Highlights, eTOC Blurb & Graphical Abstract (cell-highlights)

Highlights, eTOC Blurb & Graphical Abstract (cell-highlights)

When to trigger

• Significance, framing, figures, and Summary are settled (do this late).
• The submission lacks Highlights, an eTOC/In Brief blurb, or a Graphical Abstract.
• Highlights are full sentences or run over the character limit.
• The Graphical Abstract is a multi-panel figure crammed into one box.

These three artifacts are mandatory, Cell-specific deliverables. Editors and the table of contents use them heavily — weak ones hurt at every stage.

1. Highlights (exactly 3–4 bullets, each ≤ 85 characters incl. spaces)

Short telegraphic phrases — not full sentences — that a scanning reader absorbs in seconds. Each bullet states one finding; together they trace the arc.

Rules:

• 3 or 4 bullets, no more, no fewer.
• ≤ 85 characters including spaces per bullet (count them).
• Phrase fragments, present tense, no trailing period, no citations.
• No undefined acronyms; readable by a general life-scientist.
• Bullets progress phenomenon → mechanism → causality → significance.

Template:

- [Actor] [does] [effect] in [system]                 (≤85 chars)
- [Mechanism]: [molecular cause] of [phenomenon]        (≤85 chars)
- [Perturbation] [reverses/abolishes] [phenotype]       (≤85 chars)
- [Broad implication for field / disease]               (≤85 chars)

2. eTOC blurb / "In Brief" (~50 words, third-person)

A short paragraph for the online table of contents, written about the paper in the third person (refer to the authors as "Smith et al." or "the authors"), aimed at non-specialists. It explains, in plain language, what was found and why it matters — not a methods recap.

Rules:

• ~50 words (treat as the ceiling; confirm current cap).
• Third person — never "we"/"here we show".
• Plain language; no jargon, no acronyms, minimal gene names.
• States the take-home significance for a broad reader.