Aims and scope of journal
Sample issue
Editors and contact information
Relationship to other nature journals
Editorial and publishing policies
Impact factor
Abbreviation
ISSN and EISSN
Further editorial information
The entire guide for authors and referees is available in PDF format.
AIMS AND SCOPE OF JOURNAL
Nature Neuroscience is a multidisciplinary journal that publishes papers of the highest quality and significance in all areas of neuroscience. The editors welcome contributions in molecular, cellular, systems and cognitive neuroscience, as well as psychophysics, computational modeling and diseases of the nervous system. No area is excluded from consideration, although priority is given to studies that provide fundamental insights into the functioning of the nervous system.
Nature Neuroscience provides readers and authors high visibility, emphasis on interdisciplinary communication, accessibility to a broad readership, high standards of copy editing and production, rigorous peer review, rapid publication, and independence from academic societies and other vested interests.
In addition to primary research, Nature Neuroscience publishes news and views, reviews, editorials, commentaries, perspectives, book reviews and correspondence. In this way, the journal aims to be the voice of the worldwide neuroscience community.
SAMPLE ISSUE
Free online access to the October 2004 issue.
EDITORS AND CONTACT INFORMATION
Like the other Nature titles, Nature Neuroscience has no external editorial board. Instead, all editorial decisions are made by a team of full-time professional editors. Information about the scientific background of the editors may be found here.
A full list of journal staff appears on the masthead.
RELATIONSHIP TO OTHER NATURE JOURNALS
Nature Neuroscience is editorially independent, and its editors make their own decisions, independent of the other Nature journals.
If a paper is rejected from one Nature journal, the authors
can use an automated manuscript transfer service to submit the paper to another Nature journal via a link sent to them by the
editor handling the manuscript. Authors should note that referees' comments (including any confidential comments to the editor) and
identities are transferred to the editor of the second journal along with the manuscript.
In that case, the journal editors will take the previous reviews into account when making their decision, although in some
cases the editors may choose to take advice from additional or alternative referees.
Alternatively, authors may choose to request a fresh review, in which case
they should not use the automated transfer link, and
the editors will evaluate the paper without reference to the previous review process.
Click here for details
of the manuscript transfer service, and for links to NPG journals and subject areas.
A general explanation of the relationships between Nature titles can be found here.
EDITORIAL AND PUBLISHING POLICIES
The Nature journals, including Nature Neuroscience, share a number of common policies including the following:
Relationship between Nature journals
License agreement and author copyright
Embargo policy and press releases
Use of experimental animals and human subjects
Competing financial interests
Availability of materials and data
Gene nomenclature
Security concerns
Refutations and complaints
Corrections
IMPACT FACTOR
The 2005 impact factor for Nature Neuroscience is 15.456, according to the ISI Journal Citation Reports. This places Nature Neuroscience third of 200 neuroscience journals and first among primary research journals in this field.
The 2005 impact factor represents the number of citations in 2005 to papers published in 2003 and 2004, divided by the total number of papers published in 2003 and 2004. A more detailed explanation of impact factors appears on the
ISI web site. The use—and misuse—of impact factors was discussed in Nature Neuroscience editorials in 1998 and 2003.
ABBREVIATION
The correct abbreviation for abstracting and indexing purposes is Nat. Neurosci.
ISSN AND EISSN
The international standard serial number (ISSN) for Nature Neuroscience is 1097-6256, and the electronic international standard serial number (EISSN) is 1546-1726.
FURTHER EDITORIAL INFORMATION
Please see the following editorials for more information on various aspects of journal policy.
Why did we launch Nature Neuroscience? (May 98)
Use and abuse of impact factors (December 98)
Anonymity in peer review (March 99)
Clarity in scientific writing (February 00)
How to be a successful author (July 00)
What makes a good fMRI paper? (April 01)
What makes a good multidisciplinary paper? (July 01)
Advance online publication (August 01)
Policy on financial disclosure (October 01)
How we handle appeals (October 02)
Retractions (December 02)
Policy on preprint servers (May 03)
Papers reviewed at other Nature journals (June 03)
New sections in Nature Neuroscience (June 03)
Interpreting impact factors (August 03)
Financial disclosure for review authors (October 03)
Guidelines for single-patient studies (February 04)
Expanding Nature Neuroscience (January 05)
Using statistical tests (February 05)
The entire guide for authors and referees is available in PDF format.
