For Authors

On this page: Did you know? | Submitting an article | Benefits of publishing with LSA

Did you know?

  • That Light: Science & Applications is an online, open access journal.
  • That Light: Science & Applications has an impact factor of 19.4 (2022 Journal Citation Reports®).
  • Articles published in the journal in 2022 were downloaded 2,222,070 times.
  • The median time (2022) from submission to the first editorial decision is 5 days.
  • That the millions of users of nature.com can now sign up for an e-mail copy of the table of contents for the Light: Science & Applications issue in which your article is published.

Submitting an article

To read about how to prepare your article, please click on Instructions for Authors. If you are ready to submit an article please click on Online Submission.

Benefits of publishing with LSA

Light: Science & Applications (LSA) is committed to publishing high quality, independently peer-reviewed research and review material.

The journal is published in partnership with Springer Nature, which uses pioneering technologies, innovative formats and world class production to provide premium information for scientific researchers in the public and private sectors, government agencies and educators.

A key strength of Springer Nature is its close relationship with the scientific community. Working closely with scientists, listening to what they say, and always placing emphasis on quality rather than quantity, has made Springer Nature the leading scientific publisher at finding innovative solutions to scientists' information needs, both for the Nature-branded publications and those published on behalf of society partners, including CIOMP.

Publishing with Light: Science & Applications and Springer Nature provides an author with a wide range of benefits:

Open access

As an open access journal, Light: Science & Applications content is freely available to all researchers worldwide ensuring maximum dissemination. Content is published online on a weekly basis to provide timely communication to the community and keep publication times to a minimum.

Authors of accepted manuscripts are charged an article-processing fee dependent upon article type and licence chosen. Please see the journal's Instructions for Authors for full price listing.

Creative Commons License

Light: Science & Applications articles are published either under a CC BY license (Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License). This license is preferred by many funding bodies and allows for maximum dissemination and re-use of open access materials.

Research Summaries

Springer Nature is committed to broadening the accessibility of research papers and reviews to as many readers as possible, thereby facilitating the widest dissemination of knowledge. To this end, Springer Nature is introducing Research Summaries to LSA. A Research Summary is a professionally written, 100-150 word synopsis of a selected article that succinctly provides information to the reader about the aims, main outcomes and significant conclusions of the article. Published under a Creative Commons license, authors and others will be able to re-use, re-post, host and email Research Summaries to highlight the value of their work.

Online submission - reducing publication times

Light: Science & Applications has adopted Springer Nature's online submission system, which allows authors to submit papers via the Web. This system speeds up the submission and refereeing process, and allows you to view the status of your paper online.

Quality

Authors who choose to publish in any Springer Nature journal can be assured that its staff's publishing, editorial and production skills are committed to maintaining the highest possible quality and standards.

Regular free e-mail alerts

Content published in Light: Science & Applications has the potential to reach scientists around the world who have signed up for Springer Nature's free table of contents e-alerts, ensuring additional exposure for authors. These e-alerts will inform recipients of the articles published in the journal on a monthly basis and allow them to click through and read the full text. To sign up click here.

Focused subject areas on nature.com

From immunology to physics, genetics to materials, subject-specific areas provide a focused environment for readers, providing a monthly updated focus for a particular field.

Abstracting and indexing

Extensive reference linking to MEDLINE, ISI, Chemport and others via services such as Crossref and DOI numbers provide seamless online linking between articles and databases.

Media coverage

The Nature press office provides information about exceptionally interesting papers published throughout Springer Nature. More than 2,000 journalists and media organizations worldwide subscribe to the press service, ensuring that papers receive maximum exposure in the world's most important media channels including newspapers, magazines, radio and television.