As a multidisciplinary publication, Nature features peer-reviewed research from a variety of academic disciplines, mainly in science and technology.

It has core editorial offices across the United States, continental Europe, and Asia under the international scientific publishing company Springer Nature.

[5] Founded in autumn 1869, Nature was first circulated by Norman Lockyer and Alexander MacMillan as a public forum for scientific innovations.

The late 1980s and early 1990s saw the creation of a network of editorial offices outside of Britain and the establishment of ten new supplementary, speciality publications (e.g.

The primary source of the journal remains, as established at its founding, research scientists; editing standards are primarily concerned with technical readability.

Conversely, due to the journal's exposure, it has at various times been a subject of controversy for its handling of academic dishonesty, the scientific method, and news coverage.

[9] The huge progress in science and mathematics during the 19th century was recorded in journals written mostly in German or French, as well as in English.

[18] First owned and published by Alexander Macmillan, Nature was similar to its predecessors in its attempt to "provide cultivated readers with an accessible forum for reading about advances in scientific knowledge.

"[17] Janet Browne has proposed that "far more than any other science journal of the period, Nature was conceived, born, and raised to serve polemic purpose.

"[22] During the years 1945 to 1973, editorship of Nature changed three times, first in 1945 to A. J. V. Gale and L. J. F. Brimble (who in 1958 became the sole editor), then to John Maddox in 1965, and finally to David Davies in 1973.

[25][26] In October 2012, an Arabic edition of the magazine was launched in partnership with King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology.

Because of these positive feedback effects, competition among scientists to publish in high-level journals like Nature and its closest competitor, Science, can be very fierce.

In this process, the editor selects several other scientists to read and critique articles, based on their expertise with the subject matter but who have no connection to the research under review.

In the case of Nature, articles are generally sent for peer review if it is decided that they deal with a topical subject and are sufficiently ground-breaking in that particular field.

Second, to ensure that the results of science are rapidly disseminated to the public throughout the world, in a fashion that conveys their significance for knowledge, culture and daily life.

In 2017, Nature published an editorial entitled "Removing Statues of Historical figures risks whitewashing history: Science must acknowledge mistakes as it marks its past".

Nature acknowledged that the article as originally written was "offensive and poorly worded" and published selected letters of response.

[43] The editorial came just weeks after hundreds of white supremacists marched in Charlottesville, Virginia, in the Unite the Right rally to oppose the removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee, setting off violence in the streets and killing a young woman.

[46]In June 1988, after nearly a year of guided scrutiny from its editors, Nature published a controversial and seemingly anomalous paper detailing Jacques Benveniste and his team's work studying water memory.

[47] The paper concluded that less than a single molecule of antibody diluted in water could trigger an immune response in human basophils, defying the physical law of mass action.

The paper excited substantial media attention in Paris, chiefly because their research sought funding from homeopathic medicine companies.

Public inquiry prompted Nature to mandate an extensive and stringent experimental replication in Benveniste's lab, through which his team's results were refuted.

[49] An earlier error occurred when Enrico Fermi submitted his breakthrough paper on the weak interaction theory of beta decay.

[51] The journal apologised for its initial coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic in which it linked China and Wuhan with the outbreak, which may have led to racist attacks.

Nature has offices in London, New York City, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Boston, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Paris, Munich, and Basingstoke.

It is presented by Kerri Smith and features interviews with scientists on the latest research, as well as news reports from Nature's editors and journalists.

The Nature Podcast was founded – and the first 100 episodes were produced and presented – by clinician and virologist Chris Smith of Cambridge and The Naked Scientists.