Science Translational Medicine is the leading weekly online journal publishing translational research at the intersection of science, engineering and medicine. The goal of Science Translational Medicine is to promote human health by providing a forum for communicating the latest research advances from biomedical, translational, and clinical researchers from all established and emerging disciplines relevant to medicine. In addition to original research, Science Translational Medicine also publishes Reviews, Editorials, Focus articles, and Viewpoints.
General Editorial Policies
Authors should familiarize themselves with the general editorial policies of Science Translational Medicine before submitting their manuscript. These policies spell out the rights and responsibilities that authors agree to when submitting and publishing their article in Science Translational Medicine. This information can be accessed here.
Categories of Manuscripts
Research Articles are original research papers that represent significant advances in translational research. They should be structured as follows: Title, Abstract, Introduction, Results, Discussion, Materials and Methods, References, Figures and Figure Legends, Tables and Table Legends, and Supplementary Materials. Research Articles should be no more than 10,000 words in length (including main text, references and figure legends) and may have up to 8 figures/tables. Supplementary materials are permitted but should be limited to information that is not essential to the general understanding of the research presented in the main text. Shorter Research Articles with fewer figures will also be considered and may be published as Reports at the discretion of the editors.
Detailed information about preparing a new Research Article
Detailed information about preparing a revised Research Article
Research Resources describe nonhypothesis-driven research, including the presentation of new validated methods or techniques or validated databases or data sets of direct relevance to translational medicine. They should provide at least some new biological insight. Research Resources describing new methods or techniques should include appropriately controlled validation experiments. The format of Research Resources is the same as for Research Articles.
Technical Comments provide readers with an opportunity to respond to an article published in Science Translational Medicine. Technical Comments should provide new information or insights about the published article and should be of interest to the broad readership of Science Translational Medicine. Technical Comments should be less than 1500 words with no more than 10 references, and may have up to 2 figures or tables. Technical Comments are sent to the authors of the published article under discussion for their response, and both Technical Comment and Technical Response undergo peer review.
Reviews may discuss a particular disease, an emerging area in translational research, or a new methodology or technique that benefits translational medicine. A focal point of the Review is the identification of specific challenges and bottlenecks preventing translation of biomedical research into new clinical treatments for the disease under discussion, with suggestions for ways to overcome these barriers. Reviews are evaluated by the editors and peer reviewers for scholarship, balance, accessibility, fresh synthesis of existing knowledge, and new ideas. Reviews can be up to 8000 words (including abstract, main text, references, and figure legends). They should have a short pithy title, an abstract of 100 words or less, no more than 100 references, and up to four figures (with figure legends) or tables.
Editorials are short, invited opinion pieces that discuss an issue of immediate importance to the translational research community. They should be written in an engaging, accessible style and should avoid acronyms where possible. Editorials should be less than 1500 words in length, do not have an abstract, should keep references to a minimum but definitely no more than 5, and do not have figures or tables (although they do have a photograph of the author as an illustration).
Focus articles are short, timely pieces that spotlight new research findings published in Science Translational Medicine or other journals or policy issues of interest to the translational research community that are of immediate importance. They should be written in an accessible style that will engage the broad readership of Science Translational Medicine. They should avoid acronyms where possible, and should explain scientific jargon. If a Focus discusses a particular research paper, then that article should be mentioned at the end of the first paragraph. Focus articles cannot exceed 2000 words in total (including title, abstract, main text, references, and figure legend). They should have a short newsy title, an abstract that is one sentence only, no more than 10 references (including the paper under discussion), and one figure (with figure legend) or one table. Focus articles may be sent for peer review.
Viewpoints discuss recent key translational research findings that are of broad interest to the translational medicine community. Viewpoints should analyze the research from both a biomedical and clinical perspective and should describe the clinical implications of the research findings and the barriers to translation. Viewpoints should not exceed 3500 words total (including abstract, main text, references and figure legends). They should have a short pithy title, an abstract of 50 words or less, no more than 30 recent references, and 1 or 2 figures (with figure legends) or tables. Viewpoints are sent for peer review.
Press Services
Our Press Office may identify specific Science Translational Medicine articles as particularly newsworthy and highlight them in our embargoed press package for registered journalists. If you are a journalist wishing to receive our embargoed press package or an author wanting information regarding press outreach on your embargoed Science Translational Medicine paper, please contact the Science Translational Medicine Press Package (“MedPak”) Team at [email protected].