paperpush requirements

Show what a venue’s author guidelines require of the manuscript itself: file formats and size caps, word and page limits, the sections and statements the text must contain, title-page items, figure resolution and dimensions, reference style and count, supplementary-file rules. These are the rules paperpush validate measures the uploaded files against.

usage: paperpush requirements [-h] [-v] [-q] [--article-type TYPE] [--json]
                              venue

Synopsis

paperpush requirements nature

prints a readable summary grouped by section, for example:

Manuscript requirements for Nature (nature)
  read from the author guidelines on 2026-09-10
  https://www.nature.com/nature/for-authors/formatting-guide
  article types with their own rules: Matters Arising, Submit - Review (use --article-type)

manuscript:
  formats: .pdf, .docx, .doc
  max words before refs: 3500
  max display items: 6
  line numbers: True
  ...

figures:
  min dpi: 300
  single column width mm: 89
  double column width mm: 183
  ...

Where the rules live

The rules come from paperpush/manuscript_requirements.json, the companion to venues.json. venues.json describes the submission form – the fields a portal asks for and what each accepts. manuscript_requirements.json describes what the venue’s author guidelines say about the manuscript: every entry uses the same section keys (manuscript, title_page, abstract, keywords, sections, statements, figures, tables, supplementary, references, cover_letter, upload) so the same vocabulary describes every venue, and records only what the guidelines state. Each entry names the pages it was read from (source_urls) and when (retrieved). Every key is documented in the manuscript_requirements.json reference.

Two mechanisms keep entries short: inherits lets one venue start from another’s rules and override a few keys, and article_types holds per-article-type overrides keyed by the venue’s own article-type option, which validate applies according to the article type selected in the .sub.

Arguments

venue

Venue slug, e.g. nature (see paperpush --venues).

--article-type TYPE

Show the rules for this article type – the exact option string of the venue’s article-type field – with its overrides applied, instead of the default research-article rules.

--json

Print the requirements as JSON (the resolved entry) instead of the readable summary.

Plus the common -v/--verbose and -q/--quiet logging flags.

Exit status

0 when the requirements were printed, 1 when the venue has no requirements recorded, 2 when the venue is unknown.

See also

• paperpush validate — measures the manuscript and other uploads against these rules (--dont-check-manuscript turns that off).

• paperpush options — the allowed values of a choice field, including the article-type field whose values key the per-type overrides.