Scientifically edited: Our editors work closely with the authors to enhance the structure and clarity of the article, to ensure that the key points are crystallized and to make the article accessible to the journal's audience. Each article goes through multiple stages of in-depth editing to produce the high-quality content for which the Nature Reviews journals are known.

Artwork developed: Figures, tables and other display items enhance the accessibility and understanding of our articles and help to convey the main messages. Our editors assist authors with the development of display items, to produce accurate and easy to follow figures and tables that illustrate often complex ideas. Our talented art editors then redraw the figures to improve their clarity, flow, presentation and visual appeal.

Peer reviewed: Our editors select experts in the field to review the manuscript and provide constructive feedback that helps to shape the content of the article. Reviewers are requested to focus on scientific accuracy and balance. Once feedback has been received, our editors support authors throughout the revision process by providing tailored guidance.

Copy edited: Before publication, articles are copy edited for consistency and house style, to ensure that high-quality, trusted content is published across the Nature Reviews journals.

Ethics checks

At Nature Reviews, our editors assess and confirm that relevant standards have been upheld with respect to publishing, research and copyright practices.

Plagiarism checked:  The Nature Reviews journals aim to publish articles that provide originality and fresh insight; we are  part of Similarity Check, a service that uses software tools to screen submitted manuscripts for text overlap, to avoid publishing an article containing text from previously published work, including the author’s own. 

Patient consent checked: Authors need to provide patient consent forms for any identifiable information (including photographs) related to patients or human research participants described in the article. Our editors carry out the necessary checks and ensure that a statement of affirmation is included in the published article.

Unpublished clinical trial registration requested: Our editors  request and check that all unpublished clinical trials described in an article are appropriately referenced and registered. 

References to unpublished work checked: Our editors check acceptance of all ‘in press’ articles and ensure that consent is obtained for all references to unpublished work or personal communications and that preprint articles are appropriately referenced. 

Competing interests declared: In the interests of transparency, our authors must declare any financial and non-financial competing interests. Our editors ensure that a declaration of competing interests is visible to the peer reviewers and is included in all published articles.

Third party rights obtained: We request that our authors declare if they wish to reuse display items from previously published or copyrighted material. Our team of editorial assistants ensures that the appropriate permissions are obtained before publication. 

Upholding community standards

At Nature Reviews, we support publishing practices that promote transparency and diversity, and support our community of scientists.

Author contribution statements included: We request that all authors have substantially contributed to at least one of the following: researching the literature, discussions of the article content, writing and/or substantial editing or reviewing of the draft manuscript. 

Author identification requested: As part of our efforts to improve transparency in authorship, we request that all corresponding authors on published papers provide their Open Researcher and Contributor Identifier (ORCID).

Peer review recognition offered: In recognition of the time and expertise our peer reviewers provide to the editorial process, we offer them the opportunity to be named on the published paper and support easy registration of their review activity on the ORCID database via our submission system.

ECR peer review involvement offered: The Nature Reviews journals are committed to facilitating training in peer review and ensuring that everyone involved in our peer review process is appropriately recognised. We have, therefore, started an initiative  to allow and encourage established referees to formally involve early-career researchers (ECRs) in our peer review process.

Diversity commitment: We are committed to promoting practices that support diversity and inclusion in science communication and publishing (see announcements here and here). We strive for diversity when selecting authors and peer-reviewers and we encourage commissioned authors to bear the same principles in mind when proposing co-authors. We also ensure that our content presents a balanced overview and diverse perspectives.