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In 2010, Nature Medicine will celebrate 15 years as the leading translational-research journal. To mark this anniversary, the journal has launched the Nature Medicine Classics Collection. This collection brings together some landmark articles published in Nature Medicine over the past 15 years, making them freely available to all readers together with a series of recent articles on different fields of biomedicine to illustrate the breadth of the journal.
The Nature Medicine editors write: Since 1995, our journal has been at the forefront of publishing translational medicine, way before the term was even coined. Our focus on publishing basic and preclinical work that has direct relevance to human disease has been a key characteristic of Nature Medicine that has helped establish the reputation of the journal in the translational research landscape.
To put together this sampler, we have chosen a series of recent articles from our pages, organized them by therapeutic area, and made them freely available in order to give you a glimpse of the breadth of Nature Medicine's coverage, as well as the quality of the science we publish.
In addition, we have chosen a few landmark articles that we had the privilege to publish over the past 15 years in an effort to illustrate why Nature Medicine is the home of translational research.
Nature Medicine Classics Collection by subject:
Classic articles
Cancer
Cardiovascular disease
Immunology
Infectious diseases
Metabolism
Neuroscience

See also:
Nature Medicine's free podcast.
Journal press releases.
Spoonful of Medicine, the journal's blog.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on November 18, 2009
Categories: Disciplines, NPG special content, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

EMBO Journal has just announced its annual competition for the best (scientific or non-scientific) cover images in 2010. The front cover of the 4 November issue (pictured) shows an assembly of many of the beautiful images that have been featured on the EMBO Journal since 2007; most of these had been submitted to previous competitions by scientists based throughout the world. Please visit the journal's competition page for details of how you can participate in this year's contest and submit your entries online. You can take a look at the gallery in the journal's online archive for an impression of what type of images might be good candidates for an EMBO Journal cover. The jury and the editors are looking forward to seeing your contributions. The closing date of the 2010 cover contest is 15 January 2010. Send a brief email to covers@embojournal.org if you wish to receive a notification when next year's contest is announced.

In another similar enterprise, the editors of The American Journal of Gastroenterology are seeking eye-catching cover images for the journal in 2010. Images can be submitted using the journal's online manuscript submission service. All readers and contributors to The American Journal of Gastroenterology are eligible. Full information on artwork submission guidelines is available (PDF).
The American Journal of Gastroenterology , the official publication of the American College of Gastroenterology, is the clinical leader in publishing highly cited articles that appeal to all practicing clinicians interested in gastroenterology, hepatology, endoscopy and other related disorders.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on November 06, 2009
Categories: Awards, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nature Communications is an innovative online science journal launching in Spring 2010, providing a unique forum for the rapid publication of high-quality research in all areas of the physical, chemical and biological sciences. Nature Communications offers:
- An online publishing arena for the entire scientific spectrum
- Rigorous peer review
- High-quality papers reporting fundamental scientific advances
- Rapid dissemination of accepted research to a broad audience
- An open-access publishing opportunity
You can now submit your research to Nature Communications using the journal's online manuscript tracking service.
We advise reading the journal's Guide to Authors before submitting your paper, for information about content types, how to submit, and the editorial process. Here is some more detail for authors:
Nature Communications is an online-only, multidisciplinary journal dedicated to publishing high-quality research in all areas of the biological, physical and chemical sciences. Papers published by the journal represent important advances of significance to specialists within each field.
Nature Communications encourages submissions in fields that aren't represented by a dedicated Nature research journal; for example developmental biology, plant science, microbiology, ecology and evolution, palaeontology, astronomy and high-energy physics. The editors particularly welcome submissions from cross-disciplinary fields, including biophysics, physical chemistry, environmental science and mathematical biology, although no area is excluded from consideration. In all cases, papers published in Nature Communications will be of high quality, without necessarily having the scientific reach of papers published in Nature and the Nature research journals.
Nature Communications is committed to providing an efficient service for both authors and readers. A streamlined peer-review system, together with the support of an Editorial Advisory Panel, allows a team of independent editors to make rapid and fair publication decisions. Prompt dissemination of accepted papers to Nature Publishing Group's wide readership and beyond is achieved through a programme of continuous online publication. Published manuscripts are enhanced by innovative web technologies, including interactive browsing and efficient data- and text-mining.
Further information:
About the editors of Nature Communications.
Open Access options.
Frequently asked questions about Nature Communications (PDF).
Contact the journal.
Nature Communications Nature Network forum, where you can read, post and discuss matters relating to the journal with the editors and other Nature Network users.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on October 14, 2009
Categories: Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

Via press release: Nature Publishing Group (NPG) and the Associazione Differenziamento e Morte Cellulare (ADMC) have announced a new open access journal, Cell Death & Disease. Launching in January 2010, Cell Death & Disease will explore the area of cell death from a translational medicine perspective. The journal is now accepting submissions.
Cell Death & Disease is a sister journal to the well-established and highly respected journal Cell Death & Differentiation. Together, the two journals provide a unified forum for scientists, clinicians and members of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industry.
Cell Death & Disease is devoted to the biology of cell death in the pathogenesis of human diseases or relevant animal models. The journal aims to publish papers that present novel observations in the field of cell death, with pathophysiological or medical implications. Particular emphasis will be given to clinical, translational and applied research through its five sections: experimental medicine, cancer, immunity, internal medicine and neuroscience.
Cell Death & Disease will be online only and will make all content freely available to all researchers worldwide. There will be an processing charge of £2,000 / $3,000 / €2,400 for each article accepted for publication.
The editorial team is led by Gerry Melino, Guido Kroemer and Pierluigi Nicotera, and will include a highly respected international editorial board.
Cell Death & Disease preliminary website.
Cell Death & Disease: journal scope.
Submit your manuscript to Cell Death & Disease.
The journal's guide to authors.
Summary of author benefits.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on September 22, 2009
Categories: NPG special content, Publications, Publishing | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nature Biotechnology's June issue contains several articles of particular interest to scientists as communicators, authors and entrepreneurs. Here are a few highlights:

Nature Biotechnology 27, 514 - 518 (2009).
Science communication reconsidered.
Tania Bubela et al.
As new media proliferate and the public's trust and engagement in science are influenced by industry involvement in academic research, an interdisciplinary workshop provides some recommendations to enhance science communication. Among these are that graduate students need to be taught about the social and political context of science and how to communicate with the media and a diversity of publics; that the factors contributing to media hype and errors (largely of omission) are explicitly recognized to allow science institutions and media organizations informed communication policies; research on science communication should be expanded to include online and digital media; more investment in the systematic tracking of news and cultural indicators, including traditional news outlets but also radio, entertainment TV, religious media, the web and new documentary genres; and a new 'science policy' beat in journalism courses to fill in the gaps between the technical backgrounders preferred by science writers and the conflict emphasis of political reporters. Finally, the authors argue, if there is a major threat to science journalism, it is that science journalists are losing their jobs at for-profit news organizations; new models of support for science journalism are needed, in which online digital formats blend professional reporting with user-generated content and discussion.

Nature Biotechnology 27, 528-530 (2009):
Maters of their universe.
Genentech—the biotech venture that launched a thousand companies—is no longer its own master. In March, majority stakeholder Roche reached an agreement with the South San Francisco, California–based company under which the Swiss drug maker would take over the biotech for $46.8 billion. But many remember those first years when a small team of bright, intellectually disciplined young scientists—often rowdy and personally eccentric people—got the company up and running. Randy Osborne and Laura DeFrancesco caught up with a few of those pioneers to talk about that era, their time and how they felt leading the charge.

Nature Biotechnology 27, 531 - 537 (2009).
Wasting cash—the decline of the British biotech sector.
Graham Smith, Muhammad Safwan Akram, Keith Redpath & William Bains
Undercapitalization and overgenerous boardroom compensation for management have been major contributors to the poor performance of UK biotech. Despite historic leadership in European biotech, the UK's industry has suffered a near collapse in the past two years and now has little private or public investment and no candidates for world-class companies. Why do shareholders allow UK public biotech companies to accumulate top management that pays itself so much, is unmotivated to drive shareholder value and as a consequence apparently drains the company of resources, notably cash? These questions, and others, are addressed in the feature.

Nature Biotechnology website.
Nature Biotechnology guide to authors.
Nature Biotechnology conference programme.
Nature Biotechnology focuses and supplements.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 25, 2009
Categories: Authorship, Conferences, Education, Ethics, Public and media, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Society of Polymer Science, Japan (SPSJ) and Nature Publishing Group (NPG) are pleased to announce a partnership to publish the society's leading international journal Polymer Journal. From July 2009, articles will be freely available. Further developments will culminate in January 2010 when the full site is launched.
Polymer Journal publishes high-quality peer-reviewed articles spanning all areas of polymer research. The monthly journal was launched in 1970 and is keen to continue its record of facilitating important advances in the field, ensuring rapid publication of papers after they have undergone review. Polymer Journal welcomes submissions across a variety of article types including Original Articles, Notes, Short Communications and Reviews.
Essential polymer research is regularly published in NPG's flagship journal Nature, as well as in a number of other Nature journals including Nature Chemistry, Nature Materials, Nature Physics and Nature Nanotechnology.
The Editor-in-Chief of Polymer Journal, Professor Toshikazu Takata of the Tokyo Institute of Technology leads a first-class, internationally diverse editorial board. The combined knowledge, experience and dedication of the board provides a first-class editorial service across the full spectrum of polymer science.

About Polymer Journal.
Journal aims and scope.
About the Society for Polymer Science, Japan.
Editorial board listing.
Benefits to authors.
Request a sample copy and subscription information.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 10, 2009
Categories: Partners, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

Plastic Fantastic: How the Biggest Fraud in Physics Shook the Scientific World is the title of a new book by Eugenie Samuel Reich. The book tells the story of Jan Hendrick Schön 's discovery of a plastic that worked as a superconductor - hailed as a scientific triumph before revelations that his discoveries were fake. (See here for Nature's editorial about the journal's retraction of seven papers by Schön.) This book analyses the fraud and considers pressures that force unscrupulous behaviour from science's rising stars.
Comments from some reviews of the book:
'…Reich’s journalistic persistence and technical thoroughness yield a largely complete, often dramatic account of Schön’s roguery and downfall.' - Booklist
'Eugenie Samuel Reich unpicks the tale with meticulous care.' - Philip Ball, Sunday Times
‘…a wonderful piece of forensic writing.’ - Clive Cookson, Financial Times
'It is gripping stuff: a surprising page-turner that is well worth reading.' - New Scientist
The book is published by Palgrave Macmillan and costs £15.99. For more details and to order, see the Palgrave website.

World Scientific Publishing Company and Nature Publishing Group have just announced that they are co-publishing a book called Nanoscience and Technology. This collection of Reviews from Nature journals will be launched in October 2009 at Frankfurt Book Fair. The book is a collection of more than 30 review articles by internationally renowned researchers working in nanoscience and nanotechnology, first published in various Nature journals. Topics covered include nanomaterials and nanostructures; molecular machines and devices; nanoelectronics; nanophotonics; nanobiotechnology and nanomedicine; and applications of nanotechnology.
"World Scientific and Nature Publishing Group should be applauded for publishing this collection of some of the most important papers in nanoscience," said Dr. Mark Lundstrom, Don and Carol Scifres Distinguished Professor at Purdue University. "Pulling these papers together in one volume helps put the remarkable advances in this very new field in perspective, and stimulates thinking about future directions in nanoscience and technology. It will be an important resource for the community."
More information on Nanoscience and Technology.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 02, 2009
Categories: Communication, Partners, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nature Chemistry's second issue is now out. The research articles cover a wide range of topics, including catalysis, mesoporous materials, synthetic methodology, anion transport and DNA conductivity. In addition, there is a Commentary about pre-university chemical education, a Review article on Möbius aromaticity and a Thesis article that looks at alternative forms of the periodic table.
May article - free online access:
In 'Activating catalysts with mechanical force', Alessio Piermattei, S. Karthikeyan and Rint P. Sijbesma of the Institute for Complex Molecular Systems, Eindhoven University of Technology (Nature Chemistry 1, 133 - 137; 2009), discuss the potential applications of mechanochemical catalyst activation in transduction and amplification of mechanical signals, as well as the promise of mechanically initiated polymerizations as a novel repair mechanism in self-healing materials.
Submit to Nature Chemistry
The Nature Chemistry editors are accepting papers in all areas of chemistry, as well as submissions detailing multidisciplinary research performed at the interface of chemistry and other scientific fields such as biology, materials science, nanotechnology and physics.
Authors are encouraged to submit their latest work via the journal's online submission system.
Aims and scope of the journal.
View the guide for authors.
About the Nature Chemistry editors.
Nature Chemistry currently has a special introductory offer for subscribers of 25% off the usual personal subscription rate.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 18, 2009
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Nature Publishing Group is pleased to announce the launch of the Lipidomics Gateway - a free, comprehensive resource for researchers interested in lipid biology. The site enables users to stay abreast of developments each month from across the field, and explore the rich information collections, tools and resources from the LIPID MAPS consortium. Each month it is updated with specially written content from Nature Publishing Group editors, including research highlights, news, events and a growing research library.
The LIPID MAPS (Lipid Metabolites and Pathways Strategy) consortium is a multi-institutional effort to further our understanding of lipid metabolism and the role lipids play in diseases such as diabetes, stroke, and cancer. The consortium takes a systems biology approach using the mouse macrophage as a model system, and provides tools and resources for the wider community.

Lipidomics Gateway update (new content added each month).
Events calendar - a directory of meetings, conferences and events of interest to lipid researchers.
Lipidomics Gateway resources.
Lipidomics Gateway search.
About the Lipidomics Gateway.
About LIPID MAPS - the consortium, key people, core labs and bridges.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 13, 2009
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John Dick, the subject of this month's Q&A at Nature Reports Stem Cells (April 2009), identified the first cancer stem cell, in leukaemia. The widely used xenotransplantation assay that he developed can confirm the identity of prospective haematopoietic stem cells by demonstrating their ability to re-establish a human blood system in the mouse. He is a professor at the University of Toronto and its affiliated Princess Margaret Hospital and Director of the Program in Cancer Stem Cells at the Ontario Institute for Cancer Research. Monya Baker, Editor of Nature Reports Stem Cells investigates his call for more controversy.
Q: What's the best advice you've ever received as a scientist?
A: Everyone in science has to have an ego. You have to think: Here's a question that nobody knows an answer to, and I think I can come up with a way to answer that question. Of course you always want to answer the questions that nobody has answered before, but if an experiment is worth doing, it's worth doing even if there are a number of people also trying to get the answer. If someone else gets there first, it just means that you can go on faster to the next question.
Read more at Nature Reports Stem Cells.
Nature Reports Stem Cells home page.
The Niche, the blog of Nature Reports Stem Cells.
About Nature Reports Stem Cells.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 22, 2009
Categories: Authorship, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

Neil Withers announces in a post at Sceptical Chymist blog with the title The Sceptical Chymist: Nature Chemistry, volume 1, issue 1 that the first issue of Nature Chemistry is now live, and freely available for everyone to read and enjoy. Neil reports that fellow-N Chem editors Stu and Gav are now in Salt Lake City as for the Spring ACS (American Chemical Society) Meeting, and that Anne is just off to Tokyo to work there from now on, and will also be visiting the Japanese Chemical Society Meeting starting this week. Feel free to visit the stand at the ACS exposition or to chat to the editors as they make their jetlagged way around!
More news about Nature Chemistry is at the Sceptical Chymist blog post. And a detailed, independent analysis of some of the features in the new journal is provided by Egon Willighagen at Chem-bla-ics blog. At the end of a very informative "tour of good things, and points for improvement" concerning data-richness, Egon concludes: "I am rather positive about the first Nature Chemistry issue, and like to thank the editors and paper authors for their efforts on improving publishing chemistry!"

Nature Chemistry website.

Nature Chemistry guide to authors.

About the Nature Chemistry editors.

Nature Chemistry announced at Nature Network. Please join the Nature Publishing Group news forum for regular news of NPG activities, and tell us there what you think of them.

All the Nature journals that publish original scientific research.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on March 23, 2009
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SciBX (Science-Business Exchange) is a year old, and executive editor Gaspar Taroncher-Oldenburg describes the publication's progress in an editorial in the current (February) issue (SciBX 2, doi:10.1038/scibx.2009.167). SciBX is mapping the translational space in depth, based on the collaboration between Nature Publishing Group and BioCentury to identify science with commercial potential and to describe the work required to complete the transition from bench to bedside. Gaspar writes:

"In its first-year assessment of the scientific space, the SciBX team evaluated more than 16,000 peer-reviewed journal articles published in over 40 top life science journals and selected over 2,000 papers for further editorial review of their scientific and commercial merit. This effort resulted in the publication of more than 850 Distillery briefings distributed across 19 disease classes." The largest segment of peer-reviewed science with commercial potential is being produced in the 'cancer space', even though most disease-related deaths worldwide are from cardiovascular disease. Statistics are provided on the proportion of peer-reviewed papers covered; the money raised by private and public biotechnology organizations; NIH funding by discipline, 2008; and WHO disease burden from 2004, projected to 2030. The article further explores how research efforts focused on cancer do not reflect the public health burden created by other diseases.

About SciBX.

Current issue.

Subscribe to SciBX.

About BioCentury, SciBX's partner.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on February 16, 2009
Categories: Partners, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

One or two changes for authors and readers are announced in the January issue of Nature Photonics (3, 1; 2009). The journal's design has been revitalized by updating its fonts, removing unwanted white space and creating a new fresh look that presents information in a clearer, more concise fashion. The result is a journal with a look that is easier to read and navigate. The editors report:
"We've also taken the opportunity to make a few other changes. To bring us in line with other Nature research journals in the physical sciences its time to say goodbye to "This issue" and "Photonics at NPG". At the same time, we've expanded our Technology Focus supplement in 2009 with longer, industry-perspective pieces; a double-page spread of research highlights; and the addition of a profile piece describing the activities of a young, emerging firm in the relevant area. The aim is to provide a more concentrated and in-depth insight into an important technology within photonics that has a strong application and industrial focus. In 2009, we will be running four such Technology Focus supplements on the topics of semiconductor light sources, materials processing, imaging and organic photonics. The first of these — semiconductor light sources — appears this month and brings together a collection of articles on the topics of quantum cascade lasers (QCLs), long-wavelength vertical-cavity surface-emitting lasers, quantum-dot lasers and tapered-laser diodes, as well as an update on the business and product news in the sector.
Following the positive feedback on our August 2008 special focus on slow light, we have plans for several more focus issues in 2009, and of course we will continue our programme of regular review articles throughout the year.
We are also busy with preparations for another Nature Photonics conference that will take place in Tokyo on 20–22 October 2009 on future perspectives for photovoltaics. This will be our second event and follows our successful 2007 conference on the future of optical communications. A website for the 2009 event is currently being designed, and we will update you when it's ready and the programme of speakers has been finalized."
Nature Photonics journal homepage.
Guide to authors of Nature Photonics.
Nature Photonics focus archive.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on January 15, 2009
Categories: Authorship, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

Published on 1 December, Nature Milestones in Cytoskeleton is a collaboration from Nature, Nature Cell Biology and Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, focusing on ground-breaking advances in cytoskeleton research. Developments in the past 60 years range from the discovery of actomyosin to the identification of molecular motors, and from fluorescence analogue cytochemistry and differential interference contrast microscopy to single-molecule in vitro assays and optical traps.
Milestones are a series of specially written articles, which highlight the most influential discoveries in the field of cytoskeleton over the past 60 years, as described in an Editorial. Nature Milestones in Cytoskeleton also comprises a collection of selected review articles, a timeline of key discoveries, and an online-only library of recent research papers and review-type articles from Nature Publishing Group.
Free print copies of the Milestones in Cytoskeleton suppliement are available to order (the supplement is being distributed with the December 2008 issues of Nature Cell Biology and Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology, so subscribers of these journals do not need to request a copy).
See also Nature's web focus on the 50th anniversary of the first report of muscle crossbridges, published online in 2004. A few print copies of the reprint of the two 1954 papers are available: if you would like one, please leave your name and mailing address in the comments field to this post, or send an email to authors@nature.com.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on December 04, 2008
Categories: Author benefits, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

The UCSD-Nature Signaling Gateway has recently published HB-EGF, its 500th Molecule Page. Each week, the gateway publishes several of these concise, free review articles on a diverse range of signalling molecules, from transcription factors to membrane receptors. In addition to these published pages, the Molecule Pages database also includes key information about the biological, biochemical and functional activities of thousands of signalling molecules. There is now a new 'getting started guide' for a quick overview of the anatomy of a Molecule Page.

Sign up for the Signaling Update e-alert, a one-stop overview of current cell signalling research for specialists and interested non-specialists.
All published Molecule Pages.
Archive by date of Signaling Updates.
Signaling Gateway research library (organized by subject).

Posted by Maxine Clarke on November 24, 2008
Categories: Partners, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

Next year will be the 200th anniversary of the birth of Charles Robert Darwin, perhaps the most influential scientist of modern times. In this week's issue (20 November), Nature presents a special collection of news, features, research and analysis of Darwin, his life, his science and his legacy. This special will be updated throughout 2009 with essays, podcasts and free educational resources, as well as news from the Darwin200 consortium of organizations celebrating this landmark event. The first installment is here. From the current issue (20 November 2008), all of which can be accessed from Nature's Darwin main page:
Editorial: Beyond the origin (free to access online). As Nature anticipates next year's bicentenary of Darwin's birth and the 150th anniversary of On the Origin of Species, we begin our coverage with a look 50 years into the future.
News features:
The needs of the many (free to access online this week). The idea that natural selection acts on groups, as well as individuals, is a source of unending debate. Marek Kohn reports on what the two sides disagree about — and why it matters to them.
Systems biology: Beneath the surface Biologists see living systems like mechanical clocks: optimally tuned and prone to failure if one component goes wrong. But, as Tanguy Chouard reveals, this is not what happens in the real world.
Let's make a mammoth (free to access online for one month from pubication date). Evolution assumes that extinction is forever. Maybe not. Henry Nicholls asks what it would take to bring the woolly mammoth back from the dead.
Online slideshow: An eye for the eye. Darwin knew that the eye — so brilliantly 'designed' — might represent an obstacle to the acceptance of natural selection. We now know that the eye is one of evolution's crowning glories.
Commentary: Great expectations. A new path for evolution? A truce in the culture wars? Here's what a selection of readers told Nature they expect from Darwin 200. Add your own suggestions at Nature Network's online discussion forum.
Events: Darwin: Heading to a town near you (free to access online for one month). The theory of evolution challenges artists and philosophers as much as scientists. Joanne Baker rounds up the many forthcoming events worldwide that examine Darwin's life, his work and reactions to it.
Books in brief: A Down House bookshelf. An archipelago of books to celebrate Darwin's anniversaries is about to hit the shelves. On the Origin of Species will be reissued, and new biographies and analyses will examine the man behind the ideas. Joanne Baker reports.
Essay: Birthdays to remember. Anniversaries of Charles Darwin's life and work have been used to rewrite and re-energize his theory of natural selection. Janet Browne tracks a century of Darwinian celebrations.
Podcast: The next 50 years (free). Simon Ings and Gáspár Jékely on the evolving eye, and Marek Kohn on group selection. Henry Nicholls and Stephan Schuster discuss making mammoths — and the online trade in mammoth hair. Presenters: Adam Rutherford and Charlotte Stoddart.
Among the other articles and research in the Darwin special is the Letter Sequencing the nuclear genome of the extinct woolly mammoth by Webb Miller et al.. This Letter is free to access online.
See here for the full list of articles and features in the Darwin special collection, and find direct online links to all material.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on November 20, 2008
Categories: NPG special content, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

The fourth anniversary of Nature Methods' arrival on the publishing scene and a change in leadership offer an opportunity for reflection and editorial fine-tuning, as described in the journal's November Editorial (5, 911; 2008).
From the Editorial: "When Nature Methods made its debut in October 2004, just over 4 years ago, it was an anxious but exciting time for our founding chief editor Veronique Kiermer and manuscript editors Nicole Rusk and Daniel Evanko. We were all novices at scientific publishing and more comfortable calibrating a pipette than editing a fledgling journal." The Editorial goes on to outline developments and other changes at the journal since then. Veronique is taking on the role of publisher for Nature Methods and Nature Protocols, and Daniel is taking over as Chief Editor of Nature Methods. Reviews, Perspectives and Research Highlights are to be expanded, while the Protocols section is closing. (Authors are encouraged to submit their protocols to the online publication Nature Protocols.) The Editorial concludes: "We hope that our journal has helped dispel the notion that methods are less important than results and deserving only of small print at the end of a paper. Debunking this myth has been and will continue to be our main mission. We will persist in our efforts to bring you, every month, a journal that allows methods to be featured prominently in their own right—as the cornerstones upon which results are based."
Nature Methods guide to authors.
How to submit to Nature Methods.
Aims and scope of the journal.
Methagora, the Nature Methods blog.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on November 10, 2008
Categories: Authorship, Data availability, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nature Publishing Group has created a web focus ‘Metabolic Syndrome 2008’ — showcasing a collection of original research articles from our academic and clinical practice journals that provide further insight into this global disease. Metabolic syndrome affects nearly 50 million Americans — almost one in four American adults. Approximately seven per cent of adults in their 20s and about 40 per cent of adults over the age of 40 meet the criteria for the syndrome. Metabolic syndrome is a cluster of conditions that occur together and increase the risk for heart disease, stroke and diabetes. Having just one of these conditions — increased blood pressure, elevated insulin levels, excess body fat around the waist or abnormal cholesterol levels — contributes to the risk of serious disease and in combination, the risk is even greater. There is no accepted or official definition of metabolic syndrome. Whether these risk factors actually can be referred to as a syndrome, they represent a growing medical condition involving multiple medical specialties. This free collection provides valuable insight into this emerging medical and public health epidemic.

‘Metabolic Syndrome 2008’ features content from the following journals:
• American Journal of Hypertension
• European Journal of Clinical Nutrition
• The International Journal of Impotence Research: The Journal of Sexual Medicine
• International Journal of Obesity
• Journal of Human Hypertension
• Nature Clinical Practice Cardiovascular Medicine
• Nature Clinical Practice Endocrinology & Metabolism
• Obesity

Posted by Maxine Clarke on October 21, 2008
Categories: Author services, Education, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

Last week, Matt Day announced Nature Publishing Group (NPG)'s latest website: the Protein Structure Initiative (PSI)-Nature Structural Genomics Knowledgebase. Matt writes that the new addition to NPG's existing collection of gateways and databases is "a collaboration with the Protein Structure Initiative, a large scale NIH-funded consortium to develop and apply high-throughput techniques for protein structure determination. They've been highly successful in generating new technologies that are available for others to use, and they've shown that structure determination work can be scaled up significantly.
Now that the site is launched, we'll be providing monthly editorial updates that put developments in structural work into context for a wide range of biomedical researchers....The website is hosted at Rutgers University by the same team that hosts one of most significant and long-established databases, the Protein Data Bank".
The Structural Genomics Knowledgebase (SGKB) offers researchers and others an easy way of keeping abreast of developments both by the PSI and more generally in the fields of structural genomics and structural biology. It is a regularly updated portal to research data and other resources from the PSI, with NPG providing a monthly update with synopses of important research advances, recent additions to a categorized library of research articles, as well as news and events in structural biology. You can register to receive a monthly email newsletter and subscribe to RSS feeds. NPG resources and publications relevant to the Protein Structure Initiative can be accessed here.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on September 23, 2008
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Stay informed about plans for Nature Chemistry, the newest journal from Nature Publishing Group, whcih will be launched in early 2009, by signing up to the journal's email alert. Register to receive both the chemistry@nature e-alert, and when the journal is published, the monthly Nature Chemistry table of contents e-alert.
Nature Chemistry is now accepting submissions through the journal's online submission and tracking system. The first print issue will be published in mid-March 2009, though some papers will probably be published online in advance of print early in 2009.
Nature Chemistry is dedicated to publishing high-quality papers that describe the most significant and cutting-edge research in all areas of chemistry, as well as covering the impact of chemistry beyond the laboratory. See here for more details of the aims and scope of the journal.
See here for the Nature Chemistry guide to authors.
Content types.
How to submit.
The editorial process.
About the editors.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on September 11, 2008
Categories: Disciplines, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Journal of Visualized Experiments (JoVE) has announced that its online video protocols will be indexed in the popular US National Library of Medicine repositories MEDLINE and PubMed.
Founder and chief executive Moshe Pritsker views the MEDLINE–PubMed listing as a sign that the scientific community has accepted video-based publications. "It was a very important decision for us, and for scientific publishing," he says.
Since JoVE was founded in 2006 with support from an angel investor, the journal has published more than 200 videos, most produced by professional videographers. It aims to improve the reproducibility of scientific results by using videos to clarify subtle experimental details. The journal was itself an experiment in video publishing and remains the only video-based scientific journal.
From Nature 455, 13 (2008).

Posted by Maxine Clarke on September 08, 2008
Categories: Data availability, Format, Publications, Quality measures | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nature Publishing Group (NPG) will launch a new primary research journal, Nature Climate Change, in October 2009.
Climate change is one of the key issues of the twenty-first century. Nature Climate Change will bring together scientific observation and models with work reporting on our understanding of how human society affects climate change, and vice versa. The journal's coverage will extend into socio-economic research as well as the natural sciences, with the aim of putting the research it publishes into a wider scientific, economic and political context.
Like its sister titles, Nature Climate Change will seek to publish the best research from around the world and will have a strong online component. The journal will provide in-depth coverage of all aspects of the Earth’s changing climate, including studies of the impacts of climate change as well as climate change itself.
Publishing Director David Swinbanks said that the journal “will for the first time extend the reach of a Nature-branded journal into the social as well as natural sciences and provide authoritative, much needed, information on climate change to a broad public audience as well as to the many research communities studying climate change and its impact".
Nature Climate Change will be the newest journal in physical-sciences titles launched by NPG over the past five years. Nature Geoscience, which launched in January 2008, covers the entire spectrum of the Earth Sciences, and will continue to include research on understanding the complex scientific mechanisms behind a planet’s changing climate.
The Nature physical-science journals, like their sister titles in life sciences and medicine, provide a home for high quality research and commentary, many in fast-growing fields such as climate change and nanotechnology.
NPG is currently recruiting for a Chief Editor for Nature Climate Change and will announce further information about the journal before the end of the year.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on August 26, 2008
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In the latest article in Nature's Horizons series, which are visions of the scientific future, Nobel laureate Paul Nurse explores the agenda for treating organisms, at any level, as information machines (Nature 454, 424-426; 2008). It's his belief that one great challenge for biology is to isolate, in particular within cells, the modules by which information of many types - whether genetic or environmental in ultimate origin - is coded, propagated and interpreted, and how cells are organized so as to process such information. To read this article and the other Horizons, visit the Horizons web focus.
Horizons articles present experts' visions of the foreseeable future of a research theme. The articles are commissioned by Nature's editors, and usually published without peer review, given Nature's intention of capturing a respected individual perspective. The articles are intended to anticipate the future, but also to influence it.
Previously published Horizons:
A systematic look at an old problem
Thomas B. L. Kirkwood
Chemistry for everyone
Peter Murray-Rust
Building better batteries
M. Armand & J.-M. Tarascon
Evolution of anatomy and gene control
Georgy Koentges
Wiring up quantum systems
R. J. Schoelkopf & S. M. Girvin

Posted by Maxine Clarke on August 18, 2008
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Nature Publishing Group presents a Collection on Neurotechniques, which includes original Research, Progress and Review articles as well as Research Highlights from Nature Methods and Nature Reviews Neuroscience. This collection aims to inspire and provoke thought by drawing attention to groundbreaking advances in technology that hold great promise for the pursuit of answers to long-standing questions, such as how brain regions are connected, what contributions single neurons and populations of neurons make to behaviour and cognition, and what role cell dysfunction has in neurological disorders. This collection is freely available until November 2008. It also contains a library of links to articles published by Nature Publishing Group journals on the topic.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 04, 2008
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Via press release, the British Library is making 1,500 journals available for immediate download. A huge variety of titles will be added on 1 June 2008, ranging from science, medicine and technology to politics, history, anthropology and literature. The move is in response to customers' growing need for instant digital access to research material.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 28, 2008
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Last week's Insight collection of articles in Nature (453,301–351;2008) is on the theme of regenerative medicine. The capacity of most tissues to regenerate derives from stem cells, but there are many barriers to the use of stem-cell-based therapies in the clinic. Such therapies, however, have the potential to improve human health enormously, and knowledge gained from studying cells in culture and in model organisms is now laying the groundwork for a new era of regenerative medicine.
Nature's web focus on Regeneration brings together content from Nature and Nature Reports Stem Cells to highlight where we are with the basic science, and the challenge of making medicine from stem cells, whether derived from adult tissue, reprogrammed cultured cells or embryos. The web focus also features a podcast and links to online resources.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 28, 2008
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Nature Publishing Group (NPG) and the American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) have announced a new publishing partnership in which NPG will publish ACG’s official publication, the American Journal of Gastroenterology, starting in January 2009.
With an Impact Factor of 5.608 (Thomson, 2007), the American Journal of Gastroenterology is the highest-ranked clinical journal in gastroenterology. The journal is led by Editors-in-Chief Dr Joel E. Richter, of Temple University, and Dr Nicholas J. Talley of the Mayo Clinic in Florida.
Aimed at practicing clinicians, articles published in the American Journal of Gastroenterology deal directly with the disorders seen most often in patients. The journal brings a broad-based, interdisciplinary approach to the study of gastroenterology, including articles reporting on current observations, research results, methods of treatment, drugs, epidemiology and other topics relevant to clinical gastroenterology.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 22, 2008
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The journal Heredity is publishing a special issue on experimental evolution, under the guest editorship of Graham Bell. The goal of experimental evolution is to understand the mechanics of adaptation by observing the outcome of natural selection in simplified laboratory microcosms. The experimental approach allows us to study fundamental features of evolution such as the fixation of beneficial mutations, the extent of specialization, the repeatability of adaptation and the effect of sex. The May issue of Heredity marks the great expansion of the field in recent years. It features mainly work on microbial and viral systems concerned with the genetic basis of adaptation, and the complications introduced by conflicting sources of selection and complex social interactions.
Visit the Heredity website to read the articles, all free to access.
Editorial: Experimental evolution
G Bell
Reviews
The spread of a beneficial mutation in experimental bacterial populations: the influence of the environment and genotype on the fixation of rpoS mutations
T Ferenci
Predicting evolution from genomics: experimental evolution of bacteriophage T7
J J Bull and I J Molineux
Experimental evolution: Experimental evolution and evolvability
N Colegrave and S Collins
The tragedy of the commons in microbial populations: insights from theoretical, comparative and experimental studies
R C MacLean
Experimental evolution of plant RNA viruses
S F Elena, P Agudelo-Romero, P Carrasco, F M Codoñer, S Martín, C Torres-Barceló and R Sanjuán
Kin selection and the evolution of virulence
A Buckling and M A Brockhurst.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 06, 2008
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The preliminary website for Nature Chemistry is now live. As well as providing more detailed information about the journal, the site will be updated each week with three new research highlights about exciting chemistry papers that have caught the attention of the editors.
The chemistry@nature.com portal has also undergone a significant overhaul. As well as offering a list of current chemistry-related content across Nature Publishing Group titles, the portal includes a research collection that brings together chemistry papers published in Nature, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Chemical Biology, Nature Materials, Nature Methods, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Protocols and Nature Reviews Drug Discovery since 2001.
Nature Chemistry also made a big splash at the Spring 2008 American Chemical Society in New Orleans – even though some journal staff ended up driving there from Washington DC just hours after getting off a transatlantic flight – but that is another story which can be found on the Sceptical Chymist blog! The Nature Chemistry labcoats were rated as the best giveaway at the meeting’s exposition – the first one went to Teresa, an undergraduate student from Iowa, who had been stranded with the Nature Publshing Group team in Dulles airport and survived the 1,133-mile, 17-hour roadtrip that followed.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 28, 2008
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Respiratory diseases, including allergies, asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, are a major public health burden worldwide.The latest WHO statistics (2007) estimate that 300 million people worldwide have asthma, 210 million people have this type of pulmonary disease, and millions of people are affected by allergies. Each year, 250,000 people die of asthma. The prevalence of these diseases is increasing, and there is a continued need for new and improved therapies. A March 2008 Focus issue of Nature Reviews Immunology highlights the latest advances in our understanding of the immune bases of these respiratory diseases and how this knowledge can be translated into effective treatment strategies, in five review articles and four research highlights. All Focus articles are freely available online for the month of March.
See here for a listing of all previous focuses at the journals Nature Immunology and Nature Reviews Immunology.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on March 04, 2008
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Nature Milestones in Spin was published yesterday, 28 February 2008. Nature Milestones in Spin is a presentation from Nature Physics that focuses on ground-breaking technologies and advances in 'spin' — the idea that elementary particles possess intrinsic angular momentum, which substantially affects their behaviour. This Nature Publishing Group supplement tells the story through a series of 'milestones' marking the significant developments through the twentieth century to the present day.
Read the content free online for 6 months or order your free print copy . (There is a limited number of printed copies, which will be dispatched on a first-come, first-served basis.)
The rest of the Nature Milestones series, which highlights key discoveries that have shaped different scientific fields and enables the wider recognition of them by nonspecialists, can be seen here.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on February 29, 2008
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Philip Campbell, Editor in Chief of Nature, writes (Nature 451, 643; 2008):
"When Nature asked a group of experts to offer their visions of the future, we were aware that such a project can have its pitfalls. Experts can get things drastically wrong — although, as Arthur C. Clarke noted, this usually occurs when they assert what is not possible. When they say what is possible, they can be inspiringly right.
With such inspiration in mind, these five Horizons articles (listed below) offer a sense of what our authors believe should happen over the next few years. The collection is in no way comprehensive — we simply wanted to deliver a mix of fundamental and applied science, with the writers articulating their unrefereed agendas for their disciplines."
The five Horizons articles, all in the 7 February 2008 issue of Nature:
A systematic look at an old problem
As life expectancy increases, a systems-biology approach is needed to ensure that we have a healthy old age.
Thomas B. L. Kirkwood pp 644-647
Chemistry for everyone
Moves by chemists to help computers access the scientific literature have boosted the drive to make scientific information freely available to all.
Peter Murray-Rust pp 648-651
Building better batteries
Researchers must find a sustainable way of providing the power our modern lifestyles demand.
M. Armand and J.-M. Tarascon pp 652-657
Evolution of anatomy and gene control
Evo-devo meets systems biology.
Georgy Koentges pp 658-663
Wiring up quantum systems
The emerging field of circuit quantum electrodynamics could pave the way for the design of practical quantum computers.
R. J. Schoelkopf and S. M. Girvin pp 664-669

Posted by Maxine Clarke on February 25, 2008
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At Nature Publishing Group, we are often in a position of celebrating birthdays across a full range of ages, from Nature itself (139 on 4 November this year) to our youngest anniversarian, Nature Network, one year old today. In its brief span, the network has become host to a huge range of forums, groups, blogs and event notifications, some created by staff but the vast majority by users -- scientists, students, and (to quote the Editor Emeritus of Nature, Sir John Maddox) camp-followers.
Today, my shapshot shows me that the most vibrant discussions are on the role of money in Indian science; the quality of writing as a factor in the peer-review process; and nanotechnology trends predicted for this year. Tomorrow, these will be different, but equally stimulating. And fun -- check out Stripped Science, the blog of PhD student Viktor Poór, for a regular dose of science cartoons, this week with a birthday theme. Anyone can join the network, it is all free, so please do visit and meet others in a similar field, or with similar interests, to yourself.
Nature Network shares anniversaries of various kinds with the element Lawrencium, Dolly the sheep, Alexander Graham Bell, James Cook and, of course, St Valentine. The network almost, but not quite, shares a birthday with a person very closely connected with Nature in its earliest days -- Charles Darwin (who would have been 199 on Tuesday of this week, 12 February). In celebration of that anniversary, and of Nature Network's own much younger achievement, I reproduce a small part here of Matt Brown's lovely blog article about a walk through Darwin's London (complete with Google map):

"Walking up Lower Regent Street you might want to take a detour into Leicester Square. In Darwin’s day, No. 28—on the eastern side of the square—was the headquarters of the Zoological Society of London and the site of a zoological museum. On 4 January 1837, Darwin handed over 80 mammals and 450 birds collected during his Beagle trip. These included the now-famous Galapagos finches, specimens that ornithologist, artist and taxonomist John Gould was quick to describe as 'an entirely new group, containing 12 species.' "

I highly recommend reading the whole of this delightful combination of essay and guided tour. Happy birthday, indeed, Nature Network. I look forward to 199 (or more) lively years of your existence.

Update: See this posting at Nature Network for a brief history and some highlights of the first year.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on February 14, 2008
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Nature Publishing Group is now publishing the American Journal of Hypertension (AJH). The journal publishes high-quality, peer-reviewed articles in the fields of hypertension and related cardiovascular disease under the editorship of Michael Alderman, MD, and now has a new look, both in print and online. In celebration of the move to NPG, the online content of the journal is free site is free until 31 January. AJ H provides a forum for scientific inquiry of the highest standard and publishes articles on basic sciences, molecular biology, clinical and experimental hypertension, cardiology, neurophysiology and more. Visit AJH online to read the full aims and scope of the journal, including the guidelines for authors and for peer-reviewers.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on January 31, 2008
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Although it seems like yesterday to the editors, an entire year has passed since the launch of Nature Photonics in January 2007. To celebrate, the editors have created a web focus with selected highlights from the first 12 issues, which is available free to registered users until the end of May 2008. This content comprises an assortment of reviews, primary research papers, News and Views pieces, interviews and commentaries, showing the broad coverage that Nature Photonics has successfully achieved. In 2007, the journal published research papers reporting exciting results in topics spanning from quantum optics, plasmonics, photonic crystals, metamaterials and silicon photonics through to terahertz science, biophotonics and free-electron lasers, and many other areas besides.
Nature Photonics birthday editorial (Nature Photonics 2, 61; 2008).
Nature Photonics birthday web focus (free to registered users until 31 May 2008).

Posted by Maxine Clarke on January 31, 2008
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Nature Clinical Practice Cardiovascular Medicine is pleased to announce the launch of a new Clinical Research section. It plans to publish its first original research articles in mid-2008.
Valentin Fuster, Editor-in-Chief of the journal, writes: “Our goal is to serve the community of clinical cardiologists, and demand for this expansion has come from its members. By adding outstanding original clinical research to the latest review content, we can provide everything a busy cardiologist needs to keep up to date with advances in the field. Feedback from our contributors and readers has told us that they want a journal that not only provides timely and succinct analysis of recent advances to ease reading workload, but that they also want original research of the highest quality. We agree and aim to satisfy that demand.”
The field of cardiology is very fast-moving and there is an immense amount of research published each week. Nature Clinical Practice Cardiovascular Medicine will present only well-chosen, robust research and it will review the rest. Filtering is key – we filter all the research published each week by scanning the literature and reviewing salient issues, and will filter our original research submissions to provide only strong, clinically relevant papers. Instructions for authors are available here; the online submission page for the journal is here; find out more about the journal here; or you can contact the research editor by email for further information about submissions of original clinical research papers on the development of new technologies or methodologies that improve understanding of cardiovascular disease or impact on diagnosis or management; new information on clinical outcomes and economics from clinical trials; and new approaches to promote cardiovascular health. A free sample issue is available here.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on January 18, 2008
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Bone Marrow Transplantation has published a special issue on myeloma, edited by Ray Powles, Kenneth Anderson, Jean Luc Harrousseau and Bhawna Sirohi, and freely available online. This special issue follows the recent approval of three new targeted therapies for myeloma. It gives guidance on how the sequence of treatments and supportive therapy can be combined to optimize the patient's treatment pathway, to produce prolonged normal symptom-free survival.
About the journal: Bone Marrow Transplantation publishes high quality, peer reviewed original research that addresses all aspects of basic biology and clinical use of haemopoietic stem cell transplantation. The broad scope of the journal thus encompasses topics such as stem cell biology (for example, kinetics and cytokine control), transplantation immunology (for example, HLA and matching techniques, translational research, and clinical results of specific transplant protocols). Bone Marrow Transplantation publishes 24 issues a year and has an impact factor of 2.621. The guide to authors, including a link to the online submission web page, can be found here. Information for peer-reviewers and about peer-review can be found here.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on January 17, 2008
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The Neuroscience Gateway has moved to a new URL, www.neuroscience-gateway.org. Building on the success of the gateway, developed in collaboration with the Allen Institute for Brain Science, Nature Publishing Group is now expanding the gateway in new directions. Please update your bookmarks to the Allen Brain Atlas.
The site will continue to provide updates about the latest research, news and events, and will soon be including new features reflecting recent trends in neuroscience research. We hope you'll continue to find the Gateway a useful tool to track progress in neuroscience, and we'll provide more news about the site's development in the coming months.
We welcome suggestions and feedback from the neuroscience community, both at the Neuroscience Gateway and at Action Potential, NPG's neuroscience blog. We also encourage neuroscientists and others interested in the field to join the free neuroscience group on Nature Network, in which editors Noah Gray and Kathryn Devaney run an interactive journal club and host other discussions on what’s new in neuroscience research and publishing.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on January 11, 2008
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Nature Publishing Group (NPG) and the Society for Mucosal Immunology (SMI) have launched a new journal - Mucosal Immunology (see previous Nautilus posts in February 2007 and June 2007). Dr Brian Kelsall of the National Institutes of Health is editor-in-chief of the journal, the first issue of which is now available online. To mark the launch, all content in the inaugural issue is available free of charge.
Mucosal Immunology is now accepting submissions of papers discussing all aspects of immunity and inflammation involving mucosal tissues. Consult the guide to authors and submit your paper.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on January 11, 2008
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Nature Publishing Group (NPG) and BioCentury Publications, Inc announce a new electronic publication, SciBX, that will distill and analyse newly published life-science research to help the translation of academic science into commercial products. The preview edition of SciBX (for Science-Business eXchange) is available from the organisation's website: the publication will be distributed to subscribers every Thursday, starting on 31 January 2008.
SciBX will evaluate hundreds of high-impact, peer-reviewed scientific articles every week and select the most commercially relevant findings that merit deeper analysis. This multidisciplinary approach will provide scientific context, identify potential commercial impact and describe the next steps required to translate the newest laboratory developments into innovative healthcare solutions.
According to Medline, more than 600,000 articles were added to its database in 2006 alone. SciBX will filter this flood of scientific data, and analyse key findings within the most current scientific and business context. It will be an indispensable resource for biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, business development specialists, drug discovery and development teams, venture capitalists and other investment professionals who wish to identify new projects and potential new partners, to find enabling technology, and to be aware of competitive advances.
Please download the free preview edition of SciBX , which contains sample articles, including:
- Analysis – Providing in-depth review of new research findings and an essential understanding of the next steps required to transform these developments into commercial value.
- The Distillery – Filtering and classifying the important current research papers in biotechnology, life science and chemistry, the Distillery goes beyond the abstract to explain the science, its commercial relevance, licensing status and identify companies known to be working in the area.
Further information about the publication, the team producing it and the companies supporting it can be found at the SciBX website.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on January 09, 2008
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From this month (January 2008), Nature Publishing Group is publishing the journal Obesity on behalf of The Obesity Society. The journal is re-launching with a new look and new editorial team, led by Editor in Chief Dr Richard N. Bergman, Chairman of the Department of Physiology and Biophysics at the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California and holder of the Keck Endowed Chair in Medicine.
Obesity aims to increase knowledge, foster research and promote better treatment for people with obesity and their families. The journal publishes important, peer-reviewed, original scientific articles, as well as relevant review articles, commentaries, and public health and medical developments. The journal is ranked in two ISI categories, Endocrinology & Metabolism and Nutrition & Dietetics, and has an impact factor of 3.491.
See the journal website for guide to authors and information about submitting papers.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on January 09, 2008
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The historic moments in modern science reported in Nature can now be explored online. The archive of the first 80 years (1869-1949) of the journal Nature, the world's foremost weekly scientific journal, is now live. Every article published in Nature, back to volume 1, issue 1 is now available online.
Nature’ s archive reveals a wealth of treasures from the first years of the journal, including the first observation of X-rays (Wilhelm Röntgen, 1896), the discovery of the electron (J.J. Thomson, 1897), the first fossil evidence that humans originated in Africa (Raymond Dart, 1925), and the discovery of the neutron (James Chadwick, 1932).
Containing more than 4,000 issues and an estimated 180,000 articles, the 1869-1949 archive completes the digitization of Nature. The project has taken 5 years to complete, beginning with the launch of the 1987-1996 archive in 2003. There is a special web feature, The history of the journal Nature, featuring timelines, video interviews and profiles of all Nature 's (surprisingly few) Editors since the journal was founded.
In places, Nature’s early archive reads like science fiction, with its foretelling of science and technology we take for granted today. The forensic use of fingerprints in solving crime was suggested as early as 1880: "When bloody finger-marks or impressions on clay, glass &c., exist, they may lead to the scientific identification of criminals." Scotland Yard introduced fingerprint identification in 1901, based on an 1892 book by Francis Galton. Motion-capture photograph pioneer Edward Muybridge suggested the development of the ‘photo finish’ in Nature in 1880. Lamenting the 'dead heat' in horse racing, he asked why officials would not "avail themselves of the same resources of science" and employ up to 20 cameras to decide the rightful outcome of races. It would be more than 50 years before the ‘photo finish’ became widely used in sport.
Articles in the Nature archive 1869-1949 are available as PDFs of the original journal article, with HTML abstracts. Access is by site license for institutions, or articles can be purchased individually.
A selection of Nature’s "greatest hits", including the article by Dart, and Watson and Crick’s 1953 paper that deciphers the structure of DNA, are featured in A century of Nature, some of which is free for a limited time.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on January 08, 2008
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The latest journal in the Nature family, Nature Geoscience, introduces a section called Backstory, to celebrate the passion and endurance that geoscientists bring to their work. Each month, there is a question-and-answer piece at the back of the journal or on the journal's website. Because earth scientists like to know exactly where a story is set, each backstory shows the globe from a different perspective, centred on the location of the field work.
Here are some examples from the current (January 2008) issue:
Drillship on ice (Nature Geoscience 1, 76; 2008).
Kate Moran and Jan Backman took an ice-hardened drillship, two icebreakers and two helicopters to the high Arctic to recover many million-year-old sediments from the Lomonosov Ridge. The goal of the Arctic Coring Expedition was to reconstruct the past 60 million years of environmental change in the Arctic by recovering the first-ever long sediment core of deep-sea marine sediments from the Arctic Ocean. The site on the Lomonosov Ridge was chosen by the authors because it has a thick sequence of sedimentary layers covering its crest, which they thought should hold a record of the Arctic's past climate.
Midnight glacier hikes (Nature Geoscience 1, E1; 2008.)
Tim Bartholomaus and Suzanne and Bob Anderson hauled 25 kilograms of equipment over 25 kilometres in 25 hours to get a handle on glacier flow without breaking the bank. Glaciologists and geomorphologists are always looking for the best natural experiments to study the processes acting to shape a landscape. Glacier sliding is key to erosion at the glacier bed. In Kennicott Glacier, Alaska, the authors found an ideal natural experiment to probe the role of glacier hydrology in setting basal motion.
Plates under the sea (Nature Geoscience 1, E2; 2008.)
Using sophisticated multibeam imaging equipment aboard a French Navy vessel, Marc Fournier and colleagues mapped the structure of the enigmatic Owen fracture zone underneath the Arabian Sea. The region where the Arabian, Indian and Somalian tectonic plates meet — a triple junction — is probably the only such feature in the oceanic domain that had not been surveyed with modern oceanographic instruments. Before these authors' expedition, there was very little information regarding its precise location and geometry, although this triple junction can potentially shed light on the history of the break-up of the African plate and the formation of the Arabian plate.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on January 07, 2008
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Nature's latest Insight collection of reviews, Proteins to proteomes (Nature 450, 963-1009; 2007) is freely available online. Proteins are the most diverse and versatile set of biological macromolecules, having crucial roles in all biological processes. Now that whole complements of proteins (proteomes) for many cell types have been identified, we can begin to address the central question of how the innumerable protein functions are integrated so that a living cell interacts coherently with its environment. The Insight collection of five reviews covers vibrant areas of research in the 'protein world', journeying from single-protein dynamics, to functional proteomics and drug discovery, via new technological developments in structural, computational, evolutionary and cellular biology.
The Insight supplement is available here.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on December 17, 2007
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Nature Geoscience, whose first print/online edition will be published in January 2008, has published its first papers -- as advance online publications. Among these are a Commentary by Martin Visbek, "From climate assessment to climate services", who writes "If we fully embrace past assessment and ongoing future projections of regional climate change as the task of integrated climate services, the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel for Climate Change] can be relieved of the duty of providing up-to-date assessments of climate change. This would allow the panel to move to the decadal assessments that best suit its primary task: reviewing emerging scientific knowledge and best practices to evaluate global climate change."
Also just-published are Letters by Parsons et al., on quiet zones in the San Andreas fault; and by Beerling et al. on cold intervals in the "greenhouse world" of the Mesozoic.
Nature Geoscience is accepting manuscripts that report new research in the Earth and planetary sciences, aimed at a broad interdisciplinary audience of geoscientists. View the complete Guide to Authors here. Submit your papers via the journal online submission system here.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on December 14, 2007
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Via email from my colleague Henry Gee:
Futures from Nature is an anthology of 100 very short stories from Nature’s award-winning back-page Futures SF series … and it’s published today [13 November 2007], as a hardback from Tor, at 25 [US] dollars (or about two bob on old money), so with the usual discounts, they’re practically paying you to take it away. It's the ideal festive gift for the constipated, insomniac trekkie in your life.
As well as stories from journalists, scientists and writers trying SF for the very first time, Futures from Nature is a parade of SF greats, featuring stories from the likes of Arthur C. Clarke, Frederik Pohl, Greg Bear, Gregory Benford, Kim Stanley Robinson, Dan Simmons, Alastair Reynolds, Charles Stross, Peter F. Hamilton, Vonda McIntyre and many more.
Here’s what Publisher’s Weekly said in their starred review: “Each vignette centers on a wondrous or devastating or simply mind-boggling what if, carried to an unsettlingly original logical conclusion—or left spinning in an extraterrestrial mental orbit… a perfect volume to awaken startling new thoughts on old SF themes, giant leaps into the future in delectably palatable tiny packages.”
Actually, I lied. The anthology doesn’t contain 100 stories, but 101. I wrote one extra, just for the book. Not that this alone makes the book an essential purchase, but, you know, every Greatest Hits package has to have its Bonus Track.

See here for the Amazon UK listing, and here for the Amazon US listing.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on November 13, 2007
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The need for data storage is enormous, and is expected to increase even further in the near future as new technologies such as on-demand television or high-definition video make it to the consumer. This Nature Materials Insight, published in the November 2007 issue, aims to capture the dynamic research efforts that span the wide range of related disciplines. The Insight is free online to registered users until 31 December 2007.
This Insight contains a collection of Review articles, together with a Commentary, that span the wide range of disciplines related to information storage. One of this year’s physics Nobel laureates, Albert Fert, reviews the recent advances in spintronics that, starting with his Nobel work, allow for dramatic advances in hard-drive technology. In an intereview, Intel’s Chief Technology Officer Justin Rattner talks about recent advances in microprocessor design. Find out more by viewing the Insight for free online.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on November 06, 2007
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"A decade ago, glia were the neglected stepchildren of neuroscience. Although glia outnumber neurons by about ten to 1 in the adult human brain, providing support for neurons has traditionally been viewed as their primary function. Glial biology has come into its own recently, as researchers have shown that glia are critical for the development of the nervous system and have key roles in various disorders." So writes Sandra Aamodt, Editor of Nature Neuroscience, in her introductory Editorial to the journal's focus on glia and disease (November 2007), which highlights recent efforts and discusses how advances in understanding glial biology may lead to new treatments.
Glial cells regulate brain vasculature and the blood-brain barrier, modulating ischemia and blood flow changes in response to neural activity. Moreover, they are important in brain repair after injury and contribute to neurodegenerative diseases. The Nature Neuroscience special focus on glia and disease contains four reviews and two perspectives that highlight recent research in these areas and discuss how advances in understanding glial biology may lead to new treatments.
The November issue of Nature Neuroscience is available online here.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on November 05, 2007
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Effective diagnostics are a crucial element of successful infectious disease management, yet their development and use, particularly in the developing world, remains a neglected area. To address this deficiency, Nature Reviews Microbiology is producing a series of user-friendly diagnostic evaluation guides as supplements to the journal.
The latest of these guides is now published, focusing on visceral leishmaniasis. You can access this guide free here.
This supplement is part of the Global Theme Issue on Poverty and Human Development, organized by the Council of Science Editors. All articles from Nature Publishing Group are available free. The content from all participating journals can be found here.
Robert G. Ridley, Director of the UNICEF/UNDP/World Bank/WHO Special Programme on Research and Training in Tropical Diseases, writes in his Editorial to the visceral leishmaniasis supplement (Nature Reviews Microbiology , S1; November 2007): "Apart from the lack of investment by public sector agencies and lack of commercial incentive, three major challenges in this field deserve highlighting. First, there is the scientific challenge to identify and develop diagnostic methodologies and techniques that can readily guide treatment. This is further complicated by the multiple Leishmania species that can cause VL [visceral leishmaniasis] and the multiple disease manifestations. Second, there is the challenge — addressed by this supplement — of ensuring effective and harmonized evaluation of diagnostic tests. Third, there is the need to develop regulatory controls that ensure appropriate evaluation of diagnostic tests before they come on the market and ensure sustained quality of manufacture and production, against defined standards, after they have been given marketing authorization."
The rest of the supplement is available here.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on October 31, 2007
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Are you interested in finding out more about research in Mainland China and Hong Kong? Take a look at Nature China. Every week, the editors of Nature China survey the scientific literature to identify the best recently published papers from mainland China and Hong Kong, and provide a summary of the results.

Divided into subject areas, this portal allows you to stay up-to-date with the latest research appearing in various scientific publications in this region. Taking materials science as an example, here some recent highlights posted on Nature China:

• Carbon nanotubes: Becoming a brighter fighter
• Drug delivery: Wet or dry
• Magnetic nanoparticles: Artificial enzymes
• Super-hard conductors: Electric diamonds

Other subject areas are: biotechnology; cell and molecular biology; chemistry; clinical medicine; developmental biology; Earth and environment; ecology and evolution; genetics; neuroscience; space and astronomy; and physics. You can register for Nature China e-alerts at the website, and stay abreast of the latest research in your field from mainland China and Hong Kong. Help us identify the best Chinese papers by using the recommended paper section of the website. Click here to recommend a paper and find out what papers other users have recommended.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on October 26, 2007
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A presentation and press briefing by Nature Publishing Group (NPG) was held at a high-technology fair in Shenzhen China on Friday 12 October, to announce and distribute the 20-page Spotlight and Regions advertising feature on Shenzhen published in Nature in the 27 September issue. NPG staff gave presentations on publishing activities in China to a packed audience of about 100 from academia, government, industry and the media. A reprint of the Spotlight translated into Chinese was released at the event.
Nature Publishing Group's Shenzhen Spotlight project has involved about 25 NPG staff and freelancers from around the world. David Swinbanks, NPG's publishing director in Tokyo, writes; "After three years of discussion, we were finally given the green light by the Shenzhen local government in early August and had to pull the 20-page feature together by 21 September for the 27 September issue so that copies could be made available at the China High Tech Fair on Friday." As the supplement is also fully online, this was a considerable achievement for all the writers, editors and project-managers involved.
Part of the Spotlight supplement includes a video of a self-pollinating orchid, which can be seen here in all its beauty, showing in a stunning way the incredible power of plant adaptation and evolution.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on October 23, 2007
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Milestones in DNA Technologies (October 2007) is a collaboration from Nature, Nature Methods and Nature Reviews Genetics, focusing on ground-breaking technologies and advances in the analysis of DNA. Developments in the last 50 years range from the first Sanger sequences to the latest next-generation chemistry, and from the earliest methods of DNA separation to transgenic organisms and specific gene replacement in human cells.
You can request a free print copy here. In addition, the full content of DNA Technologies, plus further articles and features, is freely available online from October 2007 for six months. The table of contents listing is here. You can also see here for a timeline of milestones in DNA technologies.
Index of all Nature Publishing Group's Milestones publications.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on October 19, 2007
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Articles in Nature Reports Stem Cells this month call for a return to nuance in the age of dogma. A pair of bioethicists worry that participants in clinical trials may hear "stem cell" and think "therapy", even without evidence of medical benefit. A stem-cell scientist describes his frustration at the fact-twisting practiced by proponents and opponents of embryonic stem-cell research. And a US presidential order strikes the term "embryonic" from the list of stem cell lines eligible for federal research.
Our top stories:
Therapeutic misconception and stem cell research
Mildred K. Cho and David Magnus from the Stanford Center for Biomedical Ethics worry that some advocates are making too good a case for stem cells' medical benefits.
Cancer stem cells, sightings and slightings
How rare are tumour-initiating cells? How relevant? Nature Reports Stem Cells asks whether the efforts to to identify cancer stem cells in one tumour after another might miss the big picture.
Alternative energy for pluripotent stem cells
Markus Grompe, the director of the Oregon Stem Cell Center, describes hopes and plans to create pluripotent stem cells without destroying embryos.
Stem cells by any other name
A funding crunch is forcing Singapore’s ES Stem Cell International to go after medium-term revenues.
Q&A: King of the stem cells
On 14 September, the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) appointed Australian biologist Alan Trounson as its new president.
Making the Paper: Embryonic stem cells make their own niche
By untangling the interplay of two growth factors, Mick Bhatia finds that stem cells in culture create ways to stall differentiation.
Nature Reports Stem Cells is a free, interactive forum for stem cell scientists and other stakeholders to communicate about the research, policy, ethics, business and medicine of stem cell science.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on October 18, 2007
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Subhra Priyadarshini writes:
In keeping with the increasing global interest in Asia, Nature Publishing Group (NPG) will launch its India-specific website Nature India next month. Nature India aims to be the one-stop site for information on Indian science. The website, serving the scientific community of the world's largest democracy, will have a potpourri of content such as jobs, events, research highlights and science news from India. In addition, it will attempt to capture India's rapidly changing scientific and economic scene and her globalization. Through in-depth features and commentaries, leading members of the science community will reflect on contemporary issues affecting Indian science.
Readers will also have free access to some handpicked premium content from various NPG journals. Nature India will host a number of interactive sections — recommended papers, our 'Indigenus' blog, and a Nature Network forum where peers can network or indulge in a leisurely chat.
In terms of design, Nature India attempts to be just as vibrant, colourful and boisterous as the people of this magical land. Be among the first to explore India through its cutting-edge scientific pursuits.
Sign up for our regular Nature India e-alert, and we will send you your first newsletter when the site is live.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on October 17, 2007
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For those interested in specific groups of organisms, we have arranged the large-scale biology papers published at Nature Publishing Group into a "Tree of Life" organization at the Omics Gateway, so that you can browse among the organisms. Papers that focus on a single species can be found in the most exclusive organism page that includes that species: for example papers on humans will appear on the human page rather than the primates or mammals page. Papers that focus on, or are relevant to, multiple species can be found in the set of pages that encompass those species: for example a paper that compares the dog genome with the human genome will appear on both the human and mammal pages. Categories listed on the gateway and in the picture include animals; archaea; arthropods; bacteria; chordates; eukaryotes; firmicutes; fungi; green plants; human; mammals; metagenomics (genomics of microbial communities); nematodes; primates; proteobacteria; rodents and viruses.
As well as browsing organisms, you can also browse subjects at the Omics Gateway. Why "omics"? It is a suffix that has been added to many fields to denote studies undertaken on a large or genome-wide scale. While not everyone agrees with this change of terms, it is a short and inclusive term to use to help point you to our published papers in the area. For example although we may not yet be able to precisely define the metabolome, we can all appreciate that studies in this area should yield novel insight into the processes that drive cellular metabolism and detailed interactions between them. Papers here come from publications throughout Nature Publishing Group in one or more of the subject areas of: cancer genomics; chemical genomics; comparative, evolutionary and population genomics; epigenomics; genetics of gene expression; genome sequence and analysis; glycomics; metabolomics/nomics; pharmacogenomics; proteomics; systems biology; techniques and methods; and transcriptomics.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on October 16, 2007
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Cell Migration Update, a part of the Cell Migration Gateway, is a one-stop online resource designed to keep you in touch with the latest and hottest research in cell migration, by Nature Publishing Group in collaboration with the Cell Migration Consortium.
Each month we showcase two exciting new cell migration articles from the current literature. Nature Publishing Group papers are available free for 3 months, and the Editor's Reviews are free indefinitely.
This month's selections:

Par-Tiam1 complex: Persistently on Par
Tiam1 and the Par polarity complex control cell polarity, chemotaxis and persistent cell migration of epidermal keratinocytes by affecting microtubule stability.
Curr. Biol 9 Oct (2007).
Editor's Review is here.

Integrin adhesiveness: May the (shear) force be with you
Immobilized chemokines promote T-lymphocyte migration in a shear stress-free environment, but induce integrin activation and adhesiveness in the presence of external shear forces.
Nat. Immunol. 8, 1076-1085 (2007)
Editor's Review is here.

See also this month's Cell Migration Gateway research highlights, research library, latest news and conference calender.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on October 10, 2007
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A reminder to Nautilus readers that Nature Protocols Volume 2 is open access to the end of this month. So far, there more more than 250 protocols in the volume -- please visit Nature Protocols and check them out for yourself.
Whether you want help with an experimental technique, or can offer advice on the questions already posted, please join in the debate on the free Nature Protocols discussion forum on Nature Network. There are currently 26 topics in the forum, with many questions and answers, on subjects including insoluble proteins, mitochondrial DNA from plants, immunoglobulin and other protein purification, large cloning fragments and hydrogen peroxide detection.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on October 09, 2007
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October 2007 marks the first anniversary of the launch of Nature Nanotechnology. To celebrate, the editors have put together their highlights from the first 12 issues. The selection, which is available free until December 2007, reflects the diversity of nanoscience and technology, including contributions from chemists, physicists, materials scientists, engineers, biomedical researchers and others. We hope that you will enjoy browsing through the list, and join us in looking forward to an enjoyable, informative second year.
Nature Nanotechnology first-year highlights.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on October 02, 2007
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The world's population is ageing rapidly. The effects of this change in demographics are predicted to touch on many facets of human life. Not least, because the health of older people deteriorates with time. Nature's latest in its "collections" series draws together recent articles on the process of ageing, and the connections that exist between growing older and disease.
You can read the collection online, where it is free-access, or order a free print copy.
A collection of articles on the same subject, the Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology web focus on ageing, can be seen here.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on September 28, 2007
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October 2007 marks the 50th anniversary of the publication in the Australian Journal of Science of Frank Macfarlane Burnet's clonal selection theory, an intellectual framework that revolutionized the field of immunology.
Nature Immunology celebrates the event in an editorial (Nature Immunology 8, 1009; 2007) and a historical Commentary by Philip Hodgkin, William Heath and Alan Baxter (Nature Immunology 8, 1019-1026; 2007). Accompanying this Commentary is the two-page manuscript from the Australian Journal of Science in which Frank Macfarlane Burnet presented clearly for the first time the ideas that underlie the modern science of immunology (reprinted with permission from the Australian and New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science).
Nature Reviews Immunology celebrates the achievement by a Viewpoint article in which Melvin Cohn, N. Av Mitchison, William E. Paul, Arthur M. Silverstein, David W. Talmage and Martin Weigert, scientists working or who have worked in the field, provide their thoughts and opinions (Nature Reviews Immunology 7, 823-830; 2007).
From the Nature Immunology historical Commentary:

Rarely has a field as large and influential been gathered together and encapsulated in so spare a form. The modern reader can still appreciate the paper's brevity, clarity and masterly exposition of scientific method. It is worth rereading not only for its significant historical importance, but also because we see the individual creative scientist at work. Burnet's personal ambition to solve the problem of antibody specificity is clear, and he leaves plenty of clues for us to trace the evolution of the ideas that led to his solution and identify the colleagues who helped in its formulation. There is also mystery associated with the paper, such as why it is in such an obscure journal and what David Talmage's impact was on Burnet's ideas. Speculation on these issues has kept interest in the paper high over the decades.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on September 27, 2007
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Nature Neuroscience presents a special focus on emotion and emotion disorders, published in the September 2007 issue and accessible online. Regulation of emotion is becoming better understood, but despite the societal costs of disorders like depression and anxiety, their causes remain unclear. Five review articles in this issue provide perspective on this literature.
New insights into BDNF function in depression and anxiety
Keri Martinowich, Husseini Manji & Bai Lu
Social learning of fear
Andreas Olsson & Elizabeth A Phelps
Long story short: the serotonin transporter in emotion regulation and social cognition
Turhan Canli & Klaus-Peter Lesch
Adult hippocampal neurogenesis in depression
Amar Sahay & Rene Hen
Targeting abnormal neural circuits in mood and anxiety disorders: from the laboratory to the clinic
Kerry J Ressler & Helen S Mayberg

Posted by Maxine Clarke on September 21, 2007
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Nature Clinical Practice (NCP), the medical publishing arm of Nature Publishing Group (NPG), has announced that NCP Cardiovascular Medicine will accept clinical and translational original research, starting this month (September 2007). The journal is consdiering submissions of original research papers in the areas of randomized, controlled trials; systematic reviews/meta-analyses; observational studies; epidemiological studies; and translational studies -- as well as timely and succinct analysis of recent advances. The journal's online submission site for original reserach papers is here; or you can email the journal for further information.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on September 20, 2007
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To mark a decade of significant progress in the increasingly important discipline of marine microbiology, the October issue of Nature Reviews Microbiology features a special focus on the topic.The issue contains a collection of articles that highlight the latest advances in marine microbiology and how they are leading to a new understanding of biodiversity, ecology and biogeochemistry. The topics covered range from recent advances in our understanding of marine ecology and metagenomics to the remote sensing of microorganisms and ecological modelling. This issue also features the marine viruses that are believed to shape microbial ocean communities, and addresses the question of microbial abundance in the extremely harsh conditions of the deep ocean biosphere.
From 13 September 2007, these articles are available free to download owing to the generous support of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation and the Agouron Institute. This special issue is also accompanied by a Web Focus that draws together relevant articles published in journals across the Nature Publishing Group.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on September 17, 2007
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Nature Geoscience, to launch in January 2008, now has a preliminary website. In its call for papers, the journal states that it is accepting submissions of manuscripts reporting significant new research in the Earth and planetary sciences, aimed at a broad interdisciplinary audience of geoscientists. Read the Guide to Authors and submit your papers via the journal's online submission system.
Also on the "pre launch" website are research highlights: short summaries of key research papers in the discipline, written by the journal's editors. You can expect to find several new research highlights per week between now and the journal's launch in January. The editors are also busy commissioning review articles and processing the many manuscripts that have already been submitted to the journal. Vist Nature Geoscience for information about how to subscribe and other news about this exciting new publication from the Nature journals.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on September 10, 2007
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The latest in the Nature Collections series is on energy. The most pressing technological problem facing the world is uncoupling the provision of energy from the net production of carbon dioxide. This collection outlines the promises and pitfalls of new energy technologies. It looks at the potential of biofuels and nuclear power, explores new ways to lock away CO2, and considers renewables such as solar and wind power. The collection is freely available online, or you can request a free print copy here.
You can see the rest of the Nature Collections series here.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on September 04, 2007
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The Journal of Investigative Dermatology now has a journal club group on Nature Network, a place to read, discuss, and learn more about cutting-edge research in cutaneous biology. Anyone can join Nature Network simply by registering for an account. It is all free, and once you've joined, you can join the Journal of Investigative Dermatology's or any other group from the large range that have been set up by users. You can also participate in the forum discussions or set up your own blog on the Nature Network -- the place for scientists to meet, communicate and socialise.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on August 20, 2007
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We are delighted to announce the launch of a new journal, Nature Chemistry, in the first part of 2009. Alongside the highest-quality original research, Nature Chemistry will cover news, commentary and analysis from and for the chemistry community, as well as striving to develop a voice that chemists care about.
Over the past five years, Nature Publishing Group (NPG) has expanded its portfolio of Nature journals in the physical sciences, with Nature Materials, Nature Physics, Nature Photonics and Nature Nanotechnology.
Nature Chemical Biology marked NPG's first major foray into chemistry publishing. Launched in June 2005, Nature Chemical Biology has established itself as the home for primary research covering the interface between chemistry and biology. Its first impact factor is 12.409, making it the number one primary research journal in related chemical sciences.
Nature itself has also expanded its coverage of chemistry, with the addition of several chemists as editors to select papers for publication and to report news on chemistry in the News and Views and News sections of the journal.
We have also created additional online services and publications, such as the Sceptical Chymist blog, chemistry podcasts, a chemistry subject area, and our bi-monthly chemistry e-alert about what is new for chemists and chemistry. We also regularly provide hundreds of job opportunities for chemists via naturejobs.

We are looking for a Chief Editor who is able to develop, launch and establish Nature Chemistry as the essential publication for the chemistry community. The role will be based in NPG's Boston office.
Applicants must have a strong track record of research in a chemistry discipline, as well as significant editorial and/or senior research experience. They must demonstrate a good understanding of the challenges faced by researchers in both academic institutions and industry.
This is a demanding and extremely stimulating role, which calls for a keen interest in the practice and communication of science. The successful candidate will therefore be dynamic, motivated and outgoing, and must possess excellent interpersonal skills.
Applicants should include a covering letter stating their suitability for this post, as well as their salary expectations, a current CV and a statement (maximum 1,500 words) that encapsulates their vision for the content, competitive position and longer-term development of Nature Chemistry.
Applications should be sent to Denise Pitter, Personnel Assistant at londonrecruitment@macmillan.co.uk. Applicants should clearly mark on their submissions the reference number. Incomplete applications will not be considered. Closing Date: 24 September 2007

Posted by Maxine Clarke on August 16, 2007
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The July issue of Molecular Systems Biology, NPG's open access journal published in partnership with EMBO (European Molecular Biology Organisation), is live. This month's featured article is Systematic evaluation of objective functions for predicting intracellular fluxes in Escherichia coli, by Robert Schuetz, Lars Kuepfer & Uwe Sauer (Molecular Systems Biology 3, 119; 2007), with an accompanying News and Views article by Jens Nielsen (Molecular Systems Biology 3, 126; 2007). See the journal's home page for more research papers, News and Views, Perspectives and Editorials, as well as links to systems biology papers published in the Nature journals.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on July 25, 2007
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The July Editorial in Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (14, 569; 2007) reports on an interesting and diverse Cold Spring Harbor meeting on "clocks and rhythms" that reminds us of the importance of supporting basic science research.

From the editorial: "many presentations began with an image of the Earth seen from space, half shrouded in nocturnal shadow (no, this wasn't a sci-fi convention). Another unusual feature was the curious mix of scientists—biochemists, microbiologists, fly and mouse geneticists, plant biologists, neurobiologists, clinical researchers—all mingling and discussing their work. Even for a seasoned conference-attending editor, this was quite a remarkable gathering.

Read on at the NSMB journal page.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on July 23, 2007
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Chemist Jean-Claude Bradley, a friend of Nautilus's comments section, writes a post on Useful Chemistry blog about indexing molecules in Second Life

He writes: "As I've recently commented, there has been media interest in the use of the virtual online world Second Life for chemistry. We also recently demonstrated on Drexel Island that it was possible to visualize molecular docking using the molecular rezzer developed by Andrew Lang.
Nature Island [Second Nature is Nature's island in Second Life] also hosts several common molecules, including buckyballs. As more people start to experiment with representing chemicals and chemistry research in Second Life it would be nice if such examples were discovered by a simple Google search."

Check out the rest of the post, contribute to Prof Bradley's collaborative wiki "molecule indexing" project if you can (which seems to be working, from the comments to the Useful Chemistry post) --- and maybe even take a trip to Second Life.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on July 20, 2007
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Kevin Davies, the founding editor of Nature Genetics, recalls the perfect storm of events and personalities that governed the launch of the journal 15 years ago and its formative years. The journal offered a high-profile forum for the genetics community—and a bold new direction for what is now Nature Publishing Group.

The then editor of Nature, John Maddox [now Sir John Maddox], whose presence in the London office was evident by the pall of cigarette smoke billowing from his corner cubicle, frequently enjoyed thumbing through stacks of rejected manuscripts to see what Nature was turning away. In particular, the ALS rejection perplexed him. "We are, after all, in the publishing business," he reminded the biology team, and exhorted us to always consider the broader public interest in our decisions. He even coined a name for it—"the David Niven factor"—after the debonair British actor who had died of the disease. Of course, Nature was never intended to be the forum for publishing mundane mendelian linkage papers, but we smartly heeded the boss's advice, and at least one more was published following his intervention: the mapping of the gene for Werner syndrome. More importantly, however, Maddox had highlighted the quality of many genetics papers that Nature couldn't accommodate—and the tantalizing possibilities, should we seek to publish more of them.

Read more of the story of how Nature Genetics began in the Editorial of the July issue of the journal (Nature Genetics 39, 805-806; 2007).

Posted by Maxine Clarke on July 20, 2007
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The Functional Glycomics Gateway is a one-stop online resource designed to keep you in touch with the latest and hottest research in glycobiology, brought to you by Nature Publishing Group in collaboration with the Consortium for Functional Glycomics (CFG). Below we highlight a selection of what's new this month.
Featured Articles
Each month we showcase two exciting new glycobiology articles from the current literature. Nature Publishing Group papers are available free for 3 months and the Editor's reviews are free indefinitely.
Intracellular glycosylation: A QUICtag for GlcNAc
A new combination of tagging, isotope labeling and peptide fragmentation by electron transfer enables the analysis of N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) glycosylation dynamics and identification of GlcNAcylated protein sites.
Nat. Chem. Biol. 3, 339-348 (2007)
DC-SIGN signaling: Good receptor, bad receptor
The DC-SIGN receptor can promote two distinct cellular responses when activated: increasing NF-κB activity through acetylation by stimulating the Ras/Raf-1 pathway, and Rho GTPase activation through binding to the Rho GEF LARG.
Immunity 26, 605-616 (2007)
The CFG is a large research initiative composed of more than 300 participating investigators and seven scientific core laboratories. Funded by NIGMS in 2001 to elucidate the roles of carbohydrate-protein interactions in cell communication at the cell surface, the scientific core laboratories produce resources and services for investigators performing experiments that address the goals of the CFG. Data produced by the scientific cores are accessible from the Functional Glycomics Gateway. Specialty databases for glycan-binding proteins, glycan structures and glycosyltransferases are also available.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on July 18, 2007
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Lovelybooks is a new, free online initiative to get people talking and thinking about books. Developed by Nature Publishing Group's owners Holtzbrinck, in Stuttgart, an English-language version has just been launched as a beta version. We encourage you to sign up and help develop the site.
Lovelybooks lets you create a virtual bookshelf by adding books from Lovelybooks' database or from Amazon (USA or UK site), rate and review books, recommend books and meet other readers with similar tastes. So far, there are no subject tags for "science" (see the site's tag cloud here), so do take the opportunity to rectify this omission by recommending your favourite science-related books.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on July 16, 2007
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Nature Reports Stem Cells is an interactive forum for stem cell scientists and other stakeholders to communicate about the research, policy, ethics, business and medicine of stem cell science. And it's all free! This month you can read about the editors' trip to Cairns, Australia, to cover the year’s biggest stem cell conference, held by the International Society of Stem Cell Research (ISSCR). You can read about the research trends, plus scientists’ thoughts on where the field is headed. See our conference overview here. Also check out our ISSCR entries on our blog, The Niche.
Top stories of the month include:
Reprogramming expert makes a lab in two countries
Learn how Shinya Yamanaka plans to crisscross an ocean to unravel pluripotency. See what's bringing him to San Francisco's Gladstone and keeping him at Kyoto University.
Scientific society seeks smart growth
Read the commentary by Leonard Zon, past president of ISSCR, in which he describes how stem cell science has gone global, and how moving off North America spurs collaboration. The ISSCR has enlisted the man who brought billions to California stem cell science
Benefits of stem-cell engraftment may not last
Cardiac researchers report artifacts and transient improvements in animal models.
Read also about the powerful potential of pericytes collected from human adult tissues and how old, misoriented stem cells go dormant in Drosophila.
Asian-Pacific stem cell scientists discuss regional network
Learn about and participate in plans to share human and material resources across the region.
Read information normally kept from public view
See peer reviewers' thoughts on a Nature paper describing a surprising origin of blood
And read a theological argument in favour of chimaera research.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on July 13, 2007
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The Pathway Interaction Database, the authoritative collection of signaling pathways that take place in human cells, has just been updated for July. The database is brought to you, free of charge, by the US National Cancer Institute (NCI) and Nature Publishing Group, and is updated each month. To date, there are 51 human pathways and 2,642 molecular interactions curated by NCI--Nature, and 254 human pathways and 3,003 interactions imported from Biocarta. Recently added pathways are a4b1 and a4b7 integrin signalling, and p75(NTR) mediated signalling.
Please visit the Pathway Interaction Database for more July updates and news.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on July 11, 2007
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You can now visit Planet Nature to read all the nature.com blogs in one place. The latest posts from all the blogs are displayed on the Planet Nature home page, where you can also filter the displayed posts by keyword, sign up to RSS feeds of any of the individual blogs, and search across the blogs. Watch the space for further developments.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on July 10, 2007
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Cell Migration Update, a part of the Cell Migration Gateway, is a one-stop online resource designed to keep you in touch with the latest and hottest research in cell migration, brought to you by Nature Publishing Group in collaboration with the Cell Migration Consortium. The July update is now live.
Each month we showcase two exciting new cell migration articles from the current literature. Nature Publishing Group papers are available free for 3 months, and the Editor's Reviews are free indefinitely. The July selections are now live:
Collective migration: Bringing up the rear
Two independent chemokine receptors that respond to the same signal ensure the coordinated movement of primordial cells during zebrafish posterior lateral line system development.
Autologous chemotaxis: Following your own guide
Cancer cells secrete their own chemotactic cues to direct their migration towards lymphatic vessels.
The Consortium news updates for July are here.
The Research Library categorizes and provides access to essential recent cell migration-related research published by Nature Publishing Group and other key journals. The selection is deliberately broad to facilitate access to all research relevant to the cell migration community. Both primary research and review articles are included, as are News and Views articles.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on July 10, 2007
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Nature Publishing Group (NPG) is delighted that Nature is a 2007 winner of the prestigious Principe de Asturias award established by His Royal Highness Heir to the throne of Spain. The Principe de Asturias Award is the best-known cultural prize in the Spanish-speaking community. The awards honour individuals, groups or institutions whose creative work or research represents a significant contribution to universal culture in the scientific, technical, cultural, social and humanistic fields. Nature shares the 2007 Award for Communication and Humanities with the journal Science.
"This is a wonderful honor that took us completely by surprise. It no doubt recognizes the dual role of Nature in communicating outstanding science and key societal issues to diverse audiences. But above all, it's a reflection of the value and impact of scientific research itself within today's culture", said Nature Editor-in-Chief Dr Philip Campbell.
The award coincides with NPG's launch earlier this week of NPG Iberoamerica, a new company dedicated to publishing for NPG in the Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking worlds, particularly in the medical research domain.
"We are so honoured to receive this award", comments Dr Annette Thomas, Managing Director of NPG. "I am visiting Madrid for the launch of NPG Iberoamerica and the bestowing of this award on Nature could not be more timely. We look forward with great enthusiasm to working with the Spanish-speaking scientific community not only in Spain but also in Latin America, under the leadership of Lucia Ferreiros, our newly appointed head of NPG Iberoamerica".
The award for scienctific and technical research was won by Peter Lawrence and Gines Morata. The winners for the other categories are Amos Oz, Al Gore and Bob Dylan.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on July 06, 2007
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Is Elvis alive in another universe? The notion that there are 'many worlds' in a multitude of universes is 50 years old this month. This week (5 July issue), Nature celebrates the science — and the fiction — spawned by that brilliant idea.
Editorial: Parallel worlds galore (Nature 448, 1; 2007).
The 50th anniversary of an astonishing scientific hypothesis deserves celebration. So too do the truly astounding tales of a literary genre that anticipated it.
News feature: See me here, see me there (Nature 448, 15-17; 2007).
Fifty years ago, a physics student dissatisfied with the standard view of quantum mechanics came up with a radical new interpretation. Mark Buchanan reports on the ensuing debate.
News feature: The biologists strike back (Nature 448, 18-21; 2007).
Time machines, spaceships, atomic blasters — the icons of science fiction tend to come from the physical sciences. But science fiction has a biological side too, finding drama and pathos in everything from alien evolution to the paradoxes of consciousness. Nature brought together four science-fiction writers with a background in the biological sciences to talk about life-science fiction.
Commentary: Many lives in many worlds by Max Tegmark (Nature 448, 23-24; 2007).
Accepting quantum physics to be universally true, argues Max Tegmark, means that you should also believe in parallel universes.
Books&Arts: Surfing the multiverse by Gary Wolfe (Nature 448, 25-26; 2007).
The 'many worlds' of quantum mechanics spawned many more of science fiction.
Futures: Olympic talent by Richard A. Lovett (Nature 448, 104; 2007).
The first Futures story in the new series
These articles, and a selection of book reviews, research and other content from Nature on the topic of science fiction, are collected together in this special web focus.
Futures web focus. All of Nature's science fiction in one place online.
If, after reading all this, you fancy trying your own hand at a spot of science fiction writing, see here for how to go about it.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on July 05, 2007
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Would like to meet | eG weekly | EducationGuardian.co.uk

Nature Network is featured in the Guardian Unlimited this week (see link above). "Welcome to Facebook for professors, postdocs and PhDers in the sciences - otherwise known as Nature Network" , states the article. Although the Guardian reporter, Jessica Shepherd, can't resist leading with some of the more imaginative possibilities of the network, notably romantic ones, the article provides a good summary of the service, including this quote from Matt Brown, Editor of the London part of the site:

"Traditionally scientists have met, collaborated and swapped ideas through conferences and the pages of scholarly journals," says Brown. "These can be time consuming and rely to some extent on serendipity. Our vision for Nature Network is that every scientist in the world will have a personal profile on the site. Likeminded people and potential collaborators could then be easily found through a tagging system. Ideas can be discussed in the forums. Who knows, many years from now, traditional activities such as writing an academic paper could be peer-reviewed online."

Posted by Maxine Clarke on July 04, 2007
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12.040 : Article : Nature Physics

"12.040. Of course we're pleased. We want to shout it from the rooftops. Nature Physics has its first impact factor, and its a good one." Read more at the link above, this month's Nature Physics Editorial.

See here for the Nature Publishing Group press release about its journals' 2006 impact factors.
See the author and reviewers' website for a list of Nature journals and their impact factors.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on July 03, 2007
Categories: Publications, Quality measures | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nanotechnology in Cancer is the latest of the Nature Collections series. As cancer treatment shifts from non-specific cytotoxic molecules towards multifunctional targeted therapies, nanotechnology promises new approaches for earlier detection, diagnosis and prevention. With the impressive and rapid progress made in this area, it is hoped that nanotechnology-based applications will safely translate into the clinic to fight cancer. In this collection, a selection of papers, originally published in Nature journals, present the opportunities, challenges and progress made in imaging, delivery systems, detection and safety of the new materials and approaches.
At this link you can request a free print copy of Nature Collections: Nanotechnology in Cancer.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on July 02, 2007
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The 2006 impact factors for the Nature journals can be viewed at the Author and Reviewers' website. Here is Nature Publishing Group's recent press release about the new (2006) Impact Factors.

In last week's Journal Citation Report (Thomson ISI), Nature Publishing Group (NPG) once again emerged as the high impact publisher. 12 of the top 30 titles are published by NPG. New titles have leapt to the top of their respective categories, and established titles retained their leading positions. Many of NPG's journals published on behalf of societies have also performed well.
NPG established a lead position in the physical science categories. Nature Physics, launched in October 2005, received its first impact factor of 12.04, securing its place as the leading monthly journal in physics. Nature Materials, now with its third impact factor, goes from strength to strength. Its impact factor leapt by 3.25 to 19.19, placing it first in three categories: materials, multidisciplinary; physics, applied; and chemistry, physical. Nature Chemical Biology also received its first impact factor of 12.41, ranking it in the top five monthly research journals in biochemistry and molecular biology.
Nature Methods has become the leading monthly journal in biochemical research methods, with its impact factor soaring from 6.74 to 14.96. NPG's open access journal, Molecular Systems Biology, received its first impact factor of 7.94. The seven journals from the Nature Reviews series, launched between 2001 and 2003, each rank as the leading monthly review journal in their specified category, significantly ahead of any competing review titles.
The Nature journals hold their leading positions across a range of categories. Nature Genetics and Nature Reviews Genetics hold the first and second positions in the category of genetics and heredity. Nature Medicine leads in medicine, research and experimental. Nature Reviews Immunology and Nature Immunology are the top monthly journals in immunology. Nature Reviews Neuroscience and Nature Neuroscience lead in the category of neuroscience. The category of cell biology is dominated by Nature journals - Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology (first), Nature Medicine (third), Nature Cell Biology (fifth) and Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (thirteenth).
NPG's academic and society journals also excelled, with most titles showing an increase in impact. The Journal of Investigative Dermatology secured an impact factor of 4.53 and is once again first among dermatology journals. Molecular Psychiatry ranks second in psychiatry with an impact factor of 11.8. Oncogene and Leukemia rank in the top 20 for oncology journals, and EMBO Journal and EMBO Reports also appear in the top 20 for cell biology journals. Cell Research's impact factor has risen to 3.4, making it the highest ranking journal in China and one of the highest in Asia. Cell Research is published on behalf of the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
Nature retains its position as the most cited weekly science journal, with more than 390,000 citationa, an increase of almost 18,000 on last year's count. Nature continues to publish more articles than any other multidisciplinary journal.
"We are delighted with NPG's overall success this year, which sees the strengthening position of our new journals and the continued performance of our established titles. The authors that choose to publish with NPG are to be thanked for our strong results, says Annette Thomas, the company's Managing Director. NPG's service to societies remains strong, invigorating established titles with new content and new technology. We remain committed to high impact, innovative publishing."
This press release and all others can be viewed in the NPG press room.
The impact factor of a journal is calculated by dividing the number of current year citations to the source items published in that journal during the previous two years. It is an independent measure calculated by Thomson/ISI (Institute for Scientific Information), Philadephia, USA.See the Author and Reviewers' website for more explanation of impact factors.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on July 02, 2007
Categories: Citation analysis, Publications | Permalink | Comments (1)

Nature Genetics presents a special issue, Structural Variation in the Human Genome, comprised of one commentary and seven perspectives exploring recent discoveries and future prospects in the rapidly growing field of structural genomic variation. As well as comprehensive overviews of this burgeoning area, the articles also propose standards and guidelines for future research. Access this special issue FREE online.
From the Editorial:
From the earliest cytogenetic studies, it was recognized that losses or gains of entire chromosomes or microscopically visible alterations involving very large chromosomal segments were the cause of several common developmental disorders, including Down's syndrome. Beginning in the early 1990s, it also became apparent that submicroscopic gains or losses of specific chromosomal segments were a recurrent cause of many other rare genetic diseases. What was generally unappreciated, up until a few years ago, was the extent to which focal variation in DNA copy number contributed to the range of normal sequence variation among apparently healthy individuals.
In this issue, we present a collection of eight commissioned pieces highlighting recent advances in the field. We hope you enjoy this fresh glimpse into the exciting realm of human genomic structural variation.
Nature Genetics 39, Issue 7s, July 2007.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 29, 2007
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The Society for Mucosal Immunology (SMI) and Nature Publishing Group (NPG) are very pleased to announce a new publishing partnership. In January 2008, NPG and SMI will launch a new publication, Mucosal Immunology. Mucosal Immunology is now accepting submissions of papers discussing all aspects of immunity and inflammation involving mucosal tissues. The guide to authors is here and you can submit here.
Mucosal Immunology is the official publication of the SMI. It will provide a forum for both basic and clinical scientists to discuss all aspects of immunity and inflammation involving mucosal tissues. The journal reflects the interests of scientists studying gastrointestinal, pulmonary, nasopharyngeal, oral, ocular and genitourinary immunology through the publication of original research articles, scholarly reviews and timely commentaries, editorials and letters. Publication of basic, translational and clinical studies will all be given equal consideration. In addition, Mucosal Immunology aims to provide a primary method of communication for the SMI governing board and its members through the publication of society news, announcements of planned meetings and conferences, discussions of policy concerns, and advertisements for job and training opportunities.
The Editor-in-Chief is Brian Kelsall, MD, of the NIH National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
General editorial inquiries and correspondence regarding manuscripts and peer review should be addressed to:
Taylor Bowen, Managing Editor.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 28, 2007
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Nature China has just been updated. Every week, the editors write research highlights to summarize the best research published in mainland China and in Hong Kong. This week's selection:
Axon differentiation: Dishevelled neurons
The signalling protein Dishevelled helps to regulate axon growth
Microemulsions: A dry mix
Scientists create a microemulsion of two ionic liquids
Nanotubes: Slowly but surely
Single-walled nanotube arrays have been synthesized using ultralow gas-flow deposition
Zinc oxide: Crystal under pressure
A model explains how the crystal structure of zinc oxide is transformed at high pressures
Super-excited states: Change the channel
The super-excited states of fluorine molecules are studied using quantum-defect theory
Fluid dynamics: Understanding Hurricane Katrina
Solutions to the Euler equations provide a means to study a wide range of physical phenomena, including natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.
Please visit Nature China to read these highlights, which are all free, and sign up to receive weekly updates, as well as to rank the selections and recommend your own favourites.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 27, 2007
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Nature Publishing Group has published an expanding, illustrated online timeline of the history of the company and its journals. Click on the arrow to expand each year's entry. The first segment, The first 100 years (1869 - 1969), celebrates the journal Nature : "What a glorious title, Nature, a veritable stroke of genius to have hit upon. It is more than a cosmos, more than a universe. It includes the seen as well as the unseen, the possible as well as the actual, Nature and Nature's God, mind and matter. I am lost in admiration of the effulgent blaze of ideas it calls forth." J.J. SYLVESTER, MATHEMATICIAN .
The second two segments are called Branching out (1970 - 1999) and NPG in the new millennium (2000 - 2007). All three timelines detail the fascinating progression of Nature, Macmillans and Nature Publishing Group: new editors, the origin of peer review, new journal launches, office openings, and more recently NPG's entry into realm of Web 2.0. All against a diverse selection of the science we have published since Nature's first issue in 1869.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 26, 2007
Categories: Publications, Publishing | Permalink | Comments (0)

There is a forum for Nature Precedings on Nature Network, where you can ask questions, receive answers and join the debate about this new way to post your results. (It is all free, but you need to sign up to Nature Network first.) One such question asked of Nature Precedings by a science blogger is: Why post on Precedings when one can just post on one’s blog? Hilary Spencer, product development manager for Nature Precedings, provides a reply at the Nature Network forum:

To me, there seem to be very good reasons to post on Precedings, the first of which involves stability. Blogs, and personal webpages, can be ephemeral. If the author changes affiliations, domain names, or even blog publishing software, blog postings may disappear. One of the goals of Precedings is to create a stable permanent archive for researchers. We anticipate that the content will be mirrored by one or more of our partner organizations, thus ensuring that the researcher’s work will always be available.
The second related reason involves ”citability”. Blogs citations currently fall in a gray area—there is no definitive way to cite a blog posting, although this is changing. One of the benefits of Precedings is that every document posted is citable, thus ensuring that the author can be properly credited with the idea. We assign a DOI or a handle to every submission, which provides a permanent identifier for the document and can be used in citations.
A final reason is exposure. For many researchers, posting to a central archive provides more exposure for their ideas than they would receive by posting it on their website. For example, I think authors tend to get more exposure when their documents are also listed in PubMed rather than only on their personal website. (Precedings allows researchers to link submissions to postings on their blogs for redundancy.) To that end, we hope Precedings will help researchers reach a wider audience for their ideas.
Nature has always been very supportive of the blogging community, but we feel that Precedings fills a gap between (informal) blogs and (formal) peer-reviewed publications. What are your thoughts?

Can you post on both Precedings and your blog? Go to the forum to give us your views and see our responses to questions like this, or add your comments here. Other topics being disussed at the Precedings Network forum are whether PowerPoint presentations are acceptable for Nature Precedings, the site's rating system, and what drives people to post preprints in a public website.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 26, 2007
Categories: Author Services Feedback, Policies Feedback, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nature Chemical Biology is pleased to present a special focus on natural products (and terpenes in particular) in the July 2007 issue of the journal. Investigations into natural products have recently regained prominence with the increasing understanding of their biological significance and increasing recognition of the origin and function of their structural diversity. This issue highlights some of the major questions and advances in natural products research, from recent synthetic approaches to access complicated natural products to a new educational program which utilizes natural products as a basis for discovery-based research. The entire contents of the July issue of Nature Chemical Biology are free for one month, including the focus on natural products, which is available here.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 22, 2007
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Nature Protocols June issue is now out. Any scientist can upload his or her own protocol and comment on the protocols already uploaded into the website for free on the interactive Protocols Network.
Make suggestions as to how to improve current protocols, or share what worked and what didn't for you as well as uploading your own protocols for further feedback and refinement. You can also discuss protocols in our free forum on Nature Network, where Katharine Barnes, Editor of Nature Protocols, and her colleagues invite you to post questions relating to techniques and to answer the queries of other scientists in your field.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 22, 2007
Categories: Communication, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

News from the Neuroscience Gateway: The Allen Institute for Brain Science has released an upgrade to the Allen Brain Atlas, offering improved browsing and navigation and enhanced data mining. Updates to the Atlas application include:
NeuroBlast, a blast search tool that allows users to easily retrieve a list of genes with expression patterns similar to a gene of interest.
Easy Browsing and Quick View options that allow users to quickly access and browse raw data and data summaries by gene or brain structure.
Improved navigation allows users to synchronize raw data images with corresponding anatomic reference plates from the Allen Reference Atlas.
The Neuroscience Gateway, a comprehensive source for the latest research, news and events in neuroscience and genomics research, is a collaboration between the Allen Institute for Brain Science and Nature Publishing Group. The Allen Brain Atlas is a freely available scientific resource developed by the Allen Institute, which provides maps of the expression of approximately 20,000 genes in the mouse brain. Together, the Neuroscience Gateway and the Allen Brain Atlas are new tools to help researchers navigate neuroscience and genomics research. See more details about the Allen Brain Atlas here.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 21, 2007
Categories: Author benefits, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

Since their introduction to medicine, Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET) have greatly contributed to medical research and clinical practice. In particular, brain imaging with MRI and PET scans has led to important insights into both the normal and diseased brain. With increasingly advanced technology, scanning techniques, and clinical applications, brain imaging is a continuously evolving field. A web focus, presented by the Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism, compiles many of the most important research papers on the techniques and applications of cerebral MRI and PET imaging from Nature Neuroscience, Nature Medicine, NCP Neurology and Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow & Metabolism. There is free access to MRI & PET Imaging research for a limited time.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 20, 2007
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The Functional Glycomics gateway is updated today (20 June) -- a one-stop online resource designed to keep readers in touch with the latest and hottest research in glycobiology, in collaboration with the Consortium for Functional Glycomics. Each month we showcase two exciting new glycobiology articles from the current literature. Nature Publishing Group papers are available free for 3 months and the Editor's Reviews are free indefinitely. This month's two featured articles are: Glycosylation effects: core contributions, which describes how distant carbohydrate substitutions at the N-glycan core alter glycan lectin affinity, glycoprotein-mediated cell binding and serum clearance; and Tumor Growth: at the end of a snake bite in which it is described how the C-type lectins lebectin and lebecetin isolated from the venom of the blunt-nosed viper (Macrovipera lebetina) inhibit tumor angiogenesis through a direct interaction with epithelial cell integrins.
Also in the Functional Glycomics gateway are Research Highlights (short summaries of research papers); the Research Library; and the Consortium Quaterly, the latest news and findings from the Consortium for Functional Glycomics.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 20, 2007
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Timo Hannay, head of NPG's web publishing department, provides some more information about Nature Precedings on the Nascent blog . From his post:

"all the content is released under the Creative Commons Attribution License and the service is free to authors and readers. We're working with some of our partners to mirror the content to ensure its [Nature Precedings'] long-term free availability (whatever might happen to Nature Publishing Group). And what a great list of partners they are: the British Library, the European Bioinformatics Institute, Science Commons and the Wellcome Trust. See our press release for their statements about the project.
We expect to add one or two more partners in the not-too-distant future, and convene a group of forward-thinking senior scientists to advise us on future development of the service. Right from the beginning, Precedings was conceived not as an NPG-only project but as a collaborative endeavour to open up scientific communication. To that end, we'll also be reaching out to other publishers in the weeks to come to ensure that this initiative works effectively alongside the existing journal publishing channel, which Precedings seeks to complement.
If you've got comment, please post it below, go to the Nature Precedings Group on Nature Network, or write to precedings-at-nature-dot.com."

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 19, 2007
Categories: Publications | Permalink | Comments (3)

Vaccines are among the most useful and cost-effective tools for reducing the morbidity and mortality associated with infectious diseases. This month, a special Focus issue of Nature Reviews Microbiology highlights some of the latest progress in vaccine development and the pitfalls that have been encountered along the way.The topics covered range from advances in our understanding of the immune response that will help in the development of new adjuvants and anti-bacterial vaccines, to the latest work on the development of a dengue virus vaccine. The accompanying library collects the most relevant recent publications from Nature Publishing Group.

Here is the table of contents for the vaccine focus collection.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 19, 2007
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The Omics Gateway is the portal for all information relevant to large-scale genomics and biology from Nature Publishing Group. Regularly updated, this comprehensive collection enables you to view relevant archived and recent content drawn from the complete range of our publications. Most of the content is free for you to view online. The latest article higlight is GeoChip, a comprehensive microarray for investigating biogeochemical, ecological and environmental processes. from the ISME Journal. This article describes the first use of GeoChip, a comprehensive functional gene microarray suitable for studying the geochemical, ecological and environmental processes of diverse microbial communities. This new methodology allows for the screening of environmental samples across more than 10,000 genes belonging to over 150 of the most important functional gene families.
The Omics Gateway provides life scientists a convenient portal into publications relevant to large-scale biology from journals throughout NPG. By organizing our papers and web focus projects on large-scale biology into this comprehensive, topical, one-stop web portal, we hope to help you quickly reach the resources you need to study the "ome" of your choice and to keep you up-to-date with the most significant research in that area.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 18, 2007
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Last week, Nature held mini-conferences in Beijing and Shanghai to celebrate the launch of Nature China. There were over 200 attendees in Beijing, and Liu Depei, president of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and vice president of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, gave the opening remarks, together with Daoxiang Sun of Tsinghua University Council. Also speaking were Huang Laiqiang of Tsinghua University, who last year was a coauthor of a paper in Nature on self pollination in orchids (Nature 441, 945-946; 2006), and Xiaolin Zhang, head of the Innovation Center China of AstraZeneca and sponsor of Nature China, who outlined the company's activities in the region.
A similar event was held at the Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences (SIBS), organized by Dangsheng Li, deputy editor in chief of Cell Research, a journal based at SIBS and part of Nature Publishing Group's Asia-Pacific academic journal programme. The meeting was attended by about 120 people, with talks by Jarui Wu, vice president of SIBS, and Hong-Wei Xue, deputy director of the Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who provided tips on publishing in international journals.
According to results presented at the conferences, in 2006, scientists from mainland China and Hong Kong published more than 80,000 scientific papers that were indexed by the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI), bringing the output of scientific research at the same level (in numbers) as the United Kingdom and Japan.
Additional data from ISI indicate that the number of high impact papers from China with large numbers of citations is also increasing rapidly in number year on year.
Every week, Nature China’s editors select some of the best recently published research from across the scientific and medical literature, and provide short easy-to-understand summaries of the results. The website also allows users to recommend research articles for inclusion, and to vote on those recommendations. Furthermore, the website has an archive of highlights of 154 research articles published in top scientific journals since 2000, and in the case of research articles highlighted from Nature journals, the original full text scientific articles are made freely available to registered users of Nature China.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 18, 2007
Categories: Author services, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nature Precedings, as its title implies, enables researchers to share, discuss and cite their early findings on the web -- all free access. It provides a lightly moderated and relatively informal channel for scientists to disseminate information, especially recent experimental results and emerging conclusions. In this sense, it is designed to complement traditional peer-reviewed journals, allowing researchers to make informal communications such as conference papers or presentations more widely available and enabling them to be formally cited. This, in turn, allows them to solicit community feedback and establish priority over their results or ideas.
Covering biology, medicine, chemistry and the Earth sciences, the site will host a wide range of research documents, including preprints, unpublished manuscripts, white papers, technical reports, supplementary findings, posters and presentations. All submissions are reviewed by staff curators and accepted only if they are considered to be legitimate scientific contributions. No judgement is to be made about the quality or uniqueness of the work, and submissions are not subjected to peer review before they are released. Because of this, accepted submissions will usually be published within one working day, and no charge is made to either authors or readers.
Nature Precedings makes use of social features such as tagging, voting and commenting to facilitate the discovery of especially interesting and relevant content. As well as an RSS feed for recent submissions, there are separate RSS feeds available for 13 broad subject categories, so scientists can keep an eye on newly uploaded content in their own fields.
We anticipate that the content will be mirrored by academic partner organizations, several of whom have been involved with Nature Publishing Group in developing this service. As well as allowing it to become incorporated into the substantial information hubs already provided by these organizations, this federated approach will also help to ensure the long-term availability of the content — and act as a practical guarantee of the Nature Publishing Group's pledge not to charge readers for access.
Find out more about Nature Precedings here.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 18, 2007
Categories: Communication, Partners, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you’ve wondered about starting your own blog, have a look at Nature Network, where scientists of all kinds are blogging. It is free, quick and simple to set up the blog, and you’ll find yourself connected with researchers and others with overlapping interests.
You can see who is blogging at Nature Network by going to the blog index and reading whichever blogs catch your interest. Recent posts from all the blogs are featured on the blog index page, so that's another way to see what's truly current. Here are a few posts that I’ve enjoyed reading this week:
In her blog Mind the Gap, Jennifer Rohn records what it’s like to return to the bench after a spell in the science literary scene running the LabLit website. The post In which I rejoice in muscle memory is a vivacious description of planning her first experiment since her long break. "With due consideration of my long hiatus, I showed what I thought was a ridiculously stripped-down plan to the lab’s two leading experts on Drosophila cell culture RNAi: a pilot tissue culture experiment with a mere eight samples. I waited expectantly as the Ph.D. student studied my scribbles. But then he slowly started shaking his head. “Your first experiment in four years?” he said dubiously. “Only four wells, maximum. Get rid of half of this.” "
Attila Csordas, whose Network blog is called Science Hacker, looks at the role of comic books in science popularization. Cartoons are terrific education tools, writes Attila, as well as howtoons, cartoons showing kids of all ages “How To” build things. "What about cartoons for scientists? After all, experimental results, short communications and complete articles could be presented in a cartoon way, let us just juxtapose the figures of an article with good graphics and build a story upon them." Nature 's synthetic biology cover and online comic in its issue of 24 November 2005 being a good example.
In her Network blog Time for a Change, Linda Cooper suggests that "there's a better way to write a scientific article. Currently, published articles are unnecessarily difficult to read and researchers need to be trained in how to write about their research." Here she explains why the active voice, useful transitions and clear subjects help readers. The post at the link takes a paragraph from the Allen Brain Atlas part by part, providing an original, a descontstruction and a revised version of each section. Head on over and tell her which you think is best.
These are just three of the many lively blogs on the Nature Network. Check it out, and have a go yourself.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 15, 2007
Categories: Author benefits, Communication, Publications | Permalink | Comments (2)

The ENCODE (Encyclopedia of DNA Elements) project has set out to identify all the functional elements in the human genome. Detailed in a Nature web focus, a pilot project on 1% of the genome reveals new insights about how the information coded in the DNA blueprint is turned into functioning systems in the living cell. You can download a free poster at the Nature web focus, read the free-access article by the ENCODE project team (Nature 447, 799-816; 2007), and read related news stories, articles and information about the project.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 14, 2007
Categories: Disciplines, Partners, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

The first e-newsletter of Nature Reports Stem Cells, out now and free (sign up at the home page), provides the latest news and information about research, policy, ethics, business and medicine of stem cell science. The editors' welcome letter is here, and the associated blog, The Niche, is here.
A selection of this week's stories:
Skin Cells to Stem Cells
Recent research promises embryonic stem cells, minus eggs and embryos. Three labs transformed mouse skin cells (fibroblasts) into cells that seem to pass muster as embryonic stem cells. If it works for humans, a simple biopsy could yield patient-specific sources of neurons, cardiomyocytes, or any other useful cell type. Read an interview with Shinya Yamanaka, a scientist who found the transforming recipe.
Man or Beast? Man and Beast!
Ian Wilmut is Nature Reports Stem Cells’ first Featured Editor. This week, he writes about how part-human part-animal cells could produce some of the most powerful tools yet for unraveling human disease, he talks about current research that excites him most, and he remembers Dolly.
Eggless cloning
Unfertilized eggs have long been the limiting resource for attempts to make genetically tailored human embryonic stem cells. If a new technique for cloning mice from fertilized eggs works in humans, they might not be necessary. This week Monya Baker writes about whether the new procedure for cloning using zygotes instead of oocytes changes the ethical terrain, and also tries to define just what eggs have that makes reprogramming work. Read an interview with Davor Solter, a scientist who, decades ago, convinced researchers that eggs were essential.
And now for something completely different
For a really fresh perspective on the technique for cloning from zygotes, read this fortnight’s Inside the Paper. Pioneered by Nature Reports Stem Cells, this new form of science reporting posts edited discussions between authors and reviewers from the peer review process. Learn what the foremost experts in the field had to say about a paper’s context, strengths, and shortcomings. See what the authors saw, and read their responses. (And you can add your own comments on The Niche.)
See all this, and more, at Nature Reports Stem Cells -- and it is all free.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 13, 2007
Categories: Communication, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nascent: Scintilla

The latest new website in a week of new launches hectic even by the standards of Nature Publishing Group is a social site called Scintilla. Alf Eaton, who with Euan Adie in NPG's web publishing division created the site, explains all at the above-linked post at Nascent. Briefly, Scintilla is an aggregator of publication databases, news stories and blogs about science which users can read, rate and recommend to each other. It has its own discussion group here, for people to provide comments and feedback.

Scintilla has been welcomed by several scientist bloggers, including Neil Saunders. Attilla Csordas, who blogs at Partial Immortalization and at The Niche (the Nature Reports Stem Cells blog), having earlier in the week called Nature Publishing Group the Google of science publishing, is now moved to refer to us as "Natureplex". (Read his initial reactions to Scintilla here.) What next?

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 12, 2007
Categories: Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nature Nanotechnology is now in volume 2. The latest issue of this second volume covers topics as diverse as: processing nanowire devices; imaging defects in nanotubes; DNA nanochannels; transparent and flexible nanoelectronics; polymer nanofibres; and the separation of left- and right-handed nanotubes. These original research articles are complemented by the News & Views section, a Commentary article about the challenges and opportunities that ‘post-academic’ science presents for the nanoscience and technology community, an Editorial about the role of nanoscience in combating climate change, and a Thesis article about the regulation of new nano-enabled products and devices in nanomedicine.
June's Progress article, FREE to access online, is Biomimetics of photonic nanostructures, by Andrew R. Parker and Helen E. Townley. It reviews the use of diatoms, viruses and other living objects to fabricate photonic nanostructures.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 11, 2007
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The Nature Geoscience editorial team is now accepting manuscripts from researchers who are active at the frontiers of this diverse and multidisciplinary field. Articles for Nature Geoscience will be selected and edited to have the maximum appeal to the global geosciences community.
Nature Geoscience's online manuscript submission system.
Guide to authors and other information about the journal.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 07, 2007
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Introducing two free-access websites for research networking and outreach to be launched this week: Nature Reports Climate Change and Nature Reports Stem Cells. Aimed at researchers and at anyone else who is interested, both provide an editorial perspective of their fields through a combination of original journalism and commissioned comment, alongside archived material from other Nature publications. Both sites also facilitate community interactions through blogs: Climate Feedback and The Niche. These sites will develop further by way of community interactions and applications in the coming months. The original content of both is freely accessible.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 07, 2007
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A Nature Reviews Immunology Focus on Cytokines & Cytokine Therapies published this month (June 2007) is freely accessible online for six months. Cytokines act as key communicators for immune cells; maintaining a delicate balance in the level of these communicators is vital for health — in many chronic diseases, this balance is disrupted. Thus, therapeutic targeting of cytokine pathways promises great hope for patients suffering from chronic diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis.
This Focus issue of Nature Reviews Immunology highlights the latest advances in cytokine research and the application of these findings for clinical intervention. It includes the following articles by leaders in the field:
Cytokines in the pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis
Iain B. McInnes and Georg Schett
TGFb signalling in control of T-cell-mediated self-reactivity
Yuri P. Rubtsov and Alexander Y. Rudensky
SOCS proteins, cytokine signalling and immune regulation
Akihiko Yoshimura, Tetsuji Naka and Masato Kubo
These reviews, other articles and related material can be found at the Focus website.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 05, 2007
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Nature Nanotechnology is currently calling for papers. Nature Nanotechnology is a multidisciplinary journal that publishes papers of the highest quality and significance in all areas of nanoscience and nanotechnology. The journal covers research into the design, characterization and production of structures, devices and systems that involve the manipulation and control of materials and phenomena at atomic, molecular and macromolecular scales. Both bottom-up and top-down approaches - and combinations of the two – are covered. Research areas covered in the journal include:

Nanomaterials and nanoparticles
Carbon nanotubes and fullerenes
Organic-inorganic nanostructures
Structural properties
Electronic properties and devices
Nanomagnetism and spintronics
Photonic structures and devices
Quantum information
Molecular self-assembly
Molecular machines and nanoelectromechanical devices (NEMS)
Surface patterning and imaging
Nanofluidics, nanosensors and other devices
Nanobiotechnology and nanomedicine
Computational nanotechnology
Nanometrology and instrumentation
Synthesis and processing

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 04, 2007
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Molecular Therapy is the official journal of the American Society for Gene Therapy (ASGT). Available in print and online, the journal is dedicated to publishing important peer-reviewed research and cutting-edge reviews and promoting the sciences in genetics, medicine and biotechnology. You can read an issue free online by visiting the journal's website. An announcement about Nature Publishing Group's publishing partnership with the ASGT, and plans for the journal, is available at this link.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 04, 2007
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Nature's Avian Flu e-newsletter for June is just out. If you'd like to sign up for monthly updates from Nature Reports Avian Flu, our extensive archive of news about and research articles reporting the most significant developments on avian flu, please go to the Avian Flu website. Each newsletter brings you free updates -- this month including an account of how researchers are gaining a stronger appreciation of the effect of human behaviour on the course of epidemics, as well as about the origins of influenza and other major infectious diseases. Other developments include the prospects of new antibody-based treatment for H5N1 infection, and a resolution by WHO to stockpile vaccines against influenza viruses with pandemic potential. The Nature Reports Avian Flu website carries a regularly updated timeline, FAQs, and Nature's award-winning interactive Google Earth map that enables users to see the spread of the H5N1 avian flu virus over time around the world. Share your views on the Nature Reports Avian Flu blog.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 04, 2007
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Photonics at NPG is a round-up of recent papers in the photonics field published by the physical sciences division of the Nature Publishing Group. This month's selection includes twisted photons, unidirectional nanoslit couplers for surface plasmons, Bloch gain in quantum cascade lasers, mapping surface plasmons on a single metallic nanoparticle, extrafluorescent electroluminescence in light-emitting devices, and finally, multimaterial fibres that see, hear, sense and communicate.

See Photonics at NPG for more details.
Nature Photonics June issue is now available.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on June 01, 2007
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If you are in striking distance of London on the evening of Tuesday 19 June and want to find out more about this Second Nature in Second Life that you keep reading and hearing about, then please attend a free event, "Science in Virtual Worlds", in association with the Royal Institution and Nature Network.

It’s when you’re flying next to a Saturn V rocket or climbing around a protein molecule that you realise the potential for science in virtual worlds. In an online place like Second Life, you can do things that are dangerous, expensive or downright impossible in real life (or ‘meatspace’). That’s why scientists have begun using such places to conference, teach, build and experiment, in fields from astrophysics to neuroscience, chemistry to psychology. Fancy a stroll through a four-dimensional house? Log on and do it in Second Life.

Online worlds are social spaces too, and that makes them attractive to social scientists. How do we develop meaningful relationships with people we’ve never seen or heard? How do those with autism or schizophrenia fare? Do gender roles or moral codes alter? How does information travel and how can there be economies, uprisings and fads? What are the ethics of studying the denizens of these worlds — are they different from real world citizens? Join Aleks Krotoski , Dave Taylor and Nature Publishing Group's Joanna Scott at the Apple Store on Regent Street for a free event on how science is expanding into virtual life.

Venue: The Apple Store, 235 Regent Street, London W1B 2ET: See the Royal Institution website for more details.
See this previous Nautlius post about opportunities to present your work virtually on the Second Nature island.
This previous Nautlius post describes more about Second Nature and Second Life.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 29, 2007
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Nature’s Journal Club

Our latest blog (link above) is the blog for the Journal Club, a weekly column published in Nature’s Research Highlights pages. Each column presents a researcher’s choice of reecnt paper, explaining the reason why he or she is enthused about it. At the Journal Club blog we invite readers to discuss the subjects raised in the columns. Please do take a look at the entries on the blog, and, as my colleague Oliver Morton puts it, "enrich their comment threads with your insight and speculation."

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 28, 2007
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A Natural Fit: For Science Journal, Web Is 'Second Nature' - International - SPIEGEL ONLINE - News

At the link above is an article on how "Nature, the world's best-known scientific publication, is now being transformed into a multimedia platform that includes include blogs, podcasts and even a Second Life presence" : according to the article, "as shocking as the Queen moving to Las Vegas". Timo Hannay, director of web publishing, responds: "The core business of Nature is not to produce a magazine," he says, "but to facilitate the exchange of ideas among scientists." More and more nowadays, that exchange happens to be taking place electronically." "

The article continues: "Would you like some coffee?" Hannay asks, as he sits down at his computer and directs his digital representative, Timo Twin, to the Magic Molecule Model Maker, which looks vaguely like a gumball machine. "Let me make some caffeine," says Timo Twin, and soon brightly colored atoms begin bursting onto the screen, combining to form a coffee molecule. As big as scaffolding, the molecule floats in cyberspace in front of the Timo avatar, three-dimensional and easily rotated. All it takes is a mouse click and the virtual machine starts spitting out other molecules: adrenaline, Viagra, aspirin -- just as requested. "The Magic Molecule Model Maker sounds like a game," says Hannay. "But chemists use it a lot when they need a three-dimensional image that can be rotated for a presentation or a discussion." "

The article goes on to describe some of Nature Publishing Group's online activities, not so modern as some might think, perhaps, in concept at least: "The digital pub, with its green-haired avatars and podcast chatter, may seem futuristic. But it is also strongly reminiscent of the generation of Nature's founders. At the time, more than a century ago, there was bitter competition among various young, often underfunded and short-lived scientific publications (Nature's current competitor Science almost went out of business several times and frequently changed ownership). But Nature had a decisive advantage. Its publisher, Alexander Macmillan, loved a good party. He would routinely invite the cleverest thinkers of his day to his house for what he called "Talk, Tobacco and Tipple." This principle also served as the basis for his magazine. Science, Macmillan reasoned, simply had to be fun."

Nature's history expert reports that Alexander Macmillan did indeed host the famous 'tobacco parliaments' in the 1860s and 70s with scientific heavyweights of the day where art, literature and science (particularly Darwinism) were debated with much drink and cigars. It worked in the sense that Macmillan cared enough about science to found a journal, and support it for three loss-making decades!

But the Spiegel article is not correct to state that: "The generation of people who founded Nature continued to meet for decades in London in a sort of offline community for meals, drink and talk. The group called itself the X Club because it accepted only one rule: that there would be no rules."

Nature's history expert points out that the X-club was different. Macmillan was not a member, nor was Norman Lockyer (Nature's first editor). Most, if not all, of the X-club members would write for other journals too. In fact, it was Lockyer's non-association with the X-club that allowed him a free rein as editor to stoke controversies -- a tactic to increase circulation and keep the journal on people's lips when there was much competition around.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 24, 2007
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Biomedical researchers have long flirted with private foundations and wooed them into bankrolling their research, but today these relationships have become more complex. Through a series of interviews with scientists and the foundations that fund them, Nature reports on the trade-offs involved in the relationships between
scientists and a new breed of foundations that are focused on translational research. This News Feature on biomedical philanthropy, Love or money (Nature 447, 252-253; 2007), is free online.
The other News Features that make up the report require a subscription or site licence:
State of the donation.
The money tree.
The giving machine.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 18, 2007
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The Functional Glycomics Gateway is a unique collaboration between the Consortium for Functional Glycomics (CFG) and Nature Publishing Group (NPG). It is designed to provide up-to-date information and resources for research aimed at elucidating the roles of glycan-protein interactions in cell surface biology. May's updates are now available via the link at the start of this post.
This month's features include T cells: home sweet home and Glycomics: gathering glycans from glycolipids.
You can also find links to new research papers, review articles, and glycomics news and awards.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 17, 2007
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The Nature Collections series bring together important papers around a particular area of scientific research. Published both in print and online, they make perfect reference tools.
The latest collection, just published and freely available, is Metagenomics, in which Nature presents a selection of papers that combine the latest techniques to explore whole microbial communities and track individual species in uncultured samples ranging from sea water to soil. You can read the collection online here, and request a free printed copy here.

From the Editorial introducing the Metagenomics collection, by Senior Nature Editor Chris Gunter:

A picture of a microbial community as a whole can be pieced together from the number and diversity of, for example, 16S ribosomal RNA genes. Moreover, individual species can be tracked by the presence or absence of genes such as rhodopsins in aquatic samples, or metabolic enzymes in the soil or the host intestine. The articles in this collection use combinations of the latest sequencing technologies to describe many environments for the first time and to reinterpret those that we see every day.

For instance, the fascinating marine worm Olavius algarvensis lacks a mouth and a gut, but manages to survive thanks to an amazing symbiotic relationship with bacteria. Metagenomic analysis allowed the first description of this symbiosis.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 17, 2007
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Nature Nanotechnology, the journal that brings science and nanotechnology together at the nanoscale, is now in volume 2. The latest issue of this second volume covers real-time single-molecule imaging; magnetic resonance force microscopy; protein detection; nanotube growth; quantum information; multiple nanodot formation; and the use of nanoparticles to deliver DNA into plant cells.
This issue also contains a freely available review article on DNA nanomachines by Jonathan Bath and Andrew J. Turberfield (Nature Nanotechnology 2, 275 - 284; 2007) – currently one of the hottest topics in all of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Research on building synthetic molecular machinery from DNA is inspired by biological systems in which individual molecules act, singly and in concert, as specialized machines: our ambition is to create new technologies to perform tasks that are currently beyond our reach. DNA nanomachines are made by self-assembly, using techniques that rely on the sequence-specific interactions that bind complementary oligonucleotides together in a double helix.
The current issue of Nature Nanotechnology is available here.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 15, 2007
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Attila Csordas of the biotechnology blog "Partial Immortalization" reviews Nature Network, the social site for scientists. He writes:

At this point I am strongly supportive of NN as I embraced its core mission a long time ago: “Connecting scientists at a global and local level.”

In his article, Attila compares the Nature Network to LinkedIn, a site for job seekers in the business, IT and technology industries. Although Nature Network is smaller, it is much younger, and has a broader range of operation:

According to the numbers, Nature Network is currently a very small but organically growing strong online community. This is exactly the most exciting period in the life cycle of every forming network, so it is a guaranteed experience and challenge to join and participate - now at least - for people like me, who are eager to test and modulate every flexible beta product.

If you are interested in participating in a "Web 2.0" social network for scientists, then it is worth reading this review, which investigates the benefits and pitfalls for scientists of making Nature Network their main networking site. The verdict? "From the user-scientist point of view, NN is good for scientists hungry for all level of scientific information and contacts."

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 14, 2007
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The study of cellular structures and molecules requires development of cutting-edge techniques in biology, biochemistry and nanotechnology. A FREE Nature technology feature "Close-up on cell biology" (Nature 446, 937-940; 2007) highlights new tricks and tools available to cell biologists.

The dawn of the nano-era has placed a whole new array of tools in the hands of cell biologists who are keen to go deeper into the intricacies of how cells work. Forever pushing the boundaries, cell biologists are shifting focus from the micro- towards the nano- and even sub-nano level. To do so means having to find ever more creative ways of using not just biology, but also elements of physics, materials science and engineering. Biophysicists, nano-technologists, nanofabricators and electrical engineers are working side by side to probe further into the cell.

An online archive of Nature's technology features in the field of cell biology is available here.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 14, 2007
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Marsupials split off from the main mammalian lineage millions of years ago, and have been studied by biologists for years to discover what they can tell us about ancient mammals, particularly the evolution of mammalian sex chromosomes. Plus they are cute! The first marsupial genome has been sequenced and analysed from a tiny opossum named Monodelphis domestica, reported in the current issue of Nature 447, 167-177; 2007. This article, together with an archive of articles on marsupial genetics and genomics, is presented in a feeely available Nature web focus.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 14, 2007
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Below are this week's research highlights from Nature China, dedicated to highlighting the best research from mainland China and Hong Kong, and providing scientists from around the world with a convenient portal into research in all disciplines. The editors select the best research recently published and provide a summary of the results as research highlights. Users can also recommend papers to be included in Nature China and vote/comment on those suggestions.
CHEMISTRY
Organometallic chemistry: Tied at both ends. A zinc-zinc-bonded compound with a longer bond length
CLINICAL MEDICINE
Sexually transmitted diseases: Fatal attraction. The spread of sexually transmitted diseases in a population is affected by the fatality of the disease
ECOLOGY & EVOLUTION
Primitive animals: No hurry to grow. Fossilized embryos from the first animals show evidence of a resting phase during development
GENETICS
Rice yield: Bumper crop?The control of the size and weight of rice grains revealed
Cancer: Deadly insert. Variations in the immune system can influence cancer risk
MATERIALS
Carbon nanohorns: Miniature drug dealers. Carbon nanohorns coated in a special organic polymer can safely
deliver drugs into cells
Quantum dots: Cell illuminators. Soluble, non-toxic, fluorescent quantum dots can provide excellent
illumination for biological images without harming cells.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 11, 2007
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Three Correspondence letters in this week's Nature (447, 142; 2007) all concern information on the web, in rather different ways.
Mark Gerstein and colleagues raise the oft-discussed question of structured abstracts in journal articles: that is, an abstract that contains bold headings to introduce the text. The difference here, though, is that the structured abstract is for digital publication, and would use a web standard such as XML or OWL, to allow automated literature mining.
In another letter, Douglas Crawford highlights the Human RefSeq database as a standard for genes that have more than one name: a common occurrence. Associations between genes can only be made accurately when the gene and all its synonyms can be correctly identified. If genes in a publication were identified via RefSeq, genomic analysis would be more likely to identify genes of common interest
Finally for this week, Quentin Wheeler and Frank Krell comment on a Commentary in Nature's Linnaeus special issue. They say that mandatory online registration of taxonomic names should accompany any new species description, to ensure true accessibility and knowledge.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 10, 2007
Categories: Access, Author benefits, Publications | Permalink | Comments (2)

Nature's Spring Books issue is published this week. Books reviewed include:
I Am a Strange Loop by Douglas R. Hofstadter (reviewer Susan Blackmore)
Plutonium: A History of the World's Most Dangerous Element by Jeremy Bernstein (reviewer John S. Rigden)
The Canon: A Whirligig Tour of the Beautiful Basics of Science by Natalie Angier (reviewer Kathleen Taylor)
Coral: A Pessimist in Paradise by Steve Jones (reviewer Daniel Pauly)
The Invisible Sex: Uncovering The True Roles Of Woman In Prehistory by J. M. Adovasio, Olga Soffer & Jake Page (reviewer Pat Shipman)
Useless Arithmetic: Why Environmental Scientists Can't Predict the Future by Orrin Pilkey & Linda Pilkey-Jarvis (reviewer Roger Pielke, Jr)
Swimming in Stone: The Amazing Gogo Fossils of the Kimberley by John Long (reviewer Per E Ahlberg)
Why Beauty Is Truth: The History of Symmetry by Ian Stewart (reviewer Joseph Mazur).

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 08, 2007
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Please join me in welcoming Climate Feedback, a new blog hosted by Nature Reports: Climate Change to facilitate lively and informative discussion on the science and wider implications of global warming.
Launching later in May, Nature Reports: Climate Change is a new online resource from Nature Publishing Group, dedicated to in-depth reporting on global change. In light of the need for greater understanding of and access to information on climate change, the new website will vastly extend Nature’s reporting on this important issue. This resource hub on global warming will cover the science of climate change through reviews, research highlights and features, as well as casting a wider net to cover the larger implications of climate change for policy, society, and the economy. A key feature will be its interaction with the wider community, initiating dialogue, debate and discussion through regular blogs and podcasts.
Nature Reports: Climate Change already carries links to various resources, web focuses and news coverage already published in Nature and the Nature journals. You can sign up for the free e-alerts to receive news of when the site officially launches and regular updates. We are also welcoming your suggestions for features and material to include.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 04, 2007
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A round-up of some interesting posts on The Sceptical Chymist blog.
Endangered elements: platinum, helium and iridium are running out. Any others?
Add it up: how good, or bad, are chemists at maths?
Reactions: what made Jonathan Steed a chemist?
Pour some sugar on me: about Nature's glycochemistry and glycobiology Insight.
What's the hardest of them all?: the hardest-ever material, but is it new?
And finally, of direct use to authors: 50 ways to write a (cover) letter, in which Nature senior editor Joshua Finkelstein provides some useful tips.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 04, 2007
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Nature Cell Biology's May issue (9, 481; 2007) contains an editorial providing some background and more information about our new Nature Reports publication -- Nature Reports Stem Cells:
Stem cell research is only a quarter century old and it is already the most publicly visible of the biological sciences. This is not surprising, given the broad clinical potential, the ethically charged directions in which some of the research is taking us and, above all, the magic of uncovering the molecular nature of self renewal and immortality. The stem cell community has grown significantly and the field touches on most other disciplines, as stem cells have been found in a plethora of embryonic and adult tissues, and as the molecular mechanisms underlying self renewal and commitment have begun to emerge.
It is has been remarkable how proactive and successful a number of leaders in the stem cell community have been in publicly representing research interests. Nevertheless, the interdisciplinary nature of stem cell biology and the associated political and ethical complexities necessitate a dedicated international professional body to formally represent the community, as much as they require an authoritative forum to foster information exchange between researchers and to keep the public and policymakers abreast of the latest research. The foundation of the International Society for Stem Cell Research (ISSR) in 2002 was one essential step. In the meantime, many journals have been actively covering stem cell biology. However, a dedicated forum that ties together basic and medical stem cell research, and that reports on ethical, political and economical aspects of the research has been missing.
With this in mind, Nature Publishing Group is launching a gateway dedicated to stem cell research.

Continue reading "Online resource for stem cell biology. " »

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 04, 2007
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Here is the full text of an Editorial in today's Nature (447, 1-2 ;3 May 2007), which is freely available. For further details of the Nature journals' policy on fraud and fabrication, see the Author and Reviewers' website. Comments on this editorial are welcome.

The use of electronic laboratory notebooks should be supported by all concerned.

Too often when errors or cases of fraud occur in science, the lab data required to reconstruct what happened have gone astray. And too often, the co-authors failed to exert due scrutiny on their colleagues' activities in order to prevent such misfortunes. The damage to personal and institutional reputations can be severe and, in rare high-profile cases, public trust can be eroded.

It is therefore in everyone's interest to pre-empt such cases as far as possible. Electronic laboratory notebooks offer a partial solution — and have other advantages too. This is despite the fact that maximizing their benefits will require a change in culture that many researchers will no doubt initially resist.

Continue reading "Share your lab notes" »

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 03, 2007
Categories: Communication, Data availability, Ethics, Policies, Publications | Permalink | Comments (4)

Nature China is a new publication which highlights the best research coming out of Mainland China and Hong Kong, providing scientists from around the world with a convenient portal into publications drawn from across all scientific disciplines. Each week, our editors select the best published research and provide a summary of the results. By organizing this research into a comprehensive, regularly updated, one-stop web portal, we hope to help you quickly reach the resources you need to study and to keep up-to-date with the most significant research coming out of mainland China and Hong Kong.
Users can also recommend papers to be included in Nature China and vote/comment on those suggestions. The best of these, chosen by you, are included within the Nature China archive.
For the current, just-updated research highlights across all the disciplines, visit the Nature China site. You can also sign up for regular updates by email.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 03, 2007
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As the amount of original clinical research continues to grow, it has become increasingly difficult to keep up with the current literature while still devoting substantial time to patient care. Nature Clinical Practice journals deliver timely, authoritative interpretations of key research developments, translating the latest findings into clinical practice.
Content includes editorial and opinion pieces, highlights from the current literature, commentaries on the application of recent research to practical patient care, thorough reviews, and in-depth case studies. Our distinguished Editors-in-Chief and international advisory boards ensure comprehensive coverage throughout the year, with discussion of topical issues included as soon as possible after publication of the original research.

Featured articles from our most recent issues, all available via the Nature Clinical Practice homepage:
Drug Insight: statins for nonischemic heart failure—evidence and potential mechanisms
Michael J Lipinski, Antonio Abbate, Valentin Fuster and George W Vetrovec
Should every patient with traumatic brain injury be referred to an endocrinologist?
Gianluca Aimaretti and Ezio Ghigo
Is the prevalence of idiopathic ulcers really on the increase?
Dorothy KL Chow and Joseph JY Sung
Case-mix factors explain the survival advantage of Hispanic and racial minority patients on hemodialysis
Dana Miskulin
Drug Insight: the use of melatonergic agonists for the treatment of insomnia—focus on ramelteon
Seithikurippu R Pandi-Perumal, Venkataramanujan Srinivasan, Burkhard Poeggeler, Rüdiger Hardeland and Daniel P Cardinali
Advances in primary and secondary interventions for cervical cancer: human papillomavirus prophylactic vaccines and testing
Cosette M Wheeler
Therapy Insight: scleritis and its relationship to systemic autoimmune disease
Justine R Smith, Friederike Mackensen and James T Rosenbaum
Defining the role of overactive bladder treatments in men with lower urinary tract symptoms
Gary E Lemack

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 02, 2007
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Following years of development, electronic paper is now entering ebooks, mobile phones and signs, and, as Duncan Graham-Rowe reports in the current issue of Nature Photonics (1, 248 - 251; 2007), is starting to gain the market acceptance that it has long strived for. Will it be good enough for your research notes or next scientific paper? Various of the new display technologies now coming onto the market are checked out in this useful Nature Photonics round-up. Duncan Graham-Rowe concludes: "Ultimately, however, putting aside the novelty of having a flexible display, the real innovation with electronic paper will be the viewing quality in these screens. For many consumers the simple ability to read the electronic screen in bright sunlight without frowning will be more than enough to convince them."

Posted by Maxine Clarke on May 01, 2007
Categories: Communication, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nature Protocols is currently offering free access to all of volume 2 for the month of May. The current issue (vol 2, no. 5) includes:

>Immobilization of enzymes on heterofunctional epoxy supports
>Generation of a defined and uniform population of CNS progenitors and neurons from mouse embryonic stem cells
>Isolation and culture of rat and mouse oligodendrocyte precursor cells
>Synthesis of oligo-RNAs with photocaged adenosine 2'-hydroxyls
>Identification and insertion of 3-carbon bridges in protein disulfide bonds: a computational approach

As well as reading current content, at the Nature Protocols site you can also upload your own protocol directly, view movies of protocols, join the discussion forums, add comments to protocols on the site, and check out the "tools and reagents" page, in which details are provided of how to make up some commonly used reagents, as well as an updated list of all the basic equipment that researchers will need to perform the protocols published.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 30, 2007
Categories: Author services, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

An immunological understanding of how transcription factors direct lymphocyte lineage determination requires appreciation of the myriad ways in which they interact with and influence other cellular processes. Nature Immunology has just published a web focus containing five specially commissioned articles on the lymphocyte lineage specification factors that drive T- and B-cell development and function. This web focus is freely accessible during May, and also features an editorial and online collections of research highlights, a library of landmark publications, classic papers, essays and reviews.
From this month's Nature Immunology Editorial:" It is exciting to think that years after the initial recognition of the crucial roles played by these transcription factors during lymphocyte development, so many details of their functions remain to be understood. Only after the identification of the proteins and processes that are influenced directly or indirectly by these transcription factors can we accurately place them within the big picture of lymphocyte lineage specification."

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 27, 2007
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Nature Reviews Neuroscience is the no. 1 monthly review journal in neuroscience, with an impact factor of 20.951. In May, online access to the entire issue is free. Reviews include:
Transcriptional regulation of vertebrate axon guidance and synapse formation
Franck Polleux, Gulayse Ince-Dunn & Anirvan Ghosh
Drosophila olfactory memory: single genes to complex neural circuits
Alex C. Keene & Scott Waddell
Epigenetic regulation in psychiatric disorders
Nadia Tsankova, William Renthal, Arvind Kumar & Eric J. Nestler
Cell cycle regulation in the postmitotic neuron: oxymoron or new biology?
Karl Herrup & Yan Yang
Binocular depth perception and the cerebral cortex
Andrew J. Parker
To read these articles, and the rest of the content of the May issue, please visit the journal website.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 26, 2007
Categories: Publications | Permalink | Comments (1)

Call for papers!
Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics invites contributions in the following areas for two special issues publishing in Autumn 2007.
Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine:
This issue of Clinical Pharmacology & Therapeutics will focus on stem cell biology, adaptations in the field of drug development and regulation required to translate this biology into patient-based therapies, and the practice and ethical challenges inherent in their application to populations of patients with diverse diseases.
Molecular Medicine:
This issue will explore the translation of this new biology to novel diagnostic and therapeutic modalities characterizing molecular medicine, together with the associated developmental, regulatory, practice and ethical challenges.
To submit your work to either of these issues, please visit this link. The journal's guide to authors is available here.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 23, 2007
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The Signaling Gateway's Molecule of the Week is Rsk1, or to give it its full name, p90 ribosomal S6 kinase. Rsk1 is a serine kinase that phosphorylates the 40S ribosomal protein S6 in response to Ras/extracellular signal-regulated kinase pathway activation. Rsk1 has a role in gene transcription, cell growth and proliferation, and cell survival. The full characterization of Rsk1 can be seen at its peer-reviewed Molecule Pages
You can sign up to the Signaling Gateway's weekly e-alert to receive news of each week's selected molecule, as well as relevant news and updates for the content of NPG's other databases.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 23, 2007
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Nature Chemical Biology is offering readers a free 3D poster and glasses. Just go to this link to make your claim, or go here to find out more about the poster and glasses, which enable you to view and manipulate chemical compounds in 3D on the journal website. Nature Chemical Biology's May table of contents is available here. The journal has an online animated guide to navigating its site, and now features online linking of chemical structures to PubChem.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 20, 2007
Categories: Author services, Publications | Permalink | Comments (0)

Nature Reports Stem Cells will be launching very soon. The site will be a hub of information and discussion about stem cells: their biology, clinical applications, and ethical issues concerning their creation and use. The site is aimed at anyone who has an interest in stem cells, from research biologists to those simply wanting to know what stem cells are and what they do. Content will be regularly updated by the editorial team, bringing readers the latest news and research findings together with comment and analysis. A Stem Cell Primer and other introductory material should be helpful to those unfamiliar with the field. By going to the link above, you can offer suggestions, sign up to e-alerts, and find links to various stem cell focuses and podcasts already published by the Nature journals.

The first in the Nature Reports series, Nature Reports Avian Flu, was launched earlier this month.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 18, 2007
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Via Pedro Beltrao, I'd like to welcome a newcomer to the blogosphere: officially launching today is The Seven Stones, the blog of the journal Molecular Systems Biology. From The Seven Stones' "about" page:

The Seven Stones is the blog of Molecular Systems Biology, the open-access journal published by the Nature Publishing Group and EMBO, which covers all aspects of the rapidly growing and interdisciplinary field of systems biology at the molecular level. Why a blog? A forum for open discussions with a dynamic content is a natural extension of Molecular Systems Biology open-access philosophy and we would very much like to see this blog develop into a vibrant exchange platform for all scientists interested in the fields of Systems and Synthetic Biology. The topics that will be discussed will include all aspects of Systems and Synthetic Biology, including technical matters, general scientific issues and societal aspects. To help retrieve entries but also to provocatively probe the extent of the field of Systems Biology, we will classify all blog posts using a set of nested subject categories (visible on the left navigation bar), somewhat reminiscent of a 'pocket' ontology for research fields in Systems Biology. The blog will be seeded by the Editors of the journal, but posts from our readers are more than welcome. Please send us your posts.

Initial posts on The Seven Stones include George Church on the lack of protocols in cell and molecular biology; and Thomas Lemberger on "A visual wiki for biological notation?" ; and VelociMouse unleashed.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 17, 2007
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Have you heard the physics podcast? Listen to Nature Physics associate editor Ed Gerstner as he finds out about the amazing properties of graphene, a new form of carbon, which promises to revolutionize the electronics industry, and then steps back 20 years to the heady days that followed the discovery of high temperature superconductivity and the iconic "Woodstock of Physics" meeting. Go to this link to listen and to find out more.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 03, 2007
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Nature reports -- avian flu is now live. This interactive site is the first of a new series of "Nature reports" websites. It contains links to the latest research on avian flu; a timeline of key scientific and political milestones from around the world, charting the first appearance of H5N1 avian flu in Hong Kong in 1997 to its global spread today; frequently asked questions about the disease and its spread; a blog discussion of important and topical aspects of the disease; and Nature's award-winning Google Earth "mashup" that allows you to track the global spread of the HN51 virus since 2003. As well as all this, you can search the site by selected keywords, and sign up to the avian flu newsletter. You can download the quarterly digital edition free, and the updates are available via RSS feed. Check it out, join in the discussion on the site, and watch this space for news of the next in the Nature reports series.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 03, 2007
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Nature Methods Application Notes e-Updates are monthly email alerts featuring up to four Application Note abstracts, with links to open- access full text. Application Notes e-Updates are the perfect means for learning about new products or interesting applications of existing products. They’re a must-read for anyone actively involved in laboratory research. Sign up for the Application Notes e-updates at this link.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 03, 2007
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Next week (12 April issue) Nature will publish a NatureJobs section on cancer research, accompanied by an editorial career and recruitment feature and plenty of job advertisements for all levels of position. Several hundred copies of the issue of Nature will be distributed at the American Association for Cancer Research 98th Annual Meeting, which is being held in Los Angeles from 14 to 18 April. As ever, the journal is available in print and online, so if you work in the field of cancer research, particularly if you are looking to move, watch out for next week's Nature. If you want to advertise a position in the issue, you have until 5 April (North America) or 6 April (everywhere else) to submit your copy. Here are the numbers to call: Europe: +44 (0)20 7843 4961; Unted States +1 800 989 7718; Japan: +81 3 3267 8751. It is now free to post job advertisements online.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 03, 2007
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You can now sign up for a free chemistry alert from Nature Publishing Group. Highlighting recent chemical and biochemical papers from relevant Nature journals, the email-alert will be your twice-monthly notification of the latest research articles, News & Views, Reviews and other commissioned chemistry content published in these titles. In addition, the e-alert will contain recent blog posts from The Sceptical Chymist, highlight chemistry jobs from our NatureJobs. and let you know about other chemistry-related developments from NPG.
The current e-alert features articles on physical and theoretical chemistry, materials science, microscopy and a large range of other chemistry and chemistry-related material. Do give it a try, and forward it to students and colleagues if you find it as informative as we hope you will.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on April 02, 2007
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The online edition of the Nature Publishing Group catalogue has been given a thorough overhaul in its design, navigation and behind-the-scenes authoring tools. The site holds all the information from the printed catalogue, including journals' aims and scopes; impact factors and rankings; launch dates; editors; and society owners. The site can be searched by keyword and subject-related journals, plus a full A-Z list. Visitors can also order a printed catalogue or view as a (rather large) PDF.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on March 26, 2007
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This month, Nature Reviews presents a collection on fluorescence imaging which includes Research Highlights, Reviews and Perspectives articles from Nature Reviews Cancer, Nature Reviews Neuroscience and Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology. The articles highlight the versatility of fluorescence imaging and its applications in studying basic cell-biological processes and in understanding disease aetiology and therapeutics. They are freely available online until 30 September 2007.

While on the topic of the Nature Reviews journals, Nature Reviews Cancer is the no. 1 monthly review journal in oncology with an impact factor of 31.694 (Thomson ISI). This month, the journal is offering free online access to the entire April issue, so what better opportunity to take a look?

Posted by Maxine Clarke on March 23, 2007
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Nature Network London, the second city hub on the Nature Network, launched a couple of days ago. Here's a link to its "getting started" page. Nature Network works on two levels. On the global pages, you can interact with scientists all over the world, browse and join groups and forums, and read about international science in the blogs. Within Nature Network, we also have a number of local hubs - beginning with Boston and London - where you can meet local scientists, find events listings, seek jobs and read lively articles related to science in those places. You can also filter the groups/forums and blogs by locality.
Your Network is your collection of friends, contacts or just people you find interesting on Nature Network. Think of your network as the people you want to read and talk to. You can add anyone to your network, and then Your Network Snapshot will track their activity on the site. Likewise, anyone who lists you in their network can easily keep up-to-date with your contributions. Members of your network can be named as 'contacts' or 'friends (attributions only you will be able to see), allowing you to filter communications to the right people within your network.
Enjoy Nature Network, the social scene for scientists.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on March 23, 2007
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The 300th anniversary of the birth of Linnaeus is on 23 May this year. LInnaeus, the scientist who laid the foundations for the modern scheme of nomenclature, is regarded by many as the founder of taxonomy and ecology. The 15 March issue of Nature celebrated the event by a special collection of articles, including News stories looking at the current state of phylogenomics, the politics of the Endangered Species Act and an assessment of the role of amateur taxonomists; and Commentaries on the problem of keeping the Linnaean taxonomic legacy on track despite rapid developments in the life sciences, and on challenges to the way new species names are communicated. An Essay intriguingly suggests that the risqué concepts laid out in Linnaeus’s great work Systema Naturalae may have contributed to the popularity of taxonomy as a hobby. Two scientific research papers complete the collection, which can be purchased as a limited edition reprint.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on March 23, 2007
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From the current (April 2007) issue, Nature Chemical Biology is introducing functionality that allows readers to view and manipulate chemical compounds in three dimensions on the journal web site. As well as being an author service we are delighted to introduce, this functionality will allow readers to view chemical compounds in 3D using a jmol window within the ‘compound data index page’ for a paper. Selected articles are free to view online, allowing you to explore this new functionality including: "Discovery of a natural thiamine adenine nucleotide" (Nature Chemical Biology 3, 211-212; 2007); and "Structure-guided development of affinity probes for tyrosine kinases using chemical genetics" (Nature Chemical Biology 3, 229-238; 2007).
The Nature Chemical Biology editorial team welcomes contributions from academic, industrial and government sectors across all areas of chemical biology. To submit your next paper to Nature Chemical Biology, visit the journal's electronic submission website.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on March 21, 2007
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The sensation of pain results from the interplay of sensory and cognitive mechanisms. Research during the past decade has led to a remarkable increase of our understanding of the basis of pain. A new Nature Reviews Neuroscience poster by Stephen McMahon and David Bennett provides an overview of the neuronal circuitry, molecules and signalling pathways involved in normal pain perception and chronic pain. The poster is available free online.

The April issue of Nature Reviews Neuroscience is now out. This month's featured article is "The Machinery of Colour Vision" by Samuel G. Solomon and Peter Lennie.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on March 21, 2007
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This month’s Nature Reviews Genetics Focus issue reflects the broad impact of epigenetic research, from insights into basic mechanisms of gene regulation to potential biomedical applications. The topics covered range from chromosome biology and gene regulation, to stem cell research, environmental epigenetics and cancer epigenomics, areas in which exploring the role of epigenetics has the potential to lead to clinical advances.There is an accompanying library of the most relevant recent publications from across Nature Publishing Group.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on March 20, 2007
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March is Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) awareness month, in recognition of which, the journal Eye has brought together its most recent content in the area and made it freely available online. Eye is the official journal of the Royal College of Ophthalmologists, and is published by Nature Publishing Group. It aims to provide the practising ophthalmologist with information on the latest clinical and laboratory-based research.
A selection of the free online articles:
Editorial
Intravitreal injection: balancing the risks
Clinical Studies
Lack of benefit of early awareness to age-related macular degeneration
Characteristics of progression of early Age-related macular degeneration: the Cardiovascular Health and Age-related maculopathy study
Relationship between foveal birefringence and visual acuity in neovascular age-related macular degeneration
Follow-up after intravitreal triamcinolone acetonide for exudative age-related macular degeneration .

Posted by Maxine Clarke on March 19, 2007
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The Pathway Interaction Database is a free, high quality resource of signalling pathways in human cells for biologists and bioinformaticians to explore, visualize and mine signalling events.
This month's update features:
LPA receptor-mediated events and Role of calcineurin-dependent NFAT signaling in lymphocytes.

Sign up to receive the monthly update alert for the NCI-Nature Pathway Interaction Database.

The UCSD-Nature Signaling Gateway is updated every week; you can sign up for regular alerts to that, also. This week, we are delighted to announce the creation of a four-person advisory board to appoint the most appropriate mix of experts for the Editorial Board, and to identify and invite new members. The new advisory board consists of Michael Berridge, Pat Casey, Tony Hunter and Robin Irvine. Read more about the future of the Signaling Gateway Molecule Pages database.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on March 16, 2007
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The first bumper issue of The ISME (International Society for Microbial Ecology) Journal is now in press, and will be published by Nature Publishing Group on 1 May. A description of the full scope of the new journal, sample copy request form, and subscription information are available at the journal's website.
The editors and publishers will be showcasing the new journal at the forthcoming 107th general Americal Microbiology Society meeting in Toronto from 21 to 25 May, so if you are attending, please look out for ISME editors Mark Bailey (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Oxford), John Heidelberg (University of Southern California) and George Kowalchuk (Netherlands Institute of Ecology), as well as the journal team from Nature Publishing Group.
ISME's web site provides further information on the society's activities.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on March 12, 2007
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Pedro Beltrao, on his bioinformatics blog Public Rambling, has updated his blogroll into four categories, one of which is "publishing and general science". Nautilus and Peer to Peer feature in this category, with the comment "Nautilus and Peer-to-peer provide mostly useful information and a way to interact with Nature services". If you know of other useful science publishing-related blogs you can recommend, please let Pedro know at the link. Indeed, let us know here, too.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on March 08, 2007
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As previously announced on Nautilus, Nature Publishing Group is launching a web portal to keep abreast of the best research emerging from China.

Cell biology research in China is a relatively young plant that has been growing apace with the country's rapid global development. Indeed, the plant is also increasingly bearing fruit — not just in the shape of new and well-equipped research facilities such as the SIBS's Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, which would not be out of place in Shanghai's famous architectural show room along the Huangpu River, but also in terms of high profile papers. China's publication rate in peer reviewed journals has risen eightfold in the past decade to rival that of the UK and Japan. Importantly, the number of papers with in excess of 20 citations has also risen tenfold, although in terms of absolute levels they remain in the hundreds, and biomedical science represent less than 20% of mainland China's high-impact papers. We have also noticed a similar tenfold rise in submissions from China to this journal over the past seven years, which we hope will be reflected in a proportional representation in print. However, to put things into perspective, current submissions from China amount to 2% of total submissions to Nature Cell Biology.

For over ten years Nature Publishing Group has maintained the Nature Japan Gateway, which provides Japanese language access to content across the Nature titles, as well as jobs advertisements to over 120,000 registrants who can chose from fifteen customized e-mail alerts. More recently, similar gateways for Korea and China were launched, and despite the considerably lower number of registrants, these services already receive high web-traffic.

The new Nature China portal has a dedicated Hong Kong-based editor, who will provide accessible short summaries in English and Chinese to a weekly updated selection of top research papers across all fields and across the literature from mainland China and Hong Kong. The site also allows users to recommend papers, and the community is encouraged to comment and vote on these papers as part of a global virtual journal club. In addition, there will be an open-access archive linking to papers from China published across the Nature journals in the last five years. The site has a local mirror, which will provide Chinese readers with efficient access to the articles featured.

So whether you are a researcher in China or simply interested in Chinese science, do sign up to the weekly e-mail alert and contribute your selection of the best research China has to offer when the full site launches in late April.

Republished from Nature Cell Biology 9, 233 (2007) ; doi:10.1038/ncb0307-233b

Posted by Maxine Clarke on March 07, 2007
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With its March 2007 issue, Nature Materials' website has been redesigned. This week, 5-9 March, is the annual Americal Physical Society meeting. By gonig to Nature Materials (link in previous sentence) you can visit the journal's dedicated website on the key themes and hot topics at this year's meeting. The site features some of the latest research from the physical science titles of the Nature Publishing Group, editors' picks of the sessions, and a podcast. Other features of the new Nature Materials website include an editors' "top ten" -- selected articles from the journal in 2005 and 2006. All are free access, so head on over. Nature Materials has an impact factor of 15.941, and publishes "all that matters in materials science and technology".

Posted by Maxine Clarke on March 05, 2007
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I'm posting here a comment made by Thomas Doering to the earlier Nautilus entry "Measures for Measures":

"As far as I understand only the shortfalls of visibility measures (i.e. various citation indices) have been discussed on this blog so far. And indeed, the list of drawbacks of citation-based measures can easily be extended (see for example Adam, D. 2002. Nature 415: 726-729; Kurmis, A. P. 2003. J. Bone Joint Surg. 85: 2449-2454). Why, however, do we concentrate so much on discussing visibility at all? Since in many cases visibility is a rather poor surrogate for assessing research quality, why don’t we just ask scientists to give their opinion on the quality of a paper directly? For example, the webpage www.CiteUlike.org allows publicly viewable rating of a paper and posting comments on it – although there, rating is only based on one parameter, reading priority. This platform could, however, relatively easily be developed into a powerful quality assessment tool, e.g. by adding a few more rating questions"

There are other websites in addition to CiteULike for this type of measure, for example Nature Publishing Group's free resource Connotea, for organizing, tagging, sharing and ranking articles. I've made some author-related Connotea tags for readers of this blog (see left-hand vertical navigation bar), but the primary usefulness of Connotea is for sharing and ranking articles published in the scientific literature. As well as ranking based on "number of users who add the article to their library", as mentioned by Dr Doering, Connotea has a note function to allow the user to add customised comments on the selected article. I agree it would be fascinating to encourage widespread use of these resources among scientists, to give a more qualitiative view of the literature than systems that use a "numbers-only" approach.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on March 02, 2007
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The journal Cell Death & Differentiation presents its first special issue of its 2007 series with 'Caspases', cysteine proteases that are essential for executing apoptosis (programmed cell death). This research and teaching resource includes comprehensive articles on the basic biology of caspases, their mechanisms of activation, cellular substrates, natural and synthetic inhibitors, apoptopic and non-apoptopic functions and their role in inflammation and immunity. The "capsase" special issue of Cell Death & Differentiation is available free online.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on February 28, 2007
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Nature Network is now live. Please log on and experiment, spread the word to your own scientific network, and contact us with any questions or suggestions. You can use the site to create personal profile pages to describe yourself and your research. You can form topic-based groups, contribute to forums, view and announce seminars and conferences, read news and browse local job listings.

We hope that the network will help scientists everywhere to identify like-minded researchers, hold online discussions, showcase their work via personal homepages, share information with groups (open or private), comment on content and tag it. Participation is free to all, requiring little more than www.nature.com registration. Like all Web 2.0 products, launch is the beginning, not the end, of the road, so user-driven upgrades will be added regularly from now on.

Nature Network will, we hope, stimulate and facilitate scientific communication and collaboration in innovative, flexible and forward-thinking ways. It should be especially appealing to postdocs and junior faculty.

Nature Network also features local hubs, offering all the global tools plus area news, features, blogs, jobs and events. The first local site is Nature Network Boston, which has been in beta version over the past eight months, and now containing new features. Nature Network Boston supports, celebrates and connects scientists in the city, with rich daily editorial coverage of Boston-area research and researchers, Boston bloggers, a calendar of Boston-area lectures, seminars and conferences and listings of Boston-area jobs for scientists. Coming in March: Nature Network London.

An early indicator of the potential of the Nature networks is shown by Michael Durney, a postdoc at Harvard Medical School, who has grown his Biomolecular NMR Spectroscopy group on Nature Network Boston from less than 10 members to 40. Groups like Durney’s will continue to grow, and will become more international, at which point online data-sharing tools that NPG will provide, would start to become useful. The value of the networks lies in information about local organizations, research and events, ensuring relevancy for the user as well as allowing scientists attending conferences or visiting those areas for other reasons, to find local events and connect with like-minded researchers. We hope you'll use the network, and give us your opinion of it.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on February 26, 2007
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This month's Editorial in Nature Chemical Biology, A mechanistic meeting point, addresses the divergent ideas among different communities of scientists of what constitutes mechanistic insight into a biological system. From the Editorial:

"Obviously, it is ideal for scientists from many disciplines to agree that a scientific result is insightful and exciting, because it means that the conclusion crosses scientific borders. Accordingly, chemical biologists should plan their projects and publications to consider each of these fundamentally distinct approaches from the outset. Interaction with colleagues and collaborators with different backgrounds can facilitate these excursions into foreign intellectual territory. In addition, authors should use referee reports as an important guide for developing improved papers that more effectively balance the requirements of research at the interface of chemistry and biology. The integration of expectations concerning mechanistic insight into a new, cohesive, community mind-set will serve as the foundation for chemical biology moving forward."

Posted by Maxine Clarke on February 22, 2007
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Announcing Nature Geoscience – first issue January 2008. Nature Geoscience will be a monthly, multidisciplinary journal aimed at bringing together the most significant research across the entire spectrum of the Earth Sciences.

Published in print and online, the journal's content will reflect the core subject disciplines of the Earth Sciences and related subject areas, extending from atmospheric science, climate science, geochemistry, geology, oceanography, planetary science, seismology and tectonics to space physics and volcanology. Edited by Heike Langenberg, PhD, the journal will contain primary research, review articles, news and views, reports highlighting important papers published in other journals, commentary and analysis.

More about Nature Geoscience , including the aims and scope, e-alerts, information on call for papers (coming in the Spring) and news of further editorial appointments.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on February 22, 2007
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Nature Publishing Group is offering free online access to the entire March issue of Nature Reviews Microbiology. The journal has the highest impact factor, 13.989, of any monthly microbiology review journal, so do check it out. Reviews in the March issue include: "The antibiotic resistome: the nexus of chemical and genetic diversity" by Gerard D. Wright; "The road to chromatin - nuclear entry of retroviruses" by Youichi Suzuki and Robert Craigie; "Virus trafficking - learning from single-virus tracking" by Boerries Brandenburg and Xiaowei Zhuang; "Microfabrication meets microbiology" by Douglas B. Weibel, Willow R. DiLuzio and George M. Whitesides; and "Cannibalism and fratricide: mechanisms and raisons d'etre" by Jean-Pierre Claverys and Leiv S. Havarstein.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on February 19, 2007
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Nature Publishing Group has launched a new web-based publication, Nature China. Nature China seeks to highlight the best scientific research published in Mainland China and Hong Kong in one convenient portal. AstraZeneca, as sponsor, will support the website for the next two years. In the past decade, the output of research papers from China in the Thompson ISI database has soared from 10,000 papers a year to more than 80,000, which is the same numerical level as the United Kingdom and Japan. The number of very high impact papers (citations in excess of 20) from China has increased ten-fold to several hundred. Nature China is dedicated to highlighting the best research from mainland China and Hong Kong, to provide scientists from around the world with a convenient portal into research drawn from across the scientific and medical literature in all disciplines.
The website is currently in beta form as an archive is built extending back over the past six years to provide short summaries of some of the best research articles published from China in Nature journals and other leading scientific publications since 2000. In the case of Nature journals, access to the original full text articles is also provided. Once the archive is complete in April, each week thereafter, Nature China editors will select the best recently published research and provide a summary of the results. Readers can also recommend papers to be included in Nature China and vote/comment on those suggestions. The best of these, chosen by the site's users, will be included within the Nature China archive.
Futher explanation about Nature China can be found on the site's "frequently asked questions" page.

This month's featured papers on Nature China.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on February 16, 2007
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Nature Reviews Immunology has published a poster on phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signalling in the immune system. The poster provides an overview of p110-delta and p110-gamma signalling in T cells, B cells, mast cells and neutrophils, and characterizes the biological consequences. The poster is available free online, and there is an accompanying review article in the journal.

The Journal of Investigative Dermatology is making selected immunology papers available free online. If cutaneous biology is your research area, enjoy reading these articles from this well-cited journal, which is the official journal of the Society for Investigative Dermatology and the European Society for Dermatological Research.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on February 16, 2007
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Nature Publishing Group and the Society for Mucosal Immunology (SMI) are embarking on a new publishing partnership this autumn, with the launch of a new publication, Mucosal Immunology.

The Editor-in Chief of Mucosal Immunology will be Dr Brian Kelsall of the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The journal will aim to provide a forum for both basic and clinical scientists to discuss all aspects of immunity and inflammation that involve mucosal tissues. "Mucosal Immunology will be the first journal dedicated to this field of science. I am greatly looking forward to collaborating with NPG on this important project," said DrKelsall.

Mucosal immunology research has the aim of understanding diseases such as AIDS, asthma and inflammatory bowel disease. The journal will be devoted to publishing high-quality original research, reviews, commentaries, editorials and letters that reflect the interests of scientists studying gastrointestinal, pulmonary, nasopharyngeal, oral, ocular and genitourinary immunology. In addition, Mucosal Immunology aims to provide a primary method of communication for the SMI governing board and its members through the publication of society news, announcements of planned meetings and conferences, discussions of policy concerns and advertisements for job and training opportunities.

Journal website, including call for papers.
Society for Mucosal Immunology website.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on February 14, 2007
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Nature Publishing Group hosts several blogs, all of which can be directly reached from the left-hand sidebar here. These blogs all have their different goals, identities and readerships, but one of them, Methagora, is the most different -- so far. The journal Nature Methods has created an online space inviting readers' contributions, in particular comments on published papers. The site's name comes from the ancient Greek agora, and the journal plans for the site to become a public place where 'citizen readers' assemble and discuss important (methodological) matters. But is there much debate, in fact? From this month's Nature Methods Editorial, "Happy to take questions":

"But the uptake is slow. Of course, these are still early days, and many people may not even be aware of this forum—hence this editorial and upcoming promotion. Other similar initiatives, however, such as those ongoing at Cell and Nature Biotechnology, experience an equally scarce response. Particularly worrisome is the fact that the Nature Biotechnology initiative and one of the Methagora postings are seeking community feedback on papers that outline proposed reporting standards. Despite the potential impact that such standards, if adopted, would have on individual researchers, only a handful of the interested have taken the time to comment. This lackluster reaction makes us pause and speculate about scientists' motivations for the commenting activity."

Posted by Maxine Clarke on February 13, 2007
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The lastest in Nature Publishing Group's Milestones programme is Milestones in Cutaneous Biology, an online resource that brings together key discoveries that have shaped the field of cutaneous biology over the past 100 years. Published in quarterly installments, each milestone will highlight a classic finding. More than 30 international leaders in epidermal and dermal structural proteins, cell differentiation, vascular and tumour biology, autoimmunity, photobiology, and genetic disease were enlisted to edit the series, which will provide a powerful instructive tool for students and investigators, as well as an information resource for anyone interested in the topic. A subject area index page is provided, featuring an interactive graphic diagram of the skin.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on February 08, 2007
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This month's editorial in Nature Structural and Molecular Biology discusses Joshua Lederberg, whose latest honour is the Presidential Freedom Award. The editorial discusses the career and achievements of this remarkable scientist, concluding:

"A detailed account of Lederberg's contributions to science and the public interest can be found at the US National Library of Medicine Profiles in Science. The formal citation accompanying the Medal of Freedom says, "The US honors Joshua Lederberg for his achievements in scientific discovery and his commitment to improving the lives of others." Not a bad example to try to follow."

Posted by Maxine Clarke on February 06, 2007
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The British Journal of Pharmacology has just published a free guide to receptors and channels by S. P. H. Alexander, A. Mathie and J.A. Peters. From the introduction: "The great proliferation of drug targets in recent years has driven the need to organise and condense the information in a logical way. This is the underlying reason for this Guide to Receptors and Channels, distributed with the British Journal of Pharmacology. Our intent is to produce an authoritative but user-friendly publication, which allows a rapid overview of the key properties of a wide range of established or potential pharmacological targets. The aim is to provide information succinctly so that a newcomer to a particular target group can identify the main elements "at a glance"."

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Posted by Maxine Clarke on February 06, 2007
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'Futures', Nature's award-winning science-fiction series, has moved to Nature Physics. Read the new, specially commissioned physics series of essays from January 2007, at Nature Physics. The Futures essay in the current issue is "Giving up Meat", by Jess A. Brewer.

Nature published 156 Futures between 1999 and 2006, ranging from the serious to the whimsical. An anthology is planned. As H. G. Wells, in Nature 65, 326–331; 1902, wrote: "the question what is to come after man is the most persistently fascinating and the most insoluble question in the whole world".

Posted by Maxine Clarke on February 05, 2007
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The Research Library of the Signaling Gateway brings together all recent cell-signalling-related research published in the Nature Publishing Group journals. Divided up into subject categories or by date, you can be guaranteed to find what you are looking for. Here is a selection of the latest research published this week:
Transcription factor control of asymmetric cell divisions that establish the stomatal lineage.
Nature 445, 537-540 (1 February 2007).
Notch signal organizes the Drosophila olfactory circuitry by diversifying the sensory neuronal lineages.
Nature Neuroscience 10, 153-160 (2007).
The energy sensing LKB1-AMPK pathway regulates p27kip1 phosphorylation mediating the decision to enter autophagy or apoptosis.
Nature Cell Biology 9, 218 - 224 (2007).
The research library is one of the many ways in which Nature Publishing Group extends the reach of articles published in its journals. Discipline-specific areas on the nature.com site, varoius web focuses on the journals' websites, and many other collaborations between journals collect articles together in different combinations, which draws them to the attention not just to readers of the journal in which they were published, but to researchers using nature.com to find out what's hot in their field more generally.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on February 02, 2007
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The Nature Podcast is a free weekly audio show that you can play through your computer. Every show features highlighted content from the week's edition of Nature, including interviews with the authors, and in-depth commentary and analysis from journalists covering science around the world. This week, hear about conserving the Amazon with a scientific SWAT team, redrawing the hydrological cycle from space, micro-organisms forming new relationships, and virtual quantum computing on chips. To subscribe to the Nature Podcast, copy and paste this URL into your RSS reader, iTunes or your preferred media player:

http://www.nature.com/nature/podcast/rss/nature.xml

An archive of Nature podcasts is available on the Nature Newsblog.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on February 01, 2007
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Nature Publishing Group (NPG), in partnership with the International Society for Microbial Ecology (ISME) is delighted to announce the launch of a new international publication: The ISME Journal: Multidisciplinary Journal of Microbial Ecology. The journal will be available in print and online from May, and is welcoming submissions for the first issues. Submit now at the journal's website.
The ISME Journal is a cooperative effort between ISME and NPG, and will join NPG's stable of highly respected journals in the discipline, including Nature Reviews Microbiology, Nature Immunology and EMBO Journal. All research published will receive high exposure through online hosting on nature.com, extensive press coverage and rapid publication. The editorial team is led by George Kowalchuk, Mark Bailey and John Heidelberg, and will include a highly respected international editorial board.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on January 30, 2007
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The question of the year for genetics researchers is: what would you do if it became possible to sequence the equivalent of a full human genome for $1,000?
The sequencing of the equivalent of an entire human genome for $1,000 has been announced as a goal for the genetics community, and new technologies suggest that reaching this goal is a matter of when, rather than if. What then? In celebration of its upcoming 15th anniversary, Nature Genetics is asking prominent geneticists to weigh in on this question: what would you do if this sequencing capacity were available immediately? The Nature Genetics 'Question of the Year' website, updated monthly, reveals the answers -- in the process offering a glimpse of the future of genetics. Answers so far posted on the site include Francis S. Collins, George Church, Stephen J. O'Brien, Evan Eichler and Jonathan Pritchard.
Also for genetics researchers and those interested in the subject, the February issue of Nature Reviews Genetics is free access for the whole month. With an impact factor of 19.211, Nature Reviews Genetics is the world's top-rated genetics journal.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on January 30, 2007
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Scopus, Elsevier’s abstract and citation database, has now added citation data, including abstracts, for many older papers, making it ever-closer to the rival Thomson’s Web of Science service. Nature Publishing Group titles are indexed by both databases, as well as by many other abstract&indexing services.

Since its launch two years ago, Scopus is now attracting publishers who want their older journals to be listed, including Springer, Nature Publishing Group, the American Physical Society, and the American Institute of Physics. Most of these publishers have digitized their content themselves back to the first issues of their journals. Older journals, such as Nature (first issue published on 4 November 1869, and freely available online), are still in the process of digitizing their very old content. Nature's digital archive currently goes back to 1950, with the issues back to 1869 to be added later this year. Nature New Biology and Nature Physical Sciences archives are also being digitized.

Scopus already contains 15 million pre-1996 records, and the new deal will add around seven million more. The new records will include full abstracts, traditionally a strength of Thomson’s Web of Science. Scopus does not necessarily intend to index older content in all areas, believing that 11 years of citation data is enough for some purposes - for example, to provide an overview of a publication for a grant or tenure application, so is prioritzing the digitization of older content accordingly.

In some cases, researchers may be interested in older content to see the citations that their own research has received over the years, or may use it to study historical trends. Whatever the needs of the reader, the addition of more search features and functions as the two organizations compete for customers can only be of benefit, especially taking into account features being introduced by the free-to-use service Google Scholar, also driving innovation and introduction of more reader services by the commercial providers.
See Nature Publishing Group abstracting and indexing page.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on January 26, 2007
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There are times in the development of science when a shift in approach is sufficiently extensive that only a collection of thoughts and perspectives from many different practitioners can do justice to it. This issue of Nature sees the launch of a themed series of essays, called Connections, which take such an approach to the interdisciplinary study of complex, dynamic systems

The series begins just a few weeks after the popular Essay page returned to Nature. It will reiterate the tradition of this format as a forum for scientists to reflect on new ideas, or re-evaluate old ones. The Connections essays is being collated into a Nature web focus, where access to the first four will be free. We hope that, week by week, a greater story develops than could be told by a single article — and that over the coming year, the Essay page will continue to provide scientists with a valuable opportunity to say exactly what they think.

In the first Connections essay, "Biology's next revolution", Nigel Goldenfeld and Carl Woese argue that the emerging picture of microbes as gene-swapping collectives demands a revision of such concepts as organism, species and evolution itself.

The Nature editorial introducing the Connections series is at this link.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on January 25, 2007
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Free online access to all Palgrave journals: 15 Jan - 14 Feb 2007 � Update

Palgrave are offering FREE online access to the complete Palgrave Macmillan Journals Portfolio from 15 January to 14 February 2007. Palgrave Macmillan publishes journals in information systems and technology, education and economics, among other areas. It is also the publisher for the UK national statistical office. More information about Palgrave Macmillan is available at this link.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on January 23, 2007
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The Nature Clinical Practice journals are now publishing their “Practice Point” articles in NPG’s advance online publication (AOP) programme. Practice Points put original research articles into context and offer expert opinion on best practice for clinical researchers and clinicians. They are available in each of the eight journals in the Nature Clinical Practice series. With the addition of this AOP feature, the definitive versions of these articles will now be available online before the print issues of the journals appear.

More information about the Nature Clinical Practice journals is available here. You may have heard about a current article in NCP Gastroenterology and Hepatology on the death of Napoleon Bonaparte. It seems that rather than being poisoned, as is often suggested in history books, the emperor was suffering from gastric cancer. The article is currently free access, so read the fascinating, if gory, details at the link.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on January 17, 2007
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Nature Publishing Group has just launched a monthly journal called Nature Photonics , dedicated to publishing the most significant photonics research from academia and industry.

This first issue can be seen at the link in the previous sentence, and reflects the journal's broad scope by including research papers on topics as diverse as lasers, microphotonic circuitry, near-field imaging and slow light. The inaugural issue also contains a Technology Focus on LEDs , the first of a series of regular supplements on important photonics technologies that are enabling new applications or transforming existing ones. The aims and scope of the journal are available here; information for authors is at this link; and to submit your work to this new journal, please visit this link.

Nature Photonics is NPG's first monthly research journal to have its core editorial base in the Asia-Pacific region, reflecting the strength of the Asia-Pacific region, and Japan in particular, in photonics research.

Posted by Maxine Clarke on January 03, 2007
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