A manuscript is the work that an author submits to a publisher,

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

, or producer for

publication To publish is to make content available to the general public.Berne Convention, articl ...

. Especially in

academic publishing Academic publishing is the subfield of publishing which distributes Research, academic research and scholarship. Most academic work is published in academic journal articles, books or Thesis, theses. The part of academic written output that is n ...

, ''manuscript'' can also refer to an accepted document, reviewed but not yet in a final format, distributed in advance as a

preprint In academic publishing, a preprint is a version of a scholarly or scientific paper that precedes formal peer review and publication in a peer-reviewed scholarly or scientific journal. The preprint may be available, often as a non-typeset versi ...

. This use of the term ''

manuscript A manuscript (abbreviated MS for singular and MSS for plural) was, traditionally, any document written by hand or typewritten, as opposed to mechanically printed or reproduced in some indirect or automated way. More recently, the term has ...

'' (from

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

for "hand written") originally dates from a time when only final published documents were professionally typeset and printed, but preliminary drafts were written by hand. Once

typewriter A typewriter is a Machine, mechanical or electromechanical machine for typing characters. Typically, a typewriter has an array of Button (control), keys, and each one causes a different single character to be produced on paper by striking an i ...

s became widespread, many manuscripts were typewritten. Today manuscripts are usually prepared using computers with digital typesetting or word processing software.

Manuscript format

Even with

desktop publishing Desktop publishing (DTP) is the creation of documents using dedicated software on a personal ("desktop") computer. It was first used almost exclusively for print publications, but now it also assists in the creation of various forms of online co ...

making it possible for writers to prepare text that appears professionally typeset, many publishers still require authors to submit manuscripts formatted according to their respective guidelines. Manuscript formatting varies greatly depending on the type of work, as well as the particular publisher, editor or producer. Writers who intend to submit a manuscript should determine what the relevant writing standards are, and follow them. Although publishers’ guidelines for formatting are the most critical resource for authors,

style guide A style guide is a set of standards for the writing, formatting, and design of documents. A book-length style guide is often called a style manual or a manual of style. A short style guide, typically ranging from several to several dozen page ...

s are also key references since "virtually all professional editors work closely with one of them in editing a manuscript for publication." Nonetheless, individual publishers' standards always take precedence over

s. Publishers of literary works such as short stories and poetry often expect submissions in standard manuscript format, which is easily distinguishable from most published material.

Preprint

An ordinary ''manuscript'' only becomes a "publisher's

" if it somehow gets distributed beyond the authors (or the occasional colleague whom they ask for advice). A future "final print" must be planned – with better layout,

proofreading Proofreading is a phase in the process of publishing where galley proofs are compared against the original manuscripts or graphic artworks, to identify transcription errors in the typesetting process. In the past, proofreaders would place corr ...

prepress proofing A contract proof usually serves as an agreement between customer and printer (publishing), printer and as a color reference guide for adjusting the press (machine), press before the final press run. Most contract proofs are a prepress proof. The ...

, etc. – that will replace the "preprinted ''manuscript''". * In a

peer review Peer review is the evaluation of work by one or more people with similar competencies as the producers of the work (:wiktionary:peer#Etymology 2, peers). It functions as a form of self-regulation by qualified members of a profession within the ...

context: if an author prepares a manuscript on their computer and submits it to a publisher for review but it is not accepted, there cannot be a "publisher's preprint". * In a web context (legal/cultural authorship): to demonstrate authorship, an author can upload a version of their work to a repository before full publication. An alternative could be to use a

legal deposit Legal deposit is a legal requirement that a person or group submit copies of their publications to a repository, usually a library. The number of copies required varies from country to country. Typically, the national library is the primary reposit ...

References

{{Open access navbox Writing Publishing Academic journal articles Academic publishing Scientific documents Publications by format Grey literature

Manuscript format

Preprint

See also

References