Heredity Template
Get your Heredity paper right the first time: a ready-made structure with the right abstract and citations, so editors see your science, not formatting slips.
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How to Use the Heredity Template | A Step-by-Step Guide
Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 13 August, 2026
Submitting to Heredity goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Heredity guide for authors before peer review, so formatting, structure, and required statements should be right on the first draft rather than repaired during upload. This template sets that structure up for you.
What is the Heredity Template?
It is a manuscript shell aligned to Heredity. It covers front matter, the abstract the journal expects, a body organized to the journal's article types, and a reference list in the journal's required style. Confirm current scope and article types on the Heredity journal page before you draft.
What's actually in a Heredity submission:
Prepare the title, authors, affiliations, and ORCID iDs. Write the abstract to the journal's rule and word limit, organize the body to the article type, and apply the required reference style from the first citation. Complete every declaration (ethics, competing interests, funding, data availability) the Heredity guide for authors lists, and cite figures and tables in order.
What separates a clean submission from one that gets kicked back:
The common failure modes are formatting or reference style that does not match the guide for authors, missing required statements, and an incomplete portal checklist. Clear all three against the Heredity guide for authors before you submit.
What does this Heredity Template include?
The shell mirrors what editorial staff check first: article-type fit, the abstract rules, required declarations, and the journal's reference style. For more detail see the author resources. When your draft is ready, upload it through the journal's submission system.
Steps to Use This Template with SciSpace Agent
- Click Start Writing on this page. The SciSpace Agent prompt screen opens with the template loaded.
- Use the loaded template, or upload a version your group already uses for Heredity.
- Edit the prompt with your topic and article type, and note any requirement from the Heredity guide for authors.
- Run the prompt. The agent drafts into the correct structure and reference style.
- Use View Outputs to verify required statements and formatting are present.
- Export and submit through the journal's submission system.
Heredity Template Structure at a Glance
| Element | Heredity requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Unstructured abstract, maximum 250 words for Article, Computer Note, and Review Article types. Perspective, Editorial, and Comment types do not require an abstract. The abstract should identify the conceptual issue(s) addressed, outline the approach and main findings, and ensure conclusions consider a broad general message in addition to specific conclusions about the focal study system |
| Main text | Article and Computer Note: maximum 7,000 words (excluding abstract, tables/figures, and references). Review Article: maximum 7,000 words (excluding abstract, tables/figures, and references). Perspective: maximum 3,000 words (excluding tables/figures and references). Editorial and Comment: maximum 1,500 words (excluding tables/figures and references) |
| Declarations | Ethics approval/consent as applicable; competing interests; funding; data availability |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | Authors select 1 to 4 subject terms from the journal's subject ontology during the online submission process. These are controlled vocabulary terms selected by authors from a predefined list to ensure discoverability, not free-text author-provided keywords |
| References | Author-date citation style (Harvard-like). In-text citations by surname and year (e.g., Thompson 1990; Abbott 1991; Barakat et al. 1995a, b). Reference list alphabetized by first author's last name. Maximum 100 references for Articles, Computer Notes, and Perspectives; 120 for Review Articles; 10 for Editorials and Comments |
| Peer review | Double-blind (double-anonymous). Authors remain anonymous to referees throughout the consideration process, and referees' identities are not revealed to authors |
| Submission | mts-hdy.nature.com/cgi-bin/main.plex |
Quick Tips for Using the Heredity Template
Read the Heredity guide for authors once before drafting and once before upload. Draft the abstract after results are stable. Set the reference style before adding citations. Keep a cover letter that states your contribution and fit to Heredity in under a page.
Best Practices
Skim two or three recent Heredity papers to calibrate depth and figure style. Make the novelty clear in the first two pages. Deposit data and code when the policy on the Heredity journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Before You Submit: Final Check
Do one focused pass against the Heredity guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through the journal's submission system.
