editoriallyg u i d e t o a u t h o r s
aiMs anD scOPe OF JOurnaL
Nature Genetics publishes the very highest quality research in genet-ics. It encompasses genetic and functional genomic studies on human traits and on other model organisms, including mouse, fly, nematode and yeast. Current emphasis is on the genetic basis for common and complex diseases and on the functional mechanism, architecture and evolution of gene networks, studied by experimental perturbation.Integrative genetic topics comprise, but are not limited to:• Genes in the pathology of human disease
• Molecular analysis of simple and complex genetic traits • Cancer genetics • Epigenetics • Gene therapy
• Developmental genetics
• Regulation of gene expression • S trategies and technologies for extracting function from genomic data
• Pharmacological genomics • Genome evolution
saMPLe issue
Free online access to the January 2010 issue.
Please also consult our general guide for manuscript preparation and submission , which includes information on article formats,
journal style and figure preparation tips. Note that procedures for initial submission, revision and final submission are slightly differ-ent, so please consult the directions before proceeding to the online submission system . Presubmission inquiries are not a prerequisite for the regular submission process,
but are intended as a mechanism for authors to receive rapid feedback on whether a manuscript in eDitOrs anD cOntact inFOrMatiOn
Like the other Nature titles, Nature Genetics has no external editorial board. Instead, all editorial decisions are made by a team of full-time professional editors. For information on their research backgrounds and scientific interests, see About the Editors .
A full list of journal staff appears on the masthead.
reLatiOnsHiP tO OtHer nature JOurnaLs
Nature Genetics is editorially independent, and its editors make their own decisions, independent of the other Nature journals. If a paper is rejected from one Nature journal, the authors can use an auto-mated manuscript transfer service to submit the paper to another Nature journal via a link sent to them by the editor handling the manuscript. Authors should note that referees’ comments (including any confidential comments to the editor) and identities are trans-ferred to the editor of the second journal along with the manuscript. In that case, the journal editors will take the previous reviews into account when making their decision, although in some cases the editors may choose to take advice from additional or alternative referees. Alternatively, authors may choose to request a fresh review, in which
case they should not use the automated transfer link, and the editors will evaluate the paper without reference to the previ-ous review process. More details are available on the manuscript transfer service .
EDITORIAL AND PUBLISHING POLICIES
Please see authors & referees @ npg for detailed information about author and referee services and publication policies at the Nature family of journals. These journals, including Nature Genetics , share a number of common policies including the following:• Author responsibilities
• License agreement and author copyright • Embargo policy and press release s
• Use of experimental animals and human subjects • Competing financial interests • Availability of materials and data • Digital image integrity and standard s • Security concern s
• Refutations, complaints and correction s • Duplicate publicatio n
• Confidentiality and pre-publicity • Plagiarism and fabricatio n
FURTHER EDITORIAL INFORMATION
Please see the following editorials for more information on various aspects of journal policy.
Providing clinical data in genetic studie s
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Portraying research participant s
Materials sharing polic y
Minimum information about a microarra y
Criteria for genetic association studies
iMPact FactOr
The 2010 impact factor for Nature Genetics is 36.377, according to the Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports. This places Nature Genetics first out of 156 journals in the field of genetics and heredity. The 2010 impact factor represents the number of citations in 2010 to papers published in 2008 and 2009, divided by the total number of papers published in 2008 and 2009. A more detailed explanation of impact factors appears on the Thomson Reuters web sit e. eDitOriaL BLOgs
We encourage community participation in all Nature journal blogs. Free association is the Nature Genetics blog for links and editorial comment on research and news in genetics, as well as reader feed-back. Nautilus is a blog for authors and aspiring authors of Nature Publishing Group journals. Peer-to-Pee r is a blog for reviewers and is about peer review. Other Nature Publishing Group blogs can be found on the blog index page.
aBBreViatiOn
The correct abbreviation for abstracting and indexing purposes is Nat. Genet.
issn anD eissn
The international standard serial number (ISSN) for Nature Genetics is 1061-4036, and the electronic international standard serial num-ber (EISSN) is 1546-1718.
Content Types
PriMarY researcH FOrMats
An Article is a substantial novel research study, with a complex story often involving several techniques or approaches. The main text (exclud-ing abstract, Methods, references and figure legends) is 2,000–4,000 words. The abstract is typically 100 words, unreferenced. Articles have a maximum of 8 display items (figures and/or tables). An introduction (without heading) is followed by sections headed Results, Discussion and Methods. The Results and Methods should be divided by topical subheadings; the Discussion may contain subheadings at the editors’ discretion. If statistical testing was used to analyze the data, the Methods section must contain a subsection on statistical analysis.
Articles include a competing financial interests statement and received/accepted dates. They may be accompanied by supplementary information. Articles are peer reviewed.
A Letter reports an important novel research result, but is less sub-stantial than an Article. This format
begins with an introductory para-graph (not abstract) of approximately 150 words, summarizing the background, rationale, main results and implications. This paragraph should be referenced, as in Nature style, and should be considered part of main text, so that any subsequent introductory material avoids too much redundancy with the introductory paragraph. The text is lim-ited to 1,500 words, excluding the introductory paragraph, Methods, references and figure legends. Letters should have no more than 6 dis-play items (figures and/or tables). Letters are not divided by headings, except for the Methods heading. If statistical testing was used to analyze the data, the Methods section must contain a subsection on statistical analysis.
Letters include a competing financial interests statement and received/accepted dates. They may be accompanied by supplementary information. Letters are peer reviewed.
A Technical Report presents primary research data on a new tech-nique that is likely to be influential. This format is not a review of tech-nology, but its primary report in the literature. It may involve a new biological discovery to prove the usefulness of the technique, but this is not a requirement. Technical Reports have a format broadly similar to that of Articles, though many Technical Reports are shorter than a typical Article. They begin with an unreferenced abstract (typically 150 words) followed by separate sections for introduction, Results, Discussion (with optional subheadings) and Methods. If sta
tistical test-ing was used to analyze the data, the Methods section must contain a subsection on statistical analysis. There is no strict limit on the number of display items. References are normally limited to 30, but this can be flexible at the editor’s discretion.
Technical Reports include a competing financial interests statement and received/accepted dates. They may be accompanied by supplemen-tary information. Technical Reports are peer reviewed.
A Brief Communication reports a concise study of high qual-ity and broad interest. This format may not exceed 3 printed pages. Brief Communications begin with a brief unreferenced abstract (3 sentences, no more than 70 words), which will appear on Medline. The main text is typically 1,000–1,500 words, including abstract, references and figure legends, and contains no headings. Brief Communications normally have no more than 2 display items, although this may be flexible at the discretion of the editor, provided the page limit is observed. References are limited to 15. Article titles are omitted from the reference list.
Brief Communications include a competing financial interests state-ment and received/accepted dates. They may be accompanied by sup-plementary information. Brief Communications are peer reviewed. An Analysis is a new analysis of existing data (typically large genomic, transcriptomic or proteomic dat
a sets from arrays or other high-throughput platforms) or new data obtained in a comparative analysis of technologies that lead to novel and arresting conclu-sions of importance to a broad audience. The main text (excluding abstract, Methods, references and figure legends) is approximately 3,000 words. The abstract is typically 100–150 words, unreferenced. Analyses have no more than 6 display items (figures and/or tables). An introduction (without heading) is followed by sections headed Results, Discussion and Methods. The Results and Methods should be divided by topical subheadings; the Discussion does not contain subheadings. If statistical testing was used to analyze the data, the Methods section must contain a subsection on statistical analysis. References are limited to 50.
Analyses include received/accepted dates. They may be accompa-nied by supplementary information. Resources are peer reviewed, and authors must provide a competing financial interests statement before publication.
OtHer FOrMats
Correspondence (formerly Letters to the Editor) is a flexible format that may include anything of interest to the journal’s readers, from policy debates to announcements to ‘matters arising’ from research papers. A Correspondence may describe primary research data, but only in sum-mary form; t
his format is not intended for full presentation of data. Correspondence should never be more than one printed page, and usu-ally much less. The number of references should not exceed 10 for either
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the Correspondence or its Reply, and article titles are omitted from the reference list. Titles for correspondence are supplied by the editors.
In cases where a correspondence is critical of a previous research paper, the authors are normally given the option of publishing a brief reply. Criticism of opinions or other secondary matter does not involve an automatic right of reply.
A Correspondence includes a competing financial interests statement. Refutations are always peer reviewed. Other types of Correspondence may be peer reviewed at the editors’ discretion.
News and Views are by prior arrangement only. They may be linked to articles in Nature Genetics, or they may focus on papers of exceptional significance that are published elsewhere. Unsolicited contributions will not normally be considered, although prospective authors are welcome to make proposals. News and Views include a competing financial interests statement. News and Views are not peer reviewed.
Book Reviews are by prior arrangement only, although suggestions are welcome. Book reviews include a competing financial interests state-ment. Book reviews are not peer reviewed.
A Review is an authoritative, balanced and scholarly survey of recent developments in a research field. The requirement for balance need not prevent authors from proposing a specific viewpoint, but if there are controversies in the field, the authors must treat them in an even-handed way. Reviews are normally 3,000–4,000 words, and illustrations are strongly encouraged. References are limited to 100, with exceptions possible in special cases. Citations should be selective. The scope of a Review should be broad enough that it is not dominated by the work of a single laboratory, and particularly not by the authors’ own work. Reviews include a competing financial interests statement. Received/ accepted dates are not included. Reviews are always peer reviewed to ensure factual accuracy, appropriate citations and scholarly balance. Commentary is a very flexible format; Commentaries may be on policy, science and society or purely scientific issues. The main criteria are that they should be of immediate interest to a broad readership and should be written in an accessible, non-technical style. Their length is typically 1–4 pages, although some may be longer. Because the content is variable, the format is also flexible. Commentaries do not normally contain primary research data, although they may present ‘sociological’ data (funding trends, demographics, bibliographic data, etc.). References are limited to 2
5, and article titles are omitted from the reference list. The related format Historical Commentary is a journalistic treatment of the history of a particular discovery or technical develop-ment. These pieces may be a personal account by one of the participants or may present strong personal opinions. This format does not neces-sarily seek scholarly balance, and it should be journalistic and accessible rather than scholarly in style.
Commentaries include a competing financial interests statement. Commentaries may be peer reviewed at the editors’ discretion. Perspective is a new format for scholarly reviews and discussions of the primary research literature that are too technical for a Commentary but do not meet the criteria for a Review—either because the scope is too narrow, or because the author is advocating a controversial position or a speculative hypothesis or discussing work primarily from one group. Two reviews advocating opposite sides in a research controversy are normally published as Perspectives. The text should not normally exceed 3,000 words. References are limited to 50.
The related format Historical Perspective is a more technical account of a particular scientific development. Like other Perspectives, and in contrast to Historical Commentary, Historical Perspectives are schol-arly reviews, including citation of key references, aiming to present a balanced account of the historical events, not merely personal opinions or reminiscences.
Perspectives include a competing financial interests statement. Received/accepted dates are not included. Perspectives are always peer reviewed.
How to submit
OnLine suBMissiOn
We strongly prefer to receive manuscripts via our online submission system. Using this system, authors can upload manuscript files (text, figures and supplementary information, including video) directly to our office and check on the status of their manuscripts during the review process. In addition, reviewers can access the manuscript (in a highly secure fashion that maintains referee anonymity) over a direct internet link, which speeds the review process. Please con-sult our technical information on file formats and tips for using the system effectively. Revisions, including manuscripts submitted after a presubmission inquiry, should be uploaded via the link provided in the editor’s decision letter. Please do not submit revisions as new manuscripts.
suBMissiOn POLicies
Submission to Nature Genetics is taken to imply that there is no sig-nificant overlap between the submi
tted manuscript and any other papers from the same authors under consideration or in press else-where. (Abstracts or unrefereed web preprints do not compromise novelty.) The authors must include copies of all related manuscripts with any overlap in authorship that are under consideration or in press elsewhere. If a related manuscript is submitted elsewhere while the manuscript is under consideration at Nature Genetics, a copy of the related manuscript should be sent to the editor.
The primary affiliation for each author should be the institution where the majority of their work was done. If an author has subse-quently moved, the current address may also be stated.
If the manuscript includes personal communications, please provide a written statement of permission from any person who is quoted. E-mail permission messages are acceptable.
For bioinformatics manuscripts, please send four copies of a CD containing any new algorithms for data analysis along with other resources necessary to use the algorithm, such as the user manual or spreadsheets. The CDs should be mailed to Nature Genetics, 75 Varick Street, 9th floor, New York, NY 10013, USA.
For further information on the review process and how editors make decisions, please see the manuscript decisions page.
A high priority of Nature Genetics is that all papers be accessible to nonspecialists. Manuscripts are subject to substantial editing to achieve this goal. After acceptance, a copy editor may make fur-ther changes so that the text and figures are readable and clear to those outside the field, and so that papers conform to our style. Contributors are sent proofs and are welcome to discuss proposed changes with the editors, but Nature Genetics reserves the right to make the final decision about matters of style and the size of figures.
The editors also reserve the right to reject a paper even after it has been accepted if it becomes apparent that there are serious prob-lems with the scientific content or with violations of our publishing policies.
Additional editorial policies can be found on the Nature journals join policies page. This page includes information on manuscripts reviewed at other Nature journals, competing financial interests dec-larations, pre-publication publicity, deposition of data as a condition
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of publication, availability of data and reagents after publication, human and animal subjects, digital image integrity, biosecurity, refutations, complaints and correction of mistakes in the journal, duplicate
publication, confidentiality and plagiarism. Submission of a signed c is required for all content of the journal. This statement will be pub-lished at the end of all papers, whether or not a competing financial interest is reported. In cases where the authors declare a competing financial interest, a short statement to that effect is published at the end of article, which is linked to a more detailed version available online.
cOsts
There is a charge of $540.75 for the first color figure and $270.38 for each additional color figure. Otherwise, there are no submission fees or page charges.
aDVance OnLine PuBLicatiOn
Nature Genetics provides Advance Online Publication (AOP) of research articles, which benefits authors with an earlier publication date and allows our readers access to accepted papers several weeks before they appear in print. Note that papers published online are definitive and may be altered only through the publication of a print corrigendum or erratum, so authors should make every effort to ensure that the page proofs are correct. All AOP articles are given a unique digital object identifier (DOI) number, which can be used to cite the paper before print publication. For details, please see abo
ut advanced online pub-lication.
cOVers anD OtHer artWOrK
Illustrations are selected for their scientific interest and aesthetic appeal. Please send prints or electronic files (rather than slides) in the first instance. Please also include a clear and concise legend explaining the image.
PreParing tHe ManuscriPt
Nature Genetics is read by scientists from diverse backgrounds. In addi-tion, many are not native English speakers. Authors should therefore give careful thought to how their findings may be communicated clearly. Although a shared basic knowledge of biology may be assumed, please bear in mind that the language and concepts that are standard in one subfield may be unfamiliar to nonspecialists. Thus, technical jargon should be avoided as far as possible and clearly explained where its use is unavoidable. Abbreviations, particularly those that are not stan-dard, should also be kept to a minimum. The background, rationale and main conclusions of the study should be clearly explained. Titles and abstracts in particular should be written in language that will be readily intelligible to any scientist. We strongly recommend that authors ask a colleague with different expertise to review
the manuscript before submission, in order to identify concepts and terminology that may present difficulties to nonspecialist readers.
The content types page describes the types of contributions that may be submitted to the journal, along with their length and figure limits. The journal’s format requirements are described below. Manuscripts reporting new structures should contain a table sum-marizing structural and refinement statistics. Templates for such tables describing NMR and X-ray crystallography data are available here. To facilitate assessment of the quality of the structural data, a stereo image of a portion of the electron density map (for crystallography papers) or of the superimposed lowest energy structures (>10; for NMR papers) should be provided with the submitted manuscript. If the reported structure represents a novel overall fold, a stereo image of the entire structure (as a backbone trace) should also be provided.
Please use American English spelling throughout. Acknowledgments should be brief, and should not include thanks to anonymous referees and editors, or effusive comments. Grant or con-tribution numbers may be acknowledged. Nature Genetics requires an Author Contribution statement as described in the Authorship section of our joint Editorial policie s.
The Methods section of original research articles will appear online only. Print readers will be directed to the online version of the paper for detailed methods and associated references. Please provide a Methods section with subsections detailing all the methods used in the paper. The Methods sec-tion should be no longer than 1,500 words and should be placed at the very end of the manuscript, after the Acknowledgments, Author Contributions, figure legends and tables, but before the references.
A single list of references should be provided, with any new citations that appear in the Methods section numbered consecutively begin-ning after the last reference cited in the main text, figure legends and tables.
References are numbered sequentially as they appear in the text, fig-ure legends, tables and online Methods. Only one publication is given for each number, and footnotes are not used. Only papers that have been published or accepted by a named publication should be in the numbered list; meeting abstracts that are not published and papers in preparation should be mentioned in the text with a list of authors (or initials if any of the authors are co-authors of the present contribution). URLs for web sites should be cited parenthetically in the text, not in the reference list; articles in formal, peer-reviewed online journals should be included in the reference list. Grant details and acknowledgments are not permitted as numbered references.
All authors should be included in reference lists unless there are more than five, in which case only the first author should be given, fol-lowed by ‘et al.’. Authors should be listed last name first, followed by a comma and initials of given names. Titles of cited articles are required for Articles, Perspectives and Reviews, but not for Commentaries, Brief Communications or News and Views. Titles of articles should be in Roman text and titles of books in italics; the first word of the title is capitalized, the title written exactly as it appears in the work cited, end-ing with a period. Journal names are italicized and abbreviated (with periods) according to common usage; refer to Index Medicu s for details. Volume numbers appear in bold. For book citations, the publisher and city of publication are required (e.g., John Wiley & Sons, Hoboken, New Jersey, USA, 2003).
Figure legends for Articles begin with a brief title for the whole figure and continue with a short description of each panel and the symbols used, focusing on describing what is shown in the figure and de-emphasizing methodological details. Each legend should total no more than 250 words. Brief Communications have short figure legends (generally less than 100 words), which may include details of methods.
gene nOMencLature
Authors should use approved nomenclature for gene symbols, and use symbols rather than italicized full names (Ttn, not titin). Please consult the appropriate nomenclature databases for correct gene names and symbols. A useful resource is LocusLink. Approved human gene sym-bols are provided by HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC), e-mail: ; see also /. Approved mouse symbols are provided by The Jackson Laboratory, e-mail: nomen@; see also www.informatics. /mgihome/nomen.
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For proposed gene names that are not already approved, please sub-mit the gene symbols to the appropriate nomenclature committees as soon as possible, as these must be deposited and approved before pub-lication of an article.
Avoid listing multiple names of genes (or proteins) separated by a slash, as in ‘Oct4/Pou5f1’, as this is ambiguous (it could mean a ratio, a complex, alternative names or different subunits). Use one name throughout and include the other at first mention: ‘Oct4 (also known as Pou5f1)’. statisticaL guiDeLines
Every article that contains statistical testing should state the name of the statistical test, the n for each statistical analysis, the comparisons of interest, a justification for the use of that test (including, for exa
mple, a discussion of the normality of the data when the test is appropriate only for normal data), the alpha level for all tests, whether the tests were one-tailed or two-tailed, and the actual P value for each test (not merely “significant” or “P < .05”). Randomization procedures, or other ways to eliminate bias in sampling (in particular for experi-ments involving animals), should be clearly described. It should be clear what statistical test was used to generate every P value. In the case of Brief Communications, these details should be reported in the text or the figure captions.
Data sets should be summarized with descriptive statistics, which should include the n for each data set, a clearly labeled measure of center (such as the mean or the median), and a clearly labeled measure of vari-ability (such as standard deviation or range). Ranges are more appro-priate than standard deviations or standard errors for small data sets. Graphs should include clearly labeled error bars. Authors must state whether a number that follows the ± sign is a standard error () or a standard deviation (s.d.).
Authors must justify the use of a particular test and explain whether their data conform to the assumptions of the tests. Three errors are particularly common.
• M ultiple comparisons: When making multiple statistical compari-sons on a single data set, authors s
hould explain how they adjusted the alpha level to avoid an inflated Type I error rate, or they should select statistical tests appropriate for multiple groups (such as ANOV A rather than a series of t-tests).
• N ormal distribution: Many statistical tests require that the data be approximately normally distributed; when using these tests, authors should explain how they tested their data for normality. If the data do not meet the assumptions of the test, then a non-parametric alternative should be used instead.
• S mall sample size: When the sample size is small (less than about
10), authors should use tests appropriate to small samples or justify
their use of large-sample tests.
There is a checklist available to help authors minimize the chance of statistical errors.
PreParing tHe Figures
Authors are responsible for obtaining permission to publish any figures or illustrations that are protected by copyright, including figures pub-lished elsewhere and pictures taken by professional phot
ographers. The journal cannot publish images downloaded from the internet without appropriate permission.
Figures should be uploaded upon submission via our online submis-sion system, in one of our preferred formats, if possible. Please use the smallest file size that provides sufficient resolution, preferably less than 1 MB, so that referees do not have to download extremely large files. When a paper is accepted, the editors will request high-resolution files suitable for publication.
Unnecessary figures and parts (panels) of figures and tables should be avoided: data presented in small tables or histograms, for instance, can generally be stated briefly in the text instead. Figures should not contain more than one panel unless the parts are logically connected; each panel of a multipart figure should be sized so that the whole figure can be reduced by the same amount and reproduced on the printed page at the smallest size at which essential details are visible. When a manuscript is accepted for publication, we will ask for high-resolution figure files, possibly in a different electronic format. This information will be included in the acceptance letter.
Lettering on figures should be in Helvetica or Arial; if possible, the same typeface in approximately the same font size should be used for all figures in a paper. Use symbol font for Greek letters. Figures sho
uld be on a white background, and should avoid excessive boxing, unnec-essary color, spurious decorative effects (such as three-dimensional ‘skyscraper’ histograms) and highly pixelated computer drawings. The vertical axis of histograms should not be truncated to exaggerate small differences. Labeling must be of sufficient size and contrast to be read-able after appropriate reduction. The thinnest lines in the final figure should be no smaller than one point wide. Authors will see a proof of figures. Reasonable requests to enlarge figures will be considered, but editors will make the final decision on figure size.
Figures divided into parts should be labeled with a lower-case, bold a, b, and so on, in the same typesize as used elsewhere in the figure. Lettering in figures should be in lower-case type, with only the first let-ter of each label capitalized. Units should have a single space between the number and the unit, and follow SI nomenclature (for example, ms rather than msec) or the nomenclature common to a particular field. Thousands should be separated by commas (1,000). Unusual units or abbreviations should be spelled out in full or defined in the legend. Scale bars should be used rather than magnification factors, with the length of the bar defined in the legend rather than on the bar itself. In general, please use visual cues rather than verbal explanations, such as “open red triangles”, in the legend.
Authors are encouraged to consider the needs of colorblind readers (a substantial minority of the male population) when choosing colors for figures. Many colorblind readers cannot interpret micrographs presented in green and red, for example. Thus, we encourage authors to submit micrographs in color combinations other than green and red. DigitaL Figure guiDeLines
Please read the digital images integrity and standards policy before preparing your figures. When possible, we prefer to use original digital figures to ensure the highest quality reproduction in the journal. When creating and submitting digital files, please follow the guidelines below. Formats
For publication, we can only use TIFF, EPS or postscript (ps) files in PC or Macintosh format, preferably from PhotoShop or Illustrator soft-ware. We cannot accept Freehand, Canvas, PowerPoint, CorelDRAW or MacDrawPro files. These files must be converted to postscript (ps) format.
resolution and figure quality
Figure files must be supplied at an appropriate resolution for print pub-lication:
• C olor, 300 d.p.i. minimum; please convert all color files into CMYK mode
• G rayscale, 600 d.p.i. minimum for blots and black & white pho-tographs
• Line art, 1,200 d.p.i. minimum for graphs and illustrations
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Figures that do not meet these standards will not reproduce well and may delay publication until we receive high-resolution images or high-quality printouts. We cannot be held responsible for assum-ing the cost of corrected reprints should poor quality images need to be used.
Please do not scan laser printouts of figures and send them to us as digital files. The dot pattern on a laser print often creates a moire pat-tern when scanned.
Please remove panel letters (a, b, c, etc.) that are directly over other features of figures, especially in photographic or modeling images, from the electronic files; we will replace them later with our own font. In such cases, please indicate in a separate electronic file where panel letters should go.
tables
Please submit tables in Word format at the end of your text document. stereo images
Stereo diagrams should be presented for divergent ‘wall-eyed’ viewing, with the two panels separated
by ∼5.5 cm. In the final accepted version of the manuscript, the stereo images should be submitted at their final print size.
FtP site
If necessary, you can use any type of FTP software to place files on our FTP site, although we prefer to receive figures through our electronic submission system if possible. Name your files with the corresponding author’s name, figure number(and letter if applicable), and file for-mat (for example, Dr. Smith’s Figure 3 in TIFF format: Smith Fig3.tiff; Dr. Smith’s Figure 3a in EPS format, Smith Fig3a.eps). Please compress your files before uploading.
Site address: ftp.nature
User name: genetics
Password: natgen
suPPLeMentarY inFOrMatiOn
Authors should note that supplementary information is not copy-edited by Nature Genetics, so they sh
ould ensure that it is clearly and succinctly presented, and that the style of terms conforms with the rest of the paper. The following guidelines detail the creation, citation and submission of supplementary information. Please note that modification of supplementary information after the paper is published requires a formal correction, so authors are encouraged to check their supplementary information carefully before submitting the final version.
Where there is supplementary information to be included exclu-sively in the online version of a paper published in Nature Genetics, please follow these guidelines, or publication may be delayed. Refer to each piece of supplementary information at least once within the text of the main article (the article that is published in the print issue of the journal), as follows:
Designate each item as Supplementary Table, Figure, Figure Legend, Data, Discussion, Equations, Video, Video Legend, Audio, Audio Legend, Tutorial, Results, Note, or Methods. Number Supplementary Tables and Figures as, for example, “Supplementary Table 1,” and provide a title for each one (for figures, please include the number and title in the caption). This numbering should be separate from that used in tables and figures appearing in the main printed article. Supplementary Results or Methods should not be numbered; titles for these are optional.
Refer to each piece of supplementary material at the appro-priate point(s) in the main article. Be sure to include the word “Supplementary” each time one is mentioned.
Use the following samples as a guide (note: abbreviate “Figure” as “Fig.” when in parentheses).
“Table 1 provides a selected subset of the most active compounds. The entire list of 96 compounds can be found as Supplementary Table 1.”
“The biosynthetic pathway of L-ascorbic acid in animals involves intermediates of the D-glucuronic acid pathway (see Supplementary Fig. 2). Figure ”
Figure files should be submitted as web-ready files through Nature Genetics᾿online submission system. Manuscripts will not be accepted for publication by Nature Genetics until supplementary information is received.
Please submit the supplementary information as a single com-bined PDF if possible. For separate dataset, spreadsheet, audio and video files we can accept any of these formats: Adobe Acrobat file (.pdf), Audio Visual Interleave (.avi), Compressed Archive File (.zip), Encapsulated Postcript (.eps), Flash Movie (.swf), Graphics Interchange Format (.gif), HTML document (.html), JPEG image (.jpg), M
PEG animation (.mpg), MS Excel spreadsheet (.xls, .xlsx), MS Power Point file (.ppt, .pptx), MS Word document (.doc, .docx), Plain ASCII text (.txt), PostScript (.ps), QuickTime movie (.mov), Rich Text Format (.rtf), Systems Biology Markup Language (.sbml, .xml, .owl), TAR archive file (.tar), TIFF image (.tif), Waveform audio file (.wav), WordPerfect document (.wpd).
File sizes should be as small as possible, with a maximum size of 30 MB, so that they can be downloaded quickly. The combined total size of all files must not exceed 150 MB. Images should be just large enough to view when the screen resolution is set to 640 × 480 pixels. Audio and video files should use a frame size no larger than 320 × 240 pixels. Remember to include a brief title and legend (incorpo-rated into the file to appear near the image) as part of every figure submitted, and a title as part of every table.
Further queries about submission and preparation of supple-mentary information should be directed to the editor handling the manuscript.
Manuscript decisions
PresuBMissiOn inQuiries
Researchers may request informal feedback from the editors on the journal᾿s interest in a particular manuscript under preparation. A short ‘presubmission inquiry᾿ can be sent through the online sub-mission system. Researchers should include a letter explaining the major question addressed by the work, the methodologies used to gather the data, the interest to a broad scientific readership, the new results and why they are significant. If an abstract is available, this should also be included. If authors have already written the manu-script, they are encouraged to submit it in its entirety via the online submission system.
Editors will express interest in presubmission inquires on the basis of the information provided by the authors. In cases where editors decline a full submission, authors are still free to submit through our online submission system so that editors have an opportunity to evaluate the paper in full. Papers invited after a presubmission inquiry may be rejected without review once the editors have had a chance to consider the paper in its entirety.
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