Overview
Where Nature stands on CRediT
Nature and all journals in the Nature Portfolio require a structured contributor statement using the CRediT taxonomy. The role matrix is captured during submission and published with the article as a dedicated contribution statement section.
Scope: Nature and all Nature Portfolio journals
Implementation details
How CRediT is captured and produced
| Submission system | Custom (Springer Nature Snapper submission system) |
| JATS implementation | Structured CRediT capture in the Snapper submission system; JATS <role vocab="credit"> emitted in the production XML; CRediT metadata deposited to Crossref alongside ORCID iDs. |
| Production workflow | After acceptance, the CRediT statement flows from Snapper into the typesetting pipeline, appears as a structured section in the published article HTML and PDF, and is deposited to Crossref in the article metadata. The pipeline supports ORCID propagation and, since 2023, carries an AI-disclosure field. |
For authors
Author guidance — submitting to a Nature journal
When submitting to Nature, complete the per-author CRediT role assignment in Snapper. Each named author must have at least one CRediT role. The corresponding author also provides an AI-tools declaration for the manuscript. ORCID iDs are encouraged for all contributors.
For general CRediT submission guidance across publishers, see CRediT for authors.
Sample journals
Representative Nature titles with CRediT capture
- Nature
- Nature Methods
- Nature Medicine
- Nature Communications
- Nature Reviews Cancer
Adoption history
Notable milestones
Nature was among the first high-impact general-science journals to pilot CRediT at scale, and the Nature Portfolio roll-out pre-dating the 2022 NISO standardisation was influential in establishing CRediT as the default contributorship vocabulary for major research publishers.
Notes
Caveats and context
Nature's acceptance rate is approximately 8% of submitted manuscripts. The Nature Portfolio family extends to around 50 specialist Nature-branded journals, all of which use the same CRediT infrastructure.
Frequently asked
Common questions about Nature and CRediT
- Does Nature require CRediT contributor statements?
- Yes. Nature captures structured CRediT statements as part of its standard submission flow. Nature and all journals in the Nature Portfolio require a structured contributor statement using the CRediT taxonomy. The role matrix is captured during submission and published with the article as a dedicated contribution statement section.
- Which Nature journals support CRediT?
- Representative Nature titles known to support structured CRediT capture include Nature, Nature Methods, Nature Medicine. Scope: Nature and all Nature Portfolio journals. Check the individual journals author instructions to confirm the current contributor-roles policy.
- How do I add CRediT to my Nature submission?
- When submitting to Nature, complete the per-author CRediT role assignment in Snapper. Each named author must have at least one CRediT role. The corresponding author also provides an AI-tools declaration for the manuscript. ORCID iDs are encouraged for all contributors.
- What submission system does Nature use for CRediT capture?
- Nature uses Custom (Springer Nature Snapper submission system). Structured CRediT capture in the Snapper submission system; JATS <role vocab="credit"> emitted in the production XML; CRediT metadata deposited to Crossref alongside ORCID iDs.
- When did Nature adopt CRediT?
- Nature adopted CRediT around 2018. Nature was among the first high-impact general-science journals to pilot CRediT at scale, and the Nature Portfolio roll-out pre-dating the 2022 NISO standardisation was influential in establishing CRediT as the default contributorship vocabulary for major research publishers.
References
Sources
- Nature — for authors and referees
- Allen et al. (2014) — Publishing: Credit where credit is due, Nature
