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
The entire guide for authors and referees is available in PDF format.
AIMS AND SCOPE OF JOURNAL
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology is an integrated forum for structural and molecular studies. The journal places a strong emphasis on functional and mechanistic understanding of how molecular components in a biological process work together. Structural data may provide such insights, but they are not a pre-requisite for publication in the journal.
Specific areas of interest include, but are not limited to:
- Structure and function of proteins, nucleic acids and other macromolecules
- Structure and function of multi-component complexes
- DNA replication, repair and recombination
- Chromatin structure and remodeling
- Transcription
- RNA processing
- Translation
- Regulation of transcription and translation
- Functions of noncoding RNAs
- Protein folding, processing and degradation
- Sorting and trafficking of proteins and RNA
- Signal transduction and intracellular signaling
- Membrane processes
- Cell surface proteins and cell-cell interactions
- Molecular basis of disease
SAMPLE ISSUE
Free online access to the November 2004 issue of Nature Structural & Molecular Biology.
A list of example papers published in recent issues of Nature Structural Biology that illustrate the scope of Nature Structural & Molecular Biology can be found here.
EDITORS AND CONTACT INFORMATION
Like the other Nature titles, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology 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 Structural & Molecular Biology 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 Structural & Molecular Biology, 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
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology is a continuation of Nature Structural Biology, and this is reflected in its impact factor. According to the ISI Journal Citation Reports the 2005 impact factor for Nature Structural & Molecular Biology is 12.19, placing it first among primary research journals in biophysics and fifth among primary research journals in biochemistry and molecular biology.
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.
ABBREVIATION
The correct abbreviation for abstracting and indexing purposes is Nat. Struct. Mol. Biol.
ISSN AND EISSN
The international standard serial number (ISSN) for Nature Structural & Molecular Biology is 1545-9993, and the electronic international standard serial number (EISSN) is 1545-9985.
The entire guide for authors and referees is available in PDF format.
