Source: PNAS Author Center: submitting your manuscript (National Academy of Sciences). Summarized by PublicationGod, last checked 22 September 2026. Always confirm details in the official guidelines before submitting. PublicationGod is not affiliated with or endorsed by this journal or its publisher.
Length by article type
| Article type | Length | References | Figures / tables |
|---|---|---|---|
| Research Report | Preferably 6 pages (about 4,000 words), up to 12 pages | About 50 for a 6-page article | About 4 medium-size elements for 6 pages |
| Brief Report | 3 pages, about 1,600 words including title page, abstract and legends | 15 | SI limited to extended methods, datasets and videos |
| Letter to the Editor | 500 words | 10 | 2 |
| Opinion | About 1,500 to 2,000 words, excluding references; no abstract | Not specified | Not specified |
| Perspective | Up to 10 pages | Not specified | Not specified |
Brief Reports are always published open access. Letters must be submitted within six months of the article's first online publication. PNAS does not consider presubmission inquiries.
PublicationGod section-length recommendation
For a standard Research Report, PublicationGod uses its own guidance: introduction around 500 to 700 words and discussion around 1,000 to 1,500 words. These are our recommendations, not journal rules.
Front matter
- Title under 135 characters, naming the studied organism, without numbers, acronyms, abbreviations, punctuation or puns.
- Abstract of up to 250 words that explains the main contributions to a general reader.
- Significance statement of up to 120 words, understandable to an undergraduate-educated scientist from another field. Required for Direct and Contributed Submissions.
- At least three keywords, plus a major and minor classification.
Initial submission
- Format-neutral: any format, as long as all components are included (title page, abstract, significance statement, main text, references, figures, SI, competing interests, data sharing plans and funding).
- Suggest at least three each of Editorial Board members, NAS members and qualified reviewers.
- The corresponding author must provide an ORCID; ORCIDs are linked through the PNAS profile, not in the manuscript file.
- Recommended order: title page, abstract, significance statement, Introduction, Results, Discussion, Materials and Methods, acknowledgments, references, figure legends.
References and figures
- Numbered in order of appearance, in PNAS style. "Data not shown" and unpublished meeting abstracts are not allowed.
- Retracted articles must not be cited except when referring to the retraction.
- Figure legends start with a one-sentence overview of the whole figure and describe every panel; error bars must be labeled and explained.
- Supporting information goes into a single SI Appendix PDF with its own reference list.
Revisions
Revised papers are due within two months, with a point-by-point response; a tracked-changes file is strongly encouraged. Multiple revisions are rarely permitted.
Draft your manuscript from your own figures
PNAS asks for a significance statement readable outside your field on top of a tight main text. PublicationGod drafts results from your confirmed figures and helps with introduction and discussion.
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