Submission checklist

One author has been designated as the corresponding author with contact details: 

• E-mail address
• Phone number

All necessary files have been uploaded:

• Source files of the manuscript (.doc file for Microsoft word submission or .tex file for Latex submission)
• All figures (including relevant captions)
• All tables (including titles, description, footnotes)

Further considerations

• Manuscript has been 'spell checked' and 'grammar checked’
• Figures and tables have been numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals and placed in appropriate locations within the text
• All references mentioned in the Reference List are cited in the text, and vice versa
• Cover letter
• Highlights (three to five result-oriented points that provide the main findings)
• Referee suggestions and contact details provided

 

Before you begin

Preprints 

Please note that preprints can be shared on community preprint servers such as ChinaXiv and arXiv. Sharing your preprints on a preprint server will not count as prior publication.

Changes to authorship

Authors are expected to consider carefully the list and order of authors before submitting their manuscript and provide the definitive list of authors at the time of the original submission. Any addition, deletion or rearrangement of author names in the authorship list should be made only before the manuscript has been accepted and only if approved by the journal Editor. To request such a change, the Editor must receive the following from the corresponding author: (a) the reason for the change in author list and (b) written confirmation (e-mail, letter) from all authors that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement. In the case of addition or removal of authors, this includes confirmation from the author being added or removed.

Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Editor considers the request, publication of the manuscript will be suspended. If the manuscript has already been published in an online issue, any requests approved by the Editor will result in a corrigendum.

Submission

Submission to this journal proceeds totally online. Via the homepage of this journal (https://mc03.manuscriptcentral.com/nst) you will be guided stepwise through the creation and uploading of the various files. The system automatically converts source files to a single Adobe Acrobat PDF version of the article, which is used in the peer-review process. Please note that even though manuscript source files are converted to PDF at submission for the review process, these source files are needed for further processing after acceptance. All correspondence, including notification of the Editor's decision and requests for revision, takes place by e-mail and via the author's center, removing the need for a hard-copy paper trail.

Referees

Please submit, with the manuscript, the names, present affiliation and current addresses and e-mail addresses of at least 5 potential referees. Note that the editor retains the sole right to decide whether or not the suggested reviewers are used.