The submission of a manuscript for publication requires adherence to a strict set of rules and requirements which govern the appropriateness of the topic, the overall content, and the authorship of the material. Based upon the journal that is being considered for publication, a number of individual characteristics must be considered prior to this stage; however, formatting of the manuscript must follow a number of standard guidelines that impact final submission and approval. In this capacity, a number of factors must be considered regarding its format and the requirements that will have a direct impact on review and whether or not the guidelines have been met in full. It is possible that if these requirements are not fully met, the manuscript will be rejected and future publication may not occur.

                      In order to create a manuscript that is worthy of publication, a specific outline must be followed, including an abstract, introduction, method, results, and discussion, among other sections (Salkind, 2011). If this outline is not present, it is highly likely that the manuscript will be rejected, regardless of its content and the strength of the information that is presented. In addition, the title page should be the first step in creating a manuscript, as it provides a title and the author(s) and introduces the topic to the reader (Salkind, 2011). After the title page, an abstract should be provided that summarizes the entire manuscript and its overall content, and one of the possible misconceptions regarding this section is its length, but the number of words at 120 or less is strictly enforced (Salkind, 2011).

                      The introduction section should provide insight regarding the topic and content of the manuscript and promote the ideas that will be described in greater detail in the other sections (Salkind, 2011). The methods section of the manuscript should also include subheadings that provide detailed information regarding the study participants, the instruments that were used to complete the study and how the data was analyzed (Salkind, 2011). The results section of the manuscript may be the longest, as it provides detailed information regarding the outcomes of the study that was conducted, typically including statistics in the form of tables and charts (Salkind, 2011). The results should also include a textual description of the information that is provided in these tables so that it is addressed in written form (Salkind, 2011). The discussion section of the manuscript is less defined and more interpretive, based upon the information that was generated in the study in conjunction with prior evidence regarding the topic; furthermore, this section includes any study limitations that have been identified and which require future investigation in other studies (Salkind, 2011). Perhaps the most important recommendation when creating a manuscript is to properly cite all sources that are used, including securing permission from other authors as necessary when using their works (MIT Press, 2016).

                      Developing and formatting a manuscript for publication requires an understanding of the basic guidelines that are standardized throughout the publishing industry. These guidelines support an author’s ability to complete a manuscript that has a greater chance of being selected for publication. Authors must be practical in their efforts to conduct studies that will align with these guidelines and which will further the subject matter and topic in the appropriate manner. All manuscripts which are published by peer reviewed and other reputable journals must meet these standards; therefore, authors must prepare their manuscripts in accordance with these requirements in order to be considered for publication. This is the most important step in developing a study and in writing a manuscript that will be submitted to one or more journals for further consideration.