Get your Nature Molecular Psychiatry 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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Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 25 July, 2026
Submitting to Nature Molecular Psychiatry goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Nature Molecular Psychiatry 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.
It is a manuscript shell aligned to Nature Molecular Psychiatry. 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 Nature Molecular Psychiatry journal page before you draft.
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 Nature Molecular Psychiatry guide for authors lists, and cite figures and tables in order.
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 Nature Molecular Psychiatry guide for authors before you submit.
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 editorial policies. When your draft is ready, upload it through the Nature Portfolio submission system.
| Element | NMP requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Unstructured abstract, 150-250 words in length, consisting of one single continuous paragraph with NO paragraph breaks, headings or subheadings (such as methods, results, etc). Exception: Systematic Reviews require structured abstract with max. 150-250 words following PRISMA protocol headings (Title, Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Funding). Correspondences, Matters Arising, News, and Comment articles do not require an abstract. |
| Main text | Section order and length per article type |
| Declarations | Ethics, competing interests, funding, data as required |
| Figures/tables | Publication-ready; cited in order |
| Supplemental | Upload separately when used |
| Keywords | Not requested. The journal explicitly states in the Cover Letter section: 'MP does not collect keywords. Keywords that are provided to us will not be published. If a term is important in the discoverability of the paper, it should be in the title or abstract of the paper.' |
| References | Vancouver format. References numbered starting at one in order of citation in text. For papers with up to 6 authors, list all authors; for papers with more than 6 authors, list first six followed by 'et al.' Journal title abbreviations follow Index Medicus. Include first and last page numbers. EndNote users should select the 'Molecular Psychiatry' output style. |
| Peer review | Single-blind peer review (standard). Authors can opt for double-blind (double-anonymized) peer review at submission. In single-blind review, reviewers know author identities but remain anonymous to authors; in double-blind, both authors and reviewers are anonymous to each other. The journal states: 'We do not release reviewers' identities to authors, except when reviewers specifically ask to be identified' and 'referees should, as a rule, not disclose their identities to the authors.' |
| Submission | nature.com |
Read the Nature Molecular Psychiatry 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 Nature Molecular Psychiatry in under a page.
Skim two or three recent NMP 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 Nature Molecular Psychiatry journal page requires it. Disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in the cover letter.
Do one focused pass against the Nature Molecular Psychiatry guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through the Nature Portfolio submission system.