Nature Geoscience

• 1. Introduction

  ›

  Nature Geoscience launched in January 2008 as a monthly peer-reviewed journal published by the Nature Publishing Group, joining one of the most recognizable names in scientific publishing. From its first issue, the journal set out to cover all aspects of the Earth sciences, drawing together researchers who study the deep interior of the planet, the outermost reaches of the atmosphere, and everything in between. What makes a journal like this necessary? Why gather theoretical research, field work, and computer modelling under one roof? And who decides which findings are worthy of its pages? Those questions sit at the heart of how Nature Geoscience works, and the answers reveal something about how modern Earth science organizes itself.

• 2. Scope and Coverage

  ›

  The journal publishes research that spans an unusually wide stretch of natural science. Its core remit covers all aspects of the Earth sciences, from theoretical work and numerical modelling to field-based investigations carried out in deserts, oceans, and polar regions. Atmospheric sciences, geology, geophysics, climatology, oceanography, palaeontology, and space science are all within scope, provided the work bears a meaningful relationship to Earth science questions. That breadth is deliberate. The boundaries between these disciplines blur constantly in practice. A study of ancient ocean temperatures can reshape understanding of current climate systems. Work on planetary formation informs how geologists read the rock record here on Earth. By welcoming significant related work from adjacent fields, the journal creates space for research that might otherwise fall between disciplinary gaps.

• 3. Editorial Leadership

  ›

  Heike Langenberg held the role of Chief Editor during the journal's formative years before handing over to Tamara Goldin in February 2020. The transition marked a moment of continuity for a journal that had by then established itself as a significant venue in the Earth sciences. Chief editors at journals of this kind shape the intellectual identity of the publication, deciding which fields receive sustained attention and which submissions meet the bar for peer review. Goldin's tenure began at a point when geoscience itself was grappling with urgent questions around climate systems, ocean change, and atmospheric composition, all of which fall within the journal's stated scope.

• 4. Impact and Indexing

  ›

  According to the Journal Citation Reports, Nature Geoscience carried a 2024 impact factor of 15.9, a figure that places it among the higher-ranked journals in its field. Impact factors measure how frequently a journal's articles are cited by other researchers in a given period, serving as one proxy for influence within a scientific community. The journal is abstracted and indexed by several major services, including Chemical Abstracts Service, the Science Citation Index, Current Contents/Physical, Chemical and Earth Sciences, GeoRef, and CAB Abstracts. Indexing matters for reach: a paper that appears in GeoRef, the specialist database for the geosciences, becomes findable by researchers who might otherwise miss it. That network of databases ensures that work published in Nature Geoscience circulates through the infrastructure that Earth scientists rely on every day.