Nature Communications

Nature Communications
source
Title	Nature Communications
Discipline	Multidisciplinary sciences
Editor	Magdalena Skipper
Publisher	Nature Portfolio
Country	United Kingdom
History	2010–present
Frequency	Continuous
Impact	17.694 (2022)
ISSN	2041-1723
Website	www.nature.com/ncomms

Nature Communications. It is a peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary scientific journal published by the Nature Portfolio, a division of Springer Nature. Launched in April 2010, it was established to publish high-quality research across the natural sciences, including biology, physics, chemistry, Earth science, and their interdisciplinary subfields. The journal operates on a fully open access model and has rapidly become one of the world's most cited and influential scientific publications.

History and background

The journal was launched by Nature Publishing Group, which later became part of Springer Nature following its merger with Springer Science+Business Media. Its creation was part of a strategic expansion by the publisher to address the growing volume of high-quality scientific research, particularly in emerging interdisciplinary areas. The founding editor-in-chief was Lesley Anson, and the inaugural editorial board included prominent scientists like Ruth Nussinov and Hagan Bayley. Initial publication was weekly, but it transitioned to continuous online publication to accelerate the dissemination of research. The launch coincided with a broader shift in academic publishing towards open access, influenced by initiatives like the Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities.

Scope and editorial policies

The journal's scope encompasses all areas of the natural sciences, with a strong emphasis on work that advances knowledge across traditional disciplinary boundaries. Key research areas include cancer biology, nanotechnology, climate science, quantum physics, and artificial intelligence. Editorial decisions are made by a team of professional editors with academic backgrounds, supported by an international editorial board. The peer review process is rigorous, often involving multiple experts from institutions like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology or the Max Planck Society. It employs advanced screening tools and adheres to policies on data availability, competing interests, and ethical standards aligned with organizations like the Committee on Publication Ethics.

Abstracting and indexing

The publication is abstracted and indexed in all major scientific databases, which is critical for global discoverability and citation tracking. These services include the Science Citation Index Expanded, part of Clarivate's Web of Science, the Scopus database from Elsevier, and PubMed Central operated by the National Institutes of Health. It is also included in the Directory of Open Access Journals and the Chemical Abstracts Service. This comprehensive indexing ensures its articles are accessible through platforms used by researchers at institutions worldwide, from the University of Oxford to the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Impact and reception

It has established a significant reputation within the global scientific community, reflected in its high Journal Impact Factor and consistent position in rankings like the Journal Citation Reports. The 2022 impact factor was 17.694, placing it among the top multidisciplinary journals alongside titles like Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America and Science Advances. It is frequently covered in mainstream and scientific media, including The New York Times and BBC News. The journal has received praise for its editorial standards but has also been part of broader debates about the cost of open access and the metrics-driven culture in academia.

Business model and open access

The journal operates exclusively under a gold open access model, where authors or their institutions pay an article processing charge to publish, and all content is immediately freely available under a Creative Commons license. The standard APC is among the highest in the industry, a point of discussion within the research community. Revenue supports the editorial process, peer review management, and production. This model aligns with mandates from major funders like the European Research Council, the National Science Foundation, and initiatives such as Plan S. The publisher, Springer Nature, also offers financial support through agreements like Transformative Agreements with consortia such as the Max Planck Digital Library.

Notable articles

The journal has published numerous high-impact studies that have attracted significant attention. Notable examples include early research on CRISPR gene editing applications, groundbreaking studies in perovskite solar cells, and influential papers on machine learning applications in protein folding, contributing to fields recognized by awards like the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Other landmark publications have covered the discovery of new exoplanets, advances in quantum computing, and major findings in COVID-19 research that informed public health responses by bodies like the World Health Organization. These articles often involve large international collaborations, such as those affiliated with the Large Hadron Collider or the Human Cell Atlas project.

Category:Academic journals published in the United Kingdom Category:Multidisciplinary scientific journals Category:Open access journals