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 Methods is a forum for the publication of novel methods and significant improvements to tried-and tested techniques in the life sciences and related areas of chemistry. This monthly publication is aimed at a broad, interdisciplinary audience of academic and industry researchers actively involved in laboratory practice. It provides them with new tools to conduct their research and places a strong emphasis on the immediate practical relevance of the work presented.
The journal publishes primary research papers as well as overviews of recent technical and methodological developments, and detailed descriptions of important established methods. We are actively seeking primary methods papers of relevance to the biological and biomedical sciences, including methods grounded in chemistry that have a practical application to the study of biological problems.
To enhance the practical relevance of each paper, description of the method must be accompanied by its validation, its application to an important biological question and results illustrating its performance in comparison to available approaches. Articles are selected for publication that present broad interest, thorough assessments of methodological performance and comprehensive technical descriptions that facilitate immediate application.
Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Methods for DNA cloning, amplification and sequencing
- Methods for protein engineering, expression and purification
- Methods for proteomics, including separations, chromatography, mass spectrometry, analysis of binding interactions, microarray-based technologies, display techniques, analysis of post-translational modifications, glycobiology and metabolomics
- Methods for systems biology, including proteomics approaches, protein interaction analysis methods and genome
wide expression and regulation profiling
- Biomolecular structural analysis technologies, including NMR and crystallography
- Chemical biology techniques, including chemical labeling, methods for expanding the genetic code and directed
evolution
- Biophysical methods, including single molecule and lab-on-a-chip technologies
- Imaging technologies, including labeling methods and reporters, microscopy, optical spectroscopy and in vivo imaging techniques
- Techniques for the analysis and manipulation of gene expression, including epigenetics, gene targeting, transduction, RNA interference and microarray-based technologies
- Methods for cell culture and manipulation, including stem cells, single cell methods and lab-on-a-chip
technologies
- Immunological techniques, including production of antibodies, antibody-based assays and immunolabeling
- Methods for the study of physiology and disease processes including cancer
- Methods involving model organisms and their manipulation
SAMPLE ISSUE
Free online access to the January 2007 issue.
EDITORIAL PROCESS
Presubmission inquiries may be made via our online submission system before a manuscript is submitted, but they are not required. Editors can give the authors a rapid judgment of whether a particular paper is likely to be of interest, but cannot promise that the paper will be reviewed until they have received the entire manuscript as a regular submission.
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 presubmission inquiries, initial submission, revision, and final submission are slightly different, so please consult the directions before proceeding to the online submission system.
Journals in the Nature family no longer take copyright on the primary research articles 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 Methods 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 Methods 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 & referees @ npg for detailed information about author and referee services and publication policies at the Nature family of journals. These journals, including Nature Methods, share a number of common policies including the following:
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 2006 impact factor for Nature Methods is 14.959, according to the ISI Journal Citation Reports. This is the second impact factor for Nature Methods (up from 6.741 in 2005).
The 2006 impact factor represents the number of citations in 2006 to papers published in 2004 and 2005, divided by the total number of papers published in 2004 and 2005. Nature Methods launched in October 2004; thus this impact factor is based on 15, rather than 24, months of publication. A more detailed explanation of impact factors appears on the
ISI web site.
IMPACT FACTOR
The 2005 impact factor for Nature Methods is 6.741, according to the ISI Journal Citation Reports. This is the first impact factor for Nature Methods. 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. Nature Methods launched in October 2004, thus its first impact factor is based on three, rather than 24, months of publication. A more detailed explanation of impact factors appears on the ISI web site.
EDITORIAL BLOGS
We encourage community participation in all Nature journal blogs. Methagora is Nature Methods' commenting forum. 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.Methods
ISSN AND EISSN
The international standard serial number (ISSN) for Nature Methods is 1548-7091, and the electronic international standard serial number (EISSN) is 1548-7105.
FURTHER EDITORIAL INFORMATION
Please see the following editorials for more information on various aspects of journal policy.
Why did we launch Nature Methods?
Nature Methods and the interface between biology and chemistry
Purpose of the Correspondence section
Results of first readers' survey
What constitutes pre-publication and how to avoid it
Guidelines for images used in publications
How Nature Methods peer reviews papers
Relationship between Nature Methods and Nature Protocols
The importance of declaring conflicts of financial interest
Availability of custom-designed software used in publications
The guide for authors and the editorial policies, including the guide for referees, are available in PDF format.
|
