Our publishing models

As part of the ongoing changes in scientific publishing, which aim to increase the readership, reach and impact of published research, many journals are moving from the traditional, subscription-based publishing model to an Open Access (OA) model. Under a gold OA model, an article is made freely available online when published, rather than being behind a paywall. Payment for publication is made by the authors’ institutions or funding bodies, who pay an Article Processing Charge (APC) when the manuscript is accepted.

From January 2021, authors submitting primary research articles* to Nature are able to choose to publish their work either through the traditional subscription publishing route OR gold Open Access.

*Non-primary research articles (e.g. Reviews, Comments, News & Views) should not include original (previously unpublished) research findings and may only contain minimal new supporting data. These non-primary articles are not eligible for gold  Open Access and can only be published using the traditional subscription-based publishing route. 

Find out more about publishing in Nature.

Nature is actively committed to becoming a fully Open Access journal. We will increase the number of articles we publish OA, with the eventual goal of becoming a fully Open Access journal. This transition towards OA recognises our commitment to the principles developed by cOAlition S. A journal that commits to this process is known as a Transformative Journal (TJ).

Find out more about Transformative Journals.

Authors may need to take specific actions to achieve compliance with funder and institutional open access mandates. If your research is supported by a funder that requires immediate open access (e.g. according to Plan S principles) then you should select the gold OA route, and we will direct you to the compliant route where possible. For authors selecting the subscription publication route, the journal's standard licensing terms will need to be accepted, including self-archiving policies. Those licensing terms will supersede any other terms that the author or any third party may assert apply to any version of the manuscript.