Info for suppliers
- Application Notes online submission
- What is an Application Note?
- Who can submit Application Notes?
- Featured Application Notes
- Format for submissions
- Style guidelines
- Content guidelines
- Images and logos
- Selection criteria
- Acceptances and rejections
- Corrections policy
- Removing Application Notes
- Pricing
- Terms and conditions
- Questions
APPLICATION NOTES ONLINE SUBMISSION
The Nature Methods Application Notes website is a new service providing life scientists and chemists with a valuable resource for product and technology information. Product manufacturers and suppliers are invited to submit their Application Notes using our new online submission form. Although Application Notes accepts submissions of these technologies and their description in Adobe PDF format, we also accept submissions in HTML full-text format for better utility and display of the product.
The following guidelines relate to Application Notes for online publication only. If you would like to submit an Application Note to appear in the print edition of Nature Methods please contact us for further information.
Top of pageWHAT IS AN APPLICATION NOTE?
The definition of an Application Note, as published in Nature Methods, is an essay describing the technical performance of an interesting new product or innovative application of a laboratory technology. Application Notes are non-peer-reviewed content and are considered as advertising.
Top of pageWHO CAN SUBMIT APPLICATION NOTES?
Application Notes will be accepted from companies providing products and services to life scientists and chemists. All authors must be members of the manufacturer's organization.
Top of pageFEATURED APPLICATION NOTES
Selected Application Notes are featured on the Application Notes Homepage. If you would like your Application Note to be featured please contact us for pricing and availability.
Top of pageFORMAT FOR SUBMISSIONS
Application Notes may be submitted as either PDFs or HTML text via our online submission system. We encourage suppliers to submit the full text of their Application Notes as opposed to posting a PDF as this will be fully searchable. However, for full text submissions to be as useful and clear as possible, we ask that these submissions follow some guidelines for text, display items, references, and contact details. This will enable us to format your document correctly and will enable increased functionality of the document.
All Application Notes will display the manufacturer's logo and will be headed 'advertising feature'.
Top of pageSTYLE GUIDELINES
Application Notes are generally 1,000-1,500 words, including subheadings, and can include up to 3 display items. We recommend the following format for content:
- Title
- Abstract
- Main text of the Application Note, separated into subsections. For example:
- Introduction
- Description of the technology underlying the product
- Information on the format in which the product is available (such as additional reagents available, controls, interface for instruments, etc.)
- Flexibility of application
- Performance of the product (sensitivity, specificity, reproducibility, robustness)
- Conclusion
- Display Items (figures, tables, and text boxes)
- Acknowledgements (optional)
- Link to the supplier's website.
- References: References may be included but will not be linked online.
- Author contact details.
Title:
Short description of the product application, possibly including product name.
Abstract:
Paragraph discussing the product, its potential applications and other relevant information.
The abstract must not include references and display-item citations.
Main Text:
Description of the product and its applications.
The main text should include citations to all references and display items, and can include links to websites. These links must not be cited in subheadings.
For example: subheading "Application of the ELISA (Fig. 1)" would be incorrect, and would not allow the figure to be linked within the article, resulting in the figure either not appearing at all (if this is the only citation), or appearing in the wrong place or in the wrong order.
Display Items:
Figures:
Figures should be cited in the main text as "figure X" rather than their title.
Figures must have an accompanying title, and can also be accompanied by a description of the figure (which will appear in the legend alongside the figure itself). Figures should be high quality (see below for details on figure resolution and image quality).
Text boxes:
Text boxes are available for short pieces of text that don't fit elsewhere in the article. They require a title, and can include reference citations, and a single other display item (such as a figure or table).
Tables:
Tables require a title, and headings for each column (or combined columns). Footnotes can also be included, as can reference citations. Small figures can also be included in tables (for example, chemical diagrams) as one of the cells of the table.
For example:
Table 1 | Toxicity and specificity of identified compounds
| Heading 1 | Heading 2 | References | ||
| Subheading 1 | Subheading 2 | |||
| Toxicity | 1 | 15% | 25% | 1,2 |
| Specificity | High | 98% | 99.5% | 3-6 |
| Chemical Composition | (figure) | (figure)‡ | (figure) | 1,7 |
References:
References should be cited in the main text as a superscript number rather than by other citations.
e.g:
- ...has been found to be highly toxic1 - correct
- ...has been found to be highly toxic (Author et al., 2004) - incorrect
Reference number. Author(s) name. Title of manuscript. Abbreviated title of journal Volume number, Page range (Year).
For example:
1. Author, A. N. Toxicities of compounds. J. Toxic. 12, 136-198 (2004).
All authors should be listed up to and including 5 authors - if the manuscript has more than 5 authors, the author list should be given as first author et al. Manuscripts that have not been accepted for publication cannot be cited as a reference. Manuscripts that have been accepted for publication but have not yet been published can be cited using either the Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, or can simply be cited as "In the press" - these two citations replace the volume, page range and year information.
Other forms of citation follow a similar format. Titles of articles or sections in newspapers, books, etc. should always be given, as well as the page range and date of publication. Abstracts and proceedings must give the name of the publication and the appropriate abstract number.
Contact information:
Contact information must include all author names and current addresses. This should include enough information to contact the authors if desired. The corresponding author must also provide their job title, full address and e-mail address, as well as alternative contact details such as telephone and facsimile numbers.
Similar contact details must also be included for the person who submits the article, although these details will not be included in the publication on the website itself unless the submitter is an author on the manuscript.
CONTENT GUIDELINES
- Application Notes focus on the product, its applications and performance but is not a forum for the presentation of primary research studies and data. Such primary research reports with a significant scientific message should be submitted as Articles or Brief Communications to appear in the peer-reviewed section of Nature Methods and will be evaluated by Nature Methods editorial team and external referees.
- All submissions should be written in English.
- Product pictures and/or principle schematics are recommended
- Application Notes are published at the discretion of Nature Methods.
- Application Notes submitted as full text are a maximum of 1500 words; however, shorter Application Notes are encouraged for ease of online browsing. PDFs may also be submitted with a maximum file size of 1 MB.
IMAGES AND LOGOS
Please supply a maximum of 3 display items plus your company logo with your Application Note. All images (illustrations/figures/tables and logos) should be supplied in JPEG or GIF format.
Dimension and sizes:
- Company logos: width 120 pixels, max file size 30 Kb
- Illustrations: max width 180, max height 220 pixels, max file size 60 Kb
- Figures and tables: max width 800 pixels, max file size 120 Kb
SELECTION CRITERIA
All Application Notes will be reviewed by Nature Methods staff to ensure they meet basic criteria, including:
- The Application Note is relevant and appropriate for the Nature Methods audience.
- Logos and all relevant company/contact details have been supplied.
- Competitor's products are named generically in product comparisons.
- All authors are members of the supplier's organization.
- Application Note meets style and content guidelines outlined above.
ACCEPTANCES AND REJECTIONS
Application Notes submissions are reviewed by Nature Methods staff who will make the decision whether to accept within 7 working days of receipt (although often the decision will be made within 24 hours). Accepted Application Notes will be published online no later than 7 working days from the date of acceptance.
Top of pageCORRECTIONS POLICY
Suppliers can preview their full text Application Notes online before submitting. Following submission however, corrections can only be made by contacting us, preferably by email. Please give the Application Note reference number in the subject line and email changes to salessupport@nature.com or salessupport@natureny.com. Remember to include your full contact details.
Top of pageREMOVING APPLICATION NOTES
Application Notes will remain on the site for up to 2 years from the date of online publication. To remove an Application Note from the site please contact our sales support department at salessupport@natureny.com. Please confirm the name of the person who originally uploaded the Application Note and the reference number in order for us to authorize removal.
Top of pagePRICING
Posting of Application Notes online is FREE for product manufacturers and suppliers for a limited period only. If you would like an Application Note to be considered for the print edition of Nature Methods, please contact your sales representative or email us at methods.appnote@natureny.com for pricing and availability. All content is freely available without restrictions; for more information see About this site.
Top of pageTERMS AND CONDITIONS
All Application Notes submitted for inclusion on the website are subject to terms and conditions.
Top of pageQUESTIONS?
Enquires should be sent via email to methods.appnote@natureny.com or telephone (001) 212-726-9254.
top of pageApplication Notes are supplied by commercial companies. The Nature Publishing Group does not endorse any of the products or services advertised here.
