Aims and scope of journal
Sample issue
Editorial process
Editors and contact information
Relationship to other nature journals
Editorial and publishing policies
Impact factor
Editorial blogs
Abbreviation
ISSN and EISSN
Further editorial information
The guide for authors and the editorial policies, including the guide for referees, are 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 November 2006 issue.
EDITORIAL PROCESS
The overview of the journal's manuscript decision process includes submission, editorial decision on whether the paper should be reviewed, peer review, decisions after review, revision, acceptance in principle, final submission and acceptance, proofs, advance online publication, and print publication. Before submitting a paper, authors should consult our editorial policies as well as technical tips for using our online submission system.
Please also consult our general guide for manuscript preparation and submission, which includes information on article formats, journal style, and figure preparation tips. Note that procedures for initial submission, revision, and final submission are slightly different, so please consult the directions before proceeding to the online submission system. Presubmission inquiries are not a prerequisite for the regular submission process, but are intended as a mechanism for authors to receive rapid feedback on whether a manuscript in preparation is likely to be of interest to the journal. We encourage authors who have already prepared their manuscripts to bypass the presubmission inquiry process and upload their papers as a regular submission to the journal.
Journals in the Nature family no longer take copyright on the primary research articles that we publish. Instead we ask authors to sign a license for us to publish their work. US government employees sign a different license.
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. For information on their research backgrounds and scientific interests, see About the Editors.
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. More details are available on the manuscript transfer service and on the relationships between Nature titles.
EDITORIAL AND PUBLISHING POLICIES
Please see authors and referees @ npg for detailed information about author and referee services and publication policies at the Nature family of journals. These journals, including Nature Neuroscience, share a number of common policies including the following:
Author responsibilities
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
Digital image integrity and standards
Security concerns
Refutations, complaints and corrections
Duplicate publication
Confidentiality and pre-publicity
Plagiarism and fabrication
IMPACT FACTOR
The 2008 impact factor for Nature Neuroscience is 14.164, according to the Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports.
The 2008 impact factor represents the number of citations in 2008 to papers published in 2006 and 2007, divided by the total number of papers published in 2006 and 2007. A more detailed explanation of impact factors appears on the
Thomson Reuters web site. The use, and misuse, of impact factors was discussed in Nature Neuroscience editorials in 1998 and 2003.
EDITORIAL BLOGS
We encourage community participation in all Nature journal blogs. Nautilus is a blog for authors and aspiring authors of Nature Publishing Group journals. Peer-to-Peer is a blog for reviewers and is about peer review. Other Nature Publishing Group blogs can be found on the blog index page.
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 guide for authors and the editorial policies, including the guide for referees, are available in PDF format.
