The Question & Answer (Q&A) is a new format in Nature‘s popular News & Views section, the first outing being “Chromosome territories” by Karen J. Meaburn and Tom Misteli, published in the current (25 January 2007) issue (subscription or site licence required). Tim Lincoln, Nature’s News and Views editor, provides some of his own questions and answers about this venture:
What is it? Q&As come in different guises in different publications, including Nature’s own News and News features sections. For News & Views, the Q&A approach involves a collaboration between an expert author and an editor in formulating questions and answers to illuminate some aspect of ‘happening’ science. It does not constitute an interview as such, and the expert author (or authors; two maximum) is the named source of the piece. Like everything in News & Views, Q&A pieces deal with science itself, not matters of policy, funding and so on.
Do these items require a news peg in the form of a new paper? No, which is one of the distinguishing characteristics of the Q&A approach from the conventional type of News & Views article. The latter format will remain the mainstay of News & Views, but it restricts the topics we can cover, and the breadth in which we do so.
Isn’t the object of Q&A the same as that of the long News & Views features that appear from time to time? Yes it is, but there are various reasons for trying a different approach. One is that, unlike News & Views features, the appearance of Q&A items is very different to that of Reviews/Progress articles, emphasizing the intent to appeal to non-specialists. Another is that the Q&A format looks less intimidating not only in print but — crucially — also on the web, and will be more browsable in both media.
Will potential authors see the Q&A approach as trivializing their subject? Not if we can persuade them that this is a way to reach a very large audience — one well beyond that which would tackle an article in more usual form. Although we want these pieces to be readable and lively, they won’t be frivolous. At about 2,000 words they’ll actually be pretty substantial. They just won’t look it.
What does one of these Q&A pieces look like? See for yourself via the article in the current issue on chromosome territories. It’s the fruit of collaboration between Karen Meaburn and Tom Misteli as the expert authors, and Helen Dell as the editor. More generally the rules are that these pieces should take around 2 or (maximum) 3 pages, with 2 or 3 display items (illustrations or tables). On the practical front, the Qs and As both need to vary in length to provide changes of pace (but with an absolute maximum of 110 characters for the Qs and of 180 words for the As). There’s no reference list as such; instead a maximum of six review articles/book chapters/websites are cited at the end.
How often will they appear? We’ll test the water by publishing a few in 2007. What follows will depend on how they are received by readers.
What kind of topics will be covered? Areas of science that are lively or that are seeing progress (not necessarily the same thing), or that are ripe for expansion. Put another way, Q&A pieces can answer the question of “What’s all this about?” in the mind of the general reader — “this” being a topic that is coming to prominence or enjoying a revival. They will offer the opportunity to visit comparatively specialist areas. Whatever the topic, they should offer a balanced view, which is not to say they will be bland, or that authors won’t be encouraged to provide their own views about disputes and sticking-points as long as they are flagged as such.
Cell biology: Chromosome territories by Karen J. Meaburn and Tom Misteli. Nature 445, 379-781 (25 January 2007) | doi:10.1038/445379a; Published online 24 January 2007.