Nature Human Behaviour Template
Draft for Nature Human Behaviour with confidence. The template sets the correct structure, abstract, and references up front, so your manuscript clears editorial screening.
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How to Use the Nature Human Behaviour Template | A Step-by-Step Guide
Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 25 July, 2026
Submitting to Nature Human Behaviour goes smoothly when your draft already matches the journal's own rules. Editors screen new manuscripts against the Nature Human Behaviour 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 Nature Human Behaviour Template?
It is a manuscript shell aligned to Nature Human Behaviour. 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 Human Behaviour journal page before you draft.
What's actually in a NHB 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 Nature Human Behaviour 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 Nature Human Behaviour guide for authors before you submit.
What does this Nature Human Behaviour 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 editorial policies. When your draft is ready, upload it through the Nature Portfolio 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 NHB.
- Edit the prompt with your topic and article type, and note any requirement from the Nature Human Behaviour 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 Nature Portfolio submission system.
Nature Human Behaviour Template Structure at a Glance
| Element | NHB requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | Unstructured abstract required, with word limits varying by article type: Articles, Registered Reports (Stage 2), and Resources require up to 150 words, unreferenced; Comments use a 'standfirst' in lieu of an abstract, up to 360 characters (not words) including spaces; Reviews and Perspectives have no abstract requirement explicitly stated in the guidelines. |
| 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. Keywords are not mentioned anywhere in the official submission guidelines (checked: preparing submission, initial formatting, AIP formatting, and content types pages). Published articles also do not include keywords. |
| References | Numbered sequential style (similar to Vancouver). References numbered sequentially in order: Main Text, Methods, Data Availability Section, Tables, Figure Legends, Box, Extended Data Figures. For long-form manuscripts (Articles, Letters, Review Articles, Perspectives, Progress Articles), titles of cited articles are required. Format example: Eigler, D. M. & Schweizer, E. K. Positioning single atoms with a scanning tunnelling microscope. Nature 344, 524–526 (1990). For shorter article types (Commentaries, News & Views), titles are omitted. |
| Peer review | Single-blind/single-anonymous by default (reviewers' identities not released to authors). Authors may opt-in to double-anonymized peer review (both authors and reviewers anonymous to each other) at submission. Transparent peer review is also available as an option (peer review file published alongside article). |
| Submission | nature.com |
Quick Tips for Using the Nature Human Behaviour Template
Read the Nature Human Behaviour 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 Human Behaviour in under a page.
Best Practices
Skim two or three recent NHB 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 Human Behaviour 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 Nature Human Behaviour guide for authors: scope, length, reference style, required declarations, and figure quality. Then submit through the Nature Portfolio submission system.
