Final text submissions

Failure to adhere to these instructions can result in delays in publication.
These instructions apply only if your paper has been accepted in principle for publication and you have been asked to send a final package by the editor handling your paper.

General instructions

At acceptance, please provide the text (this includes figure legends and tables but excludes the figures themselves) of your paper on a disk together with your production-quality figures as separate files and Supplementary Information, if any.

Disks must be labelled with the manuscript reference number (e.g. '2004-05-19404', or '19404'), the file name (in the form 'authorname.doc'), and the name and version number of the software (preferably Word) used to prepare the text.

Important. It is the author's responsibility to ensure that the version on the disk is be the final, accepted version of the paper. Authors must include a hard-copy of the paper identical to the file on the disk for reference.

Instructions for formatting and content of the text are in the formatting guide.

We prefer Microsoft Word using the Nature template, with the style tags removed. Authors using a PC should 'save as' a Word document; those using a Mac should save as 'Rich Text Format' (RTF) to minimize compatibility problems, but check that saving in RTF format (especially symbols) has not corrupted the text. We cannot at present accept TeX.

Guide to formatting details in text

Fonts. We prefer the use throughout of a 'standard' font, preferably 12-point Times New Roman. For superscripts or subscripts, please apply actual super/subscript format (quick key 'Ctrl-shift-+' for superscript in Word); do not use 'raised' or 'lowered' formats. For mathematical symbols, Greek letters, and other special characters, use 'insert', 'symbol' and then select '(normal text)' or 'symbol' as the font. Use of other fonts can cause translation problems. List non-standard keyboard symbols in the letter accompanying the final accepted version of your paper.

• Word Equation editor should be used only for formulae that cannot be produced using normal text or symbol font.

Page layout. Separate paragraphs by a single, not a double, carriage return ('enter').

Do not indent the start of paragraphs or insert page breaks at the end of sections in the text. Do not insert a double space at the end of a sentence.

Reference citations (e.g. Water flows downhill¹³). These can cause considerable problems when the Word file is translated to the typesetting language used for producing proofs. To avoid this, please observe the following:

• Use superscripts for citations (see above example), not 'raised' format.
• Do not use linked fields (produced by 'EndNote' and similar programs).
• Do not insert citation numbers as linked fields, hidden or otherwise. Pressing 'Alt-F9' will show up hidden fields: these often contain 'add-ins' that call in data or small programs from other files, and are incompatible with Nature's production process.