Format your manuscript to the npj Clean Water requirements — abstract, Nature superscript-numbered references, and required declarations — and submit through the Nature online submission system without a formatting rejection.
4.4
Authored by Sumalatha Gangadhar | Published on 19 August, 2026
Most manuscripts sent to npj Clean Water don’t stumble on the science — they stumble on formatting caught at the first editorial check. This template is built around npj Clean Water’s actual requirements — its abstract rules, Nature superscript-numbered references, and the required declarations — so your submission clears screening on the first pass. Everything below tracks the npj Clean Water author guidelines; check it directly if anything looks out of date by the time you submit.
It’s a manuscript shell set up to npj Clean Water’s specifications for clean water science and technology. npj Clean Water is published by Springer Nature (npj Series). The shell covers the title page, the abstract, a body in Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion (IMRaD) order, and a reference list in Nature superscript-numbered style.
Start with the title page (authors, affiliations, and ORCID iDs). The abstract is an unstructured summary paragraph of about 150–200 words written for a broad audience. The body follows Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion (IMRaD), and the reference list uses Nature superscript-numbered. Close with the declarations block: ethics approval, conflict of interest, funding, and data availability.
The details that trip up most first submissions: submitting without a clear cover letter, a summary paragraph that runs past ~200 words, and not budgeting for the open-access APC. Beyond that, match your article type’s specific limits rather than assuming the defaults apply, keep Nature superscript-numbered formatting consistent from the first draft, and submit only through the Nature online submission system — email submissions aren’t processed.
The shell mirrors what npj Clean Water’s editorial staff check first: abstract format and length, Nature superscript-numbered reference formatting, and a complete declarations block. For the journal’s full aims and scope, see the npj Clean Water journal home page. This is a fully open-access npj title, so plan for the article-processing charge (check the current APC and any institutional or waiver arrangement before you submit). Manuscripts go in through the Nature online submission system, which also tracks your paper through peer review.
| Element | npj Clean Water requirement |
|---|---|
| Abstract | an unstructured summary paragraph of about 150–200 words written for a broad audience |
| Main text | Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion (IMRaD) |
| Declarations | Ethics approval, conflict of interest, funding, and data availability |
| Figures / tables | Captioned, cited in order; check format and resolution rules in the guide |
| Supplemental | Large datasets, extra tables, code — uploaded separately and cited in text |
| Submission | the Nature online submission system |
Read the npj Clean Water author guidelines once before drafting and once before upload. Draft the abstract after your results are stable so it matches the paper. Set Nature superscript-numbered as your reference style before adding a single citation — retrofitting it later is where errors creep in.
Skim two or three recent npj Clean Water papers to calibrate depth, structure, and figure style. State your contribution in the first two paragraphs, not on page ten. Write a data-availability statement that names a real repository rather than a placeholder, and disclose any preprint or conference version with identifiers in your cover letter. Confirm current open-access pricing and any institutional agreement before committing to a fee.
Do one focused pass against the npj Clean Water author guidelines: scope fit, abstract format, length, Nature superscript-numbered references, required declarations, and figure quality. Re-check the items that most often cause a bounce here — submitting without a clear cover letter, a summary paragraph that runs past ~200 words, and not budgeting for the open-access APC. Then submit through the Nature online submission system.