Editorials

Generative AI technology is having substantial impacts across society, and scientific publishing is by no means immune. We highlight journal policies around the use of generative AI and discuss its responsible use in writing, peer reviewing and publishing scientific research.

We share some recent staff changes at Nature Methods.

We highlight some of the Nature Methods team’s favorite papers published in 2025, reflecting on some trends and new technology developments.

A large network of interconnected neurons serves as the basis of brain function and of behavior. Methodological advances have enabled the reconstruction of large-scale and even whole-brain connectomes of various organisms.

Identifying individual cells and tracking their movements over time are two critically important tasks in bioimage analysis. We discuss a fresh wave of tools that push these techniques toward peak performance.

Team news, editorial projects and initiatives, plus a preview of what’s to come in 2026.

Recent technological advances for studying the biology of tumors have expanded our understanding of cancer.

Technological advances change not only what we can learn as scientists, but also how science is conducted. Here we explore how automation and outsourcing are affecting the act of doing science.

As life sciences research becomes enmeshed in the age of AI, real experimental data are more valuable than ever.

Beginning this month, Nature Methods is rolling out a new project aimed at strengthening peer review: a formal co-reviewing initiative to recognize early-career researcher contributions. We also discuss our introduction of a reporting checklist to improve the transparency and reproducibility of light microscopy studies.

Vibrational microscopy methods offer bond-selective imaging, revealing the rich chemical composition of biological samples. In this Focus issue, we celebrate the past, present and future of these technologies, with an emphasis on how they are poised to enhance discovery in the life sciences.

Basic science and methods development is essential to ensure that lifesaving advances and improvements to the human condition continue moving forward. Such research needs strong and sustained funding support from governments.

In 2023, Nature Methods chose methods to model development as our Method of the Year. Here, we catch up on what has happened in this field since.

Proper methods reporting is crucial for transparency, but ensuring method reusability by other labs takes a bit of extra effort. Here we discuss best practices for reporting methods so that they can be reused.

We highlight several standout papers published in Nature Methods in 2024.

Approaches for profiling the spatial proteome in tissues are the basis of atlas-scale projects that are delivering on their promise for understanding biological complexity in health and disease.

With a pictorial Editorial this month, we celebrate the beauty of microscopy images.

As Nature Methods celebrates a milestone anniversary, we look back on the past two decades of methods development in basic biological research.

All life sciences research is potentially subject to ethical considerations. Institutions should support collaborations with professional ethicists and philosophers to help life scientists navigate ethical crossroads.

Advanced artificial intelligence approaches are rapidly transforming how biological data are acquired and analyzed.