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Purpose and Scope
PNAS publishes research reports, Letters, Front Matter magazine content, Commentaries, Perspectives, and Colloquium Papers. In accordance with the guiding principles established by George Ellery Hale in 1914, PNAS publishes brief first announcements of NAS members' and foreign associates' more important contributions to research and of work that appears to a member to be of particular importance. PNAS is a general science journal and all papers should be intelligible to a broad scientific audience.
Article Types
Research reports describe the results of original research of exceptional importance and include a Significance Statement that describes the significance of the work. Unsolicited research reports are welcome.
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Brief Reports describe observations of immediate impact that may hold the potential to initiate new avenues of research, provide compelling new data on controversies of broad interest and long-standing open questions, or provide a concise conceptual advance. Brief Reports are limited to 2,000 words or 15,000 characters (including spaces) and typically include no more than 2 graphical elements. Supporting information is limited to essential supporting datasets and videos (no additional methods, tables, or figures). Where appropriate, authors are encouraged to cite protocols. Brief Reports receive an accelerated review and production process of ~3 months and are open access. All Brief Reports follow the Direct Submission mode of review.
Letters are brief comments that allow readers to constructively address a difference of opinion with authors of a recent PNAS article. Readers may comment on exceptional studies or point out potential flaws in studies published in the journal. Letters may not include requests to cite the Letter writer's work, accusations of misconduct, or personal comments to an author. Letters are limited to 500 words and 10 references, and must be submitted within 6 months of the publication date of the subject article. Unsolicited Letters are welcome.
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Front Matter is an expanded front magazine section aimed at a more general level of discussion, tackling the stories of science in interesting ways. Sections include Opinions, News Features, Science and Culture, Inner Workings, and Core Concepts. Front Matter is written only at the invitation of the Editorial Board.
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Commentaries call attention to articles of particular note and are written only at the invitation of the Editorial Board.
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Perspectives present a viewpoint on an important area of research. Perspectives focus on a specific field or subfield within a larger discipline and discuss current advances and future directions. Perspectives are of broad interest to nonspecialists and may add personal insight to a field, but should be balanced and objective. Perspectives are written only at the invitation of the Editorial Board and evaluated for publication using the same process as Direct Submissions.
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Colloquium Papers are reports of scientific colloquia held under NAS auspices and are written only at the invitation of the Editorial Board.
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All papers are evaluated solely on their scientific merit by peers, not by professional staff editors. A 3-tier review process for research reports includes review by an Editorial Board member from one of the 31 NAS disciplines, an NAS Member Editor, and independent peer reviewers. NAS Member Editors are professional scientists and active researchers. A list of Editorial Board members and their disciplines appears on our masthead.
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