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Free interactive checklist

Manuscript submission checklist

Twelve checks to run before you submit a paper, in the order that saves rework. Each one links to a tool that does it. Tick items as you go: your progress is saved in this browser only, with no account.

Before you submit

0 of 12 done

  1. From a clean build, with no errors and no overfull boxes in the margins.

    LaTeX to PDF · free

  2. Syntax errors, missing required fields, duplicate keys.

    BibTeX Validator · free

  3. Resolve each DOI and match titles against CrossRef. This is where fabricated or mistyped references show up.

    BibTeX Validator with the CrossRef check · free · guide

  4. With and without references and appendices, as the venue counts them.

    Word Counter · Abstract Checker · free · guide

  5. The right document class and bibliography style, and references converted to the format the venue wants.

    LaTeX templates by venue · Reference formats by venue · Reference Converter · free

  6. Readable axis labels, no broken or truncated scales, a colour-blind-safe palette, fonts embedded in the PDF.

    What reviewers look for in figures

  7. Claims the data can't carry, missing baselines or ablations, sample-size justification, multiple comparisons.

    Paper Review · from $9 · the fifteen common problems

  8. Prior work a reviewer in your area will expect to see cited.

    Citation Gap Analysis · $3

  9. Names, institutions, funding, IRB numbers, "in our previous work", author-owned URLs, and the PDF's own metadata.

    Anonymity Check · $2, included with Paper Review · guide

  10. The contribution, why this journal, and the originality statement, in under a page.

    Cover Letter · $2

  11. Final PDF, source files if the venue asks for them, supplementary material, and a data availability statement.

    Camera-ready checklist · PDF Tools · free

  12. Venue, date and manuscript ID, so the decision, the revision deadline and your CV stay in one place.

    Vitae for Mac · free

Stored only in this browser. Nothing is sent anywhere.

A reminder a week before the deadline

One email, seven days ahead, with this checklist and the checks that fit in a week. Then nothing more.

The address is kept until that email goes out, then deleted 30 days later. Privacy.

After the reviews come back

Answer every comment, change the manuscript where you say you did, and check both before resubmitting. Revision Review ($2) checks the revised manuscript against your original Paper Review, and Response to Reviewers ($6) reads your response letter the way the reviewers will. How to respond to Reviewer 2 covers the letter itself.