NEWS

Transparent peer review (TPR) now standard for all newly
submitted^[1] research papers upon publication in Nature

Following successful trial, authors publishing with Nature will now benefit from universal
TPR, enabling greater knowledge sharing and building on principles of open science

Nature, one of the world’s leading scientific journals and part of Springer Nature, has announced a strong step forward in its commitment to research transparency. From this week, all primary research articles submitted to Nature will automatically undergo transparent peer review (TPR) as standard, if they are selected for publication. Making peer review reports and the authors responses openly available alongside the published paper offers greater visibility around scientific discussion and builds on open science principles.

Speaking of the announcement, Nature’s Editor-in-Chief Magdalena Skipper commented:

“The evaluation of research papers by peers prior to their publication is an essential ingredient of disseminating robust and rigorous research. The purpose of peer review is to make the paper better and to help the authors tighten their claims. However, these discussions between the authors and reviewers, guided by the editors, are rarely made visible or reported on. Publishing peer review files offers important benefits for researchers and the wider community. I believe it provides a key insight into the publication process – especially for early-career researchers. We are delighted to now be able to offer universal TPR at Nature and support our authors and community with the benefits this brings.”

The roll out of universal TPR for Nature follows a successful trial and builds on its previous opt-in approach, introduced in 2020, whereby authors could choose if the peer review file was published alongside their research paper. Reviewer identities will remain anonymous unless they choose to disclose them. TPR forms part of a broader set of open peer review practices, and aligns with the wider commitment of Nature’s publisher, Springer Nature, in championing transparency and open sharing in research.

Deborah Sweet, Executive VP, Journals, Nature Portfolio, Springer Nature added:

“Transparency is an increasingly important tool in research. This is central to our commitment to the community and we are working actively to offer transparent peer review even more widely across the broad range of research journals in the Nature Portfolio. By sharing academic exchanges, we can foster greater understanding of how scientific knowledge evolves, build greater trust in science, enable greater knowledge sharing and research data, and support the wider goals of open science.”

Springer Nature has long recognised the benefits of transparency in research publishing. As early as 1999, BMC, began publishing reviewer names and pre-publication histories, Nature Communications has offered TPR as an option since 2016 and has implemented it for all direct submissions since 2022. Many journals in the Nature Portfolio, including Nature, also carry reviewer recognition statements where reviewers can be identified by name if they wish so. In addition, as of early 2024 over a third of Springer Nature’s journal portfolio now benefit from integrated early sharing as preprints and increased transparency in peer review, via its In Review platform.

More information on the policy for Nature can be found here, and wider information across Springer Nature’s journals can be found here. Further discussion on the publishers’ commitment to transparency in research can be found here.