Prepare for submission

The last mile before you send a paper to a journal, a conference, or your examiners is full of small rules: word limits, required sections, a particular citation style, the right file format. This tutorial uses Multilo to check your draft against those rules, fix what’s missing, verify every citation, and produce the files you need.

Before you start

• Your draft is complete and revised.
• You have the submission guidelines: the journal’s author guidelines, the conference call, or your department’s thesis regulations.

1. Give the AI the requirements

Save the guidelines in your project — for example as notes/author-guidelines.pdf — so agents can read them. Then add the rules that matter most to your project rules, so every chat follows them:

# Submission: [Journal of Organizational Studies]
- Main text: maximum [8,000] words, excluding references.
- Abstract: maximum [250] words, structured (background, method, results, conclusion).
- Citation style: [IEEE].
- Anonymize for blind review: no author names or self-identifying references.

2. Check the draft against them

Start a new chat, so the check isn’t shaped by earlier conversations, and ask for problems — not fixes — first:

Check this paper against the author guidelines in @notes/author-guidelines.pdf: word limit, required sections, abstract length, figure and table limits, and anonymization. List every problem with where it is. Don't change anything yet.

3. Fix what’s missing

• Too long? Run the Trim agent from Agents. It cuts 10–35% and keeps the evidence, conclusions, citations, and structure.
• Sections in the wrong order, or one missing? Use plan mode (Shift+Tab, or type /plan) so you approve the restructure before anything changes.
• Tone not right for the venue? Run Change Tone — it keeps facts, structure, and citations.

Review each change in the bar above the chat box, and keep or undo it. See manage sessions.

4. Write the abstract last

Write or refresh the abstract from the finished paper:

Write a 250-word structured abstract for this paper: background, method, results, conclusion. Use only what the paper actually says.

If the venue asks for a summary in another language, the Translate agent keeps technical terms, citations, numbers, and units intact.

5. Verify citations and switch style

1. Check every citation

   Run Claim Check and deal with anything weak or unsupported.

2. Match the reference list to the text

   Ask chat to remove references you no longer cite and add any that are missing.

3. Switch to the venue's style

   Ask: “Reformat all citations and the reference list from APA to IEEE.” In-text citations and the reference list change together.

See add and check citations for the full routine.

6. Read it as a reviewer would

In a fresh chat, ask for the objections before reviewers raise them:

What would a skeptical reviewer at this journal say about this paper? Give the three strongest objections and how I could answer each.

For empirical work, also run the methodology review agent from Agents. Then read the whole paper yourself, start to finish.

7. Produce the files

Save your manuscript as Word (.docx) — headings, footnotes, tables, and citations come through intact. Chat can also make and change the other files a submission needs, right in your project:

Export the manuscript as a PDF, and save it as submission/manuscript.pdf.

Merge the cover letter, the manuscript PDF, and the supplementary tables into one PDF, in that order.

Accept all tracked changes in the manuscript .docx, and list any comments that are still open.

Chat can also fill in a PDF form — such as a copyright or declaration form — and put your results tables into a spreadsheet. The first time you ask for an Office or PDF file, Multilo sets up the tools it needs and asks before downloading anything. Check every file before you upload it.

8. Cover letter and extras

Draft a short cover letter to the editor of [journal name] explaining what this paper contributes and why it fits the journal.

Depending on the venue, you may also want:

• Slides for a conference talk or a thesis defense — ask chat to create a deck from the paper;
• A plain-language summary — ask for one written for a general audience;
• A narrated video overview of the paper — see the video below.

9. Keep a record

• Commit the submitted version to Git, so you can always return to exactly what you sent. See versions & safety.
• Export your sessions with /export. The Markdown record shows how AI was used in the work — useful if your journal or university asks you to describe it.

Final checklist

Watch the videos

Next steps