Is Nature Communications Indexed in PubMed? Yes, With Active MEDLINE Indexing
Nature Communications is indexed in PubMed and currently indexed for MEDLINE, with PubMed coverage from volume 1 in 2010 and PMC visibility built into its open-access model.
Associate Professor, Clinical Medicine & Public Health
Author context
Specializes in clinical and epidemiological research publishing, with direct experience preparing manuscripts for NEJM, JAMA, BMJ, and The Lancet.
Next step
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Use the guide or checklist that matches this page's intent before you ask for a manuscript-level diagnostic.
Quick answer: yes. Nature Communications is indexed in PubMed, and the NLM Catalog shows that it is currently indexed for MEDLINE.
Direct answer
If you publish a biomedical paper in Nature Communications, the article is discoverable in PubMed and the journal sits inside the active MEDLINE system.
The NLM record shows:
- publication start year: 2010
- PubMed coverage from volume 1 (2010)
- MEDLINE status: Currently indexed for MEDLINE
- current subset: Index Medicus
- PubMed Central coverage is also listed
That is a strong indexing profile for a broad open-access Nature title.
Why this matters for Nature Communications
The value of Nature Communications is usually breadth. Good papers there often need to reach readers outside the exact niche that produced the work:
- adjacent biology fields
- disease-focused researchers
- translational teams
- methods users
Those readers often search PubMed by concept, disease, pathway, or method rather than by browsing the journal itself. Indexing matters because it makes that cross-field discovery easier after publication.
PubMed versus MEDLINE versus PMC
For this journal, all three labels are useful:
- PubMed means the article is discoverable in the main biomedical search system.
- MEDLINE means the journal is actively inside the curated NLM journal index.
- PubMed Central matters because Nature Communications is open access and full-text visibility is part of how papers spread.
That combination is one reason biomedical papers in the journal can travel well after publication.
What indexing does and does not tell you
This page answers the discoverability question. It does not answer whether the manuscript is broad enough or complete enough for Nature Communications.
Indexing tells you the paper will be visible in the biomedical search workflow. It does not tell you whether the work deserves a cross-disciplinary audience, which is the harder editorial question.
That is why the better next reads are:
- Is Nature Communications a good journal?
- Nature Communications submission guide
- Nature Communications submission process
- Nature Communications acceptance rate
Practical verdict
Yes, Nature Communications is indexed in PubMed and currently indexed for MEDLINE, with PMC coverage also listed in the NLM record.
If your question is whether a published paper will be easy for biomedical readers to find, the answer is yes. If your real question is whether the manuscript is broad and mature enough for the journal, that is a separate fit call. A free Manusights scan is the best next step if you want that judgment before submission.
Sources
- 1. Nature Communications NLM Catalog record, NLM.
- 2. NLM Catalog help: current indexing status, NLM.
- 3. Nature Communications journal page, Springer Nature.
- 4. Nature Communications author instructions, Springer Nature.
Reference library
Use the core publishing datasets alongside this guide
This article answers one part of the publishing decision. The reference library covers the recurring questions that usually come next: how selective journals are, how long review takes, and what the submission requirements look like across journals.
Dataset / reference guide
Peer Review Timelines by Journal
Reference-grade journal timeline data that authors, labs, and writing centers can cite when discussing realistic review timing.
Dataset / benchmark
Biomedical Journal Acceptance Rates
A field-organized acceptance-rate guide that works as a neutral benchmark when authors are deciding how selective to target.
Reference table
Journal Submission Specs
A high-utility submission table covering word limits, figure caps, reference limits, and formatting expectations.
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Same journal, next question
- Nature Communications Submission Guide
- How to Avoid Desk Rejection at Nature Communications (2026)
- Is Nature Communications a Good Journal? Fit Verdict
- Nature Communications Pre-Submission Checklist: Is Your Paper Ready?
- Nature vs Nature Communications: Which Should You Submit To?
- Nature Communications Acceptance Rate 2026: How Selective Is It?
Conversion step
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Use the scan once the manuscript and target journal are concrete enough to evaluate.