The news blog for all facilitators of research covering market updates & trends, expert interviews, product applicability and more:
Introducing the diverse team of blog contributors, each specializing in distinct areas: Corporate & Health industry insights, the dynamic landscape of library roles, research management strategies, dedicated researcher support, and the advocacy of open science principles.
In the Dordrecht office, Senior Marketing Manager Saskia Hoving is Editor-in-Chief of The Link Newsletter and The Link Blog, covering trends & insights for all facilitators of research. Focusing on on the evolving roles of research offices, libraries and R&D teams in areas such as research assessment, AI and researcher support, examining how research practices shape innovation and societal change. With a lifelong passion for sports and an interest in "Women's inclusion in today's science", Saskia brings dynamic perspectives to her work.
Nicole Jackson, Senior Marketing Manager in London, supports global organisations in navigating OA publishing trends. She channels her passion for her dog into her work, infusing creativity and empathy. Nicole equips researchers with practical tools for their OA journey. Don't miss her blog post, "Transitioning to Open Access: Reflections from Three US Organizations", for invaluable insights.
Una Farr is Head of B2B Content Marketing, based in the London office, and is focused on exploring new trends and insights to foster knowledge sharing in the research community. With a love of literature and poetry, she aims to bring a creative element to all of her work.
Robert Hilliker is Director of Library Relations (North America) at 窪蹋勛圖厙. With over two decades of experience across academic and school libraries, his career has spanned technical services, digital scholarship, and senior leadership roles. Prior to joining 窪蹋勛圖厙, he served as Associate Provost for Library Information Services at Rowan University. A longtime advocate for library values and community engagement, Robert has also served on the Board of the American Association of School Librarians and remains deeply committed to supporting librarians in navigating todays evolving information landscape.
Passionate runner, publishing consultant and ' lead trainer, heads community engagement, offering 20 years of academic expertise. With extensive experience in Asia and the Middle East, he has conducted over 600 workshops to enhance publication quality and researcher development. Dive deeper into his thoughts on effective researcher training in his blog post, "Virtual versus in-person seminars: Which training support is most beneficial?.
Silvia He, Marketing Manager from Shanghai, spearheads content, community and engagement marketing in China. She actively bridges Chinese research communities with the global stage, while constantly sharing with global audience the latest trends in open science and other academic advancements in China.
Emily Esposito, Senior Marketing Manager from New York, passionately connects corporate markets, information managers, and R&D departments. She shares vital insights on 7 critical messages Info Pros want R&D scientists to know through her blog, intertwining her dedication to family with industry expertise, fostering invaluable connections and community.
Trusted information professional Mary Ellen Bates, based in Colorado, is the principal of , offering strategic business research and consulting to the information industry since 1991. A recipient of prestigious professional awards, like the John Jacob Astor Award in Library and Information Science, she contributes blogs, including "Info Pros Role in Supporting Growth".
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How does publishing in the Nature Portfolio benefit researchers, funding, and policy? Following a recent webinar on this topic, we explore how Nature Portfolio journals turn research insights into evidence that drives policy change, and how this process was pivotal during the Covid-19 pandemic.
On March 16th, Jill Adie, Head of Publishing Development at Nature Research, and Stavroula Kousta, Chief Editor of Nature Human Behaviour presented a webinar highlighting how Nature Portfolio journals support researchers in amplifying the impact of their work. The webinar is the second in a series of presentations which aim to introduce librarians, research managers and information managers to the Nature Portfolio. In case you missed it, weve pulled out the key highlights you need to know.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, Nature Human Behaviour published a range of papers that influenced the worlds pandemic response, and the careers of the scientists who published them. In the early days of the pandemic, the main tool was behaviour change" said Kousta. Recognizing this, we rapidly commissioned a piece from 43 leading behavioural science experts distilling key insights from the existing literature on topics key to the pandemic response, including science communication, leadership and threat perception.
The resulting article1 was peer-reviewed within six days, published just as Covid-19 was declared a pandemic, and has since been cited 2000 times, accessed more than 500,000 times, and discussed broadly on social media, broad news coverage. Yet, its most important impact, says Kousta, was in shaping policy.
One scientist who was working in government at the time on the pandemic response highlighted how enormously influential the paper was in those early days. In addition to the impact it had in thinking and policy design, the piece had a transformative impact on some of the scientists who participated in writing it leading to collaborations and advisory relationships with various government actors and organisations including the US Surgeon General. Dr Stavroula Kousta, Chief Editor, Nature Human Behaviour.
As the pandemic progressed, policy papers published in Nature Human Behaviour continued to shape Covid-19 policy in many ways, including:
A paper that used mathematical modelling to estimate and project the effects of lockdowns on global supply chains had a substantial impact worldwide2. The authors key proposal for fast and strict supply chain management was adopted by the Chinese government and their predictions used to revise International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank projections of the global economic losses.
Transitioning from lockdown
When WHO experts published ten considerations for health officials to consider when transitioning from complete lockdowns to opening the economy3, it was the first time WHO based their recommendations on behavioural science. The paper led to a series of policy forums in 2020-21 with participants from nearly 40 countries, including the European Commission, the UK Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and UNICEF.
Highlighting inequalities and disparities
Several papers highlighted important inequalities and disparities during the pandemic. One paper showing that students in more disadvantaged areas were disproportionately exposed to closures was used to motivate expansion of the school meals programs4. Another found that female scientists, and especially those with young children, saw significant reductions in their available time for research5. This work was cited in multiple policy briefings including the US House Committees, the US National Academy of Medicine and the OECD.Identifying an infodemic
Identifying an infodemic
One paper assessed the risks of the infodemic an epidemic of false information during the pandemic and formed the basis for the Covid-19 Infodemics Observatory6. The observatory estimates the chance that a user in a social media platform is pointed to potentially unreliable sources of information about COVID-19 and is now used routinely by the WHO.
Its clear that behavioural data played a crucial role in dealing with the pandemic at all stages, said Kousta. Yet, until the pandemic, the WHO had never made a clear recommendation to consider behavioural data alongside epidemiological and other data in a public health crisis.
These examples show how both original research and non-research articles published and publicised by a Nature Portfolio journal can help researchers disseminate their ideas and findings in a way that informs policy and has a meaningful impact on society.
So how do you publish in a Nature Portfolio journal? Jill Adie, Head of Publishing Development at Nature Research, gave an overview of the Nature Portfolio and the different ways authors can publish in the journals. The Nature Portfolio journals exist to help develop new areas of knowledge, join disciplines and make ideas and information accessible around the world. There are three ways to publish in the Nature portfolio:
Nature and the Nature Research journals are transformative journals (TJs), which effectively means they are hybrid journals with a promise to eventually become fully OA. This means that an author could submit their manuscript to one of these journals, and if it is accepted, then they pay an Article Processing Charge. In January 2023, we announced support for authors from low income and low-middle income countries.
Open Access Agreements
If an authors institution or a consortium has an agreement with Nature and Nature Portfolio they can submit their manuscript in one of the Nature Research journals, and that fee is covered for them via the open access agreement.
Subscription
An author submits their manuscript and if it's accepted and published, the author does not pay a fee, but the readers pay a fee to subscribe and read the journal. This covers all Nature Reviews content.
The 2021 report shows that across all our TJs we published 40% more OA research articles in 2021 than in 2020. These articles were used on average 2.8 times more than subscription articles in the same journals demonstrating the value of publishing OA.
The Nature Portfolio encompasses our flagship journal Nature, which publishes exceptional original research in the natural sciences, plus more than 60 Nature Research journals and Nature Review journals. There are key differences between the two:
What sets all the Nature Portfolio journals apart is the extremely high quality of its content, said Jill Adie, during the webinar. All original articles are filtered by a team of expert in-house editors who assess manuscripts for originality, novelty, robustness, and many other qualities. Almost all have a PhD, or certainly very strong scientific background. They attend conferences to keep up-to-date with their field, and theyre really rooted within their research communities.
All Nature Portfolio papers go through an enhance stage, where professional editors ensure that articles are accurate, clear, and concise, accessible to readers from all levels, and visually appealing. After publication, our dedicated press team will ensure articles reach a wide audience by press-releasing articles to the media, monitoring engagement through social media mentions, usage, and citations, to help researchers achieve maximum impact through their publication.
For more information on how Nature Portfolio can support your institutions researchers in making an impact, see our 窪蹋勛圖厙 librarian portal. Here, you can find an overview of our journals including the transformative journals, early insights on new journal launches, and videos explaining what makes a Nature article and the differences between different types of content. And dont forget, you can watch the webinar recording here.
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