Historically, Nature Physics and the other Nature titles have offered authors the option to make a 'presubmission enquiry'. Authors could submit just the first paragraph or abstract of their manuscript for a quick editorial decision on whether or not the work might be suitable for publication in Nature Physics — but with no guarantee at that stage that the full manuscript, if subsequently submitted, would be sent for peer review. We hear from our colleagues at other Nature titles, especially in some of the biological sciences, that this scheme works well, particularly where there is the question of whether the research falls within the scope of the journal. But for Nature Physics, it doesn't work.

Assessing whether a manuscript contains the kind of advance in physics that we look for can be a subtle business. And 'scope' isn't an issue: if it's physics, it's within our remit. As we so often found ourselves responding along the lines of “we can't be sure from the abstract, please send the full manuscript”, it has become clear that, for this journal, this was merely a time-wasting step; and, worse, misperceived by some authors as a required part of the submission process.

Hence 'presubmission enquiry' is no longer available in our submission system, http://mts-nphys.nature.com (of course any general enquiries from authors are always welcome at naturephysics@nature.com). Instead, in every case now, we will base a quick decision on a proper assessment of your manuscript in all its glory.