Nature Medicine Formatting Requirements: Complete Author Guide

Nature Medicine publishes several formats, and the word limits differ substantially between them. Exceeding these limits signals that you haven't read the guidelines, which isn't the first impression you want at a journal with a sub-8% acceptance rate.

The ~3,000-word limit for Articles excludes the abstract, Methods, references, and figure legends. The Methods section goes after references and has no formal word limit, which is one of the most author-friendly aspects of the Nature Portfolio format.

Nature Medicine uses an unstructured abstract with a 150-word limit. There are no required headings like you'd find in a JAMA or BMJ submission.

Despite being unstructured, effective Nature Medicine abstracts follow a predictable pattern:

• 1-2 sentences establishing the problem and why existing solutions fall short
• 1 sentence stating what you did
• 3-4 sentences presenting key results with specific numbers
• 1 sentence on the clinical significance

Don't waste abstract space on background that any reader of Nature Medicine already knows. "Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide" is not useful. Start with the specific gap your research addresses.

The abstract must be self-contained. Don't include references, abbreviations (except universally recognized ones like DNA or RNA), or citations to figures in the abstract.

Nature Medicine doesn't require a formal cover page in the same way clinical journals do. Instead, the first page of your manuscript should include:

• Title (no more than 90 characters including spaces)
• Full author list with superscript affiliation numbers
• Affiliations listed by number
• Corresponding author email address

Nature Medicine titles are notably short. The 90-character limit forces you to be precise. Don't waste characters on phrases like "A study of" or "Investigation into." State what you found, not what you studied.

One formatting detail that trips up first-time submitters: Nature Medicine does not use a running title or short title. This is different from many clinical journals that require both.

Nature Medicine allows up to 8 display items in the main manuscript. These can be any combination of figures and tables.

Figure requirements:

• Minimum resolution: 300 DPI for all image types
• Preferred formats: TIFF, EPS, or PDF for initial submission; TIFF required at acceptance
• Single-column width: 88 mm; double-column width: 180 mm; full-page width: 180 mm
• Font in figures: Arial or Helvetica, 5-7 point minimum
• Color is free for online and print publication
• Multi-panel figures use lowercase letters (a, b, c), not uppercase

Table requirements:

• Tables should be included in the manuscript Word file, not as separate images
• Every column needs a header
• Use footnotes for abbreviations and statistical details
• Avoid excessive decimal places (report what's clinically meaningful)

Extended Data (up to 10 additional items):

Nature Medicine provides Extended Data space for figures and tables that are peer-reviewed and published alongside the paper. These are distinct from Supplementary Information. Extended Data items appear in the online article and are referenced in the text as "Extended Data Fig. 1" etc.

Supplementary Information:

Beyond Extended Data, you can include Supplementary Information for large datasets, videos, source code, and other material. Supplementary Information is posted online but isn't part of the formatted article.

Nature Medicine uses the Nature Portfolio reference style, which is numbered and superscript-based.

Key formatting rules:

• Citations appear as superscript numbers in the text, placed after punctuation
• Multiple references are separated by commas, with ranges indicated by a dash (e.g., 1,3,5-8)
• References are numbered in order of first appearance
• All authors must be listed regardless of how many there are (no "et al" cutoff in the reference list)
• Journal names are abbreviated according to ISO standards

Example journal article:

1. Chen, L. et al. Single-cell profiling of tumor microenvironment heterogeneity in hepatocellular carcinoma. Nat. Med. 32, 415-428 (2026).

Example book reference:

1. Weinberg, R. A. The Biology of Cancer 3rd edn (Garland Science, 2025).

Note the formatting details: issue numbers are not included, the year is in parentheses at the end, and page ranges use an en dash. Reference managers with Nature style presets handle most of this, but double-check the author listing rule. Many default reference styles truncate after 3 or 6 authors, which Nature doesn't want.

This is one of Nature Medicine's most distinctive formatting features. The Methods section appears after the References, not within the body text. This structure keeps the main narrative focused on results and interpretation.

Online Methods must include:

• Study design and participant selection criteria
• Sample size justification or power analysis
• Data collection procedures
• Statistical analysis methods with software versions
• Ethics approvals (IRB, animal protocols)
• Clinical trial registration numbers (if applicable)
• Data and code availability statements

The Online Methods section has no formal word limit. Use the space you need to ensure reproducibility, but don't pad it with unnecessary detail. Editors appreciate concise methods that another researcher could actually follow.

For studies involving human participants, Nature Medicine requires explicit statements about informed consent and ethics board approval, including the name of the reviewing body and the approval reference number.

1. The "Online Methods" placement. New authors to Nature journals are often confused by methods appearing after references. Your main text should contain a brief methodological overview, but detailed methods go in the Online Methods section after the reference list.

2. Reporting Summary requirement. Nature Medicine requires a completed Reporting Summary checklist at submission. This standardized form covers study design, statistical methods, data availability, and reagent validation. It's published alongside accepted papers.

3. Life Sciences Reporting Standards. All life sciences submissions must address antibody validation, cell line authentication, and clinical trial registration. These aren't optional checkboxes. Editors verify compliance.

4. Data availability statement is mandatory. Your manuscript must include a Data Availability section stating where the data supporting your findings can be accessed. Vague statements like "data available upon request" are increasingly unacceptable. Editors want specific repository names and accession numbers.

5. Author contributions in CRediT format. Nature Medicine requires a contributions statement listing each author's specific role. While free text is accepted, CRediT taxonomy categories are preferred.

6. Competing interests declaration. Every author must declare competing interests or state that they have none. This is published in the final article.

A standard Nature Medicine Article follows this structure:

1. Title (90 characters max)
2. Abstract (150 words, unstructured)
3. Main text (~3,000 words, flowing narrative without strict section headers)
4. References
5. Online Methods
6. Acknowledgements
7. Author contributions
8. Competing interests
9. Figure legends
10. Figures and tables
11. Extended Data legends and items

The main text typically doesn't use standard IMRAD headers. Instead, Nature Medicine Articles use descriptive subheadings that tell the story of the research. For example, rather than "Results," you might have "Single-cell profiling reveals distinct tumor subpopulations." This narrative style is part of the Nature Portfolio identity.

Nature Medicine has become increasingly strict about statistical reporting and reproducibility over the past several years.

Required statistical information:

• Exact sample sizes for all experiments
• Definition of center and dispersion measures (mean plus or minus s.d., median with IQR, etc.)
• Statistical tests used with justification for the choice
• Exact P values reported to at least two significant figures
• Adjustment methods for multiple comparisons
• Software used for analysis with version numbers

Reproducibility standards:

• Number of independent experimental replicates must be stated
• For animal studies: randomization method, blinding procedure, and exclusion criteria
• For clinical data: patient demographics, inclusion/exclusion criteria, and CONSORT or STROBE adherence
• Source data must be provided for all statistical graphs

These are the errors that most often trigger administrative returns at Nature Medicine:

• Exceeding the 3,000-word main text limit
• Putting detailed methods in the main text instead of Online Methods
• Using structured abstract headings (Nature Medicine doesn't use them)
• Forgetting the Reporting Summary checklist
• Using uppercase letters for figure panels (should be lowercase a, b, c)
• Exceeding 8 display items in the main manuscript
• Missing data availability statement
• Listing "et al" in the reference list instead of all authors

For a comparison with another Nature Portfolio journal, see our Nature Biotechnology formatting requirements guide. If you're still deciding where to submit, our guide on whether Nature Medicine is a good journal covers scope and fit.

For the official specifications, visit the Nature Medicine author guidelines page.