Funding Statement Generator

How to Use the Funding Statement Generator

1. 1. Say whether there was funding. Choose No specific funding and the generator writes the sentence your chosen format prescribes for that case.
2. 2. Add each funder. Type the funder's official name as it should read in the sentence — "the National Science Foundation" — then its grant numbers, separated by commas. Add who received each award if your journal asks.
3. 3. Pick the format and the role sentence. Elsevier pattern puts numbers in square brackets after each funder; Narrative follows PLOS and names recipients. Then state that the funders had no role, describe their role, or leave it out.
4. 4. Check the notes and copy. The notes flag abbreviated funder names and funders with no grant number before you paste the statement.

How Journals Want Funding Reported

Elsevier asks for funding sources in a standard order so that funders' compliance checks can read them: each funder, then its location if you give one, then its grant numbers in square brackets, with funders separated by semicolons. When the money came from a block grant or other resources of a university or institute, name that institution. With no funding, its Guide for Authors prescribes one sentence: "This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors." Elsevier also asks you to describe the role of each sponsor in the study design; the collection, analysis and interpretation of data; the writing of the report; and the decision to submit — or to state that the funders had no such involvement.

PLOS collects a financial disclosure in its submission form rather than the manuscript. It asks for the grant numbers, the initials of the authors who received each award, the full names of any commercial funders, and the funders' websites, followed by a sentence on the funders' role. Without funding, the statement reads "The author(s) received no specific funding for this work." Other journals use one of these two shapes or a close variant — check the instructions for authors for the exact heading and placement.

Funder Names and the Crossref Funder Registry

Publishers send each article's funder names and award numbers to Crossref, which is how a funder can later find every paper its grants paid for. Crossref matched names against its Open Funder Registry; in 2023 it announced that the registry would be merged into ROR, the Research Organization Registry, and since 2025 publishers can identify funders with ROR IDs instead. Existing Funder IDs still resolve. Either way the match depends on the name, so write the funder's full official name — "National Natural Science Foundation of China", not "NSFC". The generator flags names that look like abbreviations.

Example Statements

Try an example loads two illustrative funders with made-up grant numbers. The two formats produce:

With a single funder, the role sentence switches to "The funder had no role…", and a single award reads "grant number" rather than "grant numbers".

Common Mistakes

• Abbreviating the funder. "NIH" or "ERC" may be clear to you, but registries match full names. Spell the funder out.
• Leaving out grant numbers. Funders track publications by award number. If an award has a number, include it.
• Listing every grant you hold. Name the awards that actually supported this work, not every grant in your group.
• Forgetting the role sentence. Elsevier and PLOS both ask what the funders did. If they had no say in the design, analysis, writing or decision to publish, say so.
• Mixing funding with competing interests. The funding statement says who paid. If a funder could gain or lose from the results, declare that in the competing interests statement too.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I write a funding statement for a research paper?

Name each funder in full, give the grant numbers for the awards that supported the work, and — if the journal asks — say which authors received each award and what role, if any, the funders played. Follow the pattern your journal shows; the generator writes Elsevier's bracketed pattern and PLOS's narrative format.

What should I write if my research had no funding?

Use your journal's sentence. Elsevier's Guide for Authors prescribes "This research did not receive any specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors." PLOS publishes "The author(s) received no specific funding for this work."

Where does the funding statement go?

That depends on the journal. Many print it in a Funding section before the references or in the acknowledgments; PLOS collects it in the submission form as a financial disclosure. Check the instructions for authors, and keep the wording identical wherever you enter it.

Do I need to include grant numbers?

Yes, whenever the award has one. Grant numbers are how funders and Crossref connect an article to the funding behind it, and many funders require them in every publication they support.

What is a "role of the funding source" statement?

A sentence saying whether the funders were involved in designing the study, collecting, analyzing or interpreting the data, writing the paper or deciding to submit it. If they were not, state that; if they were, describe exactly what they did.

Should I acknowledge my university if it paid for the research?

Yes, if the research was funded from a block grant or other institutional resources. Elsevier's guide asks you to name the institute or organization that provided the funding in that case.