Publication Support
DOI-VerifiedJournal-SpecificCompliance-Ready

Manuscript submission & journal formatting.

Getting published requires more than good research. It requires exact compliance with journal-specific formatting, verified references, complete checklists, properly blinded documents, and a cover letter that addresses the editor directly.

Most manuscripts are rejected for technical and compliance failures, not scientific weakness. We handle the technical side so the science gets read.

The Problem

What we find when manuscripts reach us

These are real numbers from manuscripts we have corrected for South African clinicians preparing to submit to peer-reviewed journals.

39%

Fabricated DOI rate

Found in one client manuscript. Every reference resolved to nothing. All corrected before submission.

15

Blocking compliance issues

Found in one AOSIS submission. Title length, CRediT format, line spacing, ORCID, cover letter form — all required, none optional.

3

Citation styles across one document

Vancouver, Harvard, and bracketed numbers mixed in the same manuscript. Journals reject on formatting alone.

4

Prior rejections before reaching us

One client had been rejected by four journals. The manuscript was sound. The formatting and compliance were not.

What We Deliver

Seven deliverables. One submission-ready package.

Every item below is included. The scope and effort depend on your target journal.

01

Journal selection

Data-driven, not guesswork.

We analyse your manuscript against target journals using acceptance rates, scope alignment, turnaround times, and article processing charges. You receive a ranked shortlist with a clear recommendation and the reasoning behind it.

Bayesian journal prediction models factor in your study design, sample size, institutional affiliation, and topic novelty.

02

Manuscript formatting

Every journal has different rules.

Word limits, reference caps, citation styles, figure specifications, abstract structure, spelling conventions, and section ordering all vary by journal. We format your manuscript to the exact specification of your target journal, not a generic template.

Vancouver superscript, Harvard author-date, Springer numbered, APA — we have built manuscripts in all of them.

03

Reference audit and verification

Zero fabricated citations.

Every reference is verified against CrossRef, PubMed, and OpenAlex. DOIs are resolved to confirm the paper exists and the metadata matches. References without DOIs are traced to the original publication. We have corrected manuscripts with 20 to 40 percent fabricated reference rates.

A single unresolvable DOI can trigger a desk rejection. We catch them before the editor does.

04

Compliance checklists

STROBE. CONSORT. PRISMA. CARE.

Most journals require a reporting guideline checklist with submission. We complete the appropriate checklist for your study design: STROBE for observational studies, CONSORT for trials, PRISMA for systematic reviews, CARE for case reports. Each item is cross-referenced to a specific page or section in your manuscript.

A missing or incomplete checklist is one of the most common reasons for immediate desk rejection.

05

Blinded manuscript

Double-blind requires precision.

For double-blind journals, we produce a separate version of your manuscript with all identifying information removed: author names, affiliations, acknowledgements, ethics committee names, hospital names where identifiable, and self-citations. The title page is submitted as a separate file.

A single remaining institutional reference in the blinded version can compromise peer review.

06

Cover letter and declarations

Not a formality. A gate.

The cover letter is the editor's first read. We write a structured cover letter addressing why this journal, what the manuscript adds, and why it matters. Where the journal uses a mandatory form — AOSIS, Wiley, Springer — we complete the form to specification.

Conflict of interest declarations, funding statements, ethics approval numbers, author contributions (CRediT taxonomy), and data availability statements are all prepared.

07

APC waivers and fee management

Publication should not cost more than the research.

Article processing charges range from zero to over R20,000 depending on the journal. We identify journals with no APC, apply for LMIC fee waivers where eligible, and flag high-cost journals before you commit. For AOSIS journals, we prepare the waiver application.

Several high-quality South African journals publish at no cost. We know which ones.

Scope

Any journal. Any citation style. Any publisher.

We work from the author guidelines, not from templates. Vancouver superscript, Harvard author-date, Springer numbered, APA, free-format — the citation style is read from the journal specification and applied to your manuscript. The same applies to word limits, figure requirements, abstract structure, and review type.

Citation styles

  • Vancouver superscript
  • Harvard author-date
  • Springer numbered
  • APA
  • Free-format

Publishers

  • HMPG
  • AOSIS
  • Wiley
  • Springer
  • Elsevier
  • BMJ
  • Taylor & Francis

Review types

  • Single-blind
  • Double-blind
  • Open peer review
  • Mandatory forms (AOSIS, Wiley REX)
Quality Assurance

Reference integrity and hallucination detection

AI tools routinely fabricate citations. They produce DOIs that look real but resolve to nothing. They cite papers that do not exist, attribute findings to the wrong authors, and invent volume and page numbers. This is the single largest risk in AI-assisted academic writing.

What we check

  • Every DOI resolved against CrossRef, PubMed, and OpenAlex
  • Author names, titles, journals, and years verified against source metadata
  • In-text citation numbers matched 1:1 against the reference list
  • No orphan references (cited but not listed, or listed but not cited)
  • Reference style matches journal specification exactly
  • Fabricated references identified, flagged, and replaced with verified alternatives

What we have found in client manuscripts

  • 12 of 31 references with fabricated DOIs in a single manuscript
  • 19 non-existent DOIs in a 54-reference pathology study
  • Papers attributed to the wrong authors with invented page numbers
  • Correct titles paired with wrong journals and fabricated volumes
  • References that exist but with subtly altered metadata
  • Entire reference lists generated from AI memory with no database verification

This is the problem we solve at scale

A reviewer who finds one unresolvable DOI will check the rest. A manuscript with fabricated references is not publishable regardless of the quality of the underlying research. We verify every reference before the editor sees it.

Pricing

Priced per journal, not per word.

The effort required to prepare a submission-ready manuscript depends on the target journal. A journal with free-format references, no compliance checklist, and single-blind review is less work than one requiring a mandatory cover letter form, CRediT author statements, line numbering, and double-blind formatting.

$

Manuscript Submission Support

Priced in USD — depends on target journal

Send us your manuscript and tell us which journal you are targeting. We review the author guidelines, assess the gap between your current document and submission requirements, and quote a fixed price in USD for the complete submission package.

The quote covers everything: formatting, reference verification, compliance checklist, blinded version, cover letter, and APC waiver application where applicable. No hourly rates. No scope creep.

Journal selection analysisManuscript formattingReference verificationCompliance checklistBlinded manuscriptCover letterAPC waiver (where eligible)

Already a thesis or protocol client?

If we built your thesis or protocol, we already have your references, data, and literature. The submission package builds on existing work and is priced accordingly.

Ready to submit?

Send your manuscript and target journal. We will review the requirements and send you a fixed-price quote within 24 hours.

Get a Quote