Nature (journal)

The huge progress in science and mathematics during the 19th century was recorded in journals written mostly in German or French, as well as in English. Britain underwent enormous technological and industrial changes and advances particularly in the latter half of the 19th century.{{cite journal |last1=Schroeder |first1=Robert |last2=Siegel |first2=Gretta E |s2cid=143466709 |title=A Cooperative Publishing Model for Sustainable Scholarship |journal=Journal of Scholarly Publishing |date=2006 |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=86–98 |doi=10.1353/scp.2006.0006 |url=https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/ulib_fac/66 }} The most respected scientific journals of this time were the refereed journals of the Royal Society, which had published many of the great works from Isaac Newton and Michael Faraday to Charles Darwin. In addition, the number of popular science periodicals doubled from the 1850s to the 1860s.{{harvnb|Barton|1996|p=3}} According to the editors of these popular science magazines, the publications were designed to serve as "organs of science", in essence, a means of connecting the public to the scientific world.

Nature, first created in 1869, was not the first magazine of its kind in Britain. One journal to precede Nature was Recreative Science: A Record and Remembrancer of Intellectual Observation,{{Cite web|title=Recreative Science: Record and Remembrancer of Intellectual Observation (1860–62)|url=https://conscicom.web.ox.ac.uk/article/recreative-science-record-and-remembrancer-of-intellectual-observation-1860-62|access-date=2021-05-13|website=conscicom.web.ox.ac.uk|language=en}} which, created in 1859, began as a natural history magazine and progressed to include more physical observational science and technical subjects and less natural history.{{harvnb|Barton|1996|p=7}} The journal's name changed from its original title to Intellectual Observer: A Review of Natural History, Microscopic Research, and Recreative Science{{Cite web|title=The Intellectual Observer: Review of Natural History, Microscopic Research and Recreative Science (1862–68)|url=https://conscicom.web.ox.ac.uk/article/the-intellectual-observer-review-of-natural-history-microscopic-research-and-recreative-scie|access-date=2021-05-13|website=conscicom.web.ox.ac.uk|language=en}} and then to the Student and Intellectual Observer of Science, Literature, and Art.{{harvnb|Barton|1996|p=6}} While Recreative Science had attempted to include more physical sciences such as astronomy and archaeology, the Intellectual Observer broadened itself further to include literature and art as well. Similar to Recreative Science was the scientific journal Popular Science Review, created in 1862,{{harvnb|Barton|1996|p=13}} which covered different fields of science by creating subsections titled "Scientific Summary" or "Quarterly Retrospect", with book reviews and commentary on the latest scientific works and publications. Two other journals produced in England prior to the development of Nature were the Quarterly Journal of Science and Scientific Opinion, established in 1864 and 1868, respectively. The journal most closely related to Nature in its editorship and format was The Reader, created in 1863; the publication mixed science with literature and art in an attempt to reach an audience outside of the scientific community, similar to Popular Science Review.

These similar journals all ultimately failed. The Popular Science Review survived longest, lasting 20 years and ending its publication in 1881; Recreative Science ceased publication as the Student and Intellectual Observer in 1871. The Quarterly Journal, after undergoing a number of editorial changes, ceased publication in 1885. The Reader terminated in 1867, and finally, Scientific Opinion lasted a mere 2 years, until June 1870.

File:Nature cover, November 4, 1869.jpg

Not long after the conclusion of The Reader, a former editor, Norman Lockyer, decided to create a new scientific journal titled Nature,{{harvnb|Browne|2002|p=248}} taking its name from a line by William Wordsworth: "To the solid ground of nature trusts the Mind that builds for aye".[http://www.bartleby.com/145/ww698.html Poem: "A Volant Tribe of Bards on earth are found"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171205170418/http://www.bartleby.com/145/ww698.html |date=5 December 2017 }}. Bartleby.com. Retrieved on 20 June 2013. First owned and published by Alexander Macmillan, Nature was similar to its predecessors in its attempt to "provide cultivated readers with an accessible forum for reading about advances in scientific knowledge." Janet Browne has proposed that "far more than any other science journal of the period, Nature was conceived, born, and raised to serve polemic purpose." Many of the early editions of Nature consisted of articles written by members of a group that called itself the X Club, a group of scientists known for having liberal, progressive, and somewhat controversial scientific beliefs for their time. Initiated by Thomas Henry Huxley, the group consisted of such important scientists as Joseph Dalton Hooker, Herbert Spencer, and John Tyndall, along with another five scientists and mathematicians; these scientists were all avid supporters of Darwin's theory of evolution as common descent, a theory which, during the latter half of the 19th century, received a great deal of criticism among more conservative groups of scientists.{{harvnb|Browne|2002|p=247}} Perhaps it was in part its scientific liberality that made Nature a longer-lasting success than its predecessors. John Maddox, editor of Nature from 1966 to 1973 and from 1980 to 1995, suggested at a celebratory dinner for the journal's centennial edition that perhaps it was the journalistic qualities of Nature that drew readers in; "journalism" Maddox states, "is a way of creating a sense of community among people who would otherwise be isolated from each other. This is what Lockyer's journal did from the start."{{cite journal |last1=Maddox |first1=John |last2=Macmillan |first2=Harold |title=The 'Nature' Centenary Dinner |journal=Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London |date=1970 |volume=25 |issue=1 |pages=9–15 |doi=10.1098/rsnr.1970.0002 |jstor=530861 |doi-access=free }} In addition, Maddox mentions that the financial backing of the journal in its first years by the Macmillan family also allowed the journal to flourish and develop more freely than scientific journals before it.

Norman Lockyer, the founder of Nature, was a professor at Imperial College. He was succeeded as editor in 1919 by Sir Richard Gregory.{{cite web |url=https://nature.com/npg_/company_info/timeline1.html#/nature/history/timeline_1860s.html |title=Nature Research: History |website=Nature |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061115084545/http://npg.nature.com/npg/servlet/Content?data=xml%2F02_history.xml&style=xml%2F02_history.xsl#/nature/history/timeline_1860s.html |archive-date=15 November 2006 |access-date=6 December 2018 }} Gregory helped to establish Nature in the international scientific community. His obituary by the Royal Society stated: "Gregory was always very interested in the international contacts of science, and in the columns of Nature he always gave generous space to accounts of the activities of the International Scientific Unions."{{cite journal |title=Richard Arman Gregory, 1864–1952 |journal=Obituary Notices of Fellows of the Royal Society |date=January 1997 |volume=8 |issue=22 |pages=410–417 |doi=10.1098/rsbm.1953.0007 |doi-access=free }} During the years 1945 to 1973, editorship of Nature changed three times, first in 1945 to A. J. V. Gale and L. J. F. Brimble (who in 1958 became the sole editor), then to John Maddox in 1965, and finally to David Davies in 1973. In 1980, Maddox returned as editor and retained his position until 1995. Philip Campbell became Editor-in-chief of all Nature publications until 2018. Magdalena Skipper has since become Editor-in-chief.

In 1970, Nature first opened its Washington office; other branches opened in New York in 1985, Tokyo and Munich in 1987, Paris in 1989, San Francisco in 2001, Boston in 2004, and Hong Kong in 2005. In 1971, under John Maddox's editorship, the journal split into Nature Physical Sciences (published on Mondays), Nature New Biology (published on Wednesdays), and Nature (published on Fridays). In 1974, Maddox was no longer editor, and the journals were merged into Nature.{{cite web |title=History of Nature |url=https://www.nature.com/nature/about/history-of-nature |website=Nature }} Starting in the 1980s, the journal underwent a great deal of expansion, launching over ten new journals. These new journals comprise Nature Research, which was created in 1999 under the name Nature Publishing Group and includes Nature, Nature Research Journals, Stockton Press Specialist Journals and Macmillan Reference (renamed NPG Reference). In 1996, Nature created its own website{{Cite web|url = http://www.nature.com/npg_/company_info/timeline2.html|title = Branching out (1970–1999)|access-date = 13 November 2014 |publisher = Nature Research |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070629183906/http://www.nature.com/npg_/company_info/timeline2.html |archive-date=June 29, 2007 }} and in 1999 Nature Publishing Group began its series of Nature Reviews. Some articles and papers are available for free on the Nature website, while others require the purchase of premium access to the site. {{As of|2012}}, Nature claimed an online readership of about 3 million unique readers per month.{{cite journal |title=Announcement: A new iPad app for Nature readers |journal=Nature |date=12 December 2012 |volume=492 |issue=7428 |pages=154 |doi=10.1038/492154a |doi-access=free }}

On 30 October 2008, Nature endorsed an American presidential candidate for the first time when it supported Barack Obama during his campaign in America's 2008 presidential election.{{cite journal |title=America's choice |journal=Nature |date=29 October 2008 |volume=455 |issue=7217 |pages=1149 |doi=10.1038/4551149a |pmid=18971969 |bibcode=2008Natur.455Q1149. |doi-access=free }}{{cite web |first=Brian |last=Angliss |url=http://www.scholarsandrogues.com/2008/10/31/nature-endorses-obama/ |title=Weekly science journal Nature endorses a presidential candidate: Barack Obama (updated) |website=Scholars & Rogues |date=31 October 2008 |access-date=2017-11-04}} In October 2012, an Arabic edition of the magazine was launched in partnership with King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology. As of the time it was released, it had about 10,000 subscribers.{{cite journal |last1=Yahia |first1=Mohammed |title=Nature Arabic Edition launches |journal=Nature Middle East |date=18 October 2012 |doi=10.1038/nmiddleeast.2012.149 }} On 2 December 2014, Nature announced that it would allow its subscribers and a group of selected media outlets to share links allowing free, "read-only" access to content from its journals. These articles are presented using the digital rights management system ReadCube (which is funded by the Macmillan subsidiary Digital Science), and does not allow readers to download, copy, print, or otherwise distribute the content. While it does, to an extent, provide free online access to articles, it is not a true open access scheme due to its restrictions on re-use and distribution.{{cite web|title=Nature journal subscribers can now share article links globally|url=https://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-12/02/nature-publishing|website=Wired.co.uk|access-date=3 December 2014|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141202182430/http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2014-12/02/nature-publishing|archive-date=2 December 2014}}{{cite news |last1=Yuhas |first1=Alan |title=Science journal Nature to make archives available online |url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2014/dec/02/nature-archives-free |work=The Guardian |date=2 December 2014 }} On 15 January 2015, details of a proposed merger with Springer Science+Business Media were announced.{{cite news |last1=Schuetze |first1=Arno |title=Nature magazine publisher to merge with Springer Science |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/publishing-ma/nature-magazine-publisher-to-merge-with-springer-science-idUSF9N0TV00F20150115 |work=Reuters |date=15 January 2015 }}

In May 2015 it came under the umbrella of Springer Nature, by the merger of Springer Science+Business Media and Holtzbrinck Publishing Group's Nature Publishing Group, Palgrave Macmillan, and Macmillan Education.{{cite web |url=https://www.springer.com/gp/about-springer/media/press-releases/corporate/springer-nature-created-following-merger-completion/256626 |title=Springer Nature created following merger completion |date=6 May 2015 |publisher=Springer}} Since 2011, the journal has published Nature's 10 "people who mattered" during the year, as part of their annual review.{{cite journal |last1=Gibney |first1=Elizabeth |last2=Callaway |first2=Ewen |last3=Cyranoski |first3=David |last4=Gaind |first4=Nisha |last5=Tollefson |first5=Jeff |last6=Courtland |first6=Rachel |last7=Law |first7=Yao-Hua |last8=Maher |first8=Brendan |last9=Else |first9=Holly |last10=Castelvecchi |first10=Davide |title=Nature's 10: Ten people who mattered in science in 2018 |journal=Nature |date=18 December 2018 |volume=564 |issue=7736 |pages=325–335 |doi=10.1038/d41586-018-07683-5 |pmid=30563976 |bibcode=2018Natur.564..325G |doi-access=free }}{{cite journal |last1=Butler |first1=Declan |last2=Callaway |first2=Ewen |last3=Check Hayden |first3=Erika |last4=Cyranoski |first4=David |last5=Hand |first5=Eric |last6=Nosengo |first6=Nicola |last7=Samuel Reich |first7=Eugenie |last8=Tollefson |first8=Jeff |last9=Yahia |first9=Mohammed |title=365 days: Nature's 10 |journal=Nature |date=21 December 2011 |volume=480 |issue=7378 |pages=437–445 |doi=10.1038/480437a |pmid=22193082 |bibcode=2011Natur.480..437B |doi-access=free }}

File:Nature citations per article, 2013-2015.jpg

According to Science, another academic journal, being published in Nature has been known to carry a certain level of prestige in academia.{{cite journal |last1=Callier |first1=Viviane |title=Yes, it is getting harder to publish in prestigious journals if you haven't already |journal=Science |date=10 December 2018 |doi=10.1126/science.caredit.aaw3380 |s2cid=165486966 }} In particular, empirical papers are often highly cited, which can lead to promotions, grant funding, and attention from the mainstream media. Because of these positive feedback effects, competition among scientists to publish in high-level journals like Nature and its closest competitor, Science, can be very fierce. Nature{{'}}s impact factor, a measure of how many citations a journal generates in other works, was 42.778 in 2019 (as measured by Thomson ISI).{{Cite web|title=Journal metrics {{!}} Nature Research|url=https://www.nature.com/nature-research/about/journal-metrics|website=www.nature.com|language=en|access-date=2020-05-30}}{{Cite web|title=Nature|url=https://www.scimagojr.com/journalsearch.php?q=21206&tip=sid|website=www.scimagojr.com|access-date=2020-05-30}} However, as with many journals, most papers receive far fewer citations than the impact factor would indicate.{{cite bioRxiv |last1=Larivière |first1=Vincent |last2=Kiermer |first2=Véronique |last3=MacCallum |first3=Catriona J. |last4=McNutt |first4=Marcia |last5=Patterson |first5=Mark |last6=Pulverer |first6=Bernd |last7=Swaminathan |first7=Sowmya |last8=Taylor |first8=Stuart |last9=Curry |first9=Stephen |date=2016-07-05 |title=A simple proposal for the publication of journal citation distributions |language=en |biorxiv=10.1101/062109}} Nature's journal impact factor carries a long tail.{{Cite journal|last=Callaway|first=Ewen|date=2016-07-14|title=Beat it, impact factor! Publishing elite turns against controversial metric|journal=Nature|language=en|volume=535|issue=7611|pages=210–211|doi=10.1038/nature.2016.20224|pmid=27411614|bibcode=2016Natur.535..210C|s2cid=4452614|issn=0028-0836|doi-access=free}}

Studies of methodological quality and reliability have found that some high-prestige journals including Nature "publish significantly substandard structures", and overall "reliability of published research works in several fields may be decreasing with increasing journal rank".{{cite journal |vauthors=Brembs B |title=Prestigious Science Journals Struggle to Reach Even Average Reliability |journal=Frontiers in Human Neuroscience |volume=12 |page=37 |year=2018 |pmid=29515380 |pmc=5826185 |doi=10.3389/fnhum.2018.00037 |doi-access=free}}

As with most other professional scientific journals, papers undergo an initial screening by the editor, followed by peer review. In this process, the editor selects several other scientists to read and critique articles, based on their expertise with the subject matter but who have no connection to the research under review. These critiques are then given to the original author, who makes revisions based on feedback. In the case of Nature, articles are generally sent for peer review if it is decided that they deal with a topical subject and are sufficiently ground-breaking in that particular field. As a consequence, the majority of submitted papers are rejected without peer review.

According to Nature{{'}}s original mission statement:

{{blockquote|It is intended, FIRST, to place before the general public the grand results of Scientific Work and Scientific Discovery; and to urge the claims of Science to a more general recognition in Education and in Daily Life; and, SECONDLY, to aid Scientific men themselves, by giving early information of all advances made in any branch of Natural knowledge throughout the world, and by affording them an opportunity of discussing the various Scientific questions which arise from time to time.{{cite web |url=http://media.nature.com/full/nature-cms/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/7568/mission.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221010/http://media.nature.com/full/nature-cms/uploads/ckeditor/attachments/7568/mission.pdf |archive-date=2022-10-10 |url-status=live |title=Nature's mission statement |access-date=13 June 2020 |work= Nature |date=11 November 1869 }} Reprinted as: {{cite journal |title=A Weekly Illustrated Journal of Science (Reprinted from Nature, January 20, 1870) |journal=Nature |date=November 1969 |volume=224 |issue=5218 |pages=424 |doi=10.1038/224424a0 |bibcode=1969Natur.224..424W |author1=Wordsworth |s2cid=4255504 |doi-access=free }}}}

This was later{{Year needed|date=September 2023}} revised to:

{{blockquote|First, to serve scientists through prompt publication of significant advances in any branch of science, and to provide a forum for the reporting and discussion of news and issues concerning science. Second, to ensure that the results of science are rapidly disseminated to the public throughout the world, in a fashion that conveys their significance for knowledge, culture and daily life.{{cite web |url=http://www.nature.com/nature/about/index.html |title=Nature's mission statement |website=Nature|date=15 June 2023 }}}}

Many of the most significant scientific breakthroughs in modern history have been first published in Nature. The following is a selection of scientific breakthroughs published in Nature, all of which had far-reaching consequences, and the citation for the article in which they were published.

• Wave nature of particles (Davisson–Germer experiment) — {{Cite journal | author=C. Davisson and L. H. Germer | s2cid=4104602 | title=The scattering of electrons by a single crystal of nickel | journal=Nature | year=1927 | volume=119 | pages=558–560 | doi=10.1038/119558a0|bibcode = 1927Natur.119..558D | issue=2998|ref=none | url=https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_Scattering_of_Electrons_by_a_Single_Crystal_of_Nickel.pdf}}
• The neutron — {{Cite journal | author=J. Chadwick | s2cid=4076465 | title=Possible existence of a neutron | journal=Nature | year=1932 | volume=129 | page=312 | doi=10.1038/129312a0|bibcode = 1932Natur.129Q.312C | issue=3252 | author-link= J. Chadwick| doi-access=free |ref=none |url=}}
• Nuclear fission — {{Cite journal | author=L. Meitner and O. R. Frisch | s2cid=4113262 | title=Disintegration of uranium by neutrons: a new type of nuclear reaction | journal=Nature | year=1939 | volume=143 | pages=239–240 | doi=10.1038/143239a0|bibcode = 1939Natur.143..239M | issue=3615|ref=none}}
• The structure of DNA — {{Cite journal | author=J. D. Watson and F. H. C. Crick | s2cid=4253007 | title=Molecular structure of Nucleic Acids: A structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid | journal=Nature | year=1953 | volume=171 | pages=737–738 | doi=10.1038/171737a0 | pmid=13054692 | issue=4356|bibcode = 1953Natur.171..737W | title-link=Molecular structure of Nucleic Acids |ref=none}}
• First molecular protein structure (myoglobin) — {{Cite journal |author1=J. C. Kendrew |author2=G. Bodo |author3=H. M. Dintzis |author4=R. G. Parrish |author5=H. Wyckoff |author6=D. C. Phillips |s2cid=4162786 | title=A three-dimensional model of the myoglobin molecule obtained by X-ray analysis | journal=Nature | year=1958 | volume=181 | pages=662–666 | doi = 10.1038/181662a0 | pmid= 13517261 | issue= 4610|bibcode = 1958Natur.181..662K |ref=none }}
• Plate tectonics — {{Cite journal | author=J. Tuzo Wilson| s2cid=4226266 | title=Did the Atlantic close and then re-open? | journal=Nature | year=1966 | volume=211 | pages=676–681| doi=10.1038/211676a0|bibcode = 1966Natur.211..676W | issue=5050 | author-link= J. Tuzo Wilson| doi-access=free |ref=none}}
• Pulsars — {{Cite journal | author-link=Antony Hewish|first1=A. |last1=Hewish|author-link2=Jocelyn Bell Burnell|first2=S. J. |last2=Bell|first3=J. D. H. |last3=Pilkington|first4=P. F. |last4=Scott|first5=R. A. |last5=Collins| s2cid=4277613 | title=Observation of a Rapidly Pulsating Radio Source | journal=Nature | year=1968 | volume=217 | pages=709–713| doi=10.1038/217709a0 | bibcode=1968Natur.217..709H | issue=5130|ref=none}}
• The ozone hole — {{Cite journal | author=J. C. Farman, B. G. Gardiner and J. D. Shanklin | s2cid=4346468 | title=Large losses of total ozone in Antarctica reveal seasonal ClOx/NOx interaction | journal=Nature | year=1985 | volume=315 | pages=207–210 | doi=10.1038/315207a0 | issue=6016|bibcode = 1985Natur.315..207F|ref=none }}
• First cloning of a mammal (Dolly the sheep) — {{Cite journal |author-link1=Ian Wilmut|first1=I.|last1=Wilmut|first2=A. E. |last2=Schnieke|first3=J. |last3=McWhir|first4=A. J. |last4=Kind |author-link5=Keith Campbell (biologist)|first5=K. H. S. |last5=Campbell | s2cid=4260518 | title=Viable offspring derived from fetal and adult mammalian cells | journal=Nature | year=1997 | volume=385 | pages=810–813 | doi=10.1038/385810a0 | issue=6619 | pmid=9039911|bibcode = 1997Natur.385..810W |ref=none}}
• The human genome — {{Cite journal | author=International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium | title=Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome | journal=Nature | year=2001 | volume=409 | issue=6822 | pages=860–921 | doi=10.1038/35057062 | pmid=11237011| bibcode=2001Natur.409..860L |hdl=2027.42/62798 | doi-access=free|ref=none | hdl-access=free }}

In 2017, Nature published an editorial entitled "Removing Statues of Historical figures risks whitewashing history: Science must acknowledge mistakes as it marks its past". The article commented on the placement and maintenance of statues honouring scientists with histories that have since come under criticism for a variety of reasons. Specifically, the editorial called on examples of J. Marion Sims, the 'Father of gynecology' who experimented on African American female slaves who were unable to give informed consent, and Thomas Parran Jr. who oversaw the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. The editorial as written made the case that removing such statues, and erasing names, runs the risk of "whitewashing history", and stated "Instead of removing painful reminders, perhaps these should be supplemented". The article caused a large outcry and was quickly modified by Nature.{{cite journal |title=Science must acknowledge its past mistakes and crimes |journal=Nature |date=7 September 2017 |volume=549 |issue=7670 |pages=5–6 |doi=10.1038/549005b |pmid=28880309 |bibcode=2017Natur.549R...5. |s2cid=4462464 |doi-access=free }} The article was largely seen as offensive, inappropriate, and by many, racist. Nature acknowledged that the article as originally written was "offensive and poorly worded" and published selected letters of response.{{cite journal |title=Readers respond to Nature's Editorial on historical monuments |journal=Nature |date=8 September 2017 |doi=10.1038/nature.2017.22584 }} The editorial came just weeks after hundreds of white supremacists marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, in the Unite the Right rally to oppose the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee, setting off violence in the streets and killing a young woman. When Nature posted a link to the editorial on Twitter, the thread quickly exploded with criticisms. In response, several scientists called for a boycott.{{Cite news|last=Schulson |first=Michael |title=History Lessons for 'Nature'|date=17 September 2017 |newspaper=Undark Magazine |url=https://undark.org/article/nature-journal-j-marion-sims/}} On 18 September 2017, the editorial was updated and edited by Philip Campbell, the editor of the journal.{{cite journal |last1=Campbell |first1=Philip |s2cid=47247939 |title=Statues: an editorial response |journal=Nature |date=18 September 2017 |volume=549 |issue=7672 |pages=334 |doi=10.1038/549334c |pmid=28922663 |bibcode=2017Natur.549..334C }}

When Paul Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield won a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for research initially rejected by Nature and published only after Lauterbur appealed against the rejection, Nature acknowledged more of its own missteps in rejecting papers in an editorial titled, "Coping with Peer Rejection":

{{blockquote|[T]here are unarguable faux pas in our history. These include the rejection of Cherenkov radiation, Hideki Yukawa's meson, work on photosynthesis by Johann Deisenhofer, Robert Huber and Hartmut Michel, and the initial rejection (but eventual acceptance) of Stephen Hawking's black-hole radiation.{{cite journal |journal=Nature |date=16 October 2003 |title=Coping with peer rejection |volume=425 |page=645 |doi=10.1038/425645a |pmid=14562060 |issue=6959 |bibcode=2003Natur.425..645.|doi-access=free }}}}

In June 1988, after nearly a year of guided scrutiny from its editors, Nature published a controversial and seemingly anomalous paper detailing Jacques Benveniste and his team's work studying water memory.{{cite journal |last1=Davenas |first1=E. |last2=Beauvais |first2=F. |last3=Amara |first3=J. |last4=Oberbaum |first4=M. |last5=Robinzon |first5=B. |last6=Miadonnai |first6=A. |last7=Tedeschi |first7=A. |last8=Pomeranz |first8=B. |last9=Fortner |first9=P. |last10=Belon |first10=P. |last11=Sainte-Laudy |first11=J. |last12=Poitevin |first12=B. |last13=Benveniste |first13=J. |s2cid=12992106 |title=Human basophil degranulation triggered by very dilute antiserum against IgE |journal=Nature |date=June 1988 |volume=333 |issue=6176 |pages=816–818 |doi=10.1038/333816a0 |pmid=2455231 |bibcode=1988Natur.333..816D }} The paper concluded that less than a single molecule of antibody diluted in water could trigger an immune response in human basophils, defying the physical law of mass action. The paper excited substantial media attention in Paris, chiefly because their research sought funding from homeopathic medicine companies. Public inquiry prompted Nature to mandate an extensive and stringent experimental replication in Benveniste's lab, through which his team's results were refuted.{{cite journal |last1=Maddox |first1=John |last2=Randi |first2=James |last3=Stewart |first3=Walter W. |s2cid=9579433 |title='High-dilution' experiments a delusion |journal=Nature |date=1 July 1988 |volume=334 |issue=6180 |pages=287–290 |doi=10.1038/334287a0 |pmid=2455869 |bibcode=1988Natur.334..287M }}

Before publishing one of its most famous discoveries, Watson and Crick's 1953 paper on the structure of DNA, Nature did not send the paper out for peer review. John Maddox, Nature{{'}}s editor, stated: "the Watson and Crick paper was not peer-reviewed by Nature ... the paper could not have been refereed: its correctness is self-evident. No referee working in the field ... could have kept his mouth shut once he saw the structure".{{cite journal |last1=Maddox |first1=J. |doi=10.1038/426119b |title=How genius can smooth the road to publication |journal=Nature |volume=426 |issue=6963 |page=119 |year=2003|bibcode=2003Natur.426..119M |doi-access=free }}

An earlier error occurred when Enrico Fermi submitted his breakthrough paper on the weak interaction theory of beta decay. Nature rejected the paper because it was considered too remote from reality.{{cite book|author=Rhodes, Richard |title=The Making of the Atomic Bomb|publisher= Touchstone|location= New York|date= 1986|isbn= 978-0-671-44133-3}} Fermi's paper was published by Zeitschrift für Physik in 1934.{{cite journal |last1=Fermi |first1=E. |s2cid=125763380 |title=Versuch einer Theorie der β-Strahlen. I |journal=Zeitschrift für Physik |volume=88 |issue=3–4 |pages=161–177 |year=1934 |doi=10.1007/BF01351864 |bibcode=1934ZPhy...88..161F}}

The journal apologised for its initial coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic in which it linked China and Wuhan with the outbreak, which may have led to racist attacks.{{Cite web|url=https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3079293/coronavirus-nature-magazine-apologises-reports-linking-covid-19|title=Scientific journal admits error in linking coronavirus with China|date=2020-04-09|website=South China Morning Post|language=en|access-date=2020-04-10}}{{cite journal |title=Stop the coronavirus stigma now |journal=Nature |date=7 April 2020 |volume=580 |issue=7802 |pages=165 |doi=10.1038/d41586-020-01009-0 |pmid=32265571 |bibcode=2020Natur.580..165. |doi-access=free }}

From 2000 to 2001, a series of five fraudulent papers by Jan Hendrik Schön was published in Nature. The papers, about semiconductors, were revealed to contain falsified data and other scientific fraud. In 2003, Nature retracted the papers. The Schön scandal was not limited to Nature; other prominent journals, such as Science and Physical Review, also retracted papers by Schön.{{cite journal |title=Retractions' realities |journal=Nature |date=6 March 2003 |volume=422 |issue=6927 |pages=1 |doi=10.1038/422001a |pmid=12621394 |bibcode=2003Natur.422Q...1. |doi-access=free }}

In 2024, a paper titled "Pluripotency of mesenchymal stem cells derived from adult marrow," published in 2002, was retracted due to concerns raised regarding some of the panels shown in a figure, making it the most-cited retracted paper ever.{{Cite web |date=2024-07-07 |title=University of Minnesota retracts pioneering studies in stem cells, Alzheimer's disease |url=https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-06-university-minnesota-retracts-stem-cells.html |access-date=2024-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240707093350/https://medicalxpress.com/news/2024-06-university-minnesota-retracts-stem-cells.html |archive-date=7 July 2024 }}{{Cite journal |last1=Jiang |first1=Yuehua |last2=Jahagirdar |first2=Balkrishna N. |last3=Reinhardt |first3=R. Lee |last4=Schwartz |first4=Robert E. |last5=Keene |first5=C. Dirk |last6=Ortiz-Gonzalez |first6=Xilma R. |last7=Reyes |first7=Morayma |last8=Lenvik |first8=Todd |last9=Lund |first9=Troy |last10=Blackstad |first10=Mark |last11=Du |first11=Jingbo |last12=Aldrich |first12=Sara |last13=Lisberg |first13=Aaron |last14=Low |first14=Walter C. |last15=Largaespada |first15=David A. |date=June 2024 |title=Retraction Note: Pluripotency of mesenchymal stem cells derived from adult marrow |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=630 |issue=8018 |pages=1020 |doi=10.1038/s41586-024-07653-0 |issn=1476-4687|doi-access=free |pmid=38886620 |bibcode=2024Natur.630.1020J }}{{Cite journal |last1=Jiang |first1=Yuehua |last2=Jahagirdar |first2=Balkrishna N. |last3=Reinhardt |first3=R. Lee |last4=Schwartz |first4=Robert E. |last5=Keene |first5=C. Dirk |last6=Ortiz-Gonzalez |first6=Xilma R. |last7=Reyes |first7=Morayma |last8=Lenvik |first8=Todd |last9=Lund |first9=Troy |last10=Blackstad |first10=Mark |last11=Du |first11=Jingbo |last12=Aldrich |first12=Sara |last13=Lisberg |first13=Aaron |last14=Low |first14=Walter C. |last15=Largaespada |first15=David A. |date=July 2002 |title=Retracted Article: Pluripotency of mesenchymal stem cells derived from adult marrow |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/nature00870 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=418 |issue=6893 |pages=41–49 |doi=10.1038/nature00870 |pmid=12077603 |bibcode=2002Natur.418...41J |issn=1476-4687}}{{Retracted|doi=10.1038/s41586-024-07653-0|pmid=38886620|https://retractionwatch.com/2024/06/18/nature-retracts-highly-cited-2002-paper-that-claimed-adult-stem-cells-could-become-any-type-of-cell/ Retraction Watch|intentional=yes}}

In 1999, Nature began publishing science fiction short stories. The brief "vignettes" are printed in a series called "Futures". The stories appeared in 1999 and 2000, again in 2005 and 2006, and have appeared weekly since July 2007.{{Cite web |title=Futures |url=https://www.nature.com/nature/articles?type=futures |access-date=9 August 2012 |website=Nature}} Sister publication Nature Physics also printed stories in 2007 and 2008.{{cite web |url= http://www.nature.com/nphys/archive/categ_fut_012008.html |title=Futures Archive |work= Nature Physics |access-date= 1 May 2014 }} In 2005, Nature was awarded the European Science Fiction Society's Best Publisher award for the "Futures" series.{{cite web |url= http://www.esfs.info/esfs-awards-2000.html#2005 |title= The ESFS Awards, Eurocon 2005: Glasgow – Scotland |author= European Science Fiction Society |date= 21 May 2013 |author-link= European Science Fiction Society |access-date= 10 August 2012 |archive-date= 16 July 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140716140006/http://www.esfs.info/esfs-awards-2000.html#2005 |url-status= dead }} One hundred of the Nature stories between 1999 and 2006 were published as the collection Futures from Nature in 2008.{{cite book |url= https://archive.org/details/futuresfromnatur0000unse |title= Futures from Nature: 100 Speculative fictions from the pages of the leading science journal |editor= Henry Gee |publisher= Tor Books |date= 2008 |location= New York City |isbn= 978-0-7653-1805-3 |quote= With stories from: Arthur C. Clarke, Bruce Sterling, Charles Stross, Cory Doctorow, Greg Bear, Gregory Benford, Oliver Morton, Ian R. MacLeod, Rudy Rucker, Greg Egan, Stephen Baxter, Barrington J. Bayley, Brian Stableford, Frederik Pohl, Vernor Vinge, Nancy Kress, Michael Moorcock, Vonda McIntyre, Kim Stanley Robinson, John M. Ford and eighty more. |access-date= 10 August 2012 |df= dmy-all |url-access= registration }} Another collection, Futures from Nature 2, was published in 2014.Henry Gee, Colin Sullivan, ed. (2014), [http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?652217 Nature Futures 2] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200618205121/http://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/pl.cgi?652217 |date=18 June 2020 }}, Tor Books, {{ISBN|978-1-4668-7998-0}}. With stories from: Madeline Ashby, Neal Asher, Gregory Benford, Eric Brown, Ian Watson and more

File:Nature Materials Nov 2008.jpg, a specialized journal from Nature Portfolio, 2018]]

Nature is edited and published in the United Kingdom by a division of the international scientific publishing company Springer Nature that publishes academic journals, magazines, online databases, and services in science and medicine. Nature has offices in London, New York City, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Boston, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris, Munich, and Basingstoke. Nature Portfolio also publishes other specialized journals including Nature Neuroscience, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Methods, the Nature Clinical Practice series of journals, Nature Structural & Molecular Biology, Nature Chemistry, and the Nature Reviews series of journals.{{citation needed|date=June 2020}}{{Cite web |title=Journals A-Z |url=https://www.nature.com/siteindex |access-date=March 3, 2023 |website=Nature Portfolio}}

Since 2005, each issue of Nature has been accompanied by a Nature Podcast{{cite web| url = http://www.nature.com/nature/podcast/archive.html | work = Nature |title = Archive: Nature Podcast |access-date = 1 May 2014 }} featuring highlights from the issue and interviews with the articles' authors and the journalists covering the research. It is presented by Kerri Smith and features interviews with scientists on the latest research, as well as news reports from Nature's editors and journalists. The Nature Podcast was founded – and the first 100 episodes were produced and presented – by clinician and virologist Chris Smith of Cambridge and The Naked Scientists.{{Cite web|last=Ganguli|first=Ishani|date=1 June 2006|title=A science podcaster bares all|url=https://www.the-scientist.com/uncategorized/a-science-podcaster-bares-all-47514|access-date=2022-01-01|website=The Scientist Magazine|language=en}}

Nature Portfolio actively supports the self-archiving process and in 2002 was one of the first publishers to allow authors to post their contributions on their personal websites, by requesting an exclusive licence to publish, rather than requiring authors to transfer copyright. In December 2007, Nature Publishing Group introduced the Creative Commons attribution-non-commercial-share alike unported licence for those articles in Nature journals that are publishing the primary sequence of an organism's genome for the first time.{{cite web |url=http://www.itconversations.com/shows/detail1864.html |title=Interview with Timo Hannay, director of web publishing for Nature Publishing Group |work=Jon Udell's Interviews with Innovators |date=5 July 2007}}

In 2008, a collection of articles from Nature was edited by John S. Partington under the title H. G. Wells in Nature, 1893–1946: A Reception Reader and published by Peter Lang.{{cite book|author=Partington, John S. |year=2008 |title=H. G. Wells in Nature, 1893–1946: A Reception Reader |place=Frankfurt |publisher=Peter Lang |isbn=978-3631571101}}{{primary source inline|date=June 2020}}{{page needed|date=June 2020}}

Nature also publishes a number of journals in different disciplines, all prefixed with "Communications", which complement their other journals. These include:{{cite web | title=Communications journals | website=Nature Portfolio | url=https://www.nature.com/nature-portfolio/about/communications-journals | access-date=4 August 2023}}

• Communications Biology
• Communications Chemistry
• Communications Earth & Environment
• Communications Engineering
• Communications Materials
• Communications Medicine
• Communications Physics
• Communications Psychology

{{Reflist}}

• {{Cite book|last=Baldwin|first=Melinda|title=Making Nature: The History of a Scientific Journal|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=2016|isbn=9780226261454|location=Chicago|language=English}}
• {{cite journal | last1 = Barton | first1 = R. | year = 1996 | title = Just Before Nature: The Purposes of Science and the Purposes of Popularization in Some English Popular Science Journals of the 1860s| journal = Annals of Science | volume = 55 | issue = 1|doi=10.1080/00033799800200101|pmid=11619805 | pages = 1–33 }}
• {{cite book |last=Browne |first=J. |year=2002|title=Charles Darwin: The Power of Place|place= New York|publisher= Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. |isbn=978-0691114392 }}

{{Commons category|Nature (journal)}}

{{Wikisource}}

• {{official website}}
• [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/40302 Freely available scans of volumes: 1–112 (1869–1923)]
• [https://www.natureindex.com/ Nature Index]
• [https://www.science.org/content/article/9500-nature-journals-will-now-make-your-paper-free-read For €9500, Nature journals will now make your paper free to read]

{{Prince of Asturias Award for Communication and Humanities}}

{{Portal bar|Science}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nature (Journal)}}

Category:1869 establishments in England

Category:English-language journals

Category:Multidisciplinary scientific journals

Category:Natural sciences

Category:Nature Research academic journals

Category:Publications established in 1869

Category:Weekly journals