In addition to the main text of the manuscript, authors may also wish to include supplementary material in their submission that is of relevance to the research presented.

Supplementary information must relate directly to the research presented in the manuscript and not exceed the stated aims of the study.

Supplementary material will not be edited by the journal, so authors should ensure that files meet the same standards of content and presentation as the rest of the manuscript.

Supplementary material must be mentioned in the main text of the manuscript (in the same way as tables, figures and appendices).

Authors should limit the number and size of supplementary files as much as possible. All supplementary material should be uploaded in standard file formats. Each file should include an opening section featuring the title of the article, names, ORCIDs and short affiliations of the authors, the email address of the contact author, and a short description of the file’s contents.

Supplementary material and file types:

  • Raw data and large data sets
    Data provided for illustrative purposes only should be uploaded in .pdf format. Data made available for readers to use to conduct their own analyses should be uploaded in .xls format (MS Excel). File size may not exceed 1 MB.
  • Detailed description of methodology used for the study (text or slides)
  • Supplementary tables and figures
    The same formatting guidelines will apply to tables and figures submitted as supplementary material as in the main text of the manuscript. Supplementary tables and figures should be numbered using the prefix “S” (for “supplementary”): for example, “Table S1”. Figures should be clear and high-resolution. Supplementary tables and figures should be submitted together in a single PDF file.
  • Audio and video files
    Audio and video file size may not exceed 5 MB. Files should have a maximum duration of 10 minutes and should include a short presentation to contextualize the content. Upon submission, authors should complete the metadata fields in as much detail as possible to explain the file’s content and relevance to the article.

For supplementary material comprising multiple file types or file sizes in excess of the limits provided, files may be compressed and submitted as a .zip file.

Supplementary material will be considered for publication as part of the overall manuscript review process. If accepted, supplementary material will be published as submitted, without any conversion or editing by the journal.