Instructions for Authors
One path from a finished study to a submitted manuscript: what to prepare, what to declare, how to submit, and what happens afterwards.
Preparation
A manuscript is in scope when it makes a substantive contribution to pain or its management — preclinical, theoretical, methodological, review, clinical or lived-experience work alike — rather than using pain as an incidental variable. Whether the evidence presented supports the claims made is a separate judgment, reached in review.
Read the Aims & Scope first and decide what your manuscript claims. The reporting guideline that fits your design is the most useful thing you can pick up before writing: CONSORT for randomized trials, STROBE for observational studies, PRISMA for systematic reviews, CARE for case reports, STARD for diagnostic accuracy and ARRIVE for animal research.
Manuscripts are written in English. Authors who would like help with language may use the publisher’s optional, author-paid language-editing service; it improves grammar, clarity and style, does not change scientific content, and has no bearing on the review outcome or the decision.
Putting the manuscript together
Title page, as a separate file
Title, every author with affiliations and ORCID iDs, the corresponding author’s contact details, and the funding statement. Keeping this separate is what makes a double-blind request workable.
Main manuscript
Abstract, keywords, introduction, methods, results, discussion and conclusions, followed by declarations, references, and tables and figures with their legends. Number pages and lines continuously.
Figures and tables
Supply figures as separate files in TIFF, EPS, PDF, PNG or JPEG, at a resolution that stays legible at print size. Tables are supplied as editable text rather than as images. Reused material needs written permission from the rights holder, cited in the legend.
Statistics and reporting
State the statistical methods, the software used, the effect estimates with their intervals and the way missing data were handled, so that a reader can follow how the numbers were produced.
Supplementary files
Material that supports but does not belong in the article is supplied as clearly labeled supplementary files and referred to in the text.
What every submission must state
The approving body and protocol identifier for research involving people or animals, and the consent obtained.
Interventional clinical trials must be registered in an accepted public trial registry at or before the first participant provides consent for enrollment. The registry name, registration number, and registration date must be reported in the manuscript.
Every empirical research manuscript must include a data-availability statement.
Financial and non-financial interests for every author, or an explicit statement that there are none.
Every funder and grant identifier, and the role each funder played in the work.
Each author’s contribution, and any use of generative tools in preparing the manuscript. Authors remain responsible for the whole of the submitted work.
For double-blind review, remove author names, affiliations, acknowledgments, funding details, institution names, and other identifying information from the reviewer manuscript. Provide identifying information separately in the title-page file or submission form.
Review, revision and publication
All submissions undergo initial editorial screening. Manuscripts that meet the journal’s scope and minimum requirements proceed to independent peer review.
Single-blind by default; double-blind review is available on request.
Manuscripts that proceed to external peer review are normally evaluated by at least two independent subject-matter experts.
Editorial decisions are based on scope, scientific quality, methodological rigor, ethical compliance, reporting quality, and relevance to the journal.
Editorial decisions are independent of fees, services, memberships and roles.
An article processing charge is invoiced after acceptance, at the rates published on the Article Processing Charges page. The complete withdrawal terms are published there too.
Accepted articles are copyedited, proofed, registered with a DOI and published open access under CC BY 4.0, with copyright retained by the authors.
The publisher’s manuscript system, with tracking, reviewer correspondence and revision handling in one place.
Simple manuscript submission form
A short web form that arrives at the editorial office with International Journal of Pain Management already selected.
Write to the editorial office and a member of staff will register the submission for you.
Authors must use only one submission route for the same manuscript.