Nature Protocols publishes secondary research articles - predominantly Protocols (including Protocol Updates and Protocol Extensions), but also techniques-related Reviews, Perspectives, Correspondences, Matters Arising, Commentaries, and Consensus Statements - all of which are based on published primary research papers. We cover new techniques and technologies, as well as established methods, used in all fields of the biological, chemical and clinical sciences. Articles are commissioned by the editors. Authors are welcome to submit suggestions for articles as Presubmission Enquiries, which may then be formally commissioned by the editors.

Each Protocol contains a full list of reagents and equipment, timing information, and step-by-step procedures (instructions for performing the experiment), as well as information on designing and adapting the technique, its advantages and limitations compared to alternatives, troubleshooting, analysing data, and interpreting results. We also encourage authors to submit videos for steps that are technically challenging.

All of our Protocols have been proven to work already (used to generate data in published papers), with further validation provided by peer review of the Protocols themselves. As a supporting primary research paper is a requirement for publication, novelty is not a prerequisite. However, it is important that our Protocols add value to the published literature and expand significantly upon the information available in the supporting papers (for example, with additional detail relating to experimental design, troubleshooting, data analysis, etc.). 

As we are not a primary research journal, our articles do not include new (previously unpublished) research findings and should only contain minimal new supporting data relating specifically to development of the Protocol (e.g. validation, benchmarking, and troubleshooting data). To ensure we provide the most up-to-date version of a Protocol, the procedure may sometimes deviate slightly from the version used in the supporting paper, but all minor modifications must be clearly discussed. Any major improvements, adaptations, or extensions of a Protocol should be supported by the publication of an additional supporting primary research paper. 

In addition to Protocols, we also publish other types of techniques-related articles.

Protocol, Protocol Update, Protocol Extension, Correspondence, Matters Arising, Perspective, Commentary, Review, Analysis

Chief Editor: Melanie Clyne, PhD ORCID
Mel joined Nature Protocols in June 2014 and leads the journal's editorial team. Mel completed her PhD at the Genome Damage and Stability Centre, University of Sussex, where she studied cisplatin resistance in mismatch-repair-defective cells. She continued this research with a brief stint as a postdoctoral scientist before making the transition from laboratory-based research to medical publishing in 2009. She worked—first as an Editorial Assistant, and then as a Clinical Writer—for Map of Medicine, drafting peer-reviewed treatment guidelines for the NHS, and helping local healthcare communities to evaluate the impact of service redesign. Mel joined Nature Publishing Group in September 2011 as an Editor for Nature Reviews Urology, before taking up her current position at Nature Protocols. She is based in the London office.
m.clyne@nature.com
Managing Editor: Katharine Barnes, PhD ORCID
Katharine joined Nature Protocols in January 2006 as Chief Editor and led the editorial team of Nature Protocols until November 2009, when she stepped down from the full-time Chief Editor role to become Managing Editor, working part-time. Before joining Nature Protocols Katharine was Editor of Trends in Pharmacological Sciences. A graduate of the University of Durham, UK, she completed her PhD in cancer pharmacology at the Institute of Cancer Research, London. Her postdoctoral research, based in the University of Pittsburgh's Department of Pharmacology, was focused on the phosphatase CDC25 and its potential as a target for anti-cancer drug development. She is based in the London office.
k.barnes@nature.com
Senior Editor: Bronwen Dekker, PhD ORCID
Bronwen Dekker did a masters in Natural Product Chemistry (under Dulcie Mulholland, University of Natal) and worked in the toxicology section of a forensic science laboratory before doing a PhD under Jamal Zweit and Alastair Watson in the Radiochemical Targeting and Imaging group at the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research. After a radiochemistry post-doc in Steve Mather's laboratory at St Bartholomew's hospital, she joined Nature Protocols in February 2006. She is based in the Berlin office.
b.dekker@nature.com
Senior Editor: Hannah Clark, PhD ORCID
Hannah obtained her MA in Biological Sciences from the University of Oxford (St. Hilda's College) before undertaking a Ph.D. in Equine Parasitology, investigating the molecular mechanisms of benzimidazole resistance in equine small strongyles. This was completed under the supervision of Dr. Jane Hodgkinson at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine, University of Liverpool. Hannah joined Nature Protocols as an Assistant Editor in July 2006. She is based in the London office.
hannah.clark@nature.com
Senior Editor: Mathijs Vleugel, PhD ORCID
Mathijs received his PhD training at Utrecht University (The Netherlands), where he investigated the molecular evolution of cell cycle regulation under the supervision of Prof. Geert Kops. After obtaining his PhD in 2014, Mathijs did his post-doctoral research in the group of Prof. Marileen Dogterom at the University of Technology in Delft. During this period, he worked on the in vitro reconstitution of mitotic spindles using microfluidic technologies. Mathijs joined Nature Protocols as an Associate Editor in January 2017. He is based in the Berlin office.
mathijs.vleugel@nature.com
Associate Editor: Ivanka Kamenova, PhD ORCID
Ivanka obtained her PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology in 2013 from the University of Washington, Seattle where her research focused on characterizing TATA-less promoters in Saccharomyces cerevisiae under the supervision of Steve Hahn at the Fred Hutch. After that she moved to the IGBMC in Strasbourg, France to work in Laszlo Tora’s group, studying how protein domain organization guides co-translational assembly of multi-subunit complexes in mammalian cells using genomics and single molecule imaging methods. She joined Nature Protocols in April 2018 as an Associate Editor. She is based in the London office.
ivanka.kamenova@nature.com
Editorial Assistant: Beata Ghavimi
Beata has a BSc in Economics from the London School of Economics and Political Science and specialised in international trade and development economics. She has previously worked as a researcher in the editorial department of The Banker magazine at The Financial Times Group. Beata joined Nature Protocols in March 2016. She is based in the London office.
protocols@nature.com