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June 1, 2015

Proceedings of the Natural Institute of Science | Volume 2 | SCI-NEWS 2

Nature Publishing Group to begin publishing personalized journals

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM – The Nature Publishing Group (NPG) is about to get a whole lot bigger with today’s announcement that they will begin to publish personalized journals. Ten journals are expected to be launched this week, including Nature Meghan Anne Watkins, Nature Niklas Viktor Olsson, Nature Dakshina Sarma, Nature Jelani Afolayan, and Nature Tim Smith of Jonesville, South Carolina - the One with the Truck, not the One with the Beard. The remaining 7.3 billion journals will be released later this year.

Each new journal will publish high profile, scientific research specifically related to a single human being. For instance, papers from the first issue of Nature Meghan Anne Watkins will include:

• Causal associations between binge-watching Netflix and short-term reductions in personal hygiene: a case study
• Tall, Grande, or Venti? Modeling the amount of caffeine needed by MA Watkins for specific tasks
• The ability of Meghan Anne Watkins to cope with minor setbacks. I. Slashed tires

Andrew Franklin, who leads the 30-person editorial board of Nature Meghan Anne Watkins, is enthusiastic about his new charge. “Meghan Anne Watkins is an emerging field of, um, science,” said Franklin. “Nature Meghan Anne Watkins is the premier journal in this field; we set the standard for the publication of transformative Meghan Anne Watkins research.”

Despite this braggadocio, Franklin and editors of the other new Nature journals are wary of hubris. New competitors have already emerged in response to Nature's announcement. Nature Meghan Anne Watkins will compete with several newly announced journals, including The International Journal of Meghan Anne Watkins, The Proceedings of Meghan Anne Watkins, and Acta Meg Watkins. Marla Herkosian, editor of Nature Erik van Neuys is cautious but confident: “These so-called 'competitors' are produced by predatory publishers that charge authors exorbitant fees to publish papers that will have little impact on any field. Our journals, on the other hand, have the word Nature in them.”

Don’t expect any of these journals to be open access, though. NPG’s managing director, Steven Inchcoombe, stated in a press conference that article processing charges and subscription fees for the personalized journals will be similar to the 136 journals already published by NPG. “We are providing a service and we need to charge these fees in order to remain profitable,” said Inchcoombe. “I don’t care if your name is Meghan Anne Watkins. Unless you have a subscription, you won’t be able to access the articles in Nature Meghan Anne Watkins.”

That worries some researchers, like Meghan Anne Watkins, the future editor of Nature Craig Edward Tibbetts. “On one hand, it’s good to finally see so much more research out there that’s directly relevant to me,” replied Watkins. “On the other hand, my Institution won’t be getting a subscription to Nature Meghan Anne Watkins, so I guess I won’t be able to stay up to date on what’s most important to me.”