Why Do Authors Have to Follow the Format Given by the Journal Publisher?

When you want to submit a paper, you will be asked to tidy it up according to the format provided by the journal publisher. Occasionally, not using the requested format will result in your paper being immediately rejected by the journal editor.

But why?

Writing down your ideas in the format provided by the journal publisher shows your seriousness in submitting a paper to the journal. You have read the terms and conditions requested by the editor and endeavor to comply with them. Moreover, in the template provided by the journal publisher, there are usually writing guidelines that the author must follow (including Do's and Don'ts). Indirectly, it means that you are ready and willing to follow the process that applies in the journal.

There are times when the author sends his paper to several journals at once. Therefore, he uses a single common template which he considers to cover the provisions of all these journals. We strongly recommend that you never try this. This violates the ethics of publication, because it could be that two or more journals accept your paper at the same time, resulting in double publication. Not only you will lose, but also one or more journals because they are considered to support plagiarism. Your adherence to the format is expected to reduce the potential for such ethical violations.