TL;DR

• Highlights summarise your paper's key findings in 3-5 bullet points.

• Many Elsevier journals require them; always check author guidelines.

• Each highlight should be one sentence, under 85 characters.

• Highlights differ from abstracts: they state results, not process.

• Writing strong highlights improves discoverability in journal databases.

You have finished your paper. The abstract is done. The references are formatted. Then the submission portal asks for something called "highlights" and you have no idea what that means or whether it matters.

This happens to most first-time submitters. The highlights section is one of the least-explained requirements in academic publishing, yet it appears on submission checklists for hundreds of journals, particularly those published by Elsevier. Getting it wrong does not automatically get your paper rejected, but getting it right makes your work easier to find and easier to cite.

Here is exactly what a highlights section is, why journals ask for it, and how to write one that does its job.

What Is a Highlights Section?

A highlights section is a short list of 3 to 5 bullet points that state the most important findings or contributions of your paper. Each bullet is a single, complete sentence. According to Elsevier's author guidelines, each highlight should be no longer than 85 characters including spaces. The section appears separately from the abstract and is designed to be read in under thirty seconds.

The purpose is discoverability. When your paper appears in a database or search result, the highlights display alongside the title and abstract. A reader scanning dozens of results can read your highlights and immediately understand whether your paper is relevant to their work. That quick clarity is the entire point.

Highlights are not a summary of your method. They are not a restatement of your introduction. They are a direct statement of what you found, what you built, or what you proved. Think of them as the answer before the question.

Which Journals Require a Highlights Section?

Elsevier journals are the most common publishers that require highlights, and they have done so since around 2012. Journals such as Cell Reports, Journal of Adolescent Health, and NeuroImage all list highlights as a mandatory submission element in their guide for authors. Other publishers, including some open-access journals indexed by the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), have adopted similar requirements under different names, such as "key findings" or "significance statements."

The safest approach is always to check the specific journal's author guidelines before you write a single word of your highlights. Guidelines are published on the journal's homepage and are updated regularly. What was optional last year may be required this year.

If you are still deciding which journal to submit to, understanding what an impact factor means for student researchers can help you prioritise where your work fits best.

How Is a Highlights Section Different from an Abstract?

An abstract tells the full story of your paper in miniature. It covers background, method, results, and conclusion. A highlights section skips the background and method entirely. It states only what your paper contributes, in plain language, in bullet form.

Consider the difference in practice. An abstract might read: "This study examined the effect of sleep duration on working memory in adolescents aged 14 to 17. Using a controlled experimental design with 60 participants, we found that participants sleeping fewer than seven hours showed a 22 percent reduction in recall accuracy compared to those sleeping nine or more hours." A highlights bullet from the same paper would read: "Sleep under 7 hours reduces adolescent recall accuracy by 22%."

One is a narrative. The other is a fact. Both serve different readers with different needs. The abstract serves the reader who wants to understand your study. The highlights serve the reader who wants to know whether your study is worth reading at all.

If you are working on your paper and want to understand how the peer review process fits around these requirements, what peer review is and what happens to your paper is worth reading before you submit.

How to Write a Highlights Section: A Step-by-Step Process

Writing highlights is a skill that improves with practice. The following steps apply whether you are writing about biology, economics, or computer science.

1. Read your conclusion first. Your conclusion already contains your most important findings. Start there. Do not start from the introduction.

2. Identify 3 to 5 distinct contributions. Each highlight must state something different. Do not repeat the same finding in different words. If you struggle to find three distinct points, your conclusion may need strengthening.

3. Write each point as one sentence. Subject, verb, result. No subordinate clauses. No hedging language like "suggests" or "may indicate" unless your findings are genuinely preliminary.

4. Count the characters. Elsevier's limit is 85 characters per bullet including spaces. Use a character counter. Most word processors have one built in.

5. Remove all method language. If a bullet says "using a survey of 200 participants, we found," cut everything before "we found." The method belongs in the paper, not the highlights.

If you are still building the sections of your paper that feed into your highlights, understanding how to write a discussion section will help you identify the claims worth highlighting.

If you want structured feedback on your highlights before submission, Publication Compass lets you submit your draft and receive specific suggestions on clarity and completeness, including whether your highlights accurately reflect your findings. You can join the waitlist to get early access.

What Makes a Highlights Section Strong?

Strong highlights are specific, not vague. "Results showed improvement" is not a highlight. "Treatment reduced symptom severity by 34% at 8 weeks" is a highlight. The difference is precision. A reader should be able to cite your highlight in a sentence without needing to open the full paper.

Strong highlights also use consistent verb tense. Most published highlights use the present tense for findings that represent general truths, and past tense for specific experimental outcomes. Check the style of published papers in your target journal and match it.

Avoid starting every bullet with "We." Vary the sentence structure. Some bullets can lead with the finding itself rather than the researchers. "Soil salinity above 4 dS/m inhibits germination in three wheat varieties" reads more cleanly than "We found that soil salinity above 4 dS/m inhibits germination in three wheat varieties."

Finally, avoid jargon that only specialists in your sub-field would recognise. Highlights are indexed and read by a wide audience. If your highlight requires a footnote to understand, rewrite it.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

Most highlights errors fall into a small number of categories. Recognising them early saves you time during revision.

1. Restating the abstract. Highlights are not a compressed abstract. If your bullets read like shortened abstract sentences, you have not identified your actual contributions yet.

2. Exceeding the character limit. Many submission portals will reject your upload or flag an error if any bullet exceeds 85 characters. Count before you paste.

3. Writing fewer than three bullets. Three is the minimum. If you only have two findings worth stating, look again. A methodological contribution or a negative result can be a valid highlight.

4. Including background information. "Cardiovascular disease affects millions globally" is background. It is not a highlight from your paper. Cut it.

5. Using vague outcome language. Words like "significant," "notable," and "considerable" without a number or qualifier are not informative. Quantify where you can.

Do Highlights Affect Whether Your Paper Gets Found?

Yes, in a practical sense. Elsevier's ScienceDirect platform, which hosts millions of articles, uses highlights as part of the metadata displayed in search results. When a researcher searches for a specific finding rather than a general topic, well-written highlights increase the chance that your paper appears and gets clicked. According to Elsevier's published author resources, highlights are displayed on the article page and in search previews to improve content visibility.

For student researchers submitting to journals that index on platforms like PubMed, DOAJ, or Google Scholar, visibility matters. A published paper that nobody reads has less impact than one that reaches the researchers it is most relevant to. Highlights are a small investment with a real return.

If you are thinking about making your paper as accessible as possible, what open access publishing is and whether it matters for your work is directly relevant to this goal.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is a highlights section in a journal submission?

A highlights section is a list of 3 to 5 short bullet points that state the key findings of your paper. Each bullet is one sentence, typically under 85 characters. It appears separately from the abstract and is used by journal platforms to improve search visibility and help readers quickly assess relevance.

Are highlights required for all journals?

No. Highlights are most commonly required by Elsevier journals, though some other publishers use equivalent sections under different names. Always check the specific journal's author guidelines before submission. Submitting highlights when they are not required does no harm, but omitting them when required can delay your submission.

How long should each highlight be?

Elsevier specifies a maximum of 85 characters per bullet, including spaces. This is roughly the length of a short tweet. Each highlight should be one complete sentence. If your sentence exceeds 85 characters, cut any method language first, then simplify the phrasing until it fits within the limit.

Can I write highlights before my paper is finished?

It is possible but not recommended. Highlights should reflect your final, confirmed findings. Writing them before your results are settled risks submitting highlights that do not match your paper. Write a draft early to clarify your thinking, but finalise them only after your conclusion is complete and reviewed.

What is the difference between highlights and a graphical abstract?

Highlights are text-based bullet points. A graphical abstract is a single image or visual that summarises your study. Some journals require both, some require one, and some require neither. They serve the same discoverability purpose but for different types of readers. Check your target journal's guidelines for both requirements separately.

Final Thoughts

A highlights section is a small part of your submission, but it does real work. It tells a busy reader exactly what your paper contributes before they commit to reading it. Writing it well means being specific, being concise, and resisting the urge to explain rather than state. Three to five precise sentences, each under 85 characters, each focused on a distinct finding. That is the standard.

If you are preparing your first submission and want support across every part of the process, from structuring your paper to identifying the right journal, explore more publishing guidance at the Publication Compass blog.