Science

Editorial Process

Science insists on editorial freedom, a policy encouraged by its former owner and editor, James McKeen Cattell. Like Nature, the journal is devoted to publishing cutting-edge research with a thematic focus on molecular biology and genetics. Science's mission statement, as formulated in the reviewer's guidelines, indicates that papers should be of general interest, novel and important, influential in their fields, and advance scientific understanding; the idea is that they should merit broader recognition than those published in specialty journals.

To evaluate the significance of submitted work that justifies a publication in Science, the staff editors—currently including 20 trained PhD scientists—seek advice from the board of reviewing editors, which today boasts more than 120 leading scientists from various research fields. Since the era of the editorship of Daniel E. Koshland (1985–1995), [Page 678]submissions of original research are triaged; a certain percentage of manuscripts are immediately rejected without in-depth review. In this initial screening stage, submitted manuscripts are evaluated on the basis of their “potential significance, quality, and interest” as the frequently asked questions (FAQs) on Science's Web site declare. If a manuscript fulfills the initial publication criteria (currently about 25% of all submissions), it is sent to at least two experts in the field. Based on the reviews, which are not always consensual, the final decision on publication rests with the editors, who may ask authors for further revisions on the basis of the reviewer's comments. Because of this procedure, it becomes clear that the editor's role in the decision process is crucial to having a paper be published in Science.

Science does not display any demographics on its Web site, but according to some editorial pieces, submission numbers have nearly doubled from 6,200 in 1994 to 12,000 in 2008—a trend that can be observed for other high-impact journals as well. As stated by Science's Media Kit for Product Advertising, today's acceptance rate is around 6%.

Financing

Science has its headquarters in Washington, D.C.; it also maintains a European office in Cambridge, U.K. It is partially refinanced by AAAS memberships and other subscriptions. In addition, Science, like other biomedical journals, relies on advertising, which is estimated to contribute 60% to 70% of Science's income. Due to the sale of Web site licenses to universities, Science's print subscriptions have decreased from 160,000 in 1996 to 130,000 in 2009, whereas its actual readership has increased.

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