Author instructions
Manuscript submission and tracking
The Nature Reviews life science and clinical titles use a fully web-based manuscript submission and tracking system for all types of article. Please note the following important information:
- Manuscripts should be submitted online.
- Submission of unsolicited full articles is not encouraged. Suggestions for articles can be made through the online submission system, using the ’Submit Manuscript’ link and choosing ‘Proposal’ as the manuscript type.
Proposals
Please note that you will be required to submit one article file; this can be the abstract itself or, ideally, a scope/outline. If you are invited to submit the full manuscript, the e-mail conveying our decision will contain a link that will allow you to submit the manuscript files under the same tracking number. Please note that although we do consider proposals, the vast majority of our content is commissioned.
Navigating the manuscript tracking system
Authors can access the tracking system by using a URL provided in their manuscript correspondence or by generating a password from the system Login page (click on 'Unknown/forgotten password' and enter your full first and last names). If you are submitting a proposal and your name is not recognized by the tracking system, you will be prompted to register for an account by following the link on the Login page. Signing in provides access to a personal Home page, on which manuscript-specific tasks are listed. If a task needs to be completed, there will be a red arrow 
next to a Manuscript link. If no red arrows are visible on the Home page, no tasks are outstanding.
Starting the process
The manuscript submission process starts by clicking on the ’Submit Manuscript‘ link on the Home page.
Before submitting a manuscript, please be sure that you have gathered the following required information:
-
For all authors:
- First name and last name
- Postal address
- Email address
- Work telephone number
- Work fax number
- Potential competing interests (for guidance please see here).
- Article title (can be cut and pasted from the manuscript)
- Article abstract (can be cut and pasted from the manuscript)
- Covering letter (this will not be visible to the reviewers)
- The manuscript file, ideally saved in Word, which should include the main article and any tables and/or text boxes (for formatting guidelines please see here for Review articles, and here for Perspective articles)
- Figure files; each figure should be saved as a separate file
- Contact information (name, e-mail address and institution) of any peer-reviewers to be considered for contact or exclusion
Submission
The manuscript submission process is broken down into a series of 4 primary tasks that gather detailed information about your manuscript and allow you to upload the pertinent text and figure/image files. The sequence of screens is as follows:
- The Files primary task allows you to upload your manuscript files. You will be able to 'Browse' for the relevant files on your computer. Note: larger files (particularly complex figures and videos) can take some time to upload, and your browser might not respond during this time; please be patient. Please include the figure number in the title line for each figure. On the final tab (‘File order’), you will be asked to specify the order in which you want the individual files to appear in the merged document. Editors and/or reviewers will be able to look at the individual PDF files if necessary.
- The Manuscript Information primary task asks for the manuscript title and abstract, author details, subject categories and any other detailed manuscript information. Note: if you are the corresponding author please submit your details only in the corresponding author fields; DO NOT re-enter the same details in the contributing author fields.
- The Validate primary task gives you the opportunity to check and verify the manuscript files and manuscript information uploaded. If you are submitting manuscript files separately, we create a merged PDF containing your manuscript text, figures and tables to simplify the handling of your paper. You will need to approve the merged PDF file, and a PDF of any other file not included in the merge, to submit your manuscript. You can update and/or change manuscript files and manuscript information by clicking on the ‘Change’ and ‘Fix’ links.
- The Submit primary task is the last step in the manuscript submission process. At this stage, the Manuscript Tracking System will carry out a final check to ensure that all mandatory fields have been completed. Any incomplete fields will be flagged by a red arrow and highlighted by a red box. Click on the ‘Fix’ link to return to the relevant tab for completion. Once your manuscript has been finalised, click on the ‘Approve Submission’ button to submit your manuscript for consideration. A ‘Manuscript Approved’ message (together with the tracking number assigned to your submission) will be displayed on your author desktop to confirm the submission.
Trial information for authors
In recognition of the time and expertise our referees provide to the editorial process, we would like to formally acknowledge their contribution to the external peer review of manuscripts by allowing referees to be named. As such, we are conducting a twelve months' trial at Nature Reviews.
Participation is dependent on author opt-in through our online system at submission. Referees will be asked to opt-in or opt-out when submitting their report. We will NOT be publishing any of the submitted peer review comments.
An outline of the possible scenarios arising in the trial is as follows:
- Author agrees to referee being identified - referee agrees to be identified.
A statement as below will be published naming those referees agreeing to be identified.
- Author does not agree to referee being identified on their paper.
No statement published.
- Author agrees to referee being identified - referee does not agree to be identified.
No statement published (if all referees do not agree to be identified) OR (if only some referees agree) a statement as above will be published but will not include names of those referees who do not agree to be identified.
If the referees are happy to be named, the statement will appear at the end of the paper in a statement as:
'Nature Reviews thanks [Referee#1 Name], [Referee#2 Name] and [Referee#3 Name] for their contribution to the peer review of this work'
Any referee that wishes to remain anonymous will be attributed using a slightly modified statement:
'Nature Reviews thanks [Referee#1 Name], and the other anonymous reviewer(s), for their contribution to the peer review of this work'
All referee names will appear in alphabetical order.
Getting help
If additional help is needed, context-sensitive information is available through the system by clicking on Help signs. A dialogue box will pop up. Should further assistance be required, please contact the Platform Support Helpdesk.
Check manuscript status
The following steps should be followed to check the status of a manuscript at any time during the review process:
- Access the system with a password or via the URL included in the submission acknowledgement email.
- Click on the link represented by the manuscript tracking number (shown in your acknowledgement email) and abbreviated title, or the 'Live Manuscripts' link.
- Click on the 'Check Status' link.
Please click on HOME to continue.
