Nature has a strong history of supporting women in science and of reflecting the views of the community in our pages, including Correspondence. Our Correspondence pages do not reflect the views of the journal or its editors; they reflect the views only of the correspondents.

We do not endorse the views expressed in the Correspondence 'Publish on the basis of quality, not gender' (Nature 505, 291; 2014) — or indeed any Correspondences unless we explicitly say so. On re-examining this letter and the process, we consider that it adds no value to the discussion and unnecessarily inflames it, that it did not receive adequate editorial attention, and that we should not have published it, for which we apologize.

Nature's own positive views and engagement in the issues concerning women in science are represented by our special from 2013: www.nature.com/women.