About Nature Genetics

Nature Genetics: A Complete Journal Profile

Nature Genetics (abbreviated Nat. Genet.) is one of the world's leading peer-reviewed scientific journals in genetics and genomics. Published monthly by Nature Portfolio on nature.com, it has carried the field's most significant research since its launch in 1992 — from the first gene-discovery papers of the early genome era through the genome-wide association study (GWAS) revolution to today's functional and single-cell genomics. This profile draws exclusively on official sources — the journal's own pages on nature.com and Springer Nature's official publishing pages — with every factual claim source-noted. Where the journal does not publish a figure (for example, an acceptance rate), this is stated explicitly rather than filled in from unofficial estimates.

(sources: nature.com/ng/ [journal homepage], nature.com/ng/about [Journal Information], nature.com/ng/journal-impact [Journal Metrics], accessed October 2026)

1. Journal Overview

Nature Genetics is a monthly, peer-reviewed research journal publishing the best research from across the field of genetics. Its broad scope is deliberately designed to ensure that the work it publishes reaches the widest possible audience — from human geneticists and cancer biologists to plant geneticists, evolutionary biologists, and statistical geneticists. All editorial decisions are made by a team of full-time professional editors rather than an external academic board, a model the journal shares with other Nature Portfolio titles. (source: nature.com/ng/about, accessed October 2026)

The journal sits at the top tier of genetics publishing by citation impact: its 2025 Journal Impact Factor is 25.5, with a 5-year Impact Factor of 35.3, placing it among the most cited venues in its field. Usage figures underline its reach: articles on the journal site recorded more than 16.6 million downloads in 2025, and its papers attracted nearly 23,000 Altmetric mentions in the same year. (source: nature.com/ng/journal-impact, accessed October 2026)

Nature Genetics operates a hybrid publishing model. Authors of primary research articles may publish via the traditional subscription route or choose Gold Open Access, with the Gold OA article processing charge published openly on the journal's site. Preprints are supported through the journal's preprint policy and the In Review service, and the journal explicitly notes that posting a preprint does not compromise novelty. (sources: nature.com/ng/about/submission-guidelines; nature.com/ng/submission-guidelines/publishing-options, accessed October 2026)

2. History and Founding

Nature Genetics was launched in 1992 — its first issue appeared in April 1992, as confirmed by the journal's own archive on nature.com (first-issue PDF "ng0492-1.pdf", where the "0492" encodes April 1992). The journal was created as a dedicated, high-selectivity venue for genetics research at a moment when the field was accelerating: the Human Genome Project had formally launched in 1990, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and other DNA technologies were transforming what could be studied, and there was a recognized need for a specialized journal that could handle the rising tide of gene-mapping and genome-analysis papers. (source: nature.com archive — articles/ng0492-1.pdf, accessed October 2026)

In its founding editorial, the journal set out its objective: to give professional researchers a vehicle for publishing important genetics research, and to give the wider readership a means of understanding a field that was "quickly moving, of great importance for scientific understanding" and poised to powerfully influence society. From the start, the journal signaled that it would consider accounts of technical innovations bearing on understanding the genome — not only biological findings but also the methods and technologies that make them possible. (paraphrased from the founding editorial, nature.com/articles/ng0492-1.pdf, accessed October 2026)

Over more than three decades — Volume 58 is the current volume in 2026, per the journal homepage — Nature Genetics has chronicled the field's successive eras: candidate-gene studies of the 1990s, the genome-wide association study (GWAS) wave of the 2000s–2010s, the rise of next-generation sequencing, and the current era of functional genomics, gene regulation, and single-cell analysis. It remains one of a small handful of journals that geneticists treat as the field's flagship primary-research venue. (sources: nature.com/ng/ [homepage showing Volume 58, Issue 10, October 2026]; nature.com/ng/journal-impact, accessed October 2026)

3. Aims and Scope

According to the journal's official Aims & Scope statement, Nature Genetics publishes the very highest quality research in genetics. It encompasses genetic and functional genomic studies on human and plant traits and on other model organisms. The current emphasis is on the genetic basis for common and complex diseases and on the functional mechanism, architecture, and evolution of gene networks, studied by experimental perturbation. (source: nature.com/ng/aims — official Aims & Scope, accessed October 2026; the statement is paraphrased here rather than copied)

The official statement lists the integrative genetic topics the journal covers, which include but are not limited to:

• Genes in the pathology of human disease
• Molecular analysis of simple and complex genetic traits
• Cancer genetics
• Agricultural genomics
• Developmental genetics
• Regulatory variation in gene expression
• Strategies and technologies for extracting function from genomic data
• Pharmacological genomics
• Genome evolution

(source: nature.com/ng/aims — official Aims & Scope, accessed October 2026)

Practical guidance from the journal's submission pages adds an important nuance: authors are asked to make sure Nature Genetics is the most suitable journal for their work before submitting, and to check that the journal accepts the content type they are working on. Presubmission enquiries are accepted, which means authors can ask the editors about fit before preparing a full submission. (source: nature.com/ng/about/submission-guidelines, accessed October 2026)

4. Editorial Team

All editorial decisions at Nature Genetics are made by a team of full-time professional editors employed by Springer Nature — the journal does not use an external academic editorial board. The team is distributed across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Spain. (source: nature.com/ng/about/editorial-board, accessed October 2026)

(source: nature.com/ng/about/editorial-board — official editor biographies, accessed October 2026)

5. Editorial Process and Peer Review

The journal publishes a step-by-step description of what happens after submission. The process begins with an initial quality check covering authorship, competing interests, ethics approval, and plagiarism, ensuring the manuscript contains everything editors and reviewers need for a fair assessment. The manuscript is then assigned to an editor, who decides whether it is likely to meet the journal's editorial criteria. (sources: nature.com/ng/about/submission-guidelines; support.nature.com — "Editorial process after submission," accessed October 2026)

Only papers judged most likely to meet the criteria are sent for formal external review; the rest are rejected promptly without external review, which saves time for both authors and reviewers. Manuscripts selected for review are typically sent to two or three independent reviewers, with additional reviewers consulted when specialist advice is needed (for example, on statistics or a particular technique). The editors then make a decision — accept (with or without editorial revisions), invite revision to address specific concerns, or reject, in some cases indicating that further work might justify a resubmission. Authors can appeal a decision or request a transfer to another journal, and reviewer comments are transferable on request. (sources: nature.com Nature Portfolio peer-review policy pages; nature.com/ng/about/submission-guidelines — Appeals and Transfers, accessed October 2026)

The journal offers double-anonymized peer review as an option at submission, and supports the posting of preprints: the submission guidelines link to an explicit preprint policy and the In Review preprint service. Nature Portfolio policy confirms that preprint archives do not compromise novelty. The journal also recognizes post-publication commentary as part of scientific discourse: formal challenges, clarifications, or replications can be published as Matters Arising, usually alongside a Reply from the original authors. (sources: nature.com/ng/about/submission-guidelines; nature.com Nature Portfolio peer-review policy pages, accessed October 2026)

6. Journal Metrics (with years and sources)

Nature Genetics publishes a detailed, DORA-aligned journal metrics page. Springer Nature is a signatory of the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA), and the page explicitly cautions that citation measures such as the 2-year Journal Impact Factor are not necessarily measures of journal quality, since small numbers of highly cited articles can disproportionately influence them. Readers are advised to consider a range of metrics. The figures below are the official metrics shown on the journal's page (data year 2025), with the journal's own definitions. (source: nature.com/ng/journal-impact, accessed October 2026)

(source: nature.com/ng/journal-impact, accessed October 2026)

Two points of context are worth noting. First, the journal does not publish an acceptance rate on its official pages — the metrics page reports editorial speed statistics, which describe the recent workflow but do not predict the outcome of an individual submission. Any acceptance-rate figure seen on third-party sites is unofficial and should be treated as such. Second, the editorial speed statistics come with the journal's own caveat: they describe the recent workflow at the journal and do not predict the outcome or timing of an individual submission. (source: nature.com/ng/journal-impact, accessed October 2026)

7. Submission Guidelines

The journal's submission guidelines are organized as a five-stage process on nature.com. Before initial submission, authors are asked to: confirm Nature Genetics is the most suitable journal (Aims and Scope); check that the journal accepts their content type; read the editorial policies; understand the publishing models and costs; and consider a presubmission enquiry. When preparing the manuscript, authors must ensure the submission is complete, meet the initial formatting requirements, and ensure the manuscript is accurate and readable; authors may opt for double-anonymized peer review. (source: nature.com/ng/about/submission-guidelines, accessed October 2026)

Submission is handled through the journal's online manuscript system at mts-ng.nature.com, where authors upload files and track manuscript status; a login is required, with registration available at submission. After submission, the manuscript goes through the editorial process described above; if it is sent for peer review, authors are asked to read and sign the journal's editorial policies. Decisions can be appealed, and transfers to other journals are supported. (source: nature.com/ng/about/submission-guidelines, accessed October 2026)

If a paper reaches "acceptance in principle," authors follow the final formatting guidelines, and — before formal acceptance — corresponding authors are requested to link their ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor Identifier) to their manuscript-tracking account. Accepted papers then go into production for publication. (source: nature.com/ng/about/submission-guidelines, accessed October 2026)

8. Open Access and APC Options

Nature Genetics is a hybrid journal: authors of primary research articles choose between two publishing routes. Option 1 — the traditional subscription model: the article is assessed, peer-reviewed, and if successful published and made available to subscribing institutions and individuals. Option 2 — Gold Open Access: the same publishing process, but on acceptance the authors or their funders pay an Article Processing Charge (APC), and the final published article is free to read for everyone under a Creative Commons license. (source: nature.com/ng/submission-guidelines/publishing-options, accessed October 2026)

The official Gold Open Access APC for Nature Genetics is £9,390.00 / $12,850.00 / €10,850.00. An important restriction applies: non-primary research articles — for example Reviews, Comments, and News & Views — are not eligible for Gold Open Access and can only be published via the subscription route; they are expected not to include original, previously unpublished research findings. (source: nature.com/ng/submission-guidelines/publishing-options, accessed October 2026)

Authors who publish Gold OA keep the article freely available online with reuse and sharing permitted under the Creative Commons licence terms. Springer Nature also operates institutional open-access agreements that can cover APCs — authors are advised to check their eligibility — and the broader Springer Nature open-access pages describe APC waiver and discount provisions (including for corresponding authors based in the world's lowest-income countries on fully OA titles, with other cases considered individually). For Nature Genetics specifically, authors should confirm the current APC and any applicable waivers on the journal's official open-access page before submission, as prices are subject to change. (sources: nature.com/ng/submission-guidelines/publishing-options; nature.com official open-access fee pages, accessed October 2026)

9. Key Facts at a Glance

(sources: nature.com/ng/about; nature.com/ng/about/editorial-board; nature.com/ng/journal-impact; nature.com/ng/about/submission-guidelines; nature.com/ng/submission-guidelines/publishing-options; nature.com journal archive — all accessed October 2026)

10. Landmark Discoveries and Research Impact

Rather than ranking individual papers itself, the journal curates its milestone moments in themed Collections and Focus series on nature.com — and these official curations are the safest guide to what counts as landmark work in its pages. A recent example is the journal's "Focus on BRCA1 and BRCA2" (published July 2026), which the journal describes as highlighting the field's evolution from the initial discoveries of the BRCA1/BRCA2 genes and their functional dissection through to the development of therapies — a decades-long arc in which Nature Genetics papers played a central role. (source: nature.com/ng/ homepage — Collections, accessed October 2026)

The founding editorial's framing is a useful lens on the journal's landmark tradition: from the start, the journal positioned itself as the venue for gene discovery and for the technical innovations that make genome understanding possible. Its archive consequently spans the successive revolutions of modern genetics — from the mapping and cloning of disease genes in the 1990s, through the genome-wide association study era of the 2000s–2010s, to today's mechanistic and functional genomics. The journal's current homepage illustrates the continuing emphasis on mechanism and functional follow-up: recent highlighted papers include single-allele nanoscale mapping of regulatory variants in inflammatory disease, the genetic landscape of an in vivo protein interactome, and insect-resistance genetics in wheat. (sources: nature.com/articles/ng0492-1.pdf [founding editorial]; nature.com/ng/ homepage, accessed October 2026)

Impact at the article level is tracked publicly: each article page carries metrics on downloads, citations, and online attention, and the journal reported 16,627,860 downloads and 22,896 Altmetric mentions across its content in 2025 — evidence of sustained readership and public-policy reach well beyond the specialist community. (source: nature.com/ng/journal-impact, accessed October 2026)

11. Nature Portfolio Family Context

Nature Genetics is one of the Nature research journals published on nature.com as part of the Nature Portfolio family. Its closest sibling is Nature Reviews Genetics, the portfolio's reviews-and-commentary title for the genetics community, whose stated aim is to publish authoritative, accessible Reviews, Perspectives, Research Highlights, and Comments for geneticists and genomicists. Where Nature Reviews Genetics synthesizes, Nature Genetics publishes the primary research itself — the two are designed to be complementary rather than overlapping. (sources: nature.com/ng/; nature.com/nrg/journal-information, accessed October 2026)

The Nature Portfolio model gives all of its research journals — from the flagship multidisciplinary Nature to specialist titles like Nature Genetics — a shared editorial architecture: full-time professional editors employed by Springer Nature, a common set of editorial policies, the manuscript-transfer service between portfolio journals, and shared author services (ORCID integration, preprint support, transparent metrics). Springer Nature is a signatory of DORA, and the shared metrics pages explicitly discourage the use of the Journal Impact Factor as a proxy for journal quality. (sources: nature.com/ng/about/editorial-board; nature.com/ng/journal-impact; nature.com/ng/about/submission-guidelines — Appeals and Transfers, accessed October 2026)

12. Content Types Published

The journal's homepage and author pages show a mix of primary research and commissioned front-half content. Primary research appears as Articles, Letters, and Brief Communications; the front section carries Review Articles, Perspectives, Comments, Correspondence, Obituaries, and News & Views. The journal also publishes curated Collections and Focus series (such as the BRCA1/BRCA2 Focus), Calls for Papers on emerging themes (for example, a 2026 call on 3D genome organization), and an announcements section for the community. (sources: nature.com/ng/ homepage; nature.com/ng/submission-guidelines/publishing-options — content-type guidance, accessed October 2026)

For authors, the content-type distinction has a practical consequence: only primary research articles are eligible for the Gold Open Access route; non-primary research articles (Reviews, Comments, News & Views) are published via the subscription route and should not include original, previously unpublished research findings. (source: nature.com/ng/submission-guidelines/publishing-options, accessed October 2026)

13. Preprints, Data Sharing, and Author Services

The submission guidelines link directly to the journal's preprint policy and to the In Review preprint service, and Nature Portfolio policy confirms that posting a manuscript to a preprint archive does not compromise its novelty — authors can share their work publicly before or during review. (sources: nature.com/ng/about/submission-guidelines; Nature Portfolio editorial-process pages, accessed October 2026)

On research integrity, submissions undergo plagiarism and ethics checks at the initial quality-check stage, and the journal's editorial policies (which authors sign when their manuscript goes to peer review) govern authorship, competing interests, data availability, and related standards. Corresponding authors of accepted papers are asked to link their ORCID iD to their manuscript-tracking account before formal acceptance, supporting unambiguous author identification across the literature. (sources: nature.com/ng/about/submission-guidelines; support.nature.com — editorial process, accessed October 2026)

14. Frequently Asked Questions

What is Nature Genetics?

Nature Genetics is a monthly, peer-reviewed scientific journal publishing the highest-quality research in genetics and functional genomics — covering human and plant traits, model organisms, and topics from disease genetics to genome evolution. (source: nature.com/ng/aims — official Aims & Scope, accessed October 2026)

Who publishes Nature Genetics?

It is published by Nature Portfolio on nature.com; its editors are full-time professional editors employed by Springer Nature. (sources: nature.com/ng/; nature.com/ng/about/editorial-board, accessed October 2026)

When was Nature Genetics founded?

The journal was launched in 1992; its first issue appeared in April 1992, as documented in the journal's own archive on nature.com. (source: nature.com journal archive — articles/ng0492-1.pdf, accessed October 2026)

Who is the current editor of Nature Genetics?

The Chief Editor is Tiago Faial, PhD, based in San Francisco, USA, appointed in 2022 after joining the journal in 2015. The Team Leader is Kyle Vogan, PhD, based in Boston, USA, who joined the journal in 2003. (source: nature.com/ng/about/editorial-board, accessed October 2026)

What is the impact factor of Nature Genetics?

The official Journal Impact Factor is 25.5 for the 2025 data year (Clarivate Journal Citation Reports), with a 5-year Impact Factor of 35.3. Springer Nature, a DORA signatory, cautions that the Impact Factor is not a measure of journal quality on its own. (source: nature.com/ng/journal-impact, accessed October 2026)

Is Nature Genetics open access?

It is a hybrid journal: authors of primary research articles can publish via the traditional subscription route or choose Gold Open Access (APC payable, article free to read under a Creative Commons license). Non-primary research articles (Reviews, Comments, News & Views) are subscription-only. (source: nature.com/ng/submission-guidelines/publishing-options, accessed October 2026)

How much does it cost to publish open access in Nature Genetics?

The official Gold Open Access APC is £9,390.00 / $12,850.00 / €10,850.00 for primary research articles. Confirm the current figure on the journal's official publishing-options page before submitting, as prices can change. (source: nature.com/ng/submission-guidelines/publishing-options, accessed October 2026)

How do I submit a manuscript to Nature Genetics?

Submissions are made through the online system at mts-ng.nature.com (registration available at submission). Before submitting, check the Aims & Scope, confirm your content type is accepted, and consider a presubmission enquiry to the editors. (source: nature.com/ng/about/submission-guidelines, accessed October 2026)

How long does peer review take at Nature Genetics?

The journal's official speed metrics report a median of 11 days from submission to first editorial decision, and a median of 322 days from submission to acceptance (which includes peer review and revisions). The journal notes these describe recent workflow and do not predict individual outcomes. (source: nature.com/ng/journal-impact, accessed October 2026)

What is the acceptance rate of Nature Genetics?

The journal does not publish an acceptance rate on its official pages. Any acceptance-rate figure found on third-party websites is unofficial and should be treated with caution. (source: nature.com/ng/journal-impact — no acceptance-rate figure is listed, accessed October 2026)

Can I post my manuscript as a preprint before submitting?

Yes — the journal maintains an explicit preprint policy and links the In Review preprint service from its submission guidelines, and Nature Portfolio policy states that preprint archives do not compromise a paper's novelty. (sources: nature.com/ng/about/submission-guidelines; Nature Portfolio editorial-process policy pages, accessed October 2026)

What are the ISSNs of Nature Genetics?

Print ISSN 1061-4036; electronic ISSN (EISSN) 1546-1718; the ISO 4 abbreviation is Nat. Genet. (source: nature.com/ng/about — Journal Information, accessed October 2026)

Does Nature Genetics offer double-anonymized peer review?

Yes — the submission guidelines explicitly ask authors whether they want to participate in double-anonymized peer review, with requirements linked from the guidelines page. (source: nature.com/ng/about/submission-guidelines, accessed October 2026)

Sources

This profile was researched from official sources only, accessed in October 2026. Key sources:

• Journal homepage — https://www.nature.com/ng/ — confirmed: current research highlights, Volume 58 Issue 10 (October 2026), Collections (incl. Focus on BRCA1/BRCA2, July 2026), content types, calls for papers.
• Journal Information — https://www.nature.com/ng/about — confirmed: monthly frequency, professional-editor model, abbreviation Nat. Genet., ISSN 1061-4036 / EISSN 1546-1718, link to metrics page.
• Journal Metrics — https://www.nature.com/ng/journal-impact — confirmed: JIF 25.5 (2025), 5-yr JIF 35.3, Immediacy Index 5.3, Eigenfactor 0.11753, Article Influence Score 17.375, SNIP 6.058, SJR 15.377, median 11 days to first decision / 322 days to acceptance, 16,627,860 downloads and 22,896 Altmetric mentions in 2025, DORA signatory statement, metric definitions.
• Editorial board — https://www.nature.com/ng/about/editorial-board — confirmed: Chief Editor Tiago Faial (appointed 2022, San Francisco), Team Leader Kyle Vogan (joined 2003, Boston), Senior Editors Chiara Anania, Margot Brandt, Petra Gross, Hui Hua, Wei Li, with biographies.
• Submission guidelines — https://www.nature.com/ng/about/submission-guidelines — confirmed: 5-stage submission process, presubmission enquiries, double-anonymized review option, preprint policy, submission system mts-ng.nature.com, editorial process/peer review/appeals/transfers links, ORCID requirement, acceptance-in-principle and production stages.
• Publishing options (APC) — https://www.nature.com/ng/submission-guidelines/publishing-options — confirmed: hybrid model, Gold OA APC £9,390.00/$12,850.00/€10,850.00, non-primary research not eligible for Gold OA.
• Aims & Scope — https://www.nature.com/ng/aims — confirmed: scope statement and integrative topics list (paraphrased in this profile).
• Founding editorial (first issue, April 1992) — https://www.nature.com/articles/ng0492-1.pdf — confirmed: 1992 launch and the journal's founding objective (paraphrased in this profile).
• Editorial process after submission — https://support.nature.com/en/support/solutions/articles/6000251301-editorial-process — confirmed: initial quality check, editor assignment, peer review, and decision stages.
• Nature Portfolio peer-review policy pages (e.g., nature.com/nchembio/editorial-policies/peer-review-policy; nature.com/natelectron/editorial-policies/peer-review) — confirmed: criteria for publication, typical 2–3 reviewers, decision options, Matters Arising post-publication commentary.
• Nature Reviews Genetics journal information — https://www.nature.com/nrg/journal-information — confirmed: sibling journal's reviews-focused remit for family context.

Figures not published by the journal (e.g., acceptance rate, Journal Citation Reports category rankings) were deliberately excluded from this profile. All facts above are traceable to the official pages listed; any figure that could not be verified officially is stated as not published rather than estimated.