Taylor & Francis Manuscript Formatting Guidelines in Word

With a portfolio encompassing more than 2,700 peer-reviewed journals across Science, Technology, Medicine, Humanities, and Social Sciences—published under the Taylor & Francis, Routledge, and CRC Press imprints—Taylor & Francis is one of the world's leading academic publishing operations. The vast majority of its editorial offices process submissions through ScholarOne Manuscripts.

While Taylor & Francis has modernized its initial intake to streamline author submissions, its editorial assistants rigorously screen incoming Word documents for five non-negotiable compliance pillars: baseline geometry, reference consistency, 3-line table architecture, continuous line numbering, and explicit alignment with the publisher's 5-tier Data Sharing Policy. Failing these basic checks results in administrative rejection or unsubmission before peer review begins.

This definitive 2026 author guide covers the exact Word settings, citation style options, table rules, and data policy templates required for a flawless Taylor & Francis submission.

2. Core Document Geometry & Layout Requirements

Taylor & Francis accepts submissions in Microsoft Word (.docx). To ensure readability for reviewers and clean conversion into ScholarOne's evaluation PDF, format your document to the following baseline parameters:

Continuous Line Numbering Configuration

Taylor & Francis peer reviewers cite specific line numbers when noting methodological critiques or textual revisions. Word's default “Restart Each Page” setting causes ambiguity during review discussions. Enable continuous line numbers:

1. Select the Layout tab in Word.
2. Click Line Numbers in the Page Setup group.
3. Select Continuous from the dropdown menu.

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Figure 1: Microsoft Word Layout tab showing continuous line numbering configurationClose

Figure 1: Figure 1: Configure continuous line numbering under Layout → Line Numbers → Continuous before submitting to Taylor & Francis.

If you need detailed troubleshooting for section breaks or title page exemptions, consult our dedicated guide on how to insert continuous line numbers in Word.

Double Line Spacing Configuration

Single-spaced manuscripts are visually fatiguing for reviewers reading on screens and prevent legible marginal annotations. Set paragraph line spacing to Double with zero points Before and After:

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Figure 2: Microsoft Word Paragraph dialog showing Double line spacing settingsClose

Figure 2: Figure 2: Ensure Line spacing is set to Double with 0 pt Before and After spacing in the Word Paragraph dialog.

3. Taylor & Francis Reference Styles Explained

Unlike publishers that enforce a single house citation format across all journals (such as IEEE), Taylor & Francis employs several major referencing styles tailored to specific academic disciplines. Always consult your target journal's specific “Instructions for Authors” page to confirm which system it requires.

When utilizing reference management tools like EndNote or Zotero, ensure all field codes are refreshed and validated before submission. If you encounter broken reference links, read our tutorial on fixing EndNote and Zotero field code corruption in Word.

4. 3-Line Academic Tables (No Vertical Rules)

Taylor & Francis journals enforce strict graphic standards for tables. Submitting tables with standard Word gridlines, heavy colored fills, or vertical dividers will trigger an editorial correction request during production or pre-review screening.

Core Table Formatting Rules

• Horizontal Rules Only: Use exactly three horizontal borders—a top border (1.0 pt), a border separating the header row from data (0.5 pt), and a bottom border (1.0 pt).
• Zero Vertical Rules: No vertical gridlines are permitted anywhere in the table.
• Caption Placement: Table captions must always appear above the table: “Table 1. Regression parameters for environmental factors.”
• Data Alignment: Text descriptions should be left-aligned; numerical values must be right-aligned or decimal-aligned.
• Table Notes: Footnotes explaining abbreviations, data sources, or significance indicators (e.g., *p < 0.05) must appear directly beneath the bottom rule in 9pt or 10pt font.

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Figure 3: Microsoft Word Table Design tab showing 3-line table formatting without vertical linesClose

Figure 3: Figure 3: Apply professional 3-line borders (top rule, header rule, bottom rule) and remove vertical lines via Table Design → Borders.

For a detailed step-by-step walkthrough, see our complete guide on how to format 3-line academic tables in Word.

5. Taylor & Francis 5-Tier Data Sharing Policy

Taylor & Francis operates a progressive, journal-specific Data Sharing Policy framework divided into five distinct tiers. Every manuscript submitted to a Taylor & Francis or Routledge journal must contain an explicit Data Availability Statement. Review the five tiers below and use the approved verbatim phrasing corresponding to your study:

Special Exemption Statements

If your study falls outside standard empirical data generation, use one of these two verified declarations:

Data Sharing Not Applicable: “Data sharing is not applicable to this article as no new datasets were generated or analysed during the current study.”

Restricted Ethical / Commercial Data: “The data that support the findings of this study are available on request from the corresponding author, [initials]. The data are not publicly available due to privacy restrictions regarding human participant confidentiality.”

6. ScholarOne Submission Workflow & File Architecture

When submitting to Taylor & Francis journals on ScholarOne, you will be prompted to designate file types during upload. Understanding the distinction between single-blind and double-blind journals is vital.

If your journal uses double-blind review, follow our comprehensive technical guide on how to anonymize a Word document for double-blind peer review to purge metadata from docProps/core.xml and sanitize self-citations.

Author Bio-Notes

Many Routledge social science and humanities journals require a short biographical note (bio-note) of 50 to 100 words per author. In double-blind submissions, include bio-notes exclusively in the separate Title Page file, never in the blinded manuscript.

7. Avoiding Common Taylor & Francis Desk Rejections

Before confirming your ScholarOne submission, verify that your manuscript avoids these top causes for editorial return:

• Missing Data Availability Statement: Every T&F journal requires an explicit statement in the back matter, even if no data was created.
• Unblinded Document in Double-Blind Review: Author names or institutional identifiers found in the main text, acknowledgments, or file properties.
• Boxed Tables with Vertical Gridlines: Default gridlines left in tables create layout errors and indicate lack of polish.
• Line Numbers Missing or Resetting per Page: Numbering must be set to continuous from start to finish.
• Low-Resolution Figures: Raster graphs below 300 DPI (or 600 DPI for combination charts) will fail pre-flight PDF inspection.

For a broader comparative analysis across major publishers, read our side-by-side comparison: Springer vs. Wiley vs. Taylor & Francis Manuscript Formatting Compared.

Explore related guides: Pre-submission checklist · Wiley manuscript formatting · Elsevier manuscript formatting