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NHS NIHR - National Institute for Health and Care Research

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Home >>For authors >>Journals Library Publication Approaches >>Threaded Publication

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Research article

Key principles

Main body word count is set to 8,000 words maximum. This limit includes all text,text within tables, and text within figures and boxes which are contained within the main body of the manuscript. Please note that your manuscript will not proceed to peer review if it is over this limit. The limit does not include the abstract and plain language summary (which continue to have their own individual word limits). It also excludes the table of contents, references, appendices, supplementary material and additional information (CRediT statement, data-sharing statement, ethics statement, information governance statement).
The intention is for the article to be reported to a similar standard of other journal research articles, whilst recognising that the word count will be larger due to NIHR’s commitment to full reporting.
To be used for reporting individual components of the research within the Journals Library, as set out in the publication plan.
Articles received with more than 10% higher word count will be sent back to the award team to reduce.
Please note there is flexibility to the ordering of the main body headings so that the research article meets the need for the intended audiences i.e., policy review, patient partnerships etc. If this is your intention, please provide an outline of the proposed format to your Publication team contact for approval before you submit to the Journals Library.

In the sections that follow, we have provided hyperlinks to the relevant manuscript preparation guidance in the information for authors, where this might be helpful.
Where relevant, do also follow the appropriate reporting guidelines for your study type. A comprehensive list of available reporting guidelines, listed by study type, can be found on the EQUATOR Network website.

All Research Articles should include:

	Headings	Word limits/indicative amounts	Description
	Title page	n/a	Title Author list Affiliations Review history (date received and accepted) Please see title page for more information
	Abstract	500 words maximum	Study/trial registration details See our abstract page for more information
	Plain language summary	300 words maximum	See our plain language summary page for more information
Main body	Background	10% of main body count
	Aim and objectives	10% of main body count
	Methods	25% of main body count	Methods (linking to Study Protocol) Patient and Public Involvement (PPI) or Community Engagement, and Involvement (CEI) Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) Statistical analysis Data sources (for systematic reviews) Ethics Study/trial registration details
	Results	25% of main body count
	Discussion	20% of main body count	Future Research Lessons learned Limitations
	Conclusions	10% of main body count	Key learning points What this adds to existing knowledge
	Additional information	n/a	Disclosure of interest statement Contribution of authors/CRediT and Acknowledgements Patient data statement (if required) Data-sharing statement Ethics statement Information Governance statement See our additional information page for more information
	References	n/a	See our references page for more information
	Appendices	n/a	See our appendices page for more information
	Supplementary material	n/a	If applicable, please submit alongside your manuscript See our supplementary material page for more information

Examples of research articles published as part of the threaded publication are:

The Funding and Awards website award pages are an opportunity to host additional material that has been used and or created during the lifetime of the research award. Hosting these documents on the award webpage to form part of a thread of the research enables transparency and reproducibility.