For Authors
The sections below provideessential information for authors andwe recommend that you take the time to read them before submitting a contribution toNature. These instructions refer to Articles, Reviews and Perspectives. Separate guidelines are available forMatters Arisingand forother types of submission.
Regarding Zhengxianling - China's first pan - international talent recruitment platform
Zhengxianling is developed and operated by Shanghai Yuntong Information Technology Co., Ltd. The company mainly provides international services such as talent job-seeking and recruitment, recruitment and introduction of high-level talents / science and technology innovation-related talents (Overseas Excellent Young Talents, Qiming Plan, online and offline job fairs, campus recruitment, social recruitment, online recruitment, headhunting, etc.), academic exchanges, and software development. In due time, we will launch language platforms and APPs in AI English, Korean, Japanese, French, German, etc. to meet the needs of global users. Up to now, the company has established communication channels with national ministries and commissions such as the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security and the Ministry of Science and Technology, talent offices of the Organization Departments of some provincial and municipal Party committees, departments of human resources and social security, industry and information technology, science and technology, trade unions, chambers of commerce, academic societies, associations, 985 and 211 universities in various regions across the country, HRs of some enterprises, the International Academician Consortium, the United Nations Science and Technology Commission WDTA, and some international institutions in countries such as Russia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, the United States, Canada, and QS World's top 100 universities (MIT, Oxford, the University of Melbourne...).
Service items are as follows:
A. Recruitment and introduction of international high-level / science and technology innovation-related talents (doctors, post-doctors, academicians) (online and offline job fairs, campus recruitment, social recruitment, online recruitment, headhunting, etc.), overseas enterprise study tours, academic exchanges, and software development.
B. Operation of Zhengxianling® (The types of talents on the platform and official account are not limited. Note: The official website is undergoing upgrading and renovation).
Service-supported regions:
China, South Korea, Japan, Russia, Singapore, New Zealand, Australia, the Netherlands, Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Hungary, Italy, the United States, Canada, etc. (covering more than 100 countries and regions).
Main service content: Online and offline special high-level talent job fairs for cities, parks, and employers, talent-introduction activities related to science and technology innovation (project solicitation, screening, roadshow... implementation, etc.), investment promotion, academic exchange conferences, online job-seeking and recruitment, and offline services are available in the above-mentioned designated countries.
In the past 2024, we have successively joined the Hubei Chushang Federation in China and the World Federation of Inventors' Associations [IFIA], and have established the grand goal of building Zhengxianling into China's first pan-international talent recruitment platform (Language platforms and APPs in AI English, Korean, Japanese, French, German, etc. will be launched in due time. The establishment of the International HRD (HR) Alliance is in progress), and in the future, it will serve billions of users in more than 200 countries around the world. As of December 31, 2024, we have received a reply from the chairman of the United Nations Science and Technology Commission WDTA, welcoming Yuntong Technology and Zhengxianling to join the cooperation of the United Nations Science and Technology Commission WDTA in 2025. Starting from 2025, we will cooperate with the International Academician Consortium and may participate in activities such as the FCPAE (Federation of Chinese Professionals in Europe) European Forum to facilitate international talent exchanges and cooperation, thereby promoting scientific and technological innovation, driving employment, serving global economic construction, and promoting friendly cross-border cooperation to create a better future. Thus, we can better serve users from all over the world.
The Chinese full name of IFIA: World Federation of Inventors' Associations. Its headquarters are located in Geneva, Switzerland, and San Francisco, the United States. In February 2024, after being reviewed and approved by the 47th Global Executive Committee of IFIA, Shanghai Yuntong Information Technology Co., Ltd. [Zhengxianling] joined the organization. For details, please refer to the official website of IFIA:
https://www.ifia.com/ifia-47th-executive-committee-meeting-held-on-feb-2024/
Our company's recruitment platform will officially launch a paid service starting from February 1, 2025. For details, please refer to:
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/YmOxE1snwAAvskZgwm5RxA
Currently, we are organizing online and offline special job fairs for high-level talents of international organizations. For details of the event, please refer to the push article on the schedule plan of the international high-level talent recruitment activities of Zhengxianling®:
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/UGfNhxHRoIs1KZF7Thsfxg
Zhengxianling® recruits a large number of overseas high-level talents and innovative talents all year round. For details, please refer to the official account introduction:
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/8YaCD8xaXiDeC93a1foUKQ
Regarding the invitation letter for the initiation of the International HRD (HR) Alliance, please refer to the official account introduction:
https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/fdg6QB82KAJCeTi0VZVZKQ
We welcome HRs of employers from all over the world, heads of universities and research institutes, academic leaders, young doctors / post-doctors / academicians and other talents to contact us or register to join our platform，The talents we recruit will be preferentially recommended to work in universities, research institutions and other units in China or various countries around the world.
Editorial criteria and processes
This document provides an outline of the editorial process involved in publishing a scientific paper (Article) inNature, and describes how manuscripts are handled by editors between submission and publication.
Editorial processes are described for the following stages:At submission|After submission|After acceptance
At submission
Criteria for publication
The criteria for publication of scientific papers (Articles) inNatureare that they:
·report original scientific research (the main results and conclusions must not have been published or submitted elsewhere)
·are of outstanding scientific importance
·reach a conclusion of interest to an interdisciplinary readership.
Further editorial criteria may be applicable for different kinds of papers, as follows:
·large dataset papers: should aim to either report a fully comprehensive data set, defined by complete and extensive validation, or provide significant technical advance or scientific insight.
·technical papers:papers that make solely technical advances will be considered in cases where the technique reported will have significant impacts on communities of fellow researchers.
·therapeutic papers:in the absence of novel mechanistic insight, therapeutic papers will be considered if the therapeutic effect reported will provide significant impact on an important disease.
Articles published in Nature have an exceptionally wide impact, both among scientists and, frequently, among the general public.
Who decides which papers to publish?
Nature’s aim is to publish the best research across a wide range of scientific fields, which means it has to be highly selective. As a result, only about 8% of submitted manuscripts will be accepted for publication. Most submissions are declined without being sent out for peer review.
Naturedoes not employ an editorial board of senior scientists, nor is it affiliated to a scientific society or institution, thus its decisions are independent, unbiased by scientific or national prejudices of particular individuals. Decisions are quicker, and editorial criteria can be made uniform across disciplines. The judgement about which papers will interest a broad readership is made byNature's editors, not its referees. One reason is because each referee sees only a tiny fraction of the papers submitted and is deeply knowledgeable about one field, whereas the editors, who see all the papers submitted, can have a broader perspective and a wider context from which to view the paper.
How to submit an Article
Authors should use theformatting guide sectionto ensure that the level, length and format (particularly the layout of figures and tables and any Supplementary Information) conforms withNature's requirements, at submission and each revision stage. This will reduce delays. Manuscripts should be submitted via our onlinemanuscript submission system.Although optional, the cover letter is an excellent opportunity to briefly discuss the importance of the submitted work and why it is appropriate for the journal. Please avoid repeating information that is already present in the abstract and introduction. The cover letter is not shared with the referees, and should be used to provide confidential information such as conflicts of interest and to declare any related work that is in press or submitted elsewhere.
AllNatureeditors report to the Editor ofNature, who setsNature's publication policies. Authors submitting toNaturedo so on the understanding that they agree tothese policies.
After submission
What happens to a submitted Article?
The first stage for a newly submitted Article is that the editorial staff consider whether to send it for peer-review. On submission, the manuscript is assigned to an editor covering the subject area, who seeks informal advice from scientific advisors and editorial colleagues, and who makes this initial decision. The criteria for a paper to be sent for peer-review are that the results seem novel, arresting (illuminating, unexpected or surprising), and that the work described has both immediate and far-reaching implications. The initial judgement is not a reflection on the technical validity of the work described, or on its importance to people in the same field.
Special attention is paid by the editors to the readability of submitted material. Editors encourage authors in highly technical disciplines to provide a slightly longersummary paragraphthat descries clearly the basic background to the work and how the new results have affected the field, in a way that enables nonspecialist readers to understand what is being described. Editors also strongly encourage authors in appropriate disciplines to include a simple schematic summarizing the main conclusion of the paper, which can be published with the paper asSupplementary Information. Such figures can be particularly helpful to nonspecialist readers of cell, molecular and structural biology papers.
Once the decision has been made to peer-review the paper, the choice of referees is made by the editor who has been assigned the manuscript, who will be handling other papers in the same field, in consultation with editors handling submissions in related fields when necessary. Most papers are sent to two or three referees, but some are sent to more or, occasionally, just to one. Referees are chosen for the following reasons:
·independence from the authors and their institutions
·ability to evaluate the technical aspects of the paper fully and fairly
·currently or recently assessing related submissions
·availability to assess the manuscript within the requested time.
Referees' reports
The ideal referee's report indicates
·who will be interested in the new results and why
·any technical failings that need to be addressed before the authors' case is established.
AlthoughNature's editors themselves judge whether a paper is likely to interest readers outside its own immediate field, referees often give helpful advice, for example if the work described is not as significant as the editors thought or has undersold its significance. AlthoughNature's editors regard it as essential that any technical failings noted by referees are addressed, they are not so strictly bound by referees’ editorial opinions as to whether the work belongs inNature.
Competitors
Some potential referees may be engaged in competing work that could influence their opinion. To avoid such conflicts of interest,Naturerequires potential referees to disclose any professional and commercial competing interests before undertaking to review a paper, and requires referees not to copy papers or to circulate them to un-named colleagues.
AlthoughNatureeditors go to every effort to ensure manuscripts are assessed fairly,Natureis not responsible for the conduct of its referees.
Naturewelcomes authors' suggestions for suitable independent referees (with their contact details), but editors are free to decide themselves who to use as referees.Natureeditors will normally honour requests that a paper not be sent to one or two (but no more) competing groups for review.
Transparent peer review
Natureuses a transparent peer review system, where for manuscripts submitted from February 2020 we can publish the reviewer comments to the authors and author rebuttal letters of published original research articles. Authors are provided the opportunity to opt out of this scheme at the completion of the peer review process, before the paper is accepted. If the manuscript was transferred to us from another Nature Research journal, we will not publish reviewer reports or author rebuttals of versions of the manuscript considered by the originating Nature Research journal. The peer review file is published online as a supplementary peer review file. Although we hope that the peer review files will provide a detailed and useful view into our peer review process, it is important to note that these files will not contain all the information considered in the editorial decision making process, such as the discussions between editors, editorial decision letters, or any confidential comments made by reviewers or authors to the editors.
This scheme only applies to original research Articles, and not to Review articles or to other published content. For more information,please refer to our FAQ page.
Reviewer information
In recognition of the time and expertise our reviewers provide toNature’s editorial process, we formally acknowledge their contribution to the external peer review of articles published in the journal. All peer-reviewed content will carry an anonymous statement of peer reviewer acknowledgement, and for those reviewers who give their consent, we will publish their names alongside the published article. We will continue to publish peer reviewer reports where authors opt in to our separate transparent peer review scheme. In cases where authors opt in to publication of peer reviewer comments and reviewers opt in to being named, we will not link a reviewer’s name to their report unless they choose to sign their comments to the author with their name. For more information,please refer to our FAQ page.
If the reviewers wish to be named their names will appear in alphabetical order at the end of the paper in a statement as below:
·Naturethanks [Name], [Name] and [Name] for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
Any reviewers that wish to remain anonymous will be acknowledged using a slightly modified statement:
·Naturethanks [Name], [Name] and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
If no reviewers agree to be named, we will still acknowledge their valuable service using the statement below:
·Naturethanks the anonymous reviewers for their contribution to the peer review of this work.
Speed
Naturemakes decisions about submitted papers as rapidly as possible. All manuscripts are handled electronically throughout the consideration process. Authors are usually informed within a week if the paper is not being considered. Most referees honour their prior agreement withNatureto deliver a report within two weeks or other agreed time limit, and send their reports online. Decisions by editors are routinely made very rapidly after receipt of reports, andNatureoffers an advance online publication (AOP) service to an increasing number of manuscripts.
What the decision letter means
All Articles published inNaturego through at least one round of review, usually two or three, sometimes more. At each stage, the editor will discuss the manuscript with editorial colleagues in the light of referees’ reports, and send a letter to the author offering one of the following options:
·The paper is accepted for publication without any further changes required from the authors.
·The paper is accepted for publication in principle once the authors have made some revisions in response to the referees’ comments. Under these circumstances, revised papers are not usually sent back to the referees because further technical work has not been required, but are accepted for publication once the editors have checked that the referees’ suggestions have been implemented and the paper is in the required format (theformatting guide sectionis helpful to this end).
·A final decision on publication is deferred, pending the authors’ response to the referees’ comments. Under these circumstances, further experiments or technical work are usually required to address some or all of the referees’ concerns, and revised papers are sent back to some or all of the referees for a second opinion. Revised papers should be accompanied by a point-by-point response to all the comments made by all the referees.
·The paper is rejected because the referees have raised considerable technical objections and/or the authors’ claim has not been adequately established. Under these circumstances, the editor’s letter will state explicitly whether or not a resubmitted version would be considered. If the editor has invited the authors to resubmit, authors must ensure that all the referees’ technical comments have been satisfactorily addressed (not just some of them), unless specifically advised otherwise by the editor in the letter, and must accompany the resubmitted version with a point-by-point response to the referees’ comments. Editors will not send resubmitted papers to the reviewers if it seems that the authors have not made a serious attempt to address all the referees’ criticisms.
·The paper is rejected with no offer to reconsider a resubmitted version. Under these circumstances, authors are strongly advised not to resubmit a revised version as it will be declined without further review. If the authors feel that they have a strong scientific case for reconsideration (if the referees have missed the point of the paper, for example) they can appeal the decision in writing. But in view ofNature's extreme space constraints and the large number of papers under active consideration at any one time, editors cannot assign a high priority to consideration of such appeals. The main grounds for a successful appeal for reconsideration are if the author can identify a specific technical or other point of interest which had been missed by the referees and editors previously. Appeals written in general or vague terms, or that contain arguments not relevant to the content of the particular manuscript, are not likely to be successful. Manuscripts cannot be submitted elsewhere while an appeal is being considered.
Editors’ letters also contain detailed guidance about the paper’s format and style where appropriate (see below), which should be read in conjunction with the manuscript formatting guide when revising and resubmitting.
In replying to the referees’ comments, authors are advised to use language that would not cause offence when their paper is shown again to the referees, and to bear in mind that if a point was not clear to the referees and/or editors, it is unlikely that it would be clear to the nonspecialist readers ofNature.
Appeals
IfNaturedeclines to publish a paper and does not suggest resubmission, authors are strongly advised to submit their paper for publication elsewhere. If an author wishes to appeal againstNature's decision, the appeal must be made in writing, not by telephone, and should be confined to the scientific case for publication.Nature’s editors are unable to assign high priority to consideration of appeals.
Authors often ask for a new referee to be consulted, particularly in cases where two referees have been used and one is negative, the other positive.Natureis reluctant to consult new referees unless there is a particular, relevant area of scientific expertise that was lacking in the referees already used. Authors should note that asNatureis an interdisciplinary journal, referees for a paper are chosen for different reasons, for example a technical expert and a person who has a general overview of a field might both referee the same paper. A referee might be selected for expertise in only one area, for example to judge if a statistical analysis is appropriate, or if a particular technique that is essential to underpin the conclusion has been undertaken properly. This referee’s opinion must be satisfied for the manuscript to be published, but as this referee may not know about the field concerned, an endorsement in isolation from the other referee(s) would not constitute grounds for publication. Editors’ decisions are weighted according to the expertise of the referees, and not by a “voting” procedure.
Hence,Natureprefers to stick with the original referees of a particular paper rather than to call in new referees to arbitrate, unless there is some specific way in which the referee can be shown to be technically lacking or biased in judgement.
IfNature's editors agree to reconsider a paper, the other original referee(s) will have the chance to see and comment on the report of the referee who is the subject of the complaint. New referees can often raise new sets of points, which complicates and lengthens the consideration process instead of simplifying it.
If an author remains unsatisfied, he or she canwrite to the Editor, citing the manuscript reference number. In all these cases, it is likely that some time will elapse beforeNaturecan respond, and the paper must not be submitted for publication elsewhere during this time.
After acceptance
Seethis documentfor a full description of what happens after acceptance and before publication.
Formats and lengths of papers
Space inNatureis extremely limited, and so format requirements must be strictly observed, as advised by the editor handling the submission, and detailed in the manuscript formatting guide.
Subediting of accepted papers
After a paper is accepted, it is subedited (copyedited) to ensure maximum clarity and reach, a process that enhances the value of papers in various ways.Nature's subeditors are happy to advise authors about the format of their Articles after acceptance for publication. Their role is to
·edit the language for maximum clarity and precision for those in other disciplines. Special care is given to papers whose authors’ native language is not English, and special attention is given to summary paragraphs.
·ensure that the paper is at the length specified by the manuscript editor (including number of figures).
·ensure that the terminology and notation conform toNature's house style.
·ensure that the figures and tables are clear and will fit in the space available.
Proofs and reprints
Our subeditors send authors the edited text for approval before it is typeset. This enables most queries to be resolved before proof stage. Authors subsequently receive an e-proof, including the figures, and can also download a PDF proof of the layout. We suggest that authors send proofs to co-authors for them to check, but request that changes among the co-authors are coordinated so that only one author communicates withNatureand only one set of corrections is sent. The corresponding (or other single designated) author is responsible on behalf of all co-authors for the accuracy of all content, including spelling of names and current affiliations of all co-authors, so please ensure these are checked carefully.
Proofs are cycled betweenNature’s production staff, our typesetter and the author by means of an online production-tracking system. Authors are provided with an encrypted link to this system after their paper has been accepted.
Instructions for ordering reprints are provided after the paper is scheduled for publication.
Publication and the media
Naturepapers are assigned to a print issue two weeks before publication, at which time authors will receive an e-mail notifying them of their scheduled print publication date. Many papers are published online ahead of print publication date: corresponding authors of these papers will be informed by e-mail when the online publication date is confirmed, one week ahead of publication
The Journals and Editorial press office distributes embargoed mailings highlighting upcoming content to registered journalists six days in advance of publication. The titles of forthcoming papers will be listed on the mailing, along with the corresponding authors' contact details, which means authors may receive media enquiries relating to their paper during this embargo period.
Authors are free to discuss their paper with the media from six days before the publication date, and are asked to ensure thatNature Research's embargo conditionsare understood by journalists and others. Journalists have embargoedaccess to papers via the Nature Research press site, and are permitted to show papers to independent specialists a few days in advance of publication, under embargo conditions, solely for the purpose of eliciting comment on the work described.
Before publication, the Journals and Editorial press office also informs the press / public information officers of authors' institutions to allow them to prepare their own publicity. Authors and their institutions are advised to coordinate any of their own publicity with the Journals and Editorial press office bye-mailafter their paper is accepted for publication.
The content of the press release mailing and papers described therein is embargoed until 1600 London time/1100 US Eastern Time on the day of publication, which is the time at which the research is published and become publicly available. In all cases, authors are expected to abide by the Nature Researchpress and embargo policies.
Formatting guide
This guide describes how to prepare contributions for submission. We recommend you read this in full if you have not previously submitted a contribution toNature. We also recommend that, before submission, you familiarize yourself withNature’s style and content by reading the journal, either in print or online, particularly if you have not submitted to the journal recently.
Formats forNaturecontributions
Articles are the main format for original research contributions toNature. In addition,Naturepublishes other submitted material as detailed below.
Articles
Articles are original reports whose conclusions represent a substantial advance in understanding of an important problem and have immediate, far-reaching implications. In print, physical sciences papers do not normally exceed6 pageson average, and biological, clinical and social-sciences papers do not normally exceed8 pageson average. However, the final print length is at the editor’s discretion.
Articles start with a fully referenced summary paragraph, ideally of no more than 200 words, which is separate from the main text and avoids numbers, abbreviations, acronyms or measurements unless essential. It is aimed at readers outside the discipline. This summary paragraph should be structured as follows: 2-3 sentences of basic-level introduction to the field; a brief account of the background and rationale of the work; a statement of the main conclusions (introduced by the phrase 'Here we show' or its equivalent); and finally, 2-3 sentences putting the main findings into general context so it is clear how the results described in the paper have moved the field forwards. Please refer to ourannotated exampleto see how the summary paragraph should be constructed.
The typical length of a 6-page article with 4 modest display items (figures and tables) is 2500 words (summary paragraph plus body text). The typical length of an 8-page article with 5-6 modest display items is 4300 words. A ‘modest’ display item is one that, with its legend, occupies about a quarter of a page (equivalent to ~270 words). If a composite figure (with several panels) needs to occupy at least half a page in order for all the elements to be visible, the text length may need to be reduced accordingly to accommodate such figures. Keep in mind that essential but technical details can be moved into the Methods or Supplementary Information.
As a guideline, articles typically have no more than 50 references. (There is no such constraint on any additional references associated with Methods or Supplementary Information.)
Sections are separated with subheadings to aid navigation. Subheadings may be up to 40 characters (including spaces).
Word counts refer to the text of the paper. Title, author list, acknowledgements and references are not included in total word counts.
Matters Arising and Corrections
Matters Arising are exceptionally interesting or important comments and clarifications on original research papers or other peer-reviewed material publishedwithin the past 18 months inNature. They are published online but not in print.
For further details of and instructions for how to submit such comments on peer-reviewed material published inNature— or to notify editors of the potential need for a correction — please consult ourMatters Arisingpage.
Other contributions toNature
Please access the other submitted material pages for further details on any of the contribution types below:
News and Comment
Correspondence
Obituaries
Opinion
Books & Arts
Futures
News & Views
Insights, Reviews and Perspectives
Analysis
Hypothesis
Careers
Technology Features
Outlooks
The editorial process
Seethis sectionfor an explanation ofNature's editorial criteria for publication, refereeing policy and how editors handle papers after submission. Submission to aNaturejournal is taken by the journal to mean that all the listed authors have agreed to all of the contents. Seeauthorship policyfor more details.
Presubmission enquiries
If you wish to enquire whether your Article might be suitable for consideration byNature, please use our onlinepresubmission enquiry service. All presubmission enquiries must include a cover paragraph to the editor stating the interest to a broad scientific readership, a fully referenced summary paragraph, and a reference list.
Readability
Natureis an international journal covering all the sciences. Contributions should therefore be written clearly and simply so that they are accessible to readers in other disciplines and to readers for whom English is not their first language. Thus, technical jargon should be avoided as far as possible and clearly explained where its use is unavoidable. Abbreviations, particularly those that are not standard, should also be kept to a minimum. The background, rationale and main conclusions of the study should be clearly explained. Titles and abstracts in particular should be written in language that will be readily intelligible to any scientist. Essential but specialized terms should be explained concisely but not didactically.
For gene, protein and other specialized names authors can use their preferred terminology so long as it is in current use by the community, but they must give all known names for the entity at first use in the paper.Natureprefers authors to use internationally agreed nomenclature. Papers containing new or revised formal taxonomic nomenclature for animals, whether living or extinct, are accepted conditional on the provision of LSIDs (Life Science Identifiers) by means of registration of such nomenclature with ZooBank, the proposed online registration system for the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN).
Even though no paper will be rejected because of poor language, non–native English speakers occasionally receive feedback from editors and reviewers regarding language and grammar usage in their manuscripts. You may wish to consider asking colleagues to read your manuscript and/or to use a professional editing service such as those provided by our affiliatesNature Research Editing ServiceorAmerican Journal Experts. You can also get a fast, free grammar checkof your manuscript that takes into account all aspects of readability in English. Please note that the use of a language editing service is not a requirement for publication inNature.
Nature's editors provide detailed advice about the expected print length when asking for the final version of the manuscript.Nature's editors often suggest revised titles and rewrite the summary paragraphs of Articles so the conclusions are clear to a broad readership.
After acceptance,Nature's subeditors (copyeditors) ensure that the text and figures are readable and clear to those outside the field, and edit papers intoNature's house style. They pay particular attention to summary paragraphs, overall clarity, figures, figure legends and titles.
Proofs are sent before publication; authors are welcome to discuss proposed changes withNature's subeditors, butNaturereserves the right to make the final decision about matters of style and the size of figures.
A useful set of articles providing general advice aboutwritingandsubmittingscientific papers can be found on the SciDev.Net website.
Format of Articles
Contributions should be double-spaced and written in English (spellings as in theOxford English Dictionary).
Contributions should be organized in the sequence: title, authors, affiliations (plus present addresses), bold first paragraph, main text, main references, tables, figure legends, methods (including separate data and code availability statements), methods references, acknowledgements, author contributions, competing interest declaration, additional information (containing supplementary information line (if any) and corresponding author line), extended data figure/table legends. In order to facilitate the review process, for initial submissions we encourage authors to present the manuscript text and figures together in a single file (Microsoft Word or PDF, up to 30 MB in size). The figures may be inserted within the text at the appropriate positions or grouped at the end, and each figure legend should be presented together with its figure. Also, please include line numbers within the text.
Titles
Titles do not exceed two lines in print. This equates to 75 characters (including spaces). Titles do not normally include numbers, acronyms, abbreviations or punctuation. They should include sufficient detail for indexing purposes but be general enough for readers outside the field to appreciate what the paper is about.
Text
An uninterrupted page of text contains about 1250 words.
A typical 6-page Article contains about 2,500 words of text and, additionally, 4 modest display items (figures and/or tables) with brief legends, reference list and online-only methods section if applicable. A composite figure (with several panels) usually needs to take about half a page, equivalent to about 600 words, in order for all the elements to be visible (see section 5.9 for instructions on sizing figures).
A typical 8-page Article contains about 4300 words of text and, additionally, 5-6 modest display items (figures and/or tables) with brief legends, reference list and online-only methods section if applicable. A composite figure (with several panels) usually needs to take about half a page, equivalent to about 600 words, in order for all the elements to be visible (see section 5.9 for instructions on sizing figures).
Authors of contributions that significantly exceed the limits stated here (or as specified by the editor) will have to shorten their papers before acceptance, inevitably delaying publication.
Naturerequires authors to specify the contribution made by their co-authors in the end notes of the paper (see section 5.5). If authors regard it as essential to indicate that two or more co-authors are equal in status, they may be identified by an asterisk symbol with the caption ‘These authors contributed equally to this work’ immediately under the address list. If more than three co-authors are equal in status, this should be indicated in the author contributions statement. Present addresses appear immediately below the author list (below the footnote rule at the bottom of the first page) and may be identified by a dagger symbol; all other essential author-related explanation is placed in the acknowledgements.
Our preferred format for text is Microsoft Word, with the style tags removed.
TeX/LaTeX: If you have prepared your paper using TeX/LaTeX, we will need to convert this to Word after acceptance, before your paper can be typeset. All textual material of the paper (including references, tables, figure captions, online methods, etc.) should be included as a single .tex file.
We prefer the use of a ‘standard’ font, preferably 12-point Times New Roman. For mathematical symbols, Greek letters and other special characters, use normal text or Symbol font. Word Equation Editor/MathType should be used only for formulae that cannot be produced using normal text or Symbol font.
Methods
The ‘Methods’ section is in the main text file, following the figure legends. This Methods section will appear in the PDF and in the full-text (HTML) version of the paper online, but will not appear in the printed issue. The Methods section should be written as concisely as possible but should contain all elements necessary to allow interpretation and replication of the results. As a guideline, the Methods section does not typically exceed 3,000 words. To increase reproducibility, authors are encouraged to deposit a detailed description of protocols used in their study in a protocol sharing platform of their choice.Springer Nature’sprotocols.io is a free and open service designed to help researchers share experimental know-how. Protocols deposited by the authors inwww.protocols.iowill be linked to the online Methods section upon publication
Detailed descriptions of methods already published should be avoided; a reference number can be provided to save space, with any new addition or variation stated.
The Methods section should be subdivided by short bold headings referring to methods used and we encourage the inclusion of specific subsections for statistics, reagents and animal models. If further references are included in this section their numbering should continue from the end of the last reference number in the rest of the paper and they are listed after the Methods section.
Please provide separate Data Availability and Code Availability statements after the main text statements and before the Extended Data legends; detailed guidance can be found in ourdata availability and data citations policy. Certain data types must be deposited in an appropriate public structured data depository (details are availablehere), and the accession number(s) provided in the manuscript. Full access is required at the time of publication. Should full access to data be required for peer review, authors must provide it.
The Methods section cannot contain figures or tables (essential display items should be included in the Extended Data or exceptionally in the Supplementary Information).
References
References are each numbered, ordered sequentially as they appear in the text, tables, boxes, figure legends, Methods, Extended Data tables and Extended Data figure legends.
When cited in the text, reference numbers are superscript, not in brackets unless they are likely to be confused with a superscript number.
Do not use linked fields (produced by EndNote and similar programs). Please use the one-click button provided by EndNote to remove EndNote codes before saving your file.
As a guideline, Articles allow up to 50 references in the main text if needed and within the average page budget. Only one publication can be listed for each number. Additional references for Methods or Supplementary Information are not included in this count.
Only articles that have been published or accepted by a named publication, or that have been uploaded to a recognized preprint server (for example, arXiv, bioRxiv), should be in the reference list; papers in preparation should be mentioned in the text with a list of authors (or initials if any of the authors are co-authors of the present contribution).
Published conference abstracts, numbered patents, preprints on recognized servers, papers in press, and research datasets that have been assigned a digital object identifier may be included in reference lists, but text, grant details and acknowledgements may not. (An exception is the highlighted references which we ask authors of Reviews, Perspectives and Insights articles to provide.)
All authors should be included in reference lists unless there are more than five, in which case only the first author should be given, followed by ‘et al.’.
Please follow the style below in the published edition ofNaturein preparing reference lists.
Authors should be listed surname first, followed by a comma and initials of given names.
Titles of all cited articles are required. Titles of articles cited in reference lists should be in upright, not italic text; the first word of the title is capitalized, the title written exactly as it appears in the work cited, ending with a full stop. Book titles are italic with all main words capitalized. Journal titles are italic and abbreviated according to common usage. Volume numbers are bold. The publisher and city of publication are required for books cited. (Refer to published papers in Nature for details.)
Research datasets may be cited in the reference list if they have been assigned digital object identifiers (DOIs) and include authors, title, publisher (repository name), identifier (DOI expressed as a URL). Example: Hao, Z., AghaKouchak, A., Nakhjiri, N. & Farahmand, A. Global Integrated Drought Monitoring and Prediction System (GIDMaPS) data sets. figshare http://dx.doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.853801 (2014).
Recognized preprints may be cited in the reference list. Example: Babichev, S. A., Ries, J. & Lvovsky, A. I. Quantum scissors: teleportation of single-mode optical states by means of a nonlocal single photon. Preprint at http://arXiv.org/quant-ph/0208066 (2002).
References to web-only journals should give authors, article title and journal name as above, followed by URL in full - or DOI if known - and the year of publication in parentheses.
References to websites should give authors if known, title of cited page, URL in full, and year of posting in parentheses.
End notes
End notes are brief and follow the Methods (or Methods References, if any).
Acknowledgements should be brief, and should not include thanks to anonymous referees and editors, inessential words, or effusive comments. A person can be thanked for assistance, not “excellent” assistance, or for comments, not “insightful” comments, for example. Acknowledgements can contain grant and contribution numbers.
Author Contributions: Authors are required to include a statement to specify the contributions of each co-author. The statement can be up to several sentences long, describing the tasks of individual authors referred to by their initials. See theauthorship policy pagefor further explanation and examples.
Competing interestsstatement.
Additional Information: Authors should include a set of statements at the end of the paper, in the following order:
Papers containing Supplementary Information contain the statement:
“Supplementary Information is available for this paper.”
A sentence reading Correspondence and requests for materials should be addressed to XX.” Nature expects this identified author to respond to readers’ enquiries and requests for materials, and to coordinate the handling of any other matters arising from the published contribution, including corrections complaints. The author named as corresponding author is not necessarily the senior author, and publication of this author’s name does not imply seniority. Authors may include more than one e-mail address if essential, in which event Nature will communicate with the first-listed address for any post-publication matters, and expect that author to coordinate with the other co-authors.
Peer review information includes the names of reviewers who agree to be cited and is completed by Nature staff during proofing.
A sentence reading “Reprints and permissions information is available at www.nature.com/reprints.”
Life sciences and behavioural & social sciences reporting guidelines
To improve the transparency of reporting and the reproducibility of published results, authors of life sciences and behavioural & social sciences Articles must provide a completedReporting Summarythat will be made available to editors and reviewers during manuscript assessment. The Reporting Summary will be published with all accepted manuscripts.
Please note: because of the advanced features used in these forms, you must useAdobe Readerto open the documents and fill them out.
Guidance and resources related to the use and reporting of statistics are availablehere.
Tables
Tables should each be presented on a separate page, portrait (not landscape) orientation, and upright on the page, not sideways.
Tables have a short, one-line title in bold text. Tables should be as small as possible. Bear in mind the size of a Nature page as a limiting factor when compiling a table.
Symbols and abbreviations are defined immediately below the table, followed by essential descriptive material as briefly as possible, all in double-spaced text.
Standard table formats are available for submissions ofcryo-EM,NMRandX-ray crystallography data. Authors providing these data must use these standard tables and include them as Extended Data.
Figure legends
For initial submissions, we encourage authors to present the manuscript text and figures together in a single Word doc or PDF file, and for each figure legend to be presented together with its figure. However, when preparing the final paper to be accepted, we require figure legends to be listed one after the other, as part of the text document, separate from the figure files, and after the main reference list.
Each figure legend should begin with a brief title for the whole figure and continue with a short description of each panel and the symbols used. If the paper contains a Methods section, legends should not contain any details of methods. Legends should be fewer than 300 words each.
All error bars and statistics must be defined in the figure legend, as discussed above.
Figures
Naturerequires figures in electronic format. Please ensure that all digital images comply with the Nature journals’policy on image integrity.
Figures should be as small and simple as is compatible with clarity. The goal is for figures to be comprehensible to readers in other or related disciplines, and to assist their understanding of the paper. Unnecessary figures and parts (panels) of figures should be avoided: data presented in small tables or histograms, for instance, can generally be stated briefly in the text instead. Avoid unnecessary complexity, colouring and excessive detail.
Figures should not contain more than one panel unless the parts are logically connected; each panel of a multipart figure should be sized so that the whole figure can be reduced by the same amount and reproduced on the printed page at the smallest size at which essential details are visible. For guidance,Nature’s standard figure sizes are 90 mm (single column) and 180 mm (double column) and the full depth of the page is 170 mm.
Amino-acid sequences should be printed in Courier (or other monospaced) font using the one-letter code in lines of 50 or 100 characters.
Authors describing chemical structures should use theNature Research Chemical Structures style guide.
Some brief guidance for figure preparation:
Lettering in figures (labelling of axes and so on) should be in lower-case type, with the first letter capitalized and no full stop.
Units should have a single space between the number and the unit, and follow SI nomenclature or the nomenclature common to a particular field. Thousands should be separated by commas (1,000). Unusual units or abbreviations are defined in the legend.
Scale bars should be used rather than magnification factors.
Layering type directly over shaded or textured areas and using reversed type (white lettering on a coloured background) should be avoided where possible.
Where possible, text, including keys to symbols, should be provided in the legend rather than on the figure itself.
Figure quality
At initial submission, figures should be at good enough quality to be assessed by referees, preferably incorporated into the manuscript text in a single Word doc or PDF, although figures can be supplied separately as JPEGs if authors are unable to include them with the text. Authors are advised to follow theinitialandrevisedsubmissions guidelines with respect to sizing, resolution and labelling.
Please note that print-publication quality figures are large and it is not helpful to upload them at the submission stage. Authors will be asked for high-quality figures when they are asked to submit the final version of their article for publication.At that stage, please prepare figures according to theseguidelines.
Third party rights
Nature discourages the use or adaptation of previously published display items (for example, figures, tables, images, videos or text boxes). However, we recognize that to illustrate some concepts the use of published data is required and the reuse of previously published display items may be necessary. Please note that in these instances we might not be able to obtain the necessary rights for some images to be reused (as is, or adapted versions) in our articles. In such cases, we will contact you to discuss the sourcing of alternative material.
Figure costs
In order to help cover some of the additional cost of four-colour reproduction, Nature Portfolio charges our authors a fee for the printing of their colour figures. Please contact our offices for exact pricing and details. Inability to pay this charge will not prevent publication of colour figures judged essential by the editors, but this must be agreed with the editor prior to acceptance.
Production-quality figures
When a manuscript is accepted in principle for publication, the editor will ask for high-resolution figures. Do not submit publication-quality figures until asked to do so by an editor. At that stage, please prepare figures according to theseguidelines.
Extended Data
Extended Data figures and tables are online-only (appearing in the online PDF and full-text HTML version of the paper), peer-reviewed display items that provide essential background to the Article but are not included in the printed version of the paper due to space constraints or being of interest only to a few specialists. A maximum of ten Extended Data display items (figures and tables) is typically permitted. SeeComposition of a Nature research paper.
Extended Data tables should be formatted along similar lines to tables appearing in print (see section 5.7) but the main body (excluding title and legend, which should be included at the end of the Word file) should be submitted separately as an image rather than as an editable format in Word, as Extended Data tables are not edited by Nature’s subediting department. Small tables may also be included as sub-panels within Extended Data figures. SeeExtended Data Formatting Guide.
Extended Data figures should be prepared along slightly different guidelines compared to figures appearing in print, and may be multi-panelled as long as they fit to size rules (seeExtended Data Formatting Guide). Extended Data figures are not edited or styled by Nature’s art department; for this reason, authors are requested to follow Nature style as closely as possible when preparing these figures. The legends for Extended Data figures should be prepared as for print figures and should be listed one after the other at the end of the Word file.
If space allows, Nature encourages authors to include a simple schematic, as a panel in an Extended Data figure, that summarizes the main finding of the paper, where appropriate (for example, to assist understanding of complex detail in cell, structural and molecular biology disciplines).
If a manuscript has Extended Data figures or tables, authors are asked to refer to discrete items at an appropriate place in the main text (for example, Extended Data Fig. 1 and Extended Data Table 1).
If further references are included in the Extended Data tables and Extended Data figure legends, the numbering should continue from the end of the last reference number in the main paper (or from the last reference number in the additional Methods section if present) and the list should be added to the end of the list accompanying the additional Methods section, if present, or added below the Extended Data legends if no additional Methods section is present.
Supplementary Information
Supplementary Information (SI) is online-only, peer-reviewed material that is essential background to the Article (for example, large data sets, methods, calculations), but which is too large or impractical, or of interest only to a few specialists, to justify inclusion in the printed version of the paper. See theSupplementary Information pagefor further details.
Supplementary Information should not contain figures (any figures additional to those appearing in print should be formatted as Extended Data figures). Tables may be included in Supplementary Information, but only if they are unsuitable for formatting as Extended Data tables (for example, tables containing large data sets or raw data that are best suited to Excel files).
If a manuscript has accompanying SI, either at submission or in response to an editor’s letter that requests it, authors are asked to refer to discrete items of the SI (for example, videos, tables) at an appropriate point in the main manuscript.
Chemical structures and characterization of chemical materials
For guidelines describingNature’s standards for experimental methods and the characterization of new compounds, please see the information sheet on thecharacterization of chemical materials.
We aim to produce chemical structures in a consistent format throughout our articles. Please use the Nature PortfolioChemical Structures GuideandChemDraw templateto ensure that you prepare your figures in a format that will require minimal changes by our art and production teams. Submit final files at 100% as .cdx files.
Registered Reports
Registered Reports are empirical articles testing confirmatory hypotheses in which the methods and proposed analyses are pre-registered and peer reviewed prior to research being conducted. For further details about Registered Reports and instructions for how to submit such articles toNatureplease consult ourRegistered Reportspage.
Submission
All contributions should be submittedonline, unless otherwise instructed by the editors. Please be sure to read the information on what to include in your cover letter as well as several important content-related issues when putting a submission together.
Before submitting, all contributors must agree to all of Nature'spublication policies.
Nature authors must make data and materials publicly available upon publication. This includes deposition of data into the relevant databases and arranging for them to be publicly released by the online publication date (not after). A description of our initiative to improve the transparency and the reproducibility of published results is availablehere. A full description of Nature’s publication policies is at theNature Portfolio Authors and Referees website.
Other Nature Research journals
An account of the relationship between all the Nature journals is provided at theNature family page.
Presubmission enquiries
This document provides instructions on our online service for presubmission enquiries. Presubmission enquiries are provided purely as a service to authors (for example, to see if a manuscript is likely to be of interest to the journal) and are not compulsory.
Please see the sections below for guidance on presubmission enquiries to different sections ofNature. If you are not sure which category your manuscript falls into, please consult the formats forNaturecontributions in our manuscriptformatting guide.
Naturecannot guarantee the speed of response to presubmission enquiries, but you will usually receive an answer within two working days. Editors cannot enter into discussion about a negative response to a presubmission enquiry, but authors who have received such a response may nevertheless formally submit the paper if they wish.
Articles
Presubmission enquiries are not required for Articles, and can be difficult to assess reliably;Natureeditors cannot make an absolute commitment to have a contribution refereed before seeing the entire paper. Entire papers should not be sent as presubmission enquiries, but should be formally submitted through our online submission system.
When using the online submission form for a presubmission enquiry, you will need to include in the 'abstract' box a fully referenced first paragraph inNatureformat (please refer to ourannotated exampleto see how a summary paragraph is constructed). Please use the 'manuscript comments' box at the foot of the online submission form to list the references used. You can also put any general cover letter information in this box. When making a presubmission enquiry, please do not attach cover letters as separate files.
If you think that a presubmission enquiry would be helpful, pleaseproceed.
Reviews, Perspectives and Opinion
Natureinvites presubmission enquiries for Reviews and Perspectives. Please use ouronline submission systemto submit a synopsis.
Opinion articles are commissioned by the Opinion Editor to fulfil the editorial mission of the magazine. Unsolicited contributions are not considered.
Please see the guide toother Nature contributionsfor more information on submitting to these sections.
Initial submission
Submissions for Articles, Reviews and Perspectives, and Matters Arising must be submitted via ouronline submission system. Please follow these guidelines to ensure that your submission proceeds smoothly.
If your manuscript and figures are ready to submit according to the manuscriptformatting guidelinesand requirements below, please proceed directly to theonline submission system.
Brief guide for submission to Nature
This guide outlines key points for preparing primary research manuscripts for submission toNature.
The corresponding author should be familiar with the Nature journals’ editorial policies and is solely responsible for communicating with the journal and managing communication between coauthors. Before submission, the corresponding author ensures that all authors are included in the author list and agree with its order, and that they are aware the manuscript is to be submitted. For more information on editorial andauthorship policies, please review ourGuide to Authors.
Cover letter
Although optional, the cover letter is an excellent opportunity to briefly discuss the importance of the submitted work and why it is appropriate for the journal. Please avoid repeating information that is already present in the abstract and introduction. The cover letter is not shared with the referees, and should be used to provide confidential information such as conflicts of interest and to declare any related work that is in press or submitted elsewhere.
All authors must complete aneditorial policy checklistto ensure compliance with Nature Research editorial policies. Please note: because of the advanced features used in the form, you must useAdobe Readerto open the document and fill it out.
Main manuscript
The Nature journals are flexible with regard to the format of initial submissions. Within reason, style and length will not influence consideration of a manuscript. If revisions are requested, the editor will provide detailed formatting instructions at that time.
To facilitate the review process however, we strongly encourage you to incorporate the manuscript text and figures into a single PDF or Microsoft Word file. Suitably high resolution figures may be inserted within the text at appropriate positions or grouped at the end. Each figure legend should be presented on the same page as its figure. The reference list should include article titles. If providing a PDF, please number all lines. The submission system will number all lines in a Word document for you. We accept LaTeX files at the acceptance stage, but before that time please supply PDFs.
Title.Titles must fit on two lines in print (75 characters including spaces) and should avoid technical terms, abbreviations and active verbs.
Authors. Corresponding author(s) should be identified with an asterisk.Large Language Models (LLMs), such asChatGPT,do not currently satisfy ourauthorship criteria. Notably an attribution of authorship carries with it accountability for the work, which cannot be effectively applied to LLMs.Use of an LLM should be properly documented in the Methods section (and if a Methods section is not available, in a suitable alternative part) of the manuscript.
Abstract. Provide a general introduction to the topic and a brief non-technical summary of your main results and their implication.
Text length and formatting.Attention to the following details can help expedite publication if we invite a revision after external review.
A fully referenced ~200 word summary paragraph; main text of 2,500 words and 4 modest display items (figures, tables) for a typical 6 page article and 4300 words and 5-6 modest display items for a typical 8 page article; as a guideline up to 50 references if needed and within the allocated page budget. Sections can be separated with subheadings to aid navigation.
Please consult Nature'scontent typesfor final length and formatting requirements of other article types.
Methods. The Methods section appears in most online original research articles and should contain all elements necessary for interpretation and replication of the results. Methods should be written as concisely as possible and typically do not exceed 3,000 words but may be longer if necessary. Methods-only references do not count against your reference limit. We encourage you to deposit any step-by-step protocols used in your study in the open resourceprotocols.io. Protocols that are deposited should be mentioned in the Methods section and added to the reference list.
References. These may only contain citations and should list only one publication with each number. Include the title of the cited article or dataset.
Acknowledgements(optional). Keep acknowledgements brief and do not include thanks to anonymous referees or editors, or effusive comments. Grant or contribution numbers may be acknowledged.
Author contributions. You must include a statement that specifies the individual contributions of each co-author. For example: A.P.M. ‘contributed’ Y and Z; B.T.R. ‘contributed’ Y,” etc. See ourauthorship policiesfor more details.
Competing interests. Submission of acompeting interests statementis required for all content of the journal.
Materials & Correspondence. Indicate the author to whom correspondence and material requests should be addressed.
Tables. Each table should be accompanied by a short title sentence describing what the table shows. Further details can be included as footnotes to the table.
Figures
High-resolution image files are not required at initial submission, but please ensure images are of sufficient resolution for referees to properly assess the data. We prefer the figures to be incorporated with the manuscript text into a single Word doc or PDF at initial submission, but if necessary, supply separate image files or deposit image data in a suitable repository (e.g.figshare) for this purpose.
Should your manuscript be accepted, you will receive more extensive instructions for final submission of display items. However, some guidelines for final figure preparation are included below and here if you wish to minimize later revisions and possible delays.
Provide images in RGB color and at 300 dpi or higher resolution.
Use the same typeface (Arial or Helvetica) for all figures. Use symbol font for Greek letters.
Use distinct colors with comparable visibility and avoid the use of red and green for contrast. Recoloring primary data, such as fluorescence images, to color-safe combinations such as green and magenta or other accessible color palettes is strongly encouraged. Use of the rainbow color scale should be avoided.
Figures are best prepared at a width of 90 mm (single column) and 180 mm (double column) with a maximum height of 170mm.. At this size, the font size should be 5-7pt.
We require vector files with editable layers. Acceptable formats are: .ai, .eps, .pdf, .ps, .svg for fully editable vector-based art; layered .psd or .tif for editable layered art; .psd, .tif, .png or .jpg for bitmap images; .ppt if fully editable and without styling effects; ChemDraw (.cdx) for chemical structures. A guide to preparing final figures is available here:Figure style guide.
Please refer to theNature Research chemical structures style guidefor formatting of chemical structures.
Figure legends of<250 words each should begin with a brief title sentence for the whole figure and continue with a short statement of what is depicted in the figure, not the results (or data) of the experiment or the methods used. Legends should be detailed enough so that each figure and caption can, as far as possible, be understood in isolation from the main text.
Statistical information
Comprehensive information on the statistical analyses used must be included in the paper. The Methods must include a statistics section where you describe the statistical tests used and whether they were one- or two-tailed. Please ensure that the error bars are defined throughout the figures. For all statistics (including error bars), provide the EXACTnvalues used to calculate the statistics (reporting individual values rather than a range if n varied among experiments). For representative results, report the number of times that the measurements were repeated. Where relevant, provide exact values for both significant and non-significantPvalues. For ANOVAs, provideFvalues and degrees of freedom. Fort-tests, provide t-values and degrees of freedom. Please specifically define the replicates.
Extended data
To improve its readability and navigability online, all data integral to the work being described should be included in up to ten multi-panel Extended Data display items similar to regular printed figures and tables. These will not appear in print but are included in the online versions of the published article. If the main finding includes a complex process we encourage the inclusion of a schematic to aid readers unfamiliar with the topic. For initial submission you may include Extended Data items as regular display items in the body of the manuscript or as Supplementary Information. But if accepted for publication, all Extended Data will need to be properlyformatted.
Compound numbering
All individual inorganic and organic chemical compounds should be identified by bold numerals (1, 2, 3, etc.), including those that are only mentioned in the manuscript or supplementary information, independent of whether they were utilized in the reported experiments. Standard buffers, reagents and solvents should not be numbered. Please number compounds in order of their appearance in the main text. Alphanumeric numbering can also be used, but try to be logical, for example, starting materials called 1a, 1b, 1c... give products called 2a, 2b, 2c... and so on.
Supplementary information
This should be limited to material that is essential background (for example, large data sets and calculations), but which is too large, impractical or specialized to justify inclusion in the printed version of the article. Any figures or small tables should ideally be supplied as Extended Data, not Supplementary Information.
Data availability
Please provide a Data Availability statement in the Methods section under “Data Availability”; detailed guidance can be found in ourdata availability and data citations policy. Certain data types must be deposited in an appropriate public structured data depository (details are availablehere), and the accession number(s) provided in the manuscript. Full access is required at publication. Should full access to data be required for peer review, authors must provide it.
We encourage provision of other source data in unstructured public depositories such asDryadorfigshare, or as supplementary information. To maximize data reuse, we encourage publication of detailed descriptions of datasets inScientific Data.
Crystallographic data
Manuscripts reporting new crystallographic structures of small molecules must be accompanied by a standard .cif file. A structural figure with probability ellipsoids should be included in the main supplementary information file. The structure factors for each structure should also be submitted, preferably embedded in the main .cif file, although they may be provided as a separate .hkl and/or .fcf file. Use of the 2014 version of the program SHELXL, which embeds the structure factors information in the main .cif file, is encouraged. The structure factors and structural output must be checked using IUCr'sCheckCIFroutine and a PDF copy of the output supplied, explaining any A- or B-level alerts.
Computer code
Any previously unreported custom computer code used to generate results reported in the manuscript and that are central to the main claims must be made available to editors and referees upon request. Any practical issues preventing code sharing will be evaluated by the editors who reserve the right to decline the manuscript if important code is unavailable. At publication,Naturejournals consider it best practice to release custom computer code in a way that allows readers to repeat the published results.
For all studies using custom code that is deemed central to the conclusions, a statement must be included in the Methods section, under the heading Code availability, indicating whether and how the code can be accessed, including any restrictions.
Life sciences and behavioural & social sciences reporting guidelines
To improve the transparency of reporting and the reproducibility of published results, authors of life sciences and behavioural & social sciences research articles must provide a completedreporting summarythat will be made available to editors and reviewers during manuscript assessment. The reporting summary will be published with all accepted manuscripts.
Please note: because of the advanced features used in the form, you must useAdobe Readerto open the document and fill it out.
Guidance and resources related to the use and reporting of statistics are availablehere.
Human subject data
If you are reporting phase II or phase III randomized controlled trials you must refer to the CONSORT Statement for recommendations to facilitate the complete and transparent reporting of trial findings. Reports that do not conform to the CONSORT guidelines may need to be revised before peer review. We encourage authors reporting prognostic studies with tumor markers to follow the REMARK reporting guidelines.
Before the start of patient enrollment prospective clinical trials must be registered in www.clinicaltrials.gov or a similar public repository that matches ICMJE criteria and the trial registration number reported in the manuscript.
For describing human biospecimens, we recommend referring to the BRISQ reporting guidelines and ensuring at least Tier 1 characteristics are provided (doi: 10.1002/cncy.20147).
Related manuscripts
It is a requirement of submission that you alert us to any related manuscripts with overlapping authorship that are under consideration (including under appeal) or in press at other journals (see oureditorial policies on duplicate submissionsfor details). Copies of these manuscripts should be clearly marked and included as separate files with your submission.
Preprint servers
TheNaturejournals support the posting of submitted manuscripts on community preprint servers such asarXivandbioRxiv. We do, however, ask you to respect the following summaries of our policies:
·The original submitted version may be posted at any time.
·The accepted version may be posted 6 months after publication.
·The published version—copyedited and in Nature journal format—may not be posted on a preprint server or other website.
Double-blind peer review
If you want to participate in double-blind peer review, prepare your manuscript in a way that conceals the identities of all the authors and tick the appropriate box during online submission. We recommend that authors refer to ourdouble-blind peer review guidelineswhen preparing a double-blind peer review manuscript. Note that editors do not ensure that the paper is properly anonymized; that is the authors' responsibility.
Transferring your manuscript
If an editor is unable to offer publication of your manuscript, you have the opportunity to transfer all manuscript materials, the decision letter and any referee comments to a selection of Springer Nature journals without re-entering submission information. Use the link in your decision letter to explore suggested alternative journals. You may then initiate the transfer process to the journal of your choice or submit elsewhere. Please seethis pagefor more information.
Appeals
Authors who feel that they have strong grounds for appealing a decision may contact the journal to request the opening of an appeal, after which they may upload a cogently argued rebuttal letter that addresses the referees’ and/or editor’s comments in a point-by-point manner. Decisions are reversed on appeal only if the editors are convinced that the original decision was made in error or critical new information or data has been added.
Comments on published articles
Exceptionally interesting or important scientific comments and clarifications on peer-reviewed articles publishedwithin the past 18 months inNaturemay be submitted asMatters Arising.
Questions and manuscript submission
General editorial enquiries should be addressed to the Editor at nature@nature.com. Manuscripts should be submitted through ouronline submission system. Further submission details are availablehere.
Final submission
This guide provides information on preparing production-quality figures and text files. The instructions apply only if your manuscript has been accepted in principle for publication and an editor has asked you to upload production-quality material.
General information
Before your manuscript can be formally accepted for publication and passed to our subediting, art and production departments, you will need to upload electronic files of your text, figures, Extended Data figures and tables, and Supplementary Information (if any) to our server. You will also need to upload scanned copies of any forms and declarations requested by the editorial office for signing (these may be faxed if scanning is not possible, with the fax labelled clearly with the corresponding author name and manuscript reference number).
Please follow these guidelines to ensure that your final files are complete and in the correct format. This will speed the handling of your manuscript after it is accepted, reduce delays and minimize potential errors.
If you are unable to upload production-quality files to our server, you shouldcontact Nature's London officefor assistance.
Final text submissions
At acceptance, please upload the text (this includes legends for print figures and Extended Data figures, complete print tables, and titles and legends only for Extended Data tables, but excludes print figures and Extended Data figures and tables themselves) of your paper to our server together with your production-quality figures and Extended Data figures and tables as separate files, and Supplementary Information, if any.
Important. It is the author's responsibility to ensure that the version uploaded is the final, accepted version of the paper.
Instructions for formatting and content of the text are in the manuscriptformatting guide.
Our preferred format for text is Microsoft Word with the style tags removed.
TeX/LaTeX
If you have prepared your paper using TeX/LaTeX, we will need to convert this to Word after acceptance, before your paper in typeset. For cross-reference purposes, please convert to PDF format and upload the PDF in addition to the TeX/LaTeX file at final submission.
Authors submitting LaTeX files may use any of the standard class files such as article.cls, revtex.cls, aastex.cls or amsart.cls. Please remove all personal macros, and avoid loading non-standard packages. All textual material of the paper (including tables, figure captions, online methods, etc.) should be in electronic form,as a single file. Graphics should not be called during compilation; they should be supplied individually according to the guidelines on figure preparation below. There is no need to spend time visually formatting the manuscript. Please use numerical citation styles only and ensure that the citations are numbered according to the order they appear in the text (not alphabetically). References should be included within the manuscript file itself. Authors who wish to use BibTeX to prepare their references should copy the reference list from the .bbl file that BibTeX generates and paste it into the main manuscript .tex file (and delete the associated \bibliography and \bibliographystyle commands). As a final precaution, authors should ensure that the complete .tex file compiles successfully on their own system with no errors or warnings, before submission.
Formatting details in text
Order of elements
Articles should be ordered in the sequence: title, authors, affiliations (plus present addresses), bold first paragraph, main text, references, tables, figure legends, (online-only) Methods (plus any associated references; data and code availability statements included at end of online Methods), acknowledgements, author contributions, competing interest declaration, additional information (containing supplementary information line (if any) and corresponding author line), Extended Data figure legends and Extended Data table titles and footnotes (any references unique to the Extended Data should be added to the end of the online-only reference list).
Fonts
We prefer the use throughout of a 'standard' font, preferably 12-point Times New Roman. For superscripts or subscripts, please apply actual super/subscript format; do not use 'raised' or 'lowered' formats. For mathematical symbols, Greek letters, and other special characters, use 'insert', 'symbol' and then select '(normal text)' or 'symbol' as the font. Use of other fonts can cause translation problems. List non-standard keyboard symbols in the letter accompanying the final accepted version of your paper.
Word Equation Editor/MathType should be used only for formulae that cannot be produced using normal text or symbol font.
Page layout
Separate paragraphs by a single, not a double, carriage return ('enter').
Do not indent the start of paragraphs or insert page breaks at the end of sections in the text. Do not insert a double space at the end of a sentence.
Reference citations
These (e.g. Water flows downhill13)can cause considerable problems when the Word file is translated to the typesetting language used for producing proofs. To avoid this, please observe the following:
Use superscripts for citations (see above example), not 'raised' format.
Do not use linked fields (produced by 'EndNote' and similar programs). For authors using EndNote, please use the one-click removal button provided by EndNote to remove EndNote codes before saving and submitting your file.
Tables
Instructions for formatting and tables are in the manuscriptformatting guide.
Standard table formats are available for submissions of cryo-EM, X-ray crystallography and NMR data. Authors providing these data should use these standard tables for inclusion as Extended Data tables. These tables are available on theForms and Declarations page.
Final print-only artwork
When preparing figures, authors are advised to refer to printed copies of Nature to get a sense of general size and style points. For an illustrated guide to preparing production-quality artwork after acceptance, seethis information document.
Lettering
Lettering should be in a sans-serif typeface, preferably Helvetica or Arial, the same font throughout all figures in the paper. Units, capitalization, etc. should followNaturestyle. Where practical, avoid placing lettering directly over images or shaded areas.
Separate panels in multi-part figures should each be labelled with 8 pt bold, upright (not italic) a, b, c. Maximum text size for all other text should be 7 pt; minimum text size should be 5 pt. Amino-acid sequences should be presented in one-letter code in Courier.
Do not rasterize or covert text to outlines.
Sizing
Naturewill often reduce figures to the smallest size possible for reasons of space. Authors are encouraged to indicate the smallest possible size they think appropriate for their figures, butNaturereserves the right to make the final decision.
For guidance,Nature's standard figure sizes are 89 mm wide (single column) and 183 mm wide (double column). The full depth of aNaturepage is 247 mm. Figures can also be a column-and-a-half where necessary (120–136 mm).
Authors should check (using a reducing photocopier) that, at the smallest possible size, lettering remains readable and lines are sufficiently (but not too) heavy to print clearly. Line weights and strokes should be set between 0.25 and 1 pt at the final size (lines thinner than 0.25 pt may vanish in print). Do not rasterize or outline these lines if possible.
Arrangement of parts
Naturewill be guided by the authors' suggested layout of parts within figures, but may rearrange parts if necessary. Authors should indicate essential layout features, for example particular alignments of panels within a figure. We value clear instructions from authors to help us lay out their figures.
Image types
The best format for any particular figure depends partly on what sort of images it contains. Images fall into two basic categories: rasterized images (also called bitmapped images) and line (or vector) art.
Please do not rasterize line art or text in submitted figures and wherever possible supply editable, unflattened vector artwork.
Electronic image formats
For a more detailed view of our requirements please see ourguide on preparing research figures.
Naturepreferred formats are:
·Layered Photoshop (PSD) or TIFF format (high resolution, 300–600 dots per inch (dpi) for photographic images. In Photoshop, it is possible to create images with separate components on different layers. This is particularly useful for placing text labels or arrows over an image, as it allows them to be edited later. If you have done this, please send the Photoshop file (.psd) with the layers intact.
·Adobe Illustrator (AI), Postscript, Vector EPS or PDF format for figures containing line drawings and graphs, including figures combining text and line art with photographs or scans.
If these formats are not possible, we can also accept the following formats: JPEG (high-resolution, 300–600 dpi), CorelDraw (up to version 8), Microsoft Word, Excel or PowerPoint.
Please do not send the following formats, as we cannot use them for print-quality reproduction: Canvas, DeltaGraph, Tex, ChemDraw, SigmaPlot. These files should be converted to postscript, EPS or PDF format before submission.
All photographic images must be supplied at a minimum of 300 dpi at the maximum size they can be used. Artificially increasing an image’s resolution in an artwork program will not improve its quality.
We prefer Photoshop or TIFF format for rasterized images. Where JPEG is the only option available, the quality should be set to the highest possible to minimize loss of information.
Colour artwork can be provided in RGB (recommended) or CMYK format.
Computer screens display colours using red, green and blue pixels (RGB), whereas the four-colour printing process uses inks in cyan, magenta, yellow and black (CMYK). We recommend supplying your artwork in the RGB colour spectrum. This provides a wider gamut than the CMYK print format and allows more faithful reproduction of fluorescent colours when viewed digitally.
Colour figures supplied in RGB mode will retain the RGB colour space in the online version (web PDF and online images), but they will be automatically converted to CMYK to be printed in the journal.
The range of colours that can be achieved in CMYK is limited, so converting from RGB to CMYK often affects the appearance of images. In particular, brighter colours are likely to appear muted, and the contrast between different coloured areas may be reduced.
You can supply your artwork in CMYK instead, if you wish to ensure the printed figures are replicated faithfully. If applicable, please carry out the conversion from RGB to CMYK before submitting figures, so that you can see how the colours will be affected and, if necessary, make adjustments to ensure that no important detail is lost.
Extended data display items
Online-only Extended Data figures and tables should be provided in a different format to print-only figures.
Files should be saved in RGB (not CMYK) for maximum colour saturation and smaller file size. Images should be supplied at maximum 300 p.p.i.; exceeding this limit will make the files too big and viewers may be timed-out before they can view/download them. File size should not exceed 10 MB; most files should be smaller than this. Export and save each individual figure as a JPEG (preferred), TIFF or EPS (please note that other file formats are not acceptable for Extended Data files). All digital images should comply with theNaturejournals'policy on image integrity.
Figures and tables should be sized such that they fit to a single page (leaving enough room for the legend/footnote to be set below). The maximum page dimension is 18 cm by 24 cm. Tables can be set at one-column (8.9 cm) or two-column (18 cm) width. For figures with multiple panels, label parts “a”, “b”, etc, and arrange in a layout that minimizes white space and has the figure centred on the page.
Extended Data figure files should be named with the following convention: CorrespondingAuthorSurname_EDfig1.jpg. Extended Data table files should be named with the following convention: CorrespondingAuthorSurname_EDtable1.jpg
SeeExtended Data Formatting GuideandComposition of a Nature research paperfor further details.
Supplementary Information
Supplementary Information (SI) is peer-reviewed material directly relevant to the conclusion of a paper that cannot be included in the printed version for reasons of space or medium (for example, video clips or sound files). Supplementary Information should not contain figures (any figures (or standard tables that fit to one page) additional to those appearing in print should be formatted as Extended Data figures (or tables, as appropriate)). See theSupplementary Information sectionfor further details, including a list of categories and acceptable file formats, size constraints for individual files and how SI should be presented.
ORCID for corresponding authors
As part of our efforts to improve transparency in authorship, we request that all corresponding authors of published papers provide their Open Researcher and Contributor Identifier (ORCID) ID, before resubmitting the final version of the manuscript. ORCID helps the scientific community achieve unambiguous attribution of all scholarly contributions.
Corresponding authors should link their ORCID to their account in themanuscript tracking system(MTS). From the MTS homepage, clickModify my Springer Nature accountand thenORCID Create/link an Open Researcher Contributor ID (ORCID)in the Personal Profile tab. This will re-direct you to the ORCID website. If you already have an ORCID account, enter your ORCID email and password and click onAuthorize. If you don’t have one, you can create one at this stage. Linking ORCID and MTS accounts can be done at any time prior to acceptance. For more information please visitORCID at Springer Nature. If you experience technical issues please contact thePlatform Support Helpdesk.
Non-corresponding authors do not have to link their ORCID but are encouraged to do so. Please note that it is not possible to add/modify ORCID details at proof.
After acceptance
After acceptance for publication, we will subedit your manuscript (main text, full Methods, legends for print-only figures and Extended Data figures, complete print-only tables, and titles and legends only for Extended Data tables) to ensure that it is intelligible to our wide readership and that it conforms with house style. Our subeditors usually send authors the edited text for approval before it is typeset. This enables most queries to be resolved before proof stage. You will subsequently receive an e-proof, including the figures and Extended Data display items, for checking before the paper is signed off and is ready to schedule in print/online.
Proofs are cycled betweenNature's production staff, our typesetter and authors by means of an online production system.
When you receive your proof, we suggest you send it to your co-authors for them to check, but please coordinate these changes among the co-authors so that only one author communicates withNatureand only one set of corrections is sent. The corresponding (or other single designated) author is responsible on behalf of all co-authors for the accuracy of all content, including spelling of names and current affiliations of all co-authors, so please ensure these are checked carefully.
Instructions for ordering reprints are provided after a paper is scheduled for publication.
Supplementary information
This document provides guidelines on submission of Supplementary Information (SI), including content of SI, the type of files we can accept, the size constraints for individual files and how SI should be presented.
General information
Supplementary Information (SI) ispeer-reviewed material directly relevant to the conclusion of a paperthat cannot be included in the printed version for reasons of space or medium (for example, video clips or sound files). SI isnot subeditedso authors should ensure that it is clearly and succinctly presented, and that the style of terms conforms with the rest of the paper. During SI processing for online publication, a standard coversheet will be added to the main SI PDF but the contents will remain unchanged.
SI is posted on the freely available part of our website at the time of publication and cannot be hosted solely on the authors' own websites for peer-review or publication purposes. Nor can the author alter it after the paper has been accepted for publication. We do not take responsibility for the maintenance of any links or e-mail addresses provided in SI.
Content
We recommend that SI in the following five 'flat' (text or table) categories is combined into a single PDF, laid out as you wish readers, editors and peer-reviewers to download it.
1.Supplementary Methods
2.Supplementary Table(s)
3.Supplementary Discussion
4.Supplementary Equation(s)
5.Supplementary Notes (including notes clarifying statistical analyses, acknowledgements, grant or other numbers)
Some types of SI (listed below) are either best presented in editable format or cannot be presented as PDF for technical reasons. Please supply these types of SI in one of our allowable formats. They will be published with the PDF of the rest of your SI, downloadable as separate files. Note that Tables may be included in Supplementary Information, but only if they are unsuitable for formatting as Extended Data tables (for example, tables containing large data sets or raw data that are best suited to Excel files).
1.Supplementary Data
2.Supplementary Video(s)
3.Supplementary Audio(s)
4.Supplementary Video and Audio Legend(s) (please provide legends in a separate editable document, or include in the SI Guide; see below)
Tips and hints for presentation of SI
SI sections should be classified as one of the categories listed above. Please note that we do not encourage deposition of references within SI as they will not be live links and will not contribute towards citation measures for the papers concerned. Authors who nevertheless wish to post reference lists should continue the numbering from the last reference listed in the print version, rather than repeating the numbering in the print version.
Supplementary tables must have a separate numbering system from that used for tables in the print version of the paper and the Extended Data (the first table displayed in SI should be labelled 'Supplementary Table 1' and so on).
With your SI, please include an additional 'SI Guide' text file named SIGuide.doc. This should contain:
1.A title for each file. For example, for a merged PDF: Supplementary Methods; Supplementary Notes. For example, for SI supplied as separate files: Supplementary Table
2.A text summary for each file (no more than 50 words) that describes the contents of the file. Descriptions of individual tables should be provided if these items are submitted as separate files. For SI submitted together in one PDF, the description should indicate how many display items and what type of text are contained within the file, and provide a general description of what the display items collectively show. These summaries will be displayed under the SI download link online as a guide for readers.
ForSupplementary Video and Audio files, please provide a one-sentence title and a short legend (no more than 100 words and without reference citations) for each video/audio file. Please include this information in a separate editable file (or include in the SIGuide document) and not in the main SI PDF. Ensure thatdiscrete pieces of the SI (for example, videos) are referred to at least oncein the print version of the paper at an appropriate point in the text.
Format and file sizes
Ensure that file sizes areas small as possible so that users can download them quickly.Images should be a maximum size of 640 x 480 pixels (9 x 6.8 inches at 72 pixels per inch).We prefer to accept no more thantenfiles. Sound/video files and combined, single PDFs may be up to 30 MB per file, with the maximum cumulative size of all files not exceeding 150 MB. Please note that these limits areabsolute maximathat we cannot exceed under any circumstances, and it is expected that most SI PDFs will beconsiderably smallerthan this.
We accept files in any of the following formats:
·Adobe Acrobat (.pdf) (preferred)
·MS Word document (.doc, .docx)
·Plain ASCII text (.txt)
·Rich Text Format (.rtf)
·WordPerfect document (.wpd)
·PostScript (.ps)
·Encapsulated postcript (.eps)
·HTML document (.htm)
·MS Excel spreadsheet (.xls, .xlsx)
·QuickTime movie (.mov) (preferred)
·Audio file (.wav)
·MPEG/MPG animation (.mpg, .mp4, .mp3)
·Systems Biology Markup Language (.sbml, .xml, .owl)
For optimal-quality videos please use a H.264 encoding, the standard aspect ratio of 16:9 (4:3 is second best) and do not compress the video.
If your file sizes exceed these limits or if you cannot submit in these formats, please seek advice from the editor handling your manuscript.Should you require assistance with file formats or uploading of your SI, please contact us at Production.Help@springernature.com.
Submitting Supplementary Information
For initial submissions, SI can be submitted online with the rest of the paper via our online submission service.When a paper with SI is accepted, SI in its final form should be uploaded to our server via our online submission service. In addition to the SI files, please also upload the SIGuide.doc as specified above.
Supplementary Information checklist
Please check the following when submitting SI:
·Each piece of SI designated to one of nine categories with a separate numbering system from that used for display items in the print version of the paper and the Extended Data.
·Formats are among those accepted by Nature.
·Individual and cumulative file sizes are within permitted limits.
·SIGuide.doc text file submitted containing titles of each SI file, descriptive summaries, and video/audio titles and legends.
Microarrays and other databases
Please see the MGED open letter specifying microarray standards.Authors submitting manuscripts containing microarray data must submit the data to theGEO orArrayExpressdatabases, with accession numbers at or before acceptance for publication. The data must be MIAME-compliant, with all variables completed. SeeNature editorial of 26 September 2002for further details and explanation.
Forms and declarations
On this page are links to the various forms you will need to fill in before your paper can be published.
Author checklist
Please download themanuscript checklistand amend your manuscript as appropriate.
Competing interests
Please include a declaration of competing interests at the end of the text of your manuscript.Nature's competing interests policy is describedhere.
Licence to publish
Nature Portfolio journals do not require authors to transfer the copyright of their published contributions for original research. Authors grant Springer Nature an exclusive licence to publish, in return for which they can reuse their papers in their future printed work without first requiring permission from the publisher.
Nature Portfolio’s policies are compatible with all major funders open access and self-archiving mandates. For information on our self-archiving policies, please see -Self-archiving policies for journals
Authors of Reviews and Perspectives, and any other commissioned work will be provided with a copyright assignment agreement.
US government or Crown employees:
If you are employed by the US government or a Crown body (including Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Canada and Australia), you will be able to indicate this in the rights process following acceptance and an appropriate non exclusive licence will be sent to you to submit.
Structures
Authors publishingcryo-EM,NMRandX-ray crystallography datawill need to download and complete the relevant forms to include as Extended Data tables.
Please read Nature'smaterial and data access policyregarding structures prior to submission.
Reprints
After you have returned your proofs, you and your co-authors can order printed reprints using theNature Research reprint service.
You can also order copies of the issue in which your paper is published, poster reprints of the front cover, PDFs and other types of reprint using this service.
Policy reminder
Nature authors must make data and materials publicly available upon publication. This includes deposition of data into the relevant databases and arranging for them to be publicly released on the online publication date (not after). A description of our initiative to improve the transparency and the reproducibility of published results is availablehere. A full description of Nature’s publication policies is at theNature Research Authors & Referees website.
