Information for press and public information officers

You can find a detailed summary of the journals in the Nature Portfolio on our website. Our journals include:

• Nature
• The Nature research journals (Nature Medicine and Nature Astronomy, for example)
• The Nature Reviews journals (Nature Reviews Genetics, for example)
• Nature Communications
• The Communications journals (Communications Biology, Communications Chemistry, Communications Medicine, Communications Physics, Communications Materials and Communications Earth & Environment)
• The Nature Partner Journals (npj Digital Medicine, for example)
• Scientific Reports
• Scientific Data

A number of academic journals published by Springer Nature can also be found on nature.comDetailed information on the journals in the BMC portfolio can be found on the BMC website. For information on Springer journals, please visit Springer Link.

Research and other content in the Nature Portfolio journals is embargoed until the time of publication. The embargo policy for Nature Portfolio journals is published on the journals website. We have also included these guidelines below for reference. For our policies regarding conference presentations and preprints, please refer to the 'Communication between scientists' section below, and the Nature Portfolio preprints policy page.

Communication of findings prior to publication - Nature Portfolio

We strongly discourage authors and potential authors from direct solicitation of media coverage of material they have submitted to the Nature Portfolio journals. Accepted contributions can be discussed with the media only once the publication date has been confirmed and no more than a week before the publication date under our embargo conditions. Please refer to the "Communications between scientists" section for more information about our embargo policy as it pertains to conference presentations and preprints.

Each Nature Portfolio journal produces and distributes to a registered list a press release summarizing upcoming content. Journalists are encouraged to read the full version of any papers they wish to cover, and are given the names and contact details of corresponding authors. They receive access to the full text of papers about a week before publication on a password-protected website, together with other relevant material (for example, an accompanying News and Views article, and any extra images provided by the authors). The content of the press release and papers is embargoed until the time and date clearly stated on the press release.

Papers that are deemed especially newsworthy are highlighted by a brief summary on the press release for that journal, written by the editors and the press office. Authors may therefore receive calls or emails from the media during this time; we encourage them to cooperate with journalists so that media coverage of their work is accurate and balanced. Authors whose papers are scheduled for publication may also arrange their own publicity (for instance through their institutional press offices), but they must strictly adhere to our media embargo and are advised to coordinate their own publicity with our press office.

The Nature Portfolio journals believe that their media embargo serves scientists, authors, journalists and the public. Our policy is to release information about our content in a way that provides fair and equal access to the media, allowing it to provide informed comment based on the complete and final version of the paper that is to be published. Authors and their institutions' press offices are able then to interact with the media ahead of publication, and benefit from the subsequent coverage.

The benefits of peer review as a means of giving journalists confidence in new work published in journals are self-evident. Premature release to the media denies journalists that confidence. It also removes journalists' ability to obtain informed reactions about the work from independent researchers in the field.

Journalists who break our embargoes have been removed from the press-release circulation list, and we shall continue to use this sanction when appropriate.

Nature Portfolio journals do not wish to hinder communication among researchers. We support open communications between researchers whether on a recognised community preprint server or preprint commenting platforms, through discussions at research meetings or online collaborative sites such as wikis or the author's blog. Neither conference presentations nor posting on recognized preprint servers constitute prior publication. More information about our policies on preprints can be found here.

Researchers may respond to requests from the media in response to a preprint or conference presentation, by providing explanation or clarification of the work, or information about its context. In these circumstances, media coverage will not hinder editorial handling of the submission. Researchers should be aware however that such coverage may reduce or pre-empt coverage by other media at the time of publication. We also advise that researchers approached by reporters in response to a preprint make it clear that the paper has not yet undergone peer review, that the findings are provisional and that the conclusions may change. Authors are expected to keep the details of the peer review and editorial process confidential.

We believe it important that the peer-reviewed and published version of a paper should be available when the work is discussed in the public media, allowing the press to provide informed comment based on this version. For that reason, we strongly discourage the direct soliciting of media coverage to appear ahead of publication of the final version of a paper.

We also recommend that reporters who cover preprints clearly indicate that the study has not been peer reviewed and that the claims may change.

If further clarification is required, please contact the Springer Nature press office by email.

Research and other content in journals published by Springer and BMC is embargoed until the time of publication. For detailed information on our embargo policies or to find out about publication timings for individual papers, please contact pressoffice@springernature.com For our policies regarding conference presentations and preprints, please refer to the BMC and Springer editorial policies on preprint sharing and communication of findings prior to publication.

Communication of findings prior to publication – BMC and Springer

We believe it important that the peer-reviewed and published version of a paper should be publicly available when the work is discussed in the public media, allowing the press to provide informed comment based on this version. For that reason, we strongly discourage the direct soliciting of media coverage to appear ahead of publication of the final version of a paper. Accepted contributions should be discussed with the media only once the publication date has been confirmed and no more than a week before the publication date under our embargo conditions.
BMC and Springer journals may produce and distribute to a registered list a press release summarizing upcoming content, written by the press office. Journalists are encouraged to read the full version of any papers they wish to cover. They receive access to the full text of papers about a week before publication on a password-protected website, together with other relevant material (for example, an accompanying News and Views article, and any extra images provided by the authors). Contact details for corresponding authors are listed on the paper. The content of the press release and papers is embargoed until the time and date clearly stated on the press release.

Authors may therefore receive calls or emails from the media during this time; we encourage them to cooperate with journalists so that media coverage of their work is accurate and balanced. Authors whose papers are scheduled for publication may also arrange their own publicity (for instance through their institutional press offices), but they must strictly adhere to our media embargo and are advised to coordinate their own publicity with our press office.

Communication between scientists – Springer Nature

Springer Nature journals do not wish to hinder communication among researchers. We support open communications between researchers whether on a recognised community preprint server or preprint commenting platforms, through discussions at research meetings or online collaborative sites such as wikis or the author's blog. Neither conference presentations nor posting on recognized preprint servers constitute prior publication. More information about our policies on preprints can be found here, here and here.

Researchers may respond to requests from the media in response to a preprint or conference presentation, by providing explanation or clarification of the work, or information about its context. In these circumstances, media coverage will not hinder editorial handling of the submission. Researchers should be aware however that such coverage may reduce or pre-empt coverage by other media at the time of publication. We also advise that researchers approached by reporters in response to a preprint make it clear that the paper has not yet undergone peer review, that the findings are provisional and that the conclusions may change. Authors are expected to keep the details of the peer review and editorial process confidential.

We believe it important that the peer-reviewed and published version of a paper should be available when the work is discussed in the public media, allowing the press to provide informed comment based on this version. For that reason, we strongly discourage the direct soliciting of media coverage to appear ahead of publication of the final version of a paper.

We also recommend that reporters who cover preprints clearly indicate that the study has not been peer reviewed and that the claims may change.

If further clarification is required, please contact the Springer Nature press office by email. 

Research and other content in our journals is embargoed until the time of first publication, whether the paper is first published online or goes straight into print. The embargo time varies from journal to journal.. If you have questions about the embargo policies or publication timings, please contact press@nature.com for Nature Portfolio or pressoffice@springernature.com for BMC and Springer journals.

The Springer Nature press office provides a free service to notify press and public information officers (PIOs) about upcoming Nature Portfolio journal papers from researchers at their institutions and funders. We maintain a database of institution and funder press office contacts to whom we send notifications of upcoming papers from their organizations in our journals. If you would like to be added to this database, please contact us on press@nature.com.

Please note that we are not able to notify you of all upcoming publications in Springer Nature journals, as we publish thousands of papers each week. In particular, for the BMC and Springer portfolios, we are only able to notify you of papers that we have press released or which have been flagged to us by editors. If you have any questions about a specific paper that has been accepted for publication in a Springer or BMC journal, please contact pressoffice@springernature.com and we will do our best to help you.

If you no longer wish to receive notifications about upcoming Nature Portfolio articles from your researchers, or have moved to a new institution, please contact us on press@nature.com and we will update your details in our press officer database.

Papers in Nature Portfolio journals may first be published online (as either an Advance Online Publication (AOP) or Accelerated Article Preview (AAP) publication) or go straight into an issue. In all cases, the embargo on the paper ends at the time when the paper is first published. Papers are provisionally scheduled for publication after they have been formally accepted and have entered production. The publication timing is then confirmed once the paper nears the end of the production process, and corresponding authors will be informed at this time.

For reference, please find below a summary of the notification service we provide to authors and press officers.

• For the below journals, the Springer Nature press office contacts corresponding authors around one week ahead of publication to confirm the publication date and embargo details of their paper. For these journals, we also contact press officers at institutions and funders listed on the paper 1) soon after the paper is accepted for publication and enters production and 2) around one week ahead of publication when the embargo time has been finalized.

• For the below journals, the publishing teams contact corresponding authors a few days before publication to confirm the publication date. For these journals, if the Springer Nature press office is producing a press release about a paper, we will contact corresponding authors and the press offices of institutions and funders listed on the paper to confirm the publication details a few days before publication.

For BMC and Springer papers that we are press releasing, we usually notify PIOs once a press release has been agreed with the authors. Given the large volume of journals we publish, we are unable to notify press officers in advance of publication of any papers that we are not press releasing. If you have questions about a paper that has been accepted in a BMC or Springer journals and to find out more about publication timings, please contact pressoffice@springernature.com.

Although we endeavour to ensure that all institutions and funders are informed of forthcoming papers from our journals, due to the large volume of papers handled and inconsistencies in the ways researchers input institution information into submission systems, this may not always be possible and we apologise in advance if you do occasionally miss a notification.

If you have any questions relating to papers from researchers at your organisation that will be published in our journals, please feel free to contact us on press@nature.com.

Please note that given our high publishing volumes, we are not able to notify you of upcoming publication for all of the papers published by Springer Nature. In particular, for the BMC and Springer portfolios, we are only able to notify you of papers that we have press released or which have been flagged to us by editors. If you have any questions about a specific paper that has been accepted for publication in a Springer or BMC journal, please contact pressoffice@springernature.com and we will do our best to help you.

We include URLs for all papers listed in our press release mailings and author and press officer notifications in a universal https://dx.doi.org/ format. These links, which are based on the unique DOI number for each paper, go live after the embargo ends, but there can sometimes be a short delay before the URL resolves.

For Nature Portfolio papers, you can also find the nature.com version of the URL, which usually resolves more quickly after the embargo ends, by adding the final part of the DOI (after the 10.1038/ prefix) to the following URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/

For example:

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03260-5

Nature.com URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03260-5

This can vary from journal to journal and paper to paper - for example, depending on the level of copyediting at the journal, or whether the paper will be published online first or will go straight into a print issue.

If you are planning to promote a paper that will be published in a Nature Portfolio journal, please do contact us (providing as much information as possible, e.g. journal name, author names, article title, DOI) on press@nature.com and we will try to provide more information. Please note that in most cases, publication dates and embargo times are not confirmed until 4-7 days before publication.

If you are planning to promote a paper that will be published in a BMC or Springer journal journal, please do contact us (providing as much information as possible, e.g. journal name, author names, article title, manuscript number) on pressoffice@springernature.com and we will try to provide more information on publication timings.

Requests to change a provisional publication date - for example, if an author would be unavailable for media work at the time of publication - need to be made by the authors to the journal production staff. Although we try to accommodate such requests where we can, it is not always possible to change the publication date, especially if the request comes very late in the production process.

Some papers in our journals are published online first - either as an advanced online publication (AOP) or a fast-track accelerated article preview (AAP) publication. The time from a paper's acceptance to its publication is generally faster for these workflows.

Some of our journals, such as Nature, publish print issues, which means they also publish content that appears online at the same time as it appears in a print issue.

In all cases, the embargo on research and other content in our journals ends whenever the article is first published - whether online or in an issue.

For papers in the Nature Portfolio, we issue regular embargoed press release mailings to a registered list of journalists about a week before publication, summarizing upcoming content. We encourage journalists to read the full version of any article they wish to cover, and access to papers is provided to registered journalists through our password-protected press site along with any additional materials. Journalists who register to receive press releases, are also given the name and contact details of the corresponding author(s).

Papers that we consider to be of broadest media interest are highlighted with a brief summary on the press release mailing for that journal, written by the press office and the editors. These press releases are independent summaries of the work written in a style and at a level appropriate for the media. Press releases advertise the interest of a paper in a clear and attention-catching manner, but do not hype the findings. 

Although we do not require press officers to send us drafts of press releases they have prepared about research to be published in our journals, we are happy to receive them and can sometimes add them to our embargoed press site as an additional resource for journalists.

We also provide a free service to notify press and public information officers about upcoming Nature Portfolio journal papers from researchers at their organisations. If you would like to be added to our database of press officers from institutions and funders so that we can notify you of upcoming research from your organisation, please contact us on press@nature.com.

For papers in BMC and Springer journals that we consider to be of broadest media interest, we may issue an embargoed press release to a registered list of journalists about a week before publication, summarizing upcoming content. Press releases are written by the press office. These press releases are independent summaries of the work written in a style and at a level appropriate for the media. Press releases advertise the interest of a paper in a clear and attention-catching manner, but do not hype the findings. 

We encourage journalists to read the full version of any article they wish to cover, and access to papers is provided to registered journalists through our password-protected press site along with any additional materials. Journalists who register to receive press releases, are also given the name and contact details of the corresponding author(s).

Although we do not require press officers to send us drafts of press releases they have prepared about research to be published in our journals, we are happy to receive them.

If you have a question about an article by authors at your institution that has been accepted for publication in a BMC or Springer journal or to find out more about publication timings, do contact us as pressoffice@springernature.com.

Currently, only working journalists may register for access to the Springer Nature press site. However, please contact press@nature.com if you would like to be added to our press officer database so that you can receive notifications of upcoming papers from researchers at your organisation in Nature Portfolio journals.

Please note that we are not able to notify you of upcoming publication for all of the papers published by Springer Nature, as we publish thousands of papers each week. In particular, for the BMC and Springer portfolios, we are only able to notify you of papers that we have press released or which have been flagged to us by editors. If you have any questions about a specific paper that has been accepted for publication in a Springer or BMC journal, please contact pressoffice@springernature.com and we will do our best to help you.

Although we do not require press officers to send us drafts of press releases they have prepared about research to be published in Springer Nature journals, we are happy to receive them and can sometimes add them to our embargoed press site as an additional resource for journalists. Please send us your press release as a PDF or Word document, if possible. Please ensure that the embargo time is marked clearly at the top of the document.

Additionally, if you have any accompanying images, videos or other related materials that are available for journalists to use, we can also make these available on our press site for registered media. Multimedia content can help to boost coverage of research stories. In particular, journalists tend to find images and B-roll video that showcase the research more useful than author headshots and “talking heads” video clips.

The best file formats for multimedia material are as follows:

• Images: .jpg or .png
• Video: .mov (or the embed code for an unlisted YouTube video)
• Audio: .wav or .mp3

For each file you send us, we also need:

• Permission from the copyright holder for Springer Nature and external media to use the file
• A short caption (1-2 sentences) to accompany each file
• A credit for the image (whoever created or owns the file)
• An email address for the copyright holder (whoever created or owns the file)

Please contact press@nature.com if you need further clarification.

If you have any images, videos and/or audio files relating to research papers that you are happy for media to use, we can make these available to journalists via our password-protected press site for registered media for papers that we are including on the site. Multimedia content can help to boost coverage of research stories. In particular, journalists tend to find images and B-roll video that showcase the research more useful than author headshots and “talking heads” video clips.

The best file formats for multimedia material are as follows:

• Images: .jpg or .png
• Video: .mov (or the embed code for an unlisted YouTube video)
• Audio: .wav or .mp3

For each file you send us, we also need:

• Permission from the copyright holder for Springer Nature and external media to use the file
• A short caption (1-2 sentences) to accompany each file
• A credit for the image (whoever created or owns the file)
• An email address for the copyright holder (whoever created or owns the file)

Please contact press@nature.com if you need further clarification.

Press offices can use figures and/or supplementary videos from a paper published in our journals in press releases about the study, as long as they have permission from the authors and credit the authors and the journal. Journalists may use figures and/or supplementary videos from a paper in contemporaneous news stories about the study as long as they have permission from the authors, and credit the authors and the journal.

Please contact press@nature.com if you need further clarification.

Yes, we can upload foreign-language press releases from institutions and funders about Springer Nature articles. Please provide the press release in a PDF or Word format, if possible. As with English-language press releases, please ensure that the embargo time is marked clearly at the top of the page.

Please wait until you have received confirmation of the publication date and embargo time from the Springer Nature press office before distributing an embargoed press release about content in our journals. If one of the researchers has received notification of the publication date of their paper from one of our editorial or production teams, it would be helpful if you could confirm these details with the press office (press@nature.com for Nature Portfolio journals, pressoffice@springernature.com for Springer and BMC journals) before distributing any embargoed publicity or if you need further clarification.

For papers in Nature and the Nature research journals, we are generally able to confirm embargo times six days ahead of publication. For Nature Communications, Scientific Reports, and the other journals in our portfolio, embargo times are generally confirmed 4-6 days before publication.

For BMC and Springer journals we are happy to try to coordinate an embargo date with you. Please contact pressoffice@springernature.com.

Please do not upload your press release or other materials relating to embargoed content in our journals to any sites that are publicly accessible or searchable prior to the embargo lift.

In general, we ask that you wait until 72 hours before the confirmed embargo time of a paper before posting your embargoed press release about a Springer Nature paper on EurekAlert!, AlphaGalileo and other restricted-access journalist resource websites. Please contact press@nature.com if you need further advice.

Please do not upload your press release or other materials relating to embargoed content in our journals to any sites that are publicly accessible or searchable prior to the embargo lift.

You may provide trusted journalist contacts with a copy of embargoed Springer Nature papers, but please make sure that the journalist agrees in advance to respect the embargo. Please also check in with our press office (press@nature.com, or pressoffice@springernature.com for BMC and Springer papers) to make sure that the final version of the paper is provided. Journalists who have registered for access to this Springer Nature press site can also download copies of embargoed papers from this site.

Please refer to the “communication between scientists” section of the Nature Portfolio embargo policy, which is also included below. For further information about our preprint policies (including which versions of the manuscript may be posted at which stage), please also consult our preprint policy page. For BMC and Springer policies regarding conference presentations and preprints, please refer to the BMC and Springer editorial policies.

Springer Nature journals do not wish to hinder communication among researchers. We support open communications between researchers whether on a recognised community preprint server or preprint commenting platforms, through discussions at research meetings or online collaborative sites such as wikis or the author's blog. Neither conference presentations nor posting on recognized preprint servers constitute prior publication. More information about our policies on preprints can be found here.

Researchers may respond to requests from the media in response to a preprint or conference presentation, by providing explanation or clarification of the work, or information about its context. In these circumstances, media coverage will not hinder editorial handling of the submission. Researchers should be aware however that such coverage may reduce or pre-empt coverage by other media at the time of publication. We also advise that researchers approached by reporters in response to a preprint make it clear that the paper has not yet undergone peer review, that the findings are provisional and that the conclusions may change. Authors are expected to keep the details of the peer review and editorial process confidential.

We believe it important that the peer-reviewed and published version of a paper should be available when the work is discussed in the public media, allowing the press to provide informed comment based on this version. For that reason, we strongly discourage the direct soliciting of media coverage to appear ahead of publication of the final version of a paper. 

Please refer to the “communication between scientists” section of our embargo policy, which is also included below:

Springer Nature journals do not wish to hinder communication among researchers. We support open communications between researchers whether on a recognised community preprint server or preprint commenting platforms, through discussions at research meetings or online collaborative sites such as wikis or the author's blog. Neither conference presentations nor posting on recognized preprint servers constitute prior publication. More information about Nature Portfolio policies on preprints can be found here. For BMC and Springer policies regarding conference presentations and preprints, please refer to the BMC and Springer editorial policies.

Researchers may respond to requests from the media in response to a preprint or conference presentation, by providing explanation or clarification of the work, or information about its context. In these circumstances, media coverage will not hinder editorial handling of the submission. Researchers should be aware however that such coverage may reduce or pre-empt coverage by other media at the time of publication. We also advise that researchers approached by reporters in response to a preprint make it clear that the paper has not yet undergone peer review, that the findings are provisional and that the conclusions may change. Authors are expected to keep the details of the peer review and editorial process confidential.

We believe it important that the peer-reviewed and published version of a paper should be available when the work is discussed in the public media, allowing the press to provide informed comment based on this version. For that reason, we strongly discourage the direct soliciting of media coverage to appear ahead of publication of the final version of a paper.

We also recommend that reporters who cover preprints clearly indicate that the study has not been peer reviewed and that the claims may change.

If further clarification is required, please contact the Springer Nature press office by email.