diff --git a/packages/xpub-faraday/app/config/journal/submit-wizard.js b/packages/xpub-faraday/app/config/journal/submit-wizard.js
index af383bad2a601c3942d6d96f04e1c0137a8a1ac9..8a75432e4d84902eb7cf61f216e0194c5a2e693f 100644
--- a/packages/xpub-faraday/app/config/journal/submit-wizard.js
+++ b/packages/xpub-faraday/app/config/journal/submit-wizard.js
@@ -14,7 +14,11 @@ import { AuthorList } from 'pubsweet-component-wizard/src/components/AuthorList'
 import { declarations } from './'
 import issueTypes from './issues-types'
 import manuscriptTypes from './manuscript-types'
-import { requiredBasedOnType, editModeEnabled } from './wizard-validators'
+import {
+  requiredBasedOnType,
+  editModeEnabled,
+  parseEmptyHtml,
+} from './wizard-validators'
 
 const min3Chars = minChars(3)
 const declarationsMinSize = minSize(declarations.options.length)
@@ -101,6 +105,7 @@ export default {
           renderComponent: TitleEditor,
           placeholder: 'Manuscript title',
           title: 'Manuscript title',
+          validate: [parseEmptyHtml],
         },
         {
           fieldId: 'spacing-title',
diff --git a/packages/xpub-faraday/app/config/journal/wizard-validators.js b/packages/xpub-faraday/app/config/journal/wizard-validators.js
index 2bb1cb3dcc9fdf834e7a7e7ed91519722ed77463..af5026c88f44bd1f8a2b21a91553fbd51742d7ce 100644
--- a/packages/xpub-faraday/app/config/journal/wizard-validators.js
+++ b/packages/xpub-faraday/app/config/journal/wizard-validators.js
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ const requiredTypes = manuscriptTypes
   .filter(t => t.abstractRequired)
   .map(t => t.value)
 
-const parseAbstract = value => {
+export const parseEmptyHtml = value => {
   if (value && value.replace('<p></p>', '').replace('<h1></h1>', '')) {
     return undefined
   }
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ const parseAbstract = value => {
 export const requiredBasedOnType = (value, formValues) => {
   if (
     requiredTypes.includes(get(formValues, 'metadata.type')) &&
-    (isEmpty(get(formValues, 'metadata.abstract')) || parseAbstract(value))
+    (isEmpty(get(formValues, 'metadata.abstract')) || parseEmptyHtml(value))
   ) {
     return 'Required'
   }