---
title: "Nature (journal)"
chunk: 3/4
source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nature_(journal)"
category: "reference"
tags: "science, encyclopedia"
date_saved: "2026-05-05T03:57:17.381596+00:00"
instance: "kb-cron"
---

According to Science, another academic journal, being published in Nature has been known to carry a certain level of prestige in academia. In particular, empirical papers are often highly cited, which can lead to promotions, grant funding, and attention from the mainstream media. Because of these positive feedback effects, competition among scientists to publish in high-level journals like Nature and its closest competitor, Science, can be very fierce. Nature's impact factor, a measure of how many citations a journal generates in other works, was 42.778 in 2019 (as measured by Thomson ISI). However, as with many journals, most papers receive far fewer citations than the impact factor would indicate. Nature's journal impact factor carries a long tail.
Studies of methodological quality and reliability have found that some high-prestige journals, including Nature, "publish significantly substandard structures", and overall "reliability of published research works in several fields may be decreasing with increasing journal rank".
As with most other professional scientific journals, papers undergo an initial screening by the editor, followed by peer review. In this process, the editor selects several other scientists to read and critique articles, based on their expertise with the subject matter but who have no connection to the research under review. These critiques are then given to the original author, who makes revisions based on feedback. In the case of Nature, articles are generally sent for peer review if it is decided that they deal with a topical subject and are sufficiently ground-breaking in that particular field. As a consequence, the majority of submitted papers are rejected without peer review.
According to Nature's original mission statement:

It is intended, FIRST, to place before the general public the grand results of Scientific Work and Scientific Discovery; and to urge the claims of Science to a more general recognition in Education and in Daily Life; and, SECONDLY, to aid Scientific men themselves, by giving early information of all advances made in any branch of Natural knowledge throughout the world, and by affording them an opportunity of discussing the various Scientific questions which arise from time to time.
This was later revised to:

First, to serve scientists through prompt publication of significant advances in any branch of science, and to provide a forum for the reporting and discussion of news and issues concerning science. Second, to ensure that the results of science are rapidly disseminated to the public throughout the world, in a fashion that conveys their significance for knowledge, culture and daily life.

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

Wave nature of particles (Davisson–Germer experiment) — C. Davisson and L. H. Germer (1927). "The scattering of electrons by a single crystal of nickel" (PDF). Nature. 119 (2998): 558–560. Bibcode:1927Natur.119..558D. doi:10.1038/119558a0. S2CID 4104602.
The neutron — J. Chadwick (1932). "Possible existence of a neutron". Nature. 129 (3252): 312. Bibcode:1932Natur.129Q.312C. doi:10.1038/129312a0. S2CID 4076465.
Nuclear fission — L. Meitner and O. R. Frisch (1939). "Disintegration of uranium by neutrons: a new type of nuclear reaction". Nature. 143 (3615): 239–240. Bibcode:1939Natur.143..239M. doi:10.1038/143239a0. S2CID 4113262.
The structure of DNA — J. D. Watson and F. H. C. Crick (1953). "Molecular structure of Nucleic Acids: A structure for deoxyribose nucleic acid". Nature. 171 (4356): 737–738. Bibcode:1953Natur.171..737W. doi:10.1038/171737a0. PMID 13054692. S2CID 4253007.
First molecular protein structure (myoglobin) — J. C. Kendrew; G. Bodo; H. M. Dintzis; R. G. Parrish; H. Wyckoff; D. C. Phillips (1958). "A three-dimensional model of the myoglobin molecule obtained by X-ray analysis". Nature. 181 (4610): 662–666. Bibcode:1958Natur.181..662K. doi:10.1038/181662a0. PMID 13517261. S2CID 4162786.
Plate tectonics — J. Tuzo Wilson (1966). "Did the Atlantic close and then re-open?". Nature. 211 (5050): 676–681. Bibcode:1966Natur.211..676W. doi:10.1038/211676a0. S2CID 4226266.
Pulsars — Hewish, A.; Bell, S. J.; Pilkington, J. D. H.; Scott, P. F.; Collins, R. A. (1968). "Observation of a Rapidly Pulsating Radio Source". Nature. 217 (5130): 709–713. Bibcode:1968Natur.217..709H. doi:10.1038/217709a0. S2CID 4277613.
The ozone hole — J. C. Farman, B. G. Gardiner and J. D. Shanklin (1985). "Large losses of total ozone in Antarctica reveal seasonal ClOx/NOx interaction". Nature. 315 (6016): 207–210. Bibcode:1985Natur.315..207F. doi:10.1038/315207a0. S2CID 4346468.
First cloning of a mammal (Dolly the sheep) — Wilmut, I.; Schnieke, A. E.; McWhir, J.; Kind, A. J.; Campbell, K. H. S. (1997). "Viable offspring derived from fetal and adult mammalian cells". Nature. 385 (6619): 810–813. Bibcode:1997Natur.385..810W. doi:10.1038/385810a0. PMID 9039911. S2CID 4260518.
The human genome — International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium (2001). "Initial sequencing and analysis of the human genome". Nature. 409 (6822): 860–921. Bibcode:2001Natur.409..860L. doi:10.1038/35057062. hdl:2027.42/62798. PMID 11237011.

=== Controversies ===
Nature has famously rejected papers that later became foundational to modern science. For example, Enrico Fermi's breakthrough paper on the weak interaction theory of beta decay was rejected by Nature because it was considered too remote from reality. (Fermi's paper was instead published by Zeitschrift für Physik in 1934.) In another example, Nature initially rejected Paul Lauterbur and Peter Mansfield's research on MRI, which would later win them the Nobel Prize in Medicine. Only after Lauterbur appealed the rejection did Nature publish their work.