1、该刊只有国际刊号。

2、投稿方式：官网投稿。

3、官网网址：

https://softscijournal.com自动跳转至：

https://www.oaepublish.com/ss

（出版单位微信公众号“OAE开放科学”信息）

4、投稿系统：

https://www.oaecenter.com/login?JournalId=ss

5、官网电话：029-89540089；010-84185560

6、官网邮箱：editorialoffice@softscijournal.com

（更多编辑邮箱详见官网信息）

7、出刊日期：季刊，一年出版四期。

2025年12月25日星期四

Author Instructions

【官网信息】

1. Submission Overview

Before

you decide to publish with us, please read the following items

carefully and make sure that you are well aware of Editorial Policies

and the following requirements.

1.1 Topic Suitability

The topic of the manuscript must fit the scope of the journal. Please refer to Aims and Scope for more information.

1.2 Open Access and Copyright

The

journal adopts Gold Open Access publishing model and distributes

content under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International

License. Copyright is retained by authors. Please make sure that you are

well aware of these policies.

1.3 Publication Fees

Soft

Science is an open access journal. When a paper is accepted for

publication, authors are required to pay Article Processing Charges

(APCs) to cover its editorial and production costs. The APC for each

submission is $2600. There are no additional charges based on color,

length, figures, or other elements. For more details, please refer to

OAE Publication Fees.

1.4 Language Editing

All

submissions are required to be presented clearly and cohesively in good

English. Authors whose first language is not English are advised to

have their manuscripts checked or edited by a native English speaker

before submission to ensure the high quality of expression. A

well-organized manuscript in good English would make the peer review

even the whole editorial handling more smoothly and efficiently.

If

needed, authors are recommended to consider the language editing

services provided by OAE to ensure that the manuscript is written in

correct scientific English before submission. An extra charge is

required to enjoy this service. Please visit

https://www.oaepublish.com/services or contact

English-Editing@oaepublish.com for more details.

1.5 Work Funded by the National Institutes of Health

If

an accepted manuscript was funded by National Institutes of Health

(NIH), the author may inform Editors of the NIH funding number. The

Editors are able to deposit the paper to the NIH Manuscript Submission

System on behalf of the author.

2. Submission Preparation

2.1 Cover Letter

A

cover letter is required to be submitted accompanying each manuscript.

It should be concise and explain why the study is significant, why it

fits the scope of the journal, and why it would be attractive to

readers, etc.

Here is a guideline of a cover letter for authors' consideration:

In

the first paragraph: include the title and type (e.g., Research

Article, Review Article, etc.) of the manuscript, a brief on the

background of the study, the question the author sought out to answer

and why;

In the second paragraph: concisely explain what was done, the main findings and why they are significant;

In

the third paragraph: indicate why the manuscript fits the Aims and

Scope of the journal, and why it would be attractive to readers;

In

the fourth paragraph: confirm that the manuscript has not been

published elsewhere and not under consideration of any other journal.

All authors have approved the manuscript and agreed on its submission to

the journal. Journal's specific requirements have been met if any.

If the manuscript is contributed to a special topic, please also mention it in the cover letter.

If

the manuscript was presented partly or entirely in a conference, the

author should clearly state the background information of the event,

including the conference name, time and place in the cover letter.

2.2 Types of Manuscripts

The

journal publishes Research Article, Review Article, Communication,

Perspective, Commentary, Research Highlight, News, Editorial etc. For

more details about paper type, please refer to the following table.

Manuscript Type  Definition Word Limit Abstract   Keywords   Main Text Structure

Research

Article A Research Article is a seminal and insightful research study

and showcases that often involves modern techniques or methodologies.

Authors should justify that their work are of novel findings. Research

Articles will be subject to rigorous peer review by experts on the

subject matter.  8000 max   The abstract

should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results

and major conclusions. No more than 250 words.   3-6 keywords  The main content should include four sections: Introduction, Experimental, Results and discussion, and Conclusions.

Mini

Review /Review Article A review article should provide readers with an

in-depth understanding of a field by summarizing existing literature,

and highlight key gaps and challenges to address future research. Review

submissions will be subject to rigorous peer review by experts on the

subject matter.   5000~8000 /8000~20000    Unstructured abstract. No more than 250 words.             3-6 keywords   The

main text may consist of several sections with unfixed section titles.

We suggest that the author include an "Introduction" section at the

beginning, several sections with unfixed titles in the middle part, and a

"Conclusion and outlook" section in the end.

Systematic Review    A

Systematic Review collects and critically analyzes multiple research

studies, using methods selected before one or more research questions

are formulated, and then finding and analyzing related studies and

answering those questions in a structured methodology.             8000 max    Unstructured abstract. No more than 250 words.   3-6 keywords  The main content should include four sections: Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion.

Communication

A Communication is for the urgent publication of a research which is of

outstanding significance and interest to experts in the field and also

to general readership. Communication submissions will be subject to

rigorous peer review by experts on the subject matter.

4000 max Unstructured abstract. No more than 150 words.   3-6 keywords

The Communication is a one body text with maximum 4 items (figures and tables).

Perspective   A Perspective provides personal points of view on the state-of-the-art of a specific area of knowledge and its future prospects.  Perspective submissions will be subject to rigorous peer review by experts on the subject matter.  1800 max   Unstructured abstract. No more than 150 words. 3-6 keywords  /

Commentary    A Commentary is to provide comments on a newly published article or an alternative viewpoint on a certain topic.   2500 max

Unstructured abstract. No more than 150 words.   3-6 keywords  /

Research Highlight   A

Research Highlight article highlights work recently published in the

journal or in a recent issue of another journal. Research Highlight

submissions are typically not subject to peer review at the discretion

of the editorial team.    1200 max   Unstructured abstract. No more than 150 words.  3-6 keywords  /

News     A

News comments on an important event in the related field in the world.

News submissions are typically not subject to peer review at the

discretion of the editorial team.             1500 max    None required.

None required.   /

Editorial

An Editorial can be a comment about an important event in the world

related or not to soft science or a particular discovery in soft

science, needing a particular attention of soft science community.

Editorials are typically not subject to peer review at the discretion of

the editorial team.   1000 max   None required.    None required.    /

2.3 Manuscript Structure

2.3.1 Front Matter

2.3.1.1 Title

The

title of the manuscript should be concise, specific and relevant, with

no more than 16 words if possible. When gene or protein names are

included, the abbreviated name rather than full name should be used.

2.3.1.2 Authors and Affiliations

Authors'

full names should be listed. The initials of middle names can be

provided. Institutional addresses and email addresses for all authors

should be listed. At least one author should be designated as

corresponding author. In addition, corresponding authors are suggested

to provide their Open Researcher and Contributor ID upon submission.

Please note that any change to authorship is not allowed after

manuscript acceptance.

2.3.1.3 Abstract

The

abstract should be a single paragraph with word limitation and specific

structure requirements (for more details please refer to Types of

Manuscripts). It usually describes the main objective(s) of the study,

explains how the study was done, including any model organisms used,

without methodological detail, and summarizes the most important results

and their significance. The abstract must be an objective

representation of the study: it is not allowed to contain results which

are not presented and substantiated in the manuscript, or exaggerate the

main conclusions. Citations should not be included in the abstract.

2.3.1.4 Graphical Abstract

The

graphical abstract is essential as this can catch first view of your

publication by readers. We recommend you to submit an eye-catching

figure. It should summarize the content of the article in a concise

graphical form. It is recommended to use it because this can make online

articles get more attention. The graphic abstract should be submitted

as a separate document in the online submission system. Please provide

an image with a minimum of 730 × 1,228 pixels (h × w) or proportionally

more. The image should be readable at a size of 7 × 12 cm using a

regular screen resolution of 96 dpi. Preferred file types: TIFF, PSD,

AI, JPG, JPEG, EPS, PNG, ZIP and PDF files.

2.3.1.5 Keywords

Three

to six keywords should be provided, which are specific to the article,

yet reasonably common within the subject discipline.

2.3.2 Main Text

Manuscripts

of different types are structured with different sections of content.

Please refer to Types of Manuscripts to make sure which sections should

be included in the manuscripts.

2.3.2.1 Introduction

The

introduction should contain background that puts the manuscript into

context, allow readers to understand why the study is important, include

a brief review of key literature, and conclude with a brief statement

of the overall aim of the work and a comment about whether that aim was

achieved. Relevant controversies or disagreements in the field should be

introduced as well.

2.3.2.2 Experimental

Experimental

should contain sufficient details to allow others to fully replicate

the study. New methods and protocols should be described in detail while

well-established methods can be briefly described or appropriately

cited. Experimental participants selected, the drugs and chemicals used,

the statistical methods taken, and the computer software used should be

identified precisely. Statistical terms, abbreviations, and all symbols

used should be defined clearly. Protocol documents for clinical trials,

observational studies, and other non-laboratory investigations may be

uploaded as supplementary materials.

2.3.2.3 Results and Discussion

This

section should contain the findings of the study and discuss the

implications of the findings in context of existing research and

highlight limitations of the study. Future research directions may also

be mentioned. Results of statistical analysis should also be included

either as text or as tables or figures if appropriate. Authors should

emphasize and summarize only the most important observations. Data on

all primary and secondary outcomes identified in the section Methods

should also be provided. Extra or supplementary materials and technical

details can be placed in supplementary documents.

2.3.2.4 Conclusions

It should state clearly the main conclusions and include the explanation of their relevance or importance to the field.

2.3.3 Back Matter

2.3.3.1 Acknowledgments

Anyone

who contributed towards the article but does not meet the criteria for

authorship, including those who provided professional writing services

or materials, should be acknowledged. Authors should obtain permission

to acknowledge from all those mentioned in the Acknowledgments section.

This section is not added if the author does not have anyone to

acknowledge.

......

更多详见：

https://www.oaepublish.com/ss/author_instructions