We’re excited to announce the launch of a new pilot: free format submission.  For the past few years, we’ve been conducting surveys of authors during and after the journal article publication process, with the goal of measuring and improving the author experience. One recurring theme has emerged loud and clear –authors want a simpler submission process with fewer formatting requirements.

Author guidelines for journals across subject areas are often too demanding and rigid, leading to a long and laborious process for authors when preparing a manuscript for submission, particularly if they need to submit their manuscript to multiple journals.  Our authors have passionately argued that formatting manuscripts to match strict guidelines doesn’t add value to the content of their papers and should not be necessary for initial submission.

One of our mantras is that publishing should be rewarding, not frustrating. Researchers’ time is valuable and should be spent on research, not re-typing reference lists or changing their text to use a specific typeface or point size. With free format submission, we offer researchers the flexibility to submit their papers in the format and style they prefer. We aspire to simplify and streamline submission, beginning with reducing the time researchers spend formatting and re-formatting their manuscripts.

We caught up with Michael Willis, Senior Manager, Researcher Advocate, at Wiley to learn about what this means for our authors and editors.

Q. Could you briefly explain what free format submission is and how it will work?

A.  Free format submission gives authors the ability to submit their manuscripts in the formatting style they prefer. We want to reduce the formatting requirements at initial submission to the bare minimum. The bottom line is that the manuscript, figures or tables must be readable by the editors and reviewers, but it doesn’t need to comply with the journal’s specific guidelines at the initial submission stage. The editorial office and editors will assess the manuscript in the format in which it's submitted with no further requirements on the author's part. Any formatting requirements will then be requested at revision, once the authors know that their manuscript has a strong chance of final acceptance for publication by the journal.

Q. In your role at Wiley you’ve worked closely with journal editors and authors. How do you think this will benefit them?

A. Free format submission will be a positive enhancement for the journal’s reputation in the field. Where ‘free format submission’ is enabled, authors will have an added incentive to submit their manuscript to a journal, particularly if the manuscript has been rejected by another journal. It will significantly reduce the amount of time and effort expended by authors in submitting their manuscripts.

Q. Will free format submission be an option for all Wiley titles in the future? What are the next steps?

A.  We’re starting with a small pilot, but our hope is to expand quickly and to add as many journals as possible. The more journals that offer free format submission, the better the experience for our authors.

Over 25 Wiley journals will be offering free format submission in our initial pilot. See the full list here. If you would like your journal to offer free format submission, contact your journal manager.

Learn how to submit free format to a Wiley journal here. 

Interested in other ways we’re improving the submission process? Read about two more pilots we’ve recently launched: Wiley Authors’ submission gateway and Authorea "under review."