Authors submitting primary research articles to Nature have the option of publishing their research using either:
1 –Traditional subscription publishing model–an article is submitted and is assessed by our editors. If suitable it will be put through Peer Review, and if successful (subject to amendments), will be eligible for publication. Published articles are made available to institutions and individuals who subscribe to Nature or who pay to read specific articles.
2–Gold Open Access–same publishing process as above. The difference is that when an article is accepted for publication, the author/s or funder/s pay an Article Processing Charge (APC). The final version of the published article is then free to read for everyone. TheAPC to publish Gold Open Access in Nature is £8890.00/$12290.00/€10290.00.
Find out more about Open Access.
Articles that are published OA are freely available online, and are published under a Creative Commons license, which allows for reuse and sharing under the licence terms. The publishing costs are covered by the author’s institution or funding body paying an Article Processing Charge (APC).
OPEN ACCESS FUNDING
For information about research funders and institutions that provide funding for APCs, visit Springer Nature’s.
Springer Nature offers agreements that enable institutions to cover open access publishing costs. Learn more about ouropen access agreementsto check your eligibility.
THE BENEFITS OF PUBLISHING OPEN ACCESS
- For authors–their work is seen by more people. Open Access articles are viewed and cited more often than articles behind a paywall.
- For readers–they can access and build upon the most recent work in their field. Content is available, and reusable for all.
- For funders–the work they fund will reach a wider audience and will have a more immediate impact.
Find out more about the benefits of Open Access publishing.
If authors need to publish OA because they are mandated to by their institution or funder, they can choose this route. For those who do not have these restrictions, they can choose to publish either via the subscription route or OA. The corresponding author will need to select which publishing option they want after their research is accepted.
Authors may need to take specific actions to achieve compliance with funder and institutional open access mandates. If your research is supported by a funder that requires immediate open access (e.g. according to Plan S principles) then you should select the gold OA route, and we will direct you to the compliant route where possible. For authors selecting the subscription publication route, the journal's standard licensing terms will need to be accepted, including self-archiving policies. Those licensing terms will supersede any other terms that the author or any third party may assert apply to any version of the manuscript.
The selection of the publishing model will happen after the paper has undergone editorial processing and been accepted. All papers, regardless of the publishing model, submitted to Nature will continue to receive high levels of personal author service, editorial rigour, peer-review, and high quality publishing services from our team of in-house editors.
WHAT IS AN ARTICLE PROCESSING CHARGE?
The Article Processing Charge (APC) is the amount authors are charged when their manuscript is accepted for publication. APCs cover the following:
- Editorial work:assess and select the most important research to publish, partner with authors and reviewers to deliver significant improvements to manuscripts through our rigorous and intensive review process, manage peer review, bespoke correspondence with authors, administrative support and journal development.
- Technical infrastructure and innovation:development, maintenance and operation of online journal systems and websites.
- Production of articles:formatting, lay-out and mark-up of articles, copy editing and inclusion in indexing services.
- Promotion of journal and content:making sure readers and authors know about the work published in the journal.
- Customer service:responding to the needs of authors and readers.
Find out more about how we select, edit, publish, curate and promote scientific research.
Nature aims to provide the highest levels of author service, editorial rigour and consistency. Our in-house team of highly qualified, professional, independent editors:
- read and evaluate all submissions
- decide which papers to send out to peer review
- guide authors and reviewers through the peer review process
- decide which papers to accept
- work with authors to ensure the highest standards of research reporting and sharing are followed.
All our editors come from academic environments, are all PhD-level, and have a deep understanding of scientific research and publishing.
GOLD OA FUND
A dedicated fund is available to enable authors from countries currently classified by the World Bank as low-income (LIC) or lower-middle-income economies (LMICs) to publish their primary research OA in Nature and the Nature research journals.
For more information, please visit our policy pages.
