Nature Chemical Biology Submission Guide: What to Prepare Before You Submit

This journal is not the Nature-branded version of a chemistry journal or a biology journal. It occupies a specific niche: work where chemistry and biology are genuinely interdependent.

The editorial team screens for three things before anything else:

Is the chemistry enabling new biology?

The most common submission mistake is work where the chemistry is interesting but the biology is confirmatory. A new probe that works better than existing probes is not enough unless it reveals biology that was previously invisible. The chemical advance must unlock a biological question.

Is the biology central, not decorative?

Cell assays added to demonstrate "relevance" are not the same as biological discovery driven by chemical logic. If the biological experiments serve only to validate a chemical advance, the paper belongs in a chemistry journal.

Can both audiences follow the paper?

Nature Chemical Biology readers include chemists who think biologically and biologists who think chemically. The introduction, methods, and discussion must be accessible to both. Technical jargon from either field needs enough context that a reader from the other field can follow the reasoning.

Nature Chemical Biology strongly encourages presubmission inquiries. You can use the online presubmission system or contact editors informally by email, phone, or at conferences.

A presubmission inquiry should include:

• a brief description of the work (1 to 2 paragraphs)
• the main finding and why it matters at the chemistry-biology interface
• why the work fits this specific journal rather than a pure chemistry or biology venue
• any relevant figures or data that illustrate the discovery

The editorial team will typically respond within 1 to 2 weeks with guidance on whether a full submission is encouraged. This saves significant preparation time if the work does not fit the journal's scope.

The manuscript file

Submit a single file containing the manuscript text with display items (figures, schemes, and tables) integrated. Nature Chemical Biology uses a standard Nature-format manuscript:

• title (concise, informative, accessible to both disciplines)
• abstract (150 words or less, explaining both the chemical and biological dimensions)
• introduction that brings both audiences along
• results that integrate chemical and biological findings
• discussion that contextualizes the discovery for both fields
• methods with sufficient detail for both chemical and biological reproduction

The cover letter

The cover letter is important at Nature Chemical Biology because it is where you explain the interdisciplinary significance. The letter should:

• state the main finding in one or two sentences that a chemist and a biologist would both understand
• explain what biological question the chemistry addressed and why other approaches could not answer it
• identify the broader audience beyond your immediate subfield
• explain why Nature Chemical Biology is the right venue rather than a discipline-specific journal

Supplementary information

Supplementary information goes as a separate file. Include:

• detailed synthetic procedures and compound characterization
• full biological methods, controls, and statistical analyses
• additional figures and data that support the main manuscript
• any computational methods or analyses

Both the chemistry and biology supplementary data should be thorough enough to satisfy reviewers from each discipline.

Writing for one audience

The most common failure is a manuscript that assumes the reader has either chemistry or biology expertise but not both. If the introduction spends three paragraphs on the biological context and one sentence on the chemical approach (or vice versa), the framing is unbalanced. Both fields need enough context that a reader from the other discipline can follow.

Mechanistic claims without sufficient support

Nature Chemical Biology expects mechanistic depth. A paper that shows a chemical compound has a biological effect but cannot explain the mechanism at a molecular level is premature for this journal. Even preliminary mechanistic insights strengthen the submission significantly. Purely phenomenological observations without mechanistic follow-up will struggle in review.

Chemical characterization that would not pass a chemistry journal

If the chemical characterization of your probes, compounds, or materials is weaker than what ACS journals or Angewandte Chemie would accept, Nature Chemical Biology reviewers will notice. The chemistry side of the paper must meet full chemistry-journal standards for characterization, purity, and reproducibility. For small molecules, that means complete NMR (1H and 13C at minimum), high-resolution mass spectrometry, and purity data. For biologics or polymeric materials, the appropriate characterization suite for that compound class must be complete.

Biological controls that would not pass a biology journal

Similarly, the biological experiments need to meet the rigor standards of Nature-family biology journals. Appropriate controls, statistical treatment, multiple orthogonal approaches, and honest discussion of limitations are all expected. Cutting corners on the biological rigor is one of the most common reasons for reviewer criticism.

Specifically, editors expect: negative controls alongside every positive result, dose-response data rather than single-dose effects, orthogonal validation of key findings (if you show a chemical effect, confirm it with a genetic or independent chemical approach), and statistical treatment that matches the experimental design. If you are uncertain about what constitutes appropriate biological controls for your system, consult a biologist colleague before submission.