RH 3.2.0 · journal submission guide · Scientific Reports and Royal Society Open Science

Checked against the journals' own pages on 7 October 2026. Fees and timings marked third-party come from secondary sites.

Before either submission

• Title. Use the 14-word locked title alone. Neither format has room for the subtitle, so its content goes into the abstract.
• Abstract. Both journals cap it at 200 words. The journal abstract is 320 words and must be cut.
• AI disclosure. Both journals forbid AI authorship and require a declaration of AI use.
  • Royal Society Open Science publishes the statement, can ask for the prompts and outputs, and may reject work whose substance is mainly the tool's output.
  • Both journals may retract a paper whose AI use was not disclosed.
  • The paper names an AI scribe. The statement must say precisely what the author designed and decided, and what the AI drafted, coded and audited.
• Code. Both journals require the Lean kernels to be public; "available on request" is not accepted. Cite:
  • Zenodo, concept DOI 10.5281/zenodo.23034065;
  • git, Publication Library/Mathematics/Millennium Series/;
  • the compile command and the Lean versions, 4.19.0 and 4.22.0.
• Preprint. The Zenodo record and the Internet Archive item are allowed. Disclose them at submission.

Scientific Reports (Nature Portfolio)

• Submission: https://author-welcome.nature.com/41598
• Impact factor 4.9 (2025).
• Scope: the aims page lists natural sciences, psychology, medicine and engineering. Mathematics appears only in the subject taxonomy, as Mathematics and computing, which includes pure mathematics and computer science. The cover letter should argue the fit.

Steps:

1. Cut to an Article.
   • Main text at most 4,500 words, excluding abstract, Methods, references and figure legends; ideally no more than 11 typeset pages.
   • Title at most 20 words, a single sentence.
   • Abstract at most 200 words, unstructured.
   • Up to 6 keywords.
   • Sections: Introduction, Results with subheadings, Discussion, Methods. No footnotes.
   • At most 8 figures or tables, and about 60 references in Nature style.
2. Supplementary Information. The full 113-page edition, as one PDF of at most 50 MB.
3. Back matter, in this order: References, Acknowledgements, Author contributions, Data availability (mandatory), Competing interests, figure legends, tables. Disclose AI use, with Methods the natural place.
4. Initial file. One file of at most 3 MB holding text and figures. Word is preferred; LaTeX or PDF is accepted. The Springer Nature LaTeX template is encouraged, and the file must compile with no errors or warnings.
5. Cover letter. It must give:
   • affiliation and contact details;
   • why the work suits the journal;
   • suggested reviewers with contact details;
   • reviewers to exclude;
   • any prior discussion with an Editorial Board Member.
6. Submit. Choose the Mathematics and computing subject.
7. Fee and timing. $2,850, £2,190 or €2,490, charged only on acceptance (third-party). Median first decision about 21 days (third-party).

Royal Society Open Science

• Submission: https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsos/pages/submit, which runs on ScholarOne at mc.manuscriptcentral.com/rsos.
• Impact factor 3.0 (2025).

Steps:

1. Manuscript.
   • No length limit is stated in the general guidelines.
   • Abstract at most 200 words, with no references and no unexplained abbreviations.
   • 3 to 10 keywords; the submission form asks for 3 to 6.
   • British spelling, SI units, Vancouver references, clearly labelled sections.
   • Methods detailed enough to replicate the results: Lean versions and the compile command.
2. Format. Any format at initial submission. For LaTeX, submit a PDF first and supply the full sources at revision: .tex, .bib or .bbl, .bst, and no master file that calls other files.
3. Statements.
   • Data, code and materials: repository and DOI.
   • AI use: published with the paper.
   • Competing interests and funding.
   • Ethics: not applicable.
   • CRediT roles.
4. Preprint. Disclose the Zenodo deposit at submission.
5. ScholarOne, in order:
   • create an account and upload the files;
   • choose the article type, Research article, and enter the title and abstract;
   • choose 1 to 3 subject areas (mathematics, computer science) and 3 to 6 keywords;
   • add the authors, then preferred and non-preferred reviewers and editors;
   • add the cover letter, then the funding, ethics, competing interests, data accessibility and contributions sections;
   • choose the open access option, which is "Other" unless an institutional agreement applies, and submit.
6. Review. Single-anonymised. Open peer review is mandatory, so the reports are published with the paper. The Royal Society's average first decision is 3 to 6 weeks after review.
7. Fee. £1,400, $1,960 or €1,680, confirmed at acceptance. Discretionary waivers are available to authors without funds, and authors in low- and middle-income countries get automatic waivers.
8. After acceptance. A lay media summary of at most 100 words; proofs within about 10 days.

Sources

• https://www.nature.com/srep/author-instructions/submission-guidelines
• https://www.nature.com/subjects/mathematics-and-computing/srep
• https://www.nature.com/nature-portfolio/editorial-policies/ai
• https://www.nature.com/srep/journal-impact
• https://manusights.com/blog/scientific-reports-apc-open-access
• https://royalsociety.org/journals/authors/author-guidelines/
• https://royalsociety.org/journals/open-access/
• https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/artificial-intelligence/
• https://royalsociety.org/journals/ethics-policies/media-embargo/
• https://royalsociety.org/journals/authors/benefits/
• https://royalsociety.org/journals/publishing-metrics/
• https://www.lancaster.ac.uk/media/lancaster-university/content-assets/documents/library/open-access/RoyalSocietyOpenScienceopenaccesssubmissions_authorjourney_infographic.pdf