Policies

Open access, copyright and licensing

Open access

Nature Scan Journal provides immediate open access to all of its content. Anyone may read, download, copy, distribute, print, search and link to the full text of its articles without registration and without charge, in line with the Budapest Open Access Initiative's definition of open access.

Copyright

Authors retain copyright in their work without restriction. By submitting a manuscript, authors grant Nature Scan Journal a non-exclusive licence to publish the article, to be identified as its original publisher, and to archive and distribute it in any format.

Licence

Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence (CC BY 4.0). Anyone may share and adapt an article for any purpose, including commercial use, provided they credit the authors and the journal, link to the licence and indicate any changes made.

Material from other sources

Authors are responsible for obtaining written permission to reproduce any figure, table, photograph, map or text they did not create, and for stating in the caption where such material is not covered by the article's CC BY licence. The journal does not seek permissions on authors' behalf.

Assurances given by authors

By submitting, the corresponding author confirms on behalf of all authors that:

• the work is original and has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere;
• every author has approved the submission and agrees to publication under CC BY 4.0;
• the work does not infringe any copyright, contain defamatory or unlawful material, or breach any obligation of confidentiality;
• all necessary permissions, ethics approvals, research permits and consents have been obtained;
• the authors are responsible for the accuracy of the content, including data, citations and references.

Responsibility for any claim arising from a breach of these assurances rests with the authors.

Preprints and self-archiving

Authors may post a preprint at any time, and doing so does not affect consideration by the journal. After publication, authors may deposit any version of their article, including the published PDF, in institutional or subject repositories and on personal or funder websites, with a citation and link to the published article. No permission from the journal is needed.

Fees

Nature Scan Journal charges no submission fee and no article processing charge.

Preservation and identifiers

The journal's content is preserved in the PKP Preservation Network, which keeps distributed copies using LOCKSS technology. Each article receives a DOI registered with Crossref. Article metadata is openly available for harvesting through the journal's OAI-PMH interface.

Peer review process

Review model

Nature Scan Journal uses double-anonymous peer review: reviewers do not know who the authors are, and authors do not know who reviewed their work. The number of external reviewers for each section is set out under Sections in About the Journal.

How a manuscript moves through review

1. Submission. Authors submit through the journal site.
2. Editorial screening. An editor checks scope, use of the templates, anonymisation, language and originality. Manuscripts that fall short are returned without review. The journal aims to complete screening within two weeks.
3. External review. The handling editor invites reviewers with relevant expertise, who may include reviewers suggested by the authors. Reviewers are asked to report within three weeks.
4. Decision. The editor accepts the manuscript, asks for minor or major revision, or declines it. The journal aims to send a first decision within twelve weeks of submission.
5. Revision. Authors return a revised manuscript with a point-by-point response to every comment, within 30 days for minor revision or 60 days for major revision. A revision received later is treated as a new submission. Manuscripts normally go through no more than two rounds of revision.
6. Acceptance and publication. Authors supply final files and check one set of proofs, and the article is published online in the current issue.

The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for every editorial decision and makes the final decision where editors or reviewers disagree.

Appeals

Authors who believe a decision rests on a factual error or a clear misunderstanding may appeal once, in writing, within 30 days of the decision, setting out the specific grounds. Appeals are considered by the Editor-in-Chief, whose decision is final. Disagreement with a reviewer's judgement is not in itself grounds for appeal.

Guidance for reviewers

• Accept an invitation only if the manuscript is within your expertise and you can report in the time asked. Otherwise decline promptly.
• Declare any conflict of interest. Decline if you have co-authored with any author in the last three years, work at the same institution, or have any other interest that could affect your judgement.
• Treat the manuscript as confidential. Do not share it, and do not upload it or any part of it to generative AI tools or other online services.
• Assess whether the work fits the journal's scope, whether its methods are sound, whether its conclusions follow from its evidence, and whether it is clearly written. Note any concern about ethics, permits or the handling of sensitive locations.
• Make your comments specific and constructive, so the authors can act on them. Put anything meant only for the editor in the confidential comments.
• Do not contact the authors directly.

Publication ethics

Nature Scan Journal follows the Core Practices of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and uses COPE's guidance and flowcharts when handling concerns.

Authorship

Everyone listed as an author must have made a substantial contribution to the work and approved the final manuscript, and everyone who meets that standard must be listed. Others who contributed are named in the acknowledgements. Any change to the author list after submission needs the written agreement of every author, sent by the corresponding author. The journal does not adjudicate authorship disputes. It refers them to the authors' institutions and holds the manuscript until they are resolved.

Originality

Submissions must be the authors' own work and must not have been published or be under consideration elsewhere. Plagiarism, including reuse of the authors' own published text without citation, and duplicate or redundant publication are not acceptable. Submissions may be checked with similarity-detection software.

Data integrity

Data must not be fabricated, falsified or selectively reported, and images must not be altered in ways that misrepresent the original. Authors should keep their raw data and supply them to the editors on request.

Research ethics and permits

Authors are responsible for obtaining every approval their work requires, and for stating each one, with its reference number, in the manuscript. These include:

• informed consent and ethics committee approval for research involving people;
• institutional approval, and compliance with applicable law, for research involving animals;
• research permits from the Forest Department or protected-area authority for fieldwork, where they are required;
• approvals under the Biological Diversity Act, 2002, and other applicable law, for access to or transfer of biological resources.

The editors may ask for copies of approvals and may decline a manuscript for which they are not provided.

Traditional knowledge and local communities

Work that documents traditional knowledge must have the prior informed consent of the knowledge holders, must acknowledge them in the way they choose, and must not disclose knowledge they have asked to keep private.

Sensitive locations

Authors must not publish precise locations of threatened, rare or collectable species where doing so could expose them to harm. The editors may ask for locations to be generalised.

Conflicts of interest

Authors, reviewers and editors must declare any financial or personal interest that could affect, or appear to affect, their work on a manuscript. An editor with a conflict of interest takes no part in decisions on that manuscript.

Use of AI tools

Generative AI tools cannot be authors. Authors who use them for anything beyond spelling and grammar must say so in the methods or acknowledgements, naming the tool and describing its use. Authors are fully responsible for everything in their manuscript, including the accuracy of any text or references produced with AI assistance. AI-generated or AI-altered images are not permitted unless they are the subject of the research. Reviewers and editors must not upload manuscripts to AI tools.

Handling concerns

Concerns about a submission or a published article may be sent to the Editor-in-Chief. The journal follows the relevant COPE flowchart, which normally begins by asking the authors for an explanation. Where a concern cannot be resolved with the authors, the journal refers it to their institution or employer for investigation; the journal does not conduct investigations itself. Outcomes may include rejection, correction, an expression of concern or retraction.

Corrections and retractions

• Corrections are published for errors that affect the record but not the conclusions. Authors who find such an error should tell the journal promptly. Minor typographical errors that do not affect meaning are not corrected after publication.
• Retractions follow COPE's retraction guidelines and are made when findings are unreliable, or in cases of plagiarism, duplicate publication or unethical research. A retracted article stays online, clearly marked, with a linked retraction notice.
• Expressions of concern may be published while a question about an article is being investigated.

Articles are removed only in exceptional circumstances, such as a court order.

Complaints

Complaints about the journal's processes should be sent by email to the Editor-in-Chief, quoting the submission ID. Where possible, a complaint is considered by an editor who was not involved in the original decision.

Disclaimer and privacy

Disclaimer

Articles in Nature Scan Journal express the views of their authors. Nature Scan LLP, the editors and the editorial board do not necessarily share those views, and accept no responsibility or liability for errors or omissions in published content or for any consequence of its use. Mention of a product, service or organisation does not imply endorsement. Maps and place names in articles are the authors' and imply no opinion on the legal status of any territory or its boundaries.

Privacy statement

The names and email addresses entered on this journal site are used only for the journal's stated purposes: managing submissions, peer review and publication, and sending notices about the journal. They are not shared with any other party or used for any other purpose. Authors' names, affiliations and ORCID iDs are published with their articles and in the journal's public metadata. Users may ask for their account to be closed by writing to the support contact.