Advance Online Publication
Note that Nature Neuroscience now supports Advance Online Publication (AOP) of research articles, which benefits authors with an earlier publication date and allows our readers access to accepted papers weeks before they are printed. Authors will be provided an estimated AOP publication date when the galley proofs are sent for preview. Note that papers published online are definitive and may be altered only through the publication of a print corrigendum or erratum. For details, please see the overview of advanced online publication.

Competing Financial Interests
In the interests of transparency, Nature Neuroscience now requires authors of original research, Review and Perspective articles to declare any competing financial interests in relation to papers accepted for publication. For details, please see our policy.

Materials
As a condition of publication, authors are required to make materials and methods used freely available to academic researchers for their own use. Authors are required to state in the methods section any conditions for use of materials, and to provide full disclosure of the conditions on a freely accessible, identified web site.

This requirement includes antibodies and the constructs used to make transgenic animals, but not the animals themselves. Mutant strains of mice generated without the use of constructs must be submitted to a public repository at the time of publication, unless authors can ensure prompt distribution to academic researchers on request.

Papers reporting protein or DNA sequences and crystallographic structures will not be accepted without an accession number to GenBank/EMBL/DDBJ, Brookhaven, SWISS-PROT or other appropriate, identified, publicly available database in general use in the field that gives free access to researchers from the date of publication (see Nature 394, 105; 1998 and 404, 317; 2000). Accession numbers are provided directly to authors by these databases on deposition of data, and must be included in the Nature paper before publication. Microarray data should be made freely available to academic researchers on authors' own web sites or other freely available web site (the URL to be provided in the paper) until a public database is available.

Microarrays
Please see the MGED open letter specifying microarray standards at http://www.mged.org/Workgroups/MIAME/miame_checklist.html, and see Nature 419, 323; 2002 for explanation of the policies of the journal and the Nature family of journals. In brief, authors submitting manuscripts containing microarray data must supply the data on a CD at the time of submission. The data must be MIAME-compliant and supplied in a form that is widely accessible, with the completed MIAME checklist also placed on the CD. Five copies of the CD are required, so that they can be sent to referees. Nature Neuroscience also requires submission of microarray data to the GEO (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/) or ArrayExpress (http://www.ebi.ac.uk/arrayexpress/) databases, with accession numbers at or before acceptance for publication. Data may be posted on the Nature Neuroscience website as Supplementary Information only by prior agreement, as generally we are unable to host very large Supplementary Information files.

Other supporting data sets must be made available to any interested reader on the publication date from the authors directly.

Researchers who encounter a persistent refusal by an author of a Nature paper to comply with these guidelines should contact the Editor of Nature Neuroscience, at <"mailto:neurosci@natureny.com">neurosci@natureny.com. (See Nature 416, 1; 2002.)

Personal Communications and Unpublished Data
If you cite personal communications or unpublished data from any individuals who are not authors of your manuscript, we require a written statement of permission from the primary investigator of each group cited. Please submit an appropriate permission letter(s) (printouts of email are acceptable) with your manuscript.

Animal Welfare and Informed Human Consent
In cases where a study involves the use of live animals or human subjects, the Methods section of the manuscript should include a statement that all experiments were performed in compliance with the relevant laws and institutional guidelines, and should identify the institutional committee(s) that have approved the experiments. A statement should also be included that informed consent was obtained for any experimentation with human subjects. Referees may be asked to comment specifically on any cases in which concerns arise.

Nomenclature
Authors should make sure that they use appropriate nomenclature for gene symbols. Please consult the appropriate nomenclature committee for correct gene name and symbol. Approved human gene symbols are provided by HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC), e-mail: nome@galton.ucl.ac.uk; http://www.gene.ucl.ac.uk/nomenclature/. Approved mouse nomenclature are provided by The Jackson Laboratory, e-mail: nomen@informatics.jax.org; http://www.informatics.jax.org/mgihome/nomen/.

AUTHORSHIP AND COPYRIGHT

 
Submission is taken to imply that all coauthors have approved the contents of the manuscript and its submission by the corresponding author. (The corresponding author for editorial purposes need not be the senior author, or the person to whom correspondence is addressed after publication.) Statements of equal contribution from more than one author are permitted. The cover sheet of the manuscript should indicate the date of submission (or revision/resubmission). If the manuscript includes personal communications, please provide a written statement of permission from any person who is quoted. Printouts of e-mail permission messages are acceptable.

For form and detailed explanation, click here. US government employees, click here.

PRESUBMISSION INQUIRIES

 
We are happy to answer presubmission inquiries, but it is often difficult to assess a manuscript from a short abstract alone, so in most cases we shall be unable to promise that a manuscript will be reviewed until we have seen it in its entirety. Thus, responses to presubmission inquiries should be construed as guidance for authors rather than definitive editorial judgments. Inquiries should be addressed to the editor and should be sent via our electronic submission website wherever possible (www.nature.com/neuro/esubmission). Please also include phone and fax numbers. To facilitate a rapid response, please send an abstract describing the experimental methods and results, along with a brief cover note explaining the central advance and its broad interest and significance and citing any key references (including references to unpublished work under consideration elsewhere).

HOW TO SUBMIT

 
We prefer to receive manuscript submissions via our electronic submission website (www.nature.com/neuro/esubmission). Using this system, authors can upload manuscript files (text, figures and video) directly to our office and check on the status of their manuscripts during the review process. In addition, reviewers can access the contents of a manuscript (in a highly secure fashion) over a direct internet link, which speeds the review process.

Submission to Nature Neuroscience is taken to imply that there is no significant overlap between the submitted manuscript and any other papers under consideration or in press elsewhere.

Authors may include supplementary information for the referees' inspection. Again, please provide five copies, clearly labeled.

The manuscript should be accompanied by a cover letter from the corresponding author, who should be clearly identified on the manuscript, along with corresponding address, phone, fax and e-mail. Submission is taken to imply that all coauthors have approved the contents of the manuscript and its submission by the corresponding author. (The corresponding author for editorial purposes need not be the senior author, nor the person to whom correspondence is addressed after publication.)

Statements of equal contribution from more than one author are permitted.

The cover sheet of the manuscript should indicate the date of submission (or revision/resubmission).

If the manuscript includes personal communications, please provide a written statement of permission from any person who is quoted. Printouts of e-mail permission messages are acceptable.

TYPES OF CONTRIBUTIONS

 
Primary Research Formats

An Article is a substantial novel research study, with a complex story often involving several techniques or approaches. The main text (excluding abstract, Methods, references and figure legends) is 3000-4000 words. The abstract is typically 100-150 words, unreferenced. Articles have no more than eight display items (figures and/or tables). An introduction (without heading) is followed by sections headed Results, Discussion and Methods. The Results and Methods should be divided by topical subheadings; the Discussion may contain subheadings at the editors’ discretion. References are limited to 50.

Articles include a competing financial interests statement and received/accepted dates. They may be accompanied by supplementary information. Articles are peer reviewed.

A Technical Report presents primary research data on a new technique that is likely to be influential. This format is not a review of technology, but its primary report in the literature. It may involve a new biological discovery to prove the usefulness of the technique, but this is not a requirement. Technical Reports have a format broadly similar to that of Articles, though many Technical Reports are shorter than a typical Article. They begin with an unreferenced abstract (typically 150 words) followed by separate sections for introduction, Results, Discussion (with optional subheadings) and Methods. There is no strict limit on the number of display items (figures/tables). References are normally limited to 30, but this can be flexible at the editor’s discretion.

Technical Reports include a competing financial interests statement and received/accepted dates. They may be accompanied by supplementary information. Technical Reports are peer reviewed.

A Brief Communication reports a study of high quality and broad interest that is less fully developed than a Letter or Article. This format may not exceed 2 printed pages. Brief Communications begin with a brief unreferenced abstract (no more than 70 words or 3 sentences), which will appear on Medline. The main text is typically 1,000-1,500 words, including abstract, references and figure legends, and contains no headings. Brief Communications normally have no more than 2 display items (figures/tables), although this may be flexible at the discretion of the editor, provided the page limit is observed. References are limited to 15. Article titles are omitted from the reference list.

Brief Communications include a competing financial interests statement and received/accepted dates. They may be accompanied by supplementary information. Brief Communications are peer reviewed.

Other Formats

Correspondence (formerly Letters to the Editor) is a flexible format that may include anything of interest to the journal’s readers, from policy debates to announcements to ‘matters arising’ from research papers. A Correspondence may describe primary research data, but only in summary form; this format is not intended for full presentation of data. Correspondence should never be more than one printed page, and usually much less. References from a Correspondence and its Reply are combined into a single list, numbered in order of appearance and placed at the end of the Reply. The number of references should not exceed 10 for either the Correspondence or its Reply. Titles are supplied by the editors.

Correspondence is the only section of the journal that may include replies from people whose views or findings are being criticized. Authors whose primary research data are being criticized should normally have the right of public reply. Criticism of opinions or other secondary matter do not involve an automatic right of reply.

Except for refutations, Correspondence is not normally peer reviewed (although it may be at the editors’ discretion).

News and Views are by prior arrangement only. Most are linked to Articles that appear in Nature Neuroscience, but some may focus on papers of exceptional significance that are published elsewhere. Unsolicited contributions will not normally be considered, although prospective authors are welcome to make proposals.

A Review is an authoritative, balanced and scholarly survey of recent developments in a research field. Proposals are welcome; please contact the editor directly. Review proposals should include a full-page summary of the proposed contents with key references. The requirement for balance need not prevent authors from proposing a specific viewpoint, but if there are controversies in the field, the authors must treat them in an even-handed way. Reviews are normally 3,000-4,000 words, and illustrations are strongly encouraged. References are limited to 100, with exceptions possible in special cases. Citations should be selective. The scope of a Review should be broad enough that it is not dominated by the work of a single laboratory, and particularly not by the authors’ own work.

Reviews include a competing financial interests statement but not received/accepted dates. Reviews are always peer reviewed to ensure factual accuracy, appropriate citations and scholarly balance.

Book Reviews are by prior arrangement only, although suggestions are welcome.

Commentary is a very flexible format; Commentaries may be on policy, science and society or purely scientific issues. The main criteria are that they should be of immediate interest to a broad readership and should be written in an accessible, non-technical style. In contrast to a Review, publication as a Commentary does not imply editorial endorsement of the authors’ opinions. Their length is typically 1-4 pages, although some may be longer. Because the content is variable, the format is also flexible. Commentaries do not contain primary research data, although they may present ‘sociological’ data (funding trends, demographics, bibliographic data, etc.). References are limited to 25, and article titles are omitted from the reference list.

A competing financial interests statement is optional, at the authors’ discretion, although authors are encouraged to indicate their affiliations. Commentaries may be peer reviewed at the editors’ discretion.

Perspective is a new format for scholarly reviews and discussions of the primary research literature that are too technical for a Commentary but do not meet the criteria for a Review-either because the scope is too narrow, or because the author is advocating a controversial position or a speculative hypothesis or discussing his/her own work. Two reviews advocating opposite sides in a research controversy are normally published as Perspectives. The text should not normally exceed 3000 words. References are limited to 50.

Perspectives include a competing financial interests statement but not received/accepted dates. Perspectives are always peer reviewed.

Artwork

Authors are encouraged to submit artwork for consideration. Cover images are normally (but not necessarily) linked to specific papers in that issue, but we may also be able to use other images elsewhere in the journal. Illustrations are selected for their scientific interest and aesthetic appeal. Please send prints (rather than slides or electronic files) in the first instance. Please also include a clear and concise explanation.

POLICY REGARDING PREVIOUS NATURE SUBMISSIONS

 
When authors elect to resubmit to Nature Neuroscience after review at Nature, Nature will release its referees' comments to us. In cases where the work was felt to be of high quality, papers can sometimes be accepted without further review, but if there were serious criticisms, we will consider them in making our editorial decision.

It is helpful to the editors if the authors include with any resubmission a letter explaining the relationship between the submitted manuscript and the previous Nature submission and (assuming it has been revised in light of the referees' criticisms) giving a point-by-point response to the referees. Based on the referees' reports and the authors' response, the editors will then decide whether to seek further advice from referees. If the authors feel that one of the Nature referees has been unreasonable, we may decide, at our discretion, to seek additional advice from another expert in the field. Alternatively, authors may ask us to consider a paper as a new submission, without consulting the Nature reviews, but such requests can only be made at the time of the initial submission.

FORMAT

 
The editors provide detailed advice about format before contributions are formally accepted for publication. A high priority of Nature Neuroscience is that all papers be accessible to nonspecialists. Manuscripts are subject to substantial editing to achieve this goal; editors may suggest revised titles and rewrite the abstracts and introductions of Articles and the first paragraphs of Brief Communications. After acceptance, a copy editor may make further changes so that the text and figures are readable and clear to those outside the field, and so that papers conform to our style (including American English spelling). Contributors are sent proofs and are welcome to discuss proposed changes with the editors, but Nature Neuroscience reserves the right to make the final decision about matters of style and the size of figures.

References are numbered sequentially as they appear in the text, tables and figure legends. The maximum number of references is 50 for Articles and 15 for Brief Communications. Only one publication is given for each number, and footnotes are not used. Only papers that have been published or accepted by a named publication should be in the numbered list; papers in preparation should be mentioned in the text with a list of authors (or initials if any of the authors are co-authors of the present contribution). Published conference abstracts and URL's for web sites should be cited parenthetically in the text, not in the reference list. Grant details and acknowledgements are not permitted as numbered references.

All authors should be included in reference lists unless there are more than five, in which case only the first author should be given, followed by 'et al.'. Authors should be listed last name first, followed by a comma and initials of given names. Titles of all cited articles are required for Articles and Reviews, but not for Brief Communications, News and Views or Book Review contributions. Titles of articles should be in roman text and titles of books in italics; the first word of the title is capitalized, the title written exactly as it appears in the work cited, ending with a period. Journal names are italicized and abbreviated (with periods) according to common usage; refer to Index Medicus for details. Volume numbers appear in bold. For book citations, the publisher and city of publication are required.

Acknowledgements follow the Methods section. They should be brief, and should not include thanks to anonymous referees and editors, or effusive comments. Grant or contribution numbers may be acknowledged.

Figure legends for Articles begin with a brief title for the whole figure and continue with a short description of each panel and the symbols used; they should not contain any details of methods. Brief Communications have brief figure legends (generally shorter than 100 words), which may include methods details.

Figures should be uploaded upon submission via our online manuscript tracking system. Please click here for the preferred formats http://www.nature.com/neuro/esubmission/art.htm.

If you submit hard copies (which is no longer preferred), please follow instructions below:

Figures should be presented on separate sheets of paper attached to each copy of the manuscript. Please include one original figure and three copies of sufficient quality for review. The figures should be attached to the review copies of the manuscript (rather than enclosed in a separate envelope). In general, multi-part figures should be arranged as they would appear in the final version. Please avoid sending oversized figures (larger than 8.5 x 11" or A4) wherever possible. Each copy should be marked with the figure number and the corresponding author's name. Reduction to the scale that will be used on the page is not necessary, but any special requirements (such as the separation distance of stereo pairs) should be clearly specified.

Unnecessary figures and parts (panels) of figures should be avoided: data presented in small tables or histograms, for instance, can generally be stated briefly in the text instead. Figures should not contain more than one panel unless the parts are logically connected; each panel of a multipart figure should be sized so that the whole figure can be reduced by the same amount and reproduced on the printed page at the smallest size at which essential details are visible. When a manuscript is accepted for publication, we may ask for your figures in a different acceptable electronic format. This information will be included in your acceptance letter.

Lettering on figures should be in a clear, sans-serif typeface (for example Helvetica); if possible, the same typeface should be used for all figures in a paper. Figures should be on a white background, and should avoid excessive boxing, unnecessary color, spurious decorative effects (such as three-dimensional 'skyscraper' histograms) and highly pixelated computer drawings. The vertical axis of histograms should not be truncated to exaggerate small differences. The line spacing should be wide enough to remain clear on reduction to the minimum acceptable printed size. Authors will see a proof of figures. Reasonable requests to enlarge figures will be considered, but editors will make the final decision on figure size.

Figures divided into parts should be labeled with a lower-case, bold a, b, and so on, in the same typesize as used elsewhere in the figure. Lettering in figures should be in lower-case type, with the first letter capitalized. Units should have a single space between the number and the unit, and follow SI nomenclature (for example, ms rather than msec) or the nomenclature common to a particular field. Thousands should be separated by commas (1,000). Unusual units or abbreviations should be spelled out in full or defined in the legend. Scale bars should be used rather than magnification factors, with the length of the bar defined in the legend rather than on the bar itself. In general, visual cues are preferred to verbal explanations in the legend (e.g. "broken line", "open red triangles" etc.)

ELECTRONIC TEXT AND FIGURES

 
Once a manuscript is accepted, authors will receive further instructions on electronic formats at that time.

COSTS

 
There is a charge for color figures; for the first figure, the charge is $500, and for each additional figure there is a charge of $250. Otherwise, there are no submission fees or page charges.

EMBARGO POLICY

 
Publication in Nature Neuroscience is conditional on there being no prior disclosure of the work to the media. Thus, authors should not give press conferences or otherwise encourage or cooperate with media coverage of submitted work, except on the understanding that the embargo will be respected. Failure to do so may prejudice further consideration of the manuscript. This policy is in no way intended to restrict legitimate scientific discussion, however, and so the presentation of results at scientific meetings (including the publication of brief abstracts) is acceptable, as is the deposition of data in electronic archives.

Once scheduled for publication, some contributions are selected by the editors for inclusion in the weekly press release. This provides a brief summary, together with contact details for the authors, and is distributed to the media a week before the publication date. Authors of accepted contributions scheduled for publication may also arrange their own publicity (for instance through their institutional press offices), but they must strictly adhere to our press embargo.

DIGITAL FIGURES GUIDE

 
Please indicate on submission whether artwork is available in digital format, but do not send digital files until your manuscript has been accepted.

Formats

• We can only use TIFF, EPS or postscript (ps) files in PC or Macintosh format, preferably from PhotoShop, Illustrator or Freehand software.
• We cannot accept Canvas, Powerpoint or MacDrawPro files.

Please do not scan laser printouts of figures and send them to us as digital files. The dot pattern on a laser print often creates a moire pattern when scanned.

Style

Please give careful thought to clarity and layout, bearing in mind the final size of the printed page (170 mm x 240 mm).

• Figures should be created at approximately the desired reproduction size.
• Place figures on a white background.
• Do not place figure labels (a,b,c, etc.) on digital files. File names should identify the figure and panel; hard copies should be labeled on the reverse.
• When labeling figures, use a sans serif font such as Helvetica, and use the Symbol font for greek characters.
• Labeling must be of sufficient size and contrast to be readable after appropriate reduction. We prefer a 1 point minimum line width.
• When labeling panels and graphs, capitalize the first word only within a phrase.
• Panels representing the same type of material should be reproduced at a uniform scale and with consistent type size throughout, so that the width of features (such as gel lanes) is constant in all panels.
• Italicize gene names and D-markers; use regular style (roman) for protein names.
• Define symbols in a key, where possible. If symbols must be explained in the legend, visual cues are better than verbal ones (for example, instead of "solid circle").

Please avoid the following:

• Gratuitous use of color for decorative effect
• "Boxing" around graphs and figures
• Highly pixelated computer drawings
• Small type and symbols on large graphs; type will be unreadable once reduced to a printable size

Tables

Please submit tables in Word format at the end of your text document.

Stereo Images

• Avoid space between stereo images.
• Stereo diagrams should be presented for divergent, wall-eyed viewing.

FTP site

Using any type of FTP software, you can place files on our FTP site. Name your files with the corresponding author's name, figure number and letter, and file format (for example, Dr. Smith's figure 3a in TIFF format: smith3a.tiff). Do not use slashes (/,\) or hyphens (-) when naming your file. Please compress your files before uploading.

site address: ftp.nature.com
user name: nn
password: brain

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION GUIDE

 
Authors should note that Supplementary Information is not copy edited by Nature Neuroscience, so they should ensure that it is clearly and succinctly presented, and that the style of terms conforms with the rest of the paper. The following guidelines (also available as a separate printable PDF) detail the creation, citation and submission of supplementary information.