Author benefits
Nature Publishing Group (NPG) publishes high-quality, independently peer-reviewed research and reviews, as well as comment and news, for the scientific and clinical research communities. NPG uses pioneering technologies, innovative formats and first-class editing to provide cutting-edge, timely yet readable information for researchers in the public and private sectors, government agencies, educators, clinicians and the general public.
NPG has a close relationship with the scientific community. By working with scientists, listening to what they say, and always placing emphasis on quality, NPG is the leading publisher for innovative solutions to scientists' information needs.
Publishing with the NPG family provides an author with a wide range of benefits.
Tradition of excellence
The 2007 Impact Factors* of the Nature journals
(2006 numbers in parentheses)
- Nature: 28.751 (26.681)
- Nature Biotechnology: 22.848 (22.672)
- Nature Cell Biology: 17.623 (18.485)
- Nature Chemical Biology: 13.683 (12.409)
- Nature Genetics: 25.556 (24.176)
- Nature Geoscience: due 2009
- Nature Immunology: 26.218 (27.596)
- Nature Materials: 19.782 (19.194)
- Nature Medicine: 26.382 (28.588)
- Nature Methods: 15.478 (14.959)
- Nature Nanotechnology: 14.917
- Nature Neuroscience: 15.664 (14.805)
- Nature Photonics due 2008
- Nature Physics: 14.677 (12.04)
- Nature Structural&Molecular Biology: 11.085 (11.502)
- Nature Reviews Cancer: 29.190 (31.583)
- Nature Reviews Drug Discovery: 23.308 (18.775)
- Nature Reviews Genetics: 22.399 (19.211)
- Nature Reviews Immunology: 28.300 (28.697)
- Nature Reviews Microbiology: 14.959 (15.845)
- Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology: 31.921 (31.354)
- Nature Reviews Neuroscience: 24.520 (23.054)
Visit the other journals published by Nature Publishing Group.
Full online, searchable catalogue of NPG publications, including information on journals' Impact Factors, rankings, aims and scopes, editors, societies, and more. Also available as a PDF download.
* The Impact Factor of a journal is calculated by dividing the number of current year citations to the source items published in that journal during the previous two years. It is an independent measure calculated by Thomson Scientific.
There is free-to-access online discussion of quality metrics in the Citation in Science group at Nature Network. All are welcome to join and to contribute. Further resources and information are available at this Nature Network group.
An essay providing more details about the Impact Factor is freely available at the Thomson Scientific website.
NPG's 'license to publish'
Nature Publishing Group (NPG) does not require authors of original (primary) research papers to assign copyright of their published contributions. Authors grant NPG an exclusive license to publish, in return for which they can reuse their papers in their future printed work without first requiring permission from the publisher.
NPG encourages authors to self-archive of the accepted version of their manuscripts in PubMed Central (for biomedical and life science articles), and/or their funding agency's or institution's repository, six months after publication. This policy complements the policies of a range of research funding bodies around the world, and specifically, is compliant with those of the US National Institutes of Health, the UK Medical Research Council and the Wellcome Trust. NPG recognizes the efforts of funding bodies to increase access to the research they fund, and we strongly encourage authors to participate in such efforts.
Nature journals have no page charges, though the publishers ask for a contribution to costs of colour figure reproduction in primary research articles. For figures in which the use of colour is essential, the editors will waive this charge upon request if an author is unable to pay it.
Faster publication online
NPG journals operate an online submission system for original research papers and reviews, speeding up the submission and refereeing process. Our online system also allows authors to view online the status of submitted articles.
Advance online publication. Articles published in an NPG journal are usually published online ahead of publication in the print issue, ensuring the research is made publicly available and can be cited as soon as possible after acceptance for publication. The online version of the paper is identical to the printed version and is not a preliminary, unedited version, which maintains the integrity of the published record.
Supplementary Information. Authors submitting their work to Nature journals who wish to include additional supporting material essential to the paper but exceeding the journal's length constraints can publish it online, accompanying the main version of the paper on nature.com. Supplementary Information is peer-reviewed along with the rest of the submitted paper. Movies, sound files and other files unsuitable for the print format can also be published as Supplementary Information accompanying the online version of the paper.
Methods. Authors submitting to the Nature journals are encouraged to include their full methods or protocols, which the journal publishes in an online format to accompany publication of the article.
Widest possible readership
NPG journals are available online via site licences to academic, corporate and government institutions and consortia, adding speed and visibility to authors' research papers.
Free e-mail alerts. NPG reaches more than half a million scientists, clinicians and other readers who have signed up for free e-alerts of the table of contents of its journals, ensuring additional exposure for authors. These e-alerts are sent just ahead of the printed issue, allowing recipients to click through to the full article. Non-subscribers can click through to the article's abstract.
NPG subject areas. From immunology to physics, genetics to materials science, readers can sign up for regularly updated focus for a particular field. In NPG's journals, and as separate web focuses and features, News & Views articles, research highlights (summaries), the latest significant research is brought to the attention of a broader readership, providing additional reader interest and widening the community of readers for an author's work.
Abstracting and indexing. Journals published by NPG are included in the leading abstracting and indexing services, including ISI, Medline and Scopus. Extensive reference linking via services such as Crossref, and DOI (digital object identifier) numbers, provide seamless online linking between articles and databases.
Media coverage. NPG's press release provides information about the exceptionally interesting papers being published throughout NPG's journals. More than 2,000 journalists and media organizations subscribe to the NPG press release, ensuring that authors receive maximum exposure for their work in the world's most important newspapers, magazines, radio and television channels. The press office also informs authors' institutions and funding bodies that papers are being published.
Global collaborations
NPG supports projects aimed at making current research available to a broader community of scientists and practitioners. Examples include the UN/WHO organizations HINARI, AGORA, OARE , and the independent network SciDev.Net.
Primary research papers and other content in our journals are made freely available online to readers in countries that are members of HINARI, AGORA and OARE, greatly extending the reach of the papers as well as providing information in a timely fashion to people who might not otherwise be able to obtain it or obtain it promptly.
SciDev.Net is an online science and development network providing news, views and information about science, technology and the developing world. It is a free access website and features several articles a week from Nature, selected by the SciDev.Net editors.