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Nature Citation Generator
Generate references in Nature from a DOI or link in seconds. CitApp renders this style with citeproc, the same engine as Zotero and Mendeley, so every comma matches the spec. Free for students, no sign-up to try.
What a Nature reference looks like
Nature is a numeric style: sources are cited with a bracketed or superscript number in the order they first appear, and the reference list is numbered to match.
Rendered live from the same engine CitApp uses in the app:
Journal article
1. Babonis, L. S. & Martindale, M. Q. A novel regulatory gene network in cnidarians. PNAS 119, e2113701119 (2022).
Book
1. Kuhn, T. S. The Structure of Scientific Revolutions. (University of Chicago Press, 1970).
Web page
1. IPCC. Climate change 2021: the physical science basis. https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/wg1/ (2021).
Journal article with 26 authors
1. Harris, C. R. et al. Array programming with NumPy. Nature 585, 357–362 (2020).
Nature at a glance
Read from the style file and checked against the examples above.
- Used mainly in the natural sciences.
- In the text, sources are cited with superscript numbers.
- For a paper with 26 authors, the reference list names only the first author and shortens the rest.
- First names are shortened to initials.
- The reference leaves the DOI out.
- Web pages are cited without an access date.
- The reference list is numbered in the order sources are first cited.
- The reference list uses double spacing.
- The style file was last updated in September 2025.
The guide this style follows: nature.com
How Nature compares with NLM/Vancouver: Citing Medicine 2nd edition (citation-sequence, brackets)
Where Nature differs:
- For a paper with 26 authors, the reference list names only the first author and shortens the rest.
- The reference leaves the DOI out.
- Web pages are cited without an access date.
- The reference list is double-spaced, where NLM/Vancouver: Citing Medicine 2nd edition (citation-sequence, brackets) is single-spaced.
- In the text, sources are cited with superscript numbers.
The same journal article in NLM/Vancouver: Citing Medicine 2nd edition (citation-sequence, brackets)
1. Babonis LS, Martindale MQ. A novel regulatory gene network in cnidarians. PNAS. 2022 May 3;119(19):e2113701119. doi:10.1073/pnas.2113701119
Frequently asked questions
How many authors does Nature list?
For a paper with 26 authors, the reference list names only the first author and shortens the rest.
How does Nature handle DOIs and web pages?
The reference leaves the DOI out. Web pages are cited without an access date.
How is the reference list ordered in Nature?
The reference list is numbered in the order sources are first cited. The reference list uses double spacing.
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