Bronwyn Wake, Chief Editor

Nature Climate Change and other Nature titles

How to get published

• Founded in 1869

• The world’s leading, global,

scientific journal

• Across the full range of

scientific disciplines

• Nature’s mission:

To communicate the world’s best

and most important science to

scientists across the world and to

the wider community interested in

science

What makes a Nature paper?

• Highly selective — only a fraction of submissions are published.

• High impact.

• Each journal is run by team of full-time, professional editors.

• Each journal is independent from each other journal — rejection from one doesn’t prejudice consideration by another.

What makes a Nature paper?

• Reports the most significant advances that have the widest implications.

• Significance should be readily appreciated by non-specialists.

• Which means, the significance of physics papers should be readily apparent to biologists.

• And, the significance of biology papers should be readily apparent to physicists.

What makes a Nature research journal paper?

• Reports the most significant advances within the discipline it covers.

• Significance should be readily appreciated by non-specialists.

• The significance of papers in one specialty should be apparent to researchers in another.

But …

• Only limited space in Nature and the NatureResearch journals.

• Only the MOST important research with the WIDEST implications can be published.

• What about important advances in specialists areas of research whose principal appeal is to other specialists?

The solution…

Nature Communications• 2015 Impact Factor = 11.329

• Highest impact, multidisciplinary, Open Access journal in the world!

• Publishes significant advances that have to potential to influence thinking of specialists in a field

• New ideas, new insights, new technologies

• Broad appeal isn’t a prerequisite for publication… but great science is!

• Specialist scope means the chances of being published are more than twicethat of other Nature journals

• Longer format

Nature

Nature research journals

Nature Communications

Scientific Reports

Selectivity

for

impact

Copyediting

standards

Editorial

Input

Breadth of

audience

Nature

Nature research journals

Nature Communications

Scientific Reports

Selectivity

for

impact

Copyediting

standards

Editorial

Input

Breadth of

audience

Scientific Reports

● Impact Factor: 5.578.

● Speed: Scientific Reports is committed to providing rapid publication service.

● Acceptance rate: Over 60%

● Scope: Publishes technically sound, original research papers in all areas of the natural and clinical sciences.

● International Editorial Board: 1600 experts across all disciplines.

● Visibility: Over 800,000 article page views per month.

Nature Climate Change

focus is on climate

change, its impacts and

implications for the

economy, policy and

society

Scope

Key facts

• First issue March 29, 2011

• 12 issues per year

• Online and print (recycled paper)

• Impact factor of 17.184

• 4 in-house editors

• External advisory board

Team• Chief Editor: Bronwyn Wake (climate science, oceanography,

marine biology) (London)

• Senior Editor: Alastair Brown (ecological responses,

biogeochemistry, climate impacts, adaptation, vulnerability)

(London)

Joining us soon

• Senior Editor: Jennifer Richler (psychology, behavioral sciences)

(New York) – mid-September

• Associate Editor: Graham Simpkins (climate dynamics, modelling,

cryosphere) (London) – early November

• Currently being recruited

Senior Editor: Monica Contestabile (social science including economics, policy)

Content

• Original research in the natural and social

sciences, plus original interdisciplinary research

• Review articles on frontier topics

• Opinion and analysis from thought leaders in

business, academia and policy

• Original reporting from renowned journalists

Selection of manuscripts for review process

Overseeing the review process

Final decision on manuscripts

Editors’ Core Tasks

In addition, editorsCommission and edit News and Views articles

Write Research Highlights

Commission and edit commentaries, book reviews

Write editorials

Write press releases

Use social media

Interact with the community at conferences and lab visits

External Advisory Board

• All decisions made by in-house editors

• Ten external advisors to advise on publishing social

science

• In areas covering psychology, behaviour, anthropology,

human geography, sociology, policy, decision-making,

governance, communications, economics, human ecology,

adaptation, development and vulnerability.

• Suggest referees, topics for review, encourage

submissions and occasionally review articles and advise

on editorial thresholds.

• Like Nature, Nature Climate Change publishes original research on

understanding of the physical climate system and environmental

science.

• Nature Climate Change focuses exclusively on contemporary climate

change.

• And publishes much that neither Nature nor subject Nature research

journals would publish

• Social science research

• Research that has substantive/groundbreaking implications for

policy, the economy but not as great a scientific advance as

research published in Nature

Comparison to other Nature titles

Nature-branded journals and their overlap

Nature

(and Nature Communications)

Nature

Climate

Change

Social sciences &

humanities

Nature Energy

Also Nature Plants, Nature Geoscience, Nature Microbiology….

Nature Ecology &

Evolution (2017)

Natural sciences

Relation with Nature, Nature Research

Journals & Nature Communications

The journals are editorially independent

(different teams of editors)

It is the authors’ choice where

they wish to submit their papers

Think about your intended audience

Transfers & Consultation

Offer a transfer system:

• before review: manuscript transferred

• after review: manuscript plus referees’ reports & identities

Just an offer. Welcome to submit independently.

Consultation is an opt-in service

• permission to discuss manuscript with other Nature

Research editors

• able to provide advice on suitability

Submitting to Nature Climate Change

• Pre-submission enquiries: referenced abstract only

• Full letters (2,000 words) and articles (2,000-3,000 words)

• Reviews and Perspectives (3,000-5,000 words, usually invited;

proposals welcome and should include background, summary, key

references and list any previous reviews on the topic)

• Commentary (≤1,500 words; almost always invited, though

enquiries welcome in the form of a 200 word summary to the editor;

commentaries may be peer-reviewed at the editors’ discretion)

• Correspondence (500-1,000 words)

Criteria for publication

• Novelty – work must represent a conceptual advance in understanding

of climate change or of its impacts and/or implications for policy, society

and the economy

• Importance in own field

• Broad interest – the findings must be of interest to the wider climate

research community, spanning atmospheric science to anthropology

The editorial decision is made by the editor(s), and can

be made at all stages of the review process (at submission,

or after each round of review).

• Scientifically robust – determined during peer review

Peer review process

• Standard Nature peer review process

Experts in their field

Cover all aspects of the paper

Find unbiased, balanced, objective referees

Ask specific questions about the paper

Respect authors’ request for exclusion (within reason)

Avoid recent co-authors, PhD supervisors, close colleagues etc.

Ideally: geographical balance

• Interdisciplinary papers can have more than 3 referees,

however, depending on the diversity of expertise on the

paper

Common reasons for reject

General:

• Too specialized, aimed at a very narrow audience

• Incremental advance over previous work

• Unclear conclusion, unclear implications

Technical:

• Insufficient data to support the conclusions

• Flawed analysis

• Observations without interpretation

• Interpretations without observation

So, if you think you have a Nature Climate Change paper

• ask a friendly (but brutally honest) scientists outside your area

if they find the conclusions interesting

• ask yourself if you would accept the paper as a referee

If both are Yes

• write it up as brief as possible, ideally in 2,000 words

• explain in a cover letter why it’s of general interest

• submit through our website

.

www.nature.com/nclimate