Recently Nature Climate Change has made the transition to publishing the Methods of primary research papers online following the example of a number of other Nature journals. Prior to this move, methodological details were typically divided between a relatively brief section in print and a more expansive Supplementary Information file online. Instead, we now offer a single online-only Methods section of up to ∼3,000 words with an allowance for additional (fully indexed) references that continue on from those in the main paper. Figures and tables are not allowed and so essential display items should be included in the Supplementary Information as before. The Methods section does not appear in the printed issue, but is present in the PDF and full-text versions of the paper online.

There are a number of advantages of this approach to publishing methods that we hope our authors and readers will benefit from. Perhaps most importantly, a single, more expansive methods section allows for a more integrated and coherent presentation of the methods employed. We hope this will enable authors to more easily include all of the details that would be necessary for researchers to repeat their work. The online methods are also copy-edited to enhance clarity and presentation, and to ensure some consistency between papers.

The formatting of Letters and Articles will remain otherwise unchanged, with the same length and referencing restrictions. However, because online methods allow additional references, in many cases more will be available for the body of the paper. It is also hoped that the increased reference allowance for methods will allow citation of primary literature that will facilitate a more accurate record of research attribution and priority. We hope that these changes will enhance your experience of our published papers.