Instructions for authors
General information | Conditions of publication | Editorial process |Top of page
General information
This document is intended to give authors detailed information regarding all aspects of the publication process, from concept to publication. Please read Publishing and editorial policies for general information.
Conditions of publication
All material submitted to Nature Clinical Practice Urology, for any section of the journal, is considered for publication on the understanding that authors (including all coauthors of contributions with more than one author) agree to Nature Clinical Practice's Publishing and editorial policies.
Editorial process
Several stages are involved in the editorial process, beginning with the original idea and finishing with publication of the article online.
Developmental editing
After submission, commissioned articles may be edited by our skilled staff. All editing is subject to approval by the corresponding author. This service aims to facilitate rapid progress through peer-review and to reinforce the high quality of published content.
Peer-review
Invited articles undergo peer-review to reinforce the quality and integrity of the content. Peer-reviewers are asked to complete their reports with a checklist of points to consider; additional comments may also be included in the report. Frank comments about the scientific and medical content of submitted manuscripts are strongly encouraged.
Peer-reviewers accept conditions of confidentiality when agreeing to peer-review a manuscript. Details are included in the Confidentiality policy.
All contributions that are selected for peer-review are sent to at least one, but usually two or more, independent reviewers, selected by the editors. Authors are welcome to suggest suitable independent peer-reviewers and may also request that one or two (but no more) individuals or institutions are excluded if there is a specific, declared competing interest. Nature Clinical Practice sympathetically considers such requests, but the editor's decision on the choice of peer-reviewers is final.
Nature Clinical Practice editors may seek advice about submitted papers not only from technical peer-reviewers but also on any aspect of a paper that raises concerns. These may include, for example, ethical issues or issues of data or materials access. Very occasionally, concerns may also relate to the societal implications of publishing a paper. In such circumstances, advice will usually be sought simultaneously with the technical peer-reviewing process. As in all publishing decisions, the ultimate decision on whether to publish is the responsibility of the editor of the journal concerned.
Corresponding authors are notified of acceptance, rejection or request for revision within 6 weeks from submission of initial revisions, whenever possible. Revised manuscripts should be returned within 3 weeks, together with a covering letter detailing responses to every point made by editors and peer-reviewers.
The following types of contribution are peer-reviewed: Viewpoints, Practice Points, Reviews, Case Studies, and any supplementary files associated with these articles. Supplements to the journals are also peer-reviewed.
The following types of contribution are not usually peer-reviewed: Editorials, Research Highlights, Article Responses, Book Reviews, Errata and Corrigenda. Nevertheless, contributions of these types might be peer-reviewed at the discretion of the Editor.
Submission of manuscript
Article types
Nature Clinical Practice publishes various types of article, which are described briefly here and in more detail in Manuscript preparation.
Editorials
Editorials are 550-word articles in which the Editor-in-Chief or his nominee can discuss a topic of their choice. For example, editorials might cover the contents of the issue or information being discussed in the popular press. They are not peer-reviewed and voice the opinions of the author, not of Nature Publishing Group.
Viewpoints
Viewpoints are opinion articles in which authors have the opportunity to discuss topical subjects and contribute to current debate. They are 1,000 words in length plus a maximum of 10 references.
Research Highlights
Research Highlights are written by journal staff. Research Highlights are 250-word summaries based on research articles published by other journals in the field, and in some cases may be drawn from journals with infrequent contributions to urology.
Practice Points
Practice Points consist of a structured synopsis based on an influential research paper, accompanied by a brief commentary. All Practice Point synopses are written by journal staff; commentaries are written by invited authors. Commentary authors should put the original article in context and expand on how the findings are relevant to clinical practice. Authors are asked to provide a salient one-sentence Practice Point of how the findings should affect practice. Commentaries are 500 words in length plus a maximum of 5 references.
Reviews
Reviews are timely, authoritative overviews of key developments. They are 2,500-3,000 words in length with 50-60 references, plus tables, boxes and figures. As well as general reviews, there are six specific other types of review: Therapy Insights, Drug Insights, Surgery Insights, Technology Insights, Mechanisms of Disease and Primers (see Manuscript preparation).
Case Studies
Case Studies should help established physicians as well as trainees to improve patient care. Rather than being merely anecdotal, they should include the etiology, diagnosis and management of a case. Importantly, they should give an indication of the decision-making process, so that other physicians can apply lateral thinking to their own cases. Case studies are approximately 1,500 words in length, plus figures and tables and a maximum of 15 references.
Supplementary Information
Supplementary Information is published online only, as a PDF of the original file(s) sent by the author(s). It will generally consist of display items such as figures, tables and videos. Article types that do not contain display items in printed format may publish them as supplementary information. Supplementary Information is always associated with an article.
Article Responses
Article Responses, if published at all (see Publishing and editorial policies), are published online only and are associated with an article. They can be submitted via the web submission site (see Manuscript preparation) and the article they relate to should be clearly mentioned.
Book Reviews
Book Reviews will be published intermittently and in online format only.
Manuscript preparation
Full details of how to prepare articles for submission to Nature Clinical Practice Urology can be found in Manuscript preparation. Brief information is included below. Please ensure you refer to the full information before beginning to write.
Template
Nature Clinical Practice journals use an article template. This is a Word file with particular styles embedded within it, which can help to reduce the time spent copyediting and formatting articles post-submission, and hence improve publication times. If you would like to use this template, please contact the journal staff before submitting your article online.
Length
Each article type has its own word limit, which is included in the letter of invitation to write. Word limits are assigned to ensure balance between articles of the same type as well as between the different types. Articles submitted with word counts exceeding the limit will either be returned for reduction by the author or will be reduced in length by the journal staff.
Article elements
Each article consists of various elements that contribute to the reader's impression of the article. Some elements are specific to particular types of article, for example, the one-sentence Practice point, the Review criteria, Keywords, Glossary items and display items. Full details of specific elements can be obtained from the journal staff.
Consent and permissions
For all articles that include information or clinical photographs relating to individual patients, where those patients could be identified by readers in any way, written and signed consent to publish must be obtained from each patient and this should be mailed or faxed to the editorial office. A statement such as "Written consent for publication was obtained from the patient or their responsible relative" should also be included in a text section entitled Acknowledgments. For further information on confidentiality go to our Confidentiality policy.
Authors are responsible for obtaining, before publication in Nature Clinical Practice journals, permissions for tables, figures, images or text boxes, direct quotes of ≥200 words or scattered quotes from a single source of ≥00 words in total previously published elsewhere. Citations of personal communications must be authorized by the correspondent involved, with signed permission to cite being sent to the editorial office by mail or fax.
Authorship
Nature Clinical Practice Urology does not require all authors of a paper to sign the letter of submission, nor does it impose an order on the list of authors. All authors are, however, required to sign a declaration of contribution to the writing of the paper. The name of any listed author who is deemed by the editor to have not contributed substantially may be moved to the Aknowledgments section of the article. Submission to Nature Clinical Practice Urology is taken to mean that all the listed authors have agreed to submit the content. The corresponding (submitting) author is responsible for ensuring that this agreement has been reached.
The corresponding author is designated the contact author for any matters arising from the published paper, for example, feedback from readers. It is this author's responsibility to inform all coauthors of matters arising and to ensure such matters are dealt with promptly. This author does not have to be the senior author of the paper. The name and postal and email addresses of the corresponding author are published in the paper.
Authors of published Nature Clinical Practice Urology material have a responsibility to inform the journal promptly if they become aware of any part that requires corrections.
Typography and house style
Like the template, typography and 'house style' help to ensure clarity and consistency within and between articles, as well as between journals within the Nature Clinical Practice series. House style indicates the way the journal refers to particular items of information, for example nomenclature, spelling, and reference formatting. More information is included in Manuscript preparation.
References
Each article type has its own limit on the number of references allowed. In the online version of the article, references are hyperlinked to databases that can help readers to find information (including further references) more easily. Reference lists that exceed the predefined limit will either be returned for reduction by the author or will be reduced in length by journal staff.
Tables
Tables should include information that cannot easily be described in text, or when comparisons need to be made that would be helped by display format. Tables should be no larger than one printed page and be legible. Please refer to Manuscript preparation for more information.
Figures
Figures should be kept simple for clarity, avoiding excessive detail. All symbols and abbreviations used in the figure must be defined. Nature Clinical Practice journals are printed in black and white and, as a result, the use of color must be limited to cases in which it is considered essential by the editorial staff. Decisions on whether color is essential will be negotiated on a case-by-case basis.
Reprints
Reprints for all printed articles are available to authors, institutions and commercial organizations. Reprints can be customized in various ways; information on options is available from Reprints staff. The minimum order is 100 reprints, which can be ordered online, by using the reprints order form or by contacting reprints@nature.com.
Related Links:
Publishing and editorial policies
Editorial process
Information about online submission
Manuscript preparation
