Soft Matter Article Types

• All article types are subject to peer review
• References should always be numbered sequentially throughout the manuscript and should not include the article titles
• Reviews, Emerging Areas, and Highlights are generally commissioned on discussion with the Editorial Board, but suggestions for these are welcome and should be sent to the Editorial Office    

Soft Matter Communications 
Communications in Soft Matter contain novel scientific work of such importance and interest that rapid publication is required. Communications are concise and should not exceed four journal pages (~2000 words) in length; they may be accompanied by supplementary material. Communications start with a brief unreferenced abstract and do not contain any section headings. The number of references should be limited to ~15. A short justification statement must be included with the submission outlining why the work merits rapid publication. 

Soft Matter Full Papers 
Full Papers in Soft Matter present original high quality primary research that has not been previously published. Full Papers start with a brief unreferenced abstract and contain an introduction, results and discussion, experimental, and notes and references sections. 

Soft Matter Reviews 
Reviews in Soft Matter are critical reviews of a topical and significant area of research. They are typically up to 6000 words in length (although they may be shorter) and include a short biography of the author(s). 

Soft Matter Emerging Areas 
Emerging areas in Soft Matter are short, personal accounts of a potentially important and growing new field of research. They are typically up to 3000 words in length and include a short biography of the author(s). 

Soft Matter  Highlights 
Highlights single out important new developments (a single paper or group of papers) and explain the significance of the work to the broad, interdisciplinary Soft Matter audience. They may point out further urgent follow-up work and challenges that are still faced, and may be speculative in nature. No new work should be presented; these papers are intended to put existing work into perspective. Highlights are typically no longer than 2000 words. 

Soft Matter  Opinions 
Opinions in Soft Matter are typically 2000 words in length and provide a personal, often speculative, viewpoint or hypothesis on a topic of current interest to the scientific community. They may concern a recent publication in Soft Matter (in which case the author(s) concerned will be given the opportunity to respond) or discuss any current hot topic from the author's point of view; provided that they are not defamatory to the work of others they can be controversial and stimulate counter-opinion. They can include a short biography of the author(s).