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Front Matter

front matter
Figure 1. Example of front matter (A: title; B: byline, C: affiliations, D: corresponding author information).

The front matter, usually on the first page of your paper, includes the title, byline, affiliations, and corresponding author information. It is the first thing readers will see, so make it good!

Title

title
Figure 2. Title of manuscript.

The title is the most read part of your paper. It should clearly state what your paper is about in as few words as possible (most journals have a character limit). Avoid using abbreviations (see Abbreviations). Some journals allow a subtitle.

A title is typically a noun phrase ("Integrated Perception and Control for Robots in Real-World Environments").

In addition to a full title, some journals require a running title (also called a short title or running head). Running titles usually have a strict character limit (e.g., 50 characters, including spaces). Check guidelines.

The title should reflect the content of the paper.

Capitalization

There are two main title capitalization formats, title case and sentence case. The examples below use the APA style for these formats.

Example 1. Title capitalization formats
Title case
example

Effect of Newtonian Fluid Dynamics on the Removal Efficiency of Proteins in Biosensors
Sentence case
example

Effect of Newtonian fluid dynamics on the removal efficiency of proteins in biosensors

Title Case

For title case (APA style):

  • Capitalize all nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns, including second part of hyphenated words.

  • Capitalize all words of four letters or more.

Example 2. Title case examples
example

Batch Normalization for Transformer-Based Acoustic Modeling of Speech Recognition
comment

"Based" in capitalized because it has five letters.
example

Single-Bit Consensus With Finite-Time Convergence
comment

"Bit" is capitalized because it’s a noun in the second part of a hyphenated word.
Mistake

  • The author writes a title that follows some rules for title case.

Remedy

  • Follow all rules for title case (check guidelines).

Example 3. Inconsistent title case capitalization
incorrect

Prediction of Clinical outcomes in Patients with COVID-19 based on Chest X-rays
correct

Prediction of Clinical Outcomes in Patients With COVID-19 Based on Chest X-Rays
incorrect

Priority-based Scheduling with Resource sharing for Multi-task Applications
correct

Priority-Based Scheduling With Resource Sharing for Multi-Task Applications

Sentence Case

For sentence case (APA style):

  • Capitalize first word of title and any subtitle.

  • Capitalize proper nouns (Newton, Saturn, Taiwan).

Example 4. Sentence case examples
example

Water abundance in Jupiter’s equatorial zone
example

Uncertainty quantification for ECG: A lead field approach
Mistake

  • The author writes a title that follows some rules for sentence case.

Remedy

  • Follow all rules for sentence case (check guidelines).

Example 5. Inconsistent sentence case capitalization
incorrect

Structure-preserving particle discretizations of coulomb collisions
correct

Structure-preserving particle discretizations of Coulomb collisions
incorrect

Generation of bounded invariants via stroboscopic maps: application to stability analysis of time-periodic systems
correct

Generation of bounded invariants via stroboscopic maps: Application to stability analysis of time-periodic systems

Hyphenation

See Hyphenation for rules.

Mistake

  • The author incorrectly hyphenates words in the title.

Remedy

  • Check rules for hyphenation.

incorrect

Phase Based Density Reconstruction in Tomography Using Locally-Learned Models
correct

Phase-Based Density Reconstruction in Tomography Using Locally Learned Models
incorrect

Finite temperature magnetic properties and correlation induced octahedral rotations of NiO6
correct

Finite-temperature magnetic properties and correlation-induced octahedral rotations of NiO6

Abbreviations

Most journals discourage abbreviations in the title, but some allow common abbreviations such as 'LED', 'DC', etc.

Example 6. Common abbreviations in title
example

LED-Based Light Source Combined With Quantum Dots for Spectral Imaging
example

Emulation of Low-Power Wind Turbines Using DC Motors

Do not use uncommon abbreviations in the title. They lead to confusion.

Example 7. Uncommon abbreviations in title
incorrect

Regulation of EMT in CRC
comment

Readers will not be able to guess what this paper is about.
correct

Regulation of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in colorectal cancer

Byline

byline
Figure 3. Author byline.

The byline is gives the author names and their corresponding affiliations. Affiliations are usually indicated by superscript numbers, letters, or symbols. They should be given in order: 1, 2, 3, …​ for numbers and a, b, c …​ for letters.

Example 8. Affiliation superscript formats
Numbers
example

Steve Smith1, Jane Drake1,2, and John Doe3
Letters
example

Steve Smitha, Jane Drakea,b, and John Doec
Symbols
example

Steve Smith†, Jane Drake†,¶, and John Doe§
Mistake

  • The author gives the affiliations in an incorrect order.

Remedy

  • Give affiliations in the correct order.

Example 9. Incorrect order
incorrect

Steve Smith1, Jane Drake1,3, and John Doe2
correct

Steve Smith1, Jane Drake1,2, and John Doe3

The corresponding author is usually indicated by an asterisk.

Example 10. Corresponding author
example

Steve Smith1,*, Jane Drake1,2, and John Doe3

Authors who make equal contributions are usually indicated by a symbol.

Example 11. Equal contribution
example

Steve Smith1,*,‡, Jane Drake1,2,‡, and John Doe3

Define superscripts on the page where they first appear (usually the title page).

example

*Corresponding author.
example

‡These authors contributed equally to the work.

Affiliations

affil
Figure 4. Author affiliations.
Mistake

  • The author uses superscripts beside author names but do not in the definitions.

Remedy

  • Use superscripts in definitions of affiliations.

Example 12. Missing superscripts
incorrect

1. Department of …​
2. Department of …​
3. Department of …​
correct

1Department of …​
2Department of …​
3Department of …​
Mistake

  • The author uses an inconsistent format for affiliations.

Remedy

  • Use a consistent format for institution names and addresses.

Example 13. Inconsistent format
incorrect

1Institute of Statistical Science, Academia Sinica,
Taipei 11529, Taiwan
2Department of Geography, National Taiwan University,
Taipei, Taiwan, R.O.C.
correct

1Institute of Statistical Science, Academia Sinica,
Taipei, Taiwan
2Department of Geography, National Taiwan University,
Taipei, Taiwan

Corresponding author

correspond
Figure 5. Corresponding author information.

Use the English convention for addresses.

Mistake

  • The author uses their local format for addresses.

Remedy

  • Use the English convention for addresses.

Example 14. Incorrect address format
incorrect

No.1, University Road, Tainan City 701, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
correct

1 University Road, Tainan City 701, Taiwan (R.O.C.)
incorrect

No. 1, Section 4, Roosevelt Rd., Da’an District, Taipei City 10617, Taiwan
correct

1 Roosevelt Rd., Section 4, Da’an District, Taipei City 10617, Taiwan