A supplementary materials checklist ensures all required files are complete, properly formatted, and compliant with journal guidelines before you submit your manuscript.
Start with Journal-Specific Requirements
Review your target journal's author guidelines carefully. Most publishers provide explicit instructions about what supplementary materials they accept—data files, code repositories, extended methods, additional figures, videos, or appendices. Note file format restrictions (common formats include PDF, DOCX, CSV, TIFF), size limits (typically 10-50 MB per file), and naming conventions (e.g., "SupplementaryFile1.pdf").
Organize Core Components
Create a master list of all supplementary items referenced in your main manuscript. For each item, verify:
Data files: Include raw datasets, processed data, or summary statistics. Ensure data is anonymized if required and includes a README file explaining variable names, units, and collection methods.
Code and analysis scripts: Package all scripts needed to reproduce your results. Include version information for software dependencies, clear comments, and a brief execution guide.
Extended methods: Document detailed protocols, equipment specifications, or statistical procedures too lengthy for the main text.
Multimedia: Compress videos to acceptable formats (MP4, AVI) and ensure images meet resolution requirements (usually 300+ dpi for figures).
Verify Cross-References
Check that every supplementary item mentioned in your manuscript text (e.g., "see Supplementary Table 3") actually exists and is correctly numbered. This is where many submissions fail desk review. If you're managing multiple papers simultaneously, WisPaper's My Library can help organize your reference materials and supplementary files with automatic metadata extraction and cloud sync, reducing the risk of mismatched citations.
Final Technical Checks
Before submission, confirm that:
- All files open correctly and are not corrupted
- Permissions are set appropriately for data sharing
- Any third-party materials include proper attribution or permissions
- File names contain no special characters or spaces
- A supplementary information document provides a table of contents if you have more than three files
Create this checklist at least one week before your deadline to allow time for reformatting or obtaining missing permissions.
