Nature Methods is a forum for the publication of novel methods and significant improvements to tried-and-tested basic research techniques in the life sciences. This monthly publication is aimed at a broad, interdisciplinary audience of academic and industry researchers actively involved in laboratory practice. It provides researchers with new tools to conduct their research and places a strong emphasis on immediate practical relevance and potential to advance new biological applications.

The journal publishes method developments (Articles, Brief Communications), performance comparisons of related, established methods (Analyses), and collections of tools or datasets of broad interest (Resources) as primary research papers. The journal also publishes overviews of recent technical and methodological developments (Reviews, Perspectives) and opinion pieces (Comments). We are actively seeking papers of relevance to the broad life sciences basic research community, including methods grounded in chemistry, physics and computer science.

To enhance the practical relevance of each paper, the description of the method must be accompanied by strong validation, an application to an important biological question and results illustrating its performance in comparison to available approaches. Papers are selected for publication based on broad interest, thorough assessments of methodological performance and comprehensive technical descriptions that facilitate immediate application.

Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to:

    Methods for genome sequencing and structure profiling
    Single cell analysis methods, including sequencing, 'omics and multi-omics approaches
    Methods for spatial 'omics 
    Methods for metagenome analysis
    Methods for genome engineering
    Techniques for the analysis and manipulation of gene expression, including epigenetics, gene targeting, transduction 
    Methods for proteomics, including mass spectrometry, analysis of binding interactions and analysis of post-translational modifications
    Methods for systems biology and interactome profiling
    Methods for glycobiology
    Methods for metabolomics
    Structural biology techniques, including cryo-electron microscopy, cryo-electron tomography, and crystallography
    Methods for protein engineering
    Chemical biology techniques, including chemical labeling, methods for expanding the genetic code and chemogenetic tools 
    Biophysical methods, including single molecule and lab-on-a-chip technologies
    Optical and non-optical imaging technologies, including microscopy, spectroscopy and in vivo imaging
    Probe design, including genetically encoded and organic dye-based probes and sensors, as well as labeling strategies
    Methods for cell culture and manipulation, including microbiology approaches
    Methods to culture, manipulate and study stem cells, organoids and assembloids
    Immunological techniques, including antigen discovery methods, repertoire discovery methods and methods for studying immune cell interactions
    Methods for the study of physiology and disease processes including cancer, tumor microenvironment, and pathophysiology
    Neuroscience methods, such as approaches for studying the brain at different scales, including optical microscopy and MRI, and methods to study animal behavior
    Methods involving model organisms and their manipulation
    Computational, statistical and machine learning methods for analysis, modeling and visualization of biological data

Article, Brief Communication, Analysis, Resource, Correspondence, Matters Arising, News and Views, Review, Perspective, Commentary, Application Notes

Chief Editor: Allison Doerr
Allison Doerr began conducting research in polymer chemistry as an undergraduate at Vassar College. She obtained her Ph.D. in Chemistry from Princeton University working in George McLendon's laboratory, where she studied de novo protein receptor design and investigated protein-ligand interactions using NMR spectroscopy. She covers biochemistry and chemical biology content for the journal, including proteomics, metabolomics and structural biology. Allison joined Nature Methods in February 2005 and has been Chief Editor since November 2018. 
a.doerr@us.nature.com
Senior Editor: Nina Vogt
Nina Vogt began her research career as an undergraduate at Heidelberg University working with yeast. She conducted her Ph.D. research at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology in Tübingen, where she studied mRNA localization in Drosophila with Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard. She then moved on to a postdoc in Claude Desplan's laboratory at New York University where she established a behavioral assay for color vision in Drosophila. She handles the neuroscience, model organism, mechanobiology and stem cell content for the journal. Nina joined Nature Methods in April 2014.
nina.vogt@us.nature.com
Senior Editor: Rita Strack
Rita Strack obtained her Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Chicago. While there, she worked with Benjamin Glick and Robert Keenan to engineer improved variants of the red fluorescent protein DsRed, and also studied the chemical mechanism of chromophore formation in DsRed. She continued her research as a postdoctoral fellow in Samie Jaffrey's laboratory at Weill Cornell Medical College, where she developed fluorescent reporters for live-cell imaging of RNA such as Spinach2. She handles imaging, microscopy and probes, along with protein and RNA biochemistry content for the journal. Rita joined Nature Methods in November 2014.
rita.strack@us.nature.com
Senior Editor: Lin Tang
Lin Tang obtained his Ph.D. in Computational Biology at the CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, studying transcriptome evolution. He was an Associate Editor for Nature Communications beginning in November 2016, and joined Nature Methods as a Senior Editor in September 2019. He handles genomics and computational methods for the journal. 
lin.tang@nature.com 
Associate Editor: Lei Tang
Lei Tang started her research in polymer science as an undergraduate at Tianjin University. She then moved to the U.S. for her Ph.D. work at Duke University, where she studied template-free ssDNA synthesis methods using terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase under the supervision of Stefan Zauscher. She continued her research as a postdoc in the Zauscher laboratory, where she developed a synthesis platform for nucleic acid-based polymeric drugs. She handles biomaterials, DNA nanotechnology, cancer genomics and metagenomics content for the journal. Lei joined Nature Methods in June 2018.
lei.tang@nature.com
Associate Editor: Arunima Singh
Arunima Singh studied biochemistry as an undergraduate, but a keen interest in programming led her to pursue a master's degree in bioinformatics at the University of Pune, India. She went on to obtain her Ph.D. from the University of Georgia, USA, where she used molecular modeling to analyze protein-carbohydrate interactions and developed a web tool for generating 3D structures of glycosaminoglycans, while working with Robert Woods. She did postdoctoral research at New York University on computational characterization of protein-protein interfaces and peptide mimetic-based inhibitor design. She handles computational biology, glycobiology and structural biology content for the journal. Arunima joined Nature Methods in June 2019.
arunima.singh@us.nature.com 
Technology Editor, news and features: Vivien Marx
Vivien Marx is a multi-platform journalist who covers many areas of science and technology development. She joined Nature Methods in 2012. Her work has appeared in Nature, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Methods and elsewhere including The Economist, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, The Wall Street Journal Europe, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Süddeutsche Zeitung, ZDF/arte, Science, The Lancet, Chemical & Engineering News, Newsweek/Daily Beast and New Scientist. She speaks fluent French and German. She studied biology and computing and holds a master's degree from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism where she was a Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Fellow. Among her awards are the Georg von Holtzbrinck Prize for Science Journalism and a Knight Foundation science journalism fellowship at MIT.
v.marx@us.nature.com