear, unambiguous, technically and grammatically correct English.
If the final typeset page count of your article PDF exceeds 40 pages, an additional service charge will be required to help offset the production costs of a manuscript of this size. This is not an additional APC and discount codes cannot be used to pay for this fee. If you have a manuscript of this extent then please email [email protected] to discuss.
The established norms of academic writing within your field should be followed.
Either English or American spelling is acceptable provided it is consistently used throughout.
Nomenclature: Biological & medical nomenclature should adhere to recognized guidelines set forth by international committee regulations or authoritative bodies for specific fields, as applicable.
Table text should be roman black text.
Special significance can be placed on certain values in the table (e.g., p-values) by bolding, italicizing or underlining the text. Explain in the table legend what the formatting represents.
Image manipulation:
Figures should be minimally processed/manipulated, to add labels, arrows, or change contrast (applied to whole image inc. controls).
Do not adjust in any way that could lead to misinterpretation of the information in the original image.
Unprocessed figure files and data must be retained for editorial review upon request.
Descriptions of changes and hardware and software used to take the images and make adjustments must also be provided.
Inappropriate figure manipulation is grounds for article retraction and reporting to institutional oversight boards.
Electrophoretic gels, blots, and chromatograms: Use cropped gels, blots, paper and thin-layer chromatographs, etc in your article only if it improves clarity. Upload full-length images of gels, blots, and chromatograms as Supplementary Files if doing so.
Titles and legends below the image can be included in the image file for first review. Titles and legends must be removed for re-review.
Include scales, abbreviations, limits etc. in the graphical area the image.
Figure legends should be self contained and clearly describe the figure and its contents.
When creating figures and images consider the accessibility of your chosen color schemes to those with non-normal color vision. Wherever possible avoid using color alone to distinguish between parts of images. When color is used, we suggest that you consult the following resources to ensure maximum accessibility: R Cookbook and ColorBrewer .
Authors are encouraged to provide taxonomic authors of Linnean binomials when first used in the text, particularly for taxa that are the focus of the paper in question. Where several taxa are named, citation of taxonomic authors in Tables is regarded as an adequate substitute for citation in the body of the text. Authors of zoological names should consist of initials plus full surnames, whereas authors of botanical names should be abbreviated following Brummitt & Powell's (1992) 'Authors of plant names'. In either case, binomials carrying more than three authors should be abbreviated to 'et al.' subsequent to the name of the third author.
When a species is first mentioned, write out the full name (i.e., genus followed by species):
Use both the genus and species name (e.g., Felis catus ).
Italicize the whole name.
Capitalize only the genus name.
The next time that species is mentioned, abbreviate the name (i.e., the first letter of the genus followed by a period and the species), unless:
There are two species that belong to different genera that nevertheless start with the same letter (e.g., Leopardus pardalis , the ocelot, and Lynx canadensis , the Canada lynx). Do not abbreviate the genus name.
There are multiple species with the same species name, but different genera (e.g., Trigonopterus attenboroughi , a beetle, and Prethopalpus attenboroughi , a spider). You can refer to the species by just the genus name, or write the species name in full.
There are two or more species that are are being compared in the same sentence. In this case, you can refer to the species by just the genus name, or write the species name in full.
When you introduce the name of another species in the same genus, you can use the abbreviated genus name for the new species. For example: The domestic cat is species Felis catus . Both F. catus and its wild relative, F. silvestris ...
The names of higher taxonomic levels (family, order, class, phylum or division, and kingdom) should be capitalized but not italicized. Common names derived from taxon names, for instance “felines” for members of the family Felidae, should not be capitalized. A common name that is derived from a genus name, such as gorilla, should not be capitalized.

Submissions via External Services (e.g. bioRxiv, Overleaf)

Consideration of prior peer reviews.

PeerJ is happy to use prior peer-reviews which have been conducted on a manuscript (for example if it was reviewed by another journal). Doing so can often increase the speed of our decision, and reduce additional rounds of review.
Please obtain written permission from the other journal to use these reviews and upload it as a Supplemental File. For more info contact: [email protected]
To go this route, authors should alert us in the "Notes to Staff" field that they have prior reviews and they should upload them as an external reviews file type when submitting. They should also provide a document detailing what changes they have made (if any) in light of these reviews. Staff will then contact the other journal to confirm that your reviews are complete and unedited, and to request permission to use them.

Resubmission

Please download your appropriate guidance PDF:

Resubmission Guidance
Resubmission Guidance for LaTeX Submissions