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This press release is copyright Nature.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Announcing Nature Communications — a multidisciplinary, online-only journal with an open-access option
In April 2010 Nature Publishing Group (NPG) will add a new title to its established suite of journals, increasing author choice as science communication and its business models continue to evolve. Nature Communications will publish high-quality peer-reviewed research across the biological, chemical and physical sciences, and will be the first online-only Nature-branded journal.
“As a born-digital publication, Nature Communications will provide readers and authors with the benefits of enhanced web technologies alongside a rapid, yet rigorous, peer-review process.” says Sarah Greaves, Publisher of Nature Communications. “Nature Communications will offer authors high visibility for their papers on the nature.com platform, access to a broad readership and efficient peer review with fast publication. For readers, the journal will offer functionality including interactive browsing and enhanced metadata to enable sorting by keywords.”
Nature Communications will publish research papers in all areas of the biological, chemical and physical sciences, encouraging papers that provide a multidisciplinary approach. The research will be of the highest quality, without necessarily having the scientific reach of papers published in Nature and the Nature research journals, and as such will represent advances of significant interest to specialists within each field. A team of independent editors, supported by an external editorial advisory panel, will make rapid and fair publication decisions based on peer review, with all the rigour expected of a Nature-branded journal.
To ensure Nature Communications responds to changes in journal publishing, authors will be able to publish their work either via the traditional subscription route, or as open access through payment of an article processing charge (APC).
Authors who choose the open-access option will be able to license their work under a Creative Commons license, including the option to allow derivative works. Authors who do not choose the open-access option will still enjoy all of the benefits of NPG’s self-archiving policy and manuscript deposition service.
“Developments in publishing and web technologies, coupled with increasing commitment by research funders to cover the costs of open access, mean the time is right for a journal that offers editorial excellence and real choice for authors.” said David Hoole, Head of Content Licensing at NPG.
NPG is delighted to announce that Lesley Anson, PhD, has been appointed the Chief Editor of Nature Communications. Lesley, a biophysicist by training, has been a manuscript editor for Nature since 1999 and has had a vital role in developing the editorial content of the Nature Insight programme. Lesley is joined by Associate Editors Stefano Tonzani and Katie Ridd. Stefano, who has a PhD in chemical physics and research background in computational nanoscience, joins Nature Communications from Nature, where he covered the field of materials science. Katie has a biochemistry and genetics background and investigated mechanisms of tumorigenesis in her postdoctoral work. Before joining the Nature Communications team, Katie handled a wide range of subjects at Nature Protocols.
The journal will begin accepting submissions in October 2009, with the first issue published online in April 2010. More detail, including pricing, will be available ahead of launch. Institutional subscriptions will be priced to reflect the uptake of the APC — demonstrating NPG’s continuing commitments to author service alongside flexible publishing models and quality customer service.
The Nature Communications editorial team will be based in NPG’s London office, and editorial enquiries should be sent to: [email protected].
CONTACT
Ruth Francis (Head of Press, Nature Publishing Group)
Tel: +44 20 7843 4562; E-mail: [email protected]
About Nature Publishing Group (NPG):
Nature Publishing Group (NPG) is a publisher of high-impact scientific and medical information in print and online. NPG publishes journals, online databases and services across the life, physical, chemical and applied sciences and clinical medicine.
Focusing on the needs of scientists, Nature (founded in 1869) is the leading weekly, international scientific journal. For this audience, NPG also publishes a range of Nature research journals and Nature Reviews journals, plus a range of prestigious academic journals including society-owned publications. Online, nature.com provides over five million visitors per month with access to NPG publications and online databases and services, including Nature News and NatureJobs plus access to Nature Network and Nature Education’s scitable.com.
Scientific American is at the heart of NPG’s newly formed consumer media division, meeting the needs of the general public. Founded in 1845, Scientific American is the oldest continuously published magazine in the US, and the leading authoritative publication for science in the general media. Together with scientificamerican.com and 15 local-language editions around the world, it reaches over three million consumers and scientists. Other titles include Scientific American Mind and Spektrum der Wissenschaft in Germany.
Throughout all its businesses, NPG is dedicated to serving the scientific and medical communities and the wider, scientifically interested, general public. Part of Macmillan Publishers Limited, NPG is a global company with principal offices in London, New York and Tokyo, and offices in cities worldwide including Boston, Buenos Aires, Delhi, Hong Kong, Madrid, Barcelona, Munich, Heidelberg, Basingstoke, Melbourne, Paris, San Francisco, Seoul and Washington DC. For more information, please go to www.nature.com.
