Formatting Guidelines

These are the formatting rules for every manuscript submitted to STM Journals. Our production team and our copyediting system (ce4) check each submission against exactly these rules, so a manuscript that follows them moves to publication faster and with fewer queries to the author.

⬇ Download the Word template (.docx)
All the styles below are already set up in it — write your manuscript in the template and use its styles (Heading 1–4, Abstract, Keywords, Reference, List Bullet, List Number).

1. Page setup

Setting	Value
Paper size	A4 — 8.27 × 11.69 in (21.01 × 29.69 cm)
Left and right margins	1 in (2.54 cm)
Top margin	0.6 in (1.52 cm)
Bottom margin	0.5 in (1.27 cm)
File format	Microsoft Word (.docx)

2. Title, authors, abstract and keywords

Part	Font and size	Style	Alignment
Article title	Calibri Light, 20 pt	Bold	Left
Author names	Garamond, 12 pt	Regular	Left
The word “Abstract”	Times New Roman, 11 pt	Bold italic	Centred
Abstract text	Times New Roman, 11 pt	Italic	Justified
Keywords line	Times New Roman, 11 pt	Starts with “Keywords:”	Justified

3. Body text

• Times New Roman, 11 pt, justified.
• First line of each paragraph indented 0.15 in (0.38 cm).
• 11 pt of space after each paragraph; no blank lines between paragraphs.

Example: the body of the article is set like this paragraph — Times New Roman at 11 points, justified, with a small indent at the start of the first line and a gap after the paragraph rather than an empty line.

4. Headings

Use up to six heading levels. All headings are in Times New Roman, 11 pt. Do not number headings and do not let Word number them automatically — type the heading text only. Do not skip a level (a Level 3 heading must sit under a Level 2).

Level	Case	Weight	Slant	Placement	Example
Level 1	ALL CAPITALS	Bold	—	Left-aligned, on its own line	MATERIALS AND METHODS
Level 2	Title Case	Bold	—	Left-aligned, on its own line	Sample Preparation
Level 3	Title Case	Bold	Italic	Left-aligned, on its own line	Thermal Treatment of Samples
Level 4	Title Case	Not bold	Italic	Left-aligned, on its own line	Annealing at Low Temperature
Level 5	Sentence case	Not bold	Italic	Run-in: starts the paragraph, followed by “:”	Cooling rate: the samples were cooled at 5 °C per minute.
Level 6	Sentence case	Not bold	Not italic	Run-in: starts the paragraph, followed by “:”	Final weight: the dried mass was recorded to 0.1 mg.

5. Lists

Bullets (by level)	Numbers (by level)
B1 ●   B2 ○   B3 ■   B4 □	N1 1.   N2 i.   N3 a.

Numbered items always end the number with a full stop (1. not 1) or (1)). Use Word’s own bullet and numbering buttons rather than typing the marks.

6. Tables

• Every table has a caption above it: “Table 1. Caption text”. The label “Table 1.” is bold, 9 pt; the caption text is regular, 11 pt.
• Table text: Times New Roman, 9 pt.
• Borders: single line, 0.5 pt.
• Cell margins: top and bottom 0.02 in, left and right 0.04 in.
• Notes below the table start with “Note:”, “Abbreviations:” or “Source:” and are 9 pt.
• Build tables with Word’s table tool — never as images or with tab stops.

Table 1. Frequency and percentage of respondents by age group.

Age group	Frequency	Percentage
18–25	42	35.0
26–40	78	65.0

Note: Percentages are of all 120 respondents.

7. Figures and artwork

• No figure larger than 6 × 9 in (15.24 × 22.86 cm).
• Insert figures in the text where they belong, with a numbered caption (“Figure 1.”), and also supply high-resolution originals if the submission system asks for them.

8. References

• Numbered Vancouver style: cite in the text as [1], [2], [3–5] and list references in the order they are first cited.
• Times New Roman, 11 pt, justified, with a 0.25 in hanging indent.
• Give the DOI for every reference that has one, as a link: https://doi.org/10.xxxx/xxxxx

1. Sharma A, Gupta R. Thermal stability of doped zinc oxide films. J Mater Sci. 2024;59(3):1123–35. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-024-00001-x

9. Before you submit

• A4 page and the margins above.
• Times New Roman 11 pt throughout the body and headings.
• Headings typed, not auto-numbered, and no level skipped.
• Every table has a “Table N.” caption above it; every figure fits 6 × 9 in.
• References numbered in citation order, with DOIs.

The general submission requirements — article types, ethics, authorship and peer review — are in Information for Authors.