Nature Review Time
Nature's review timeline, where delays usually happen, and what the timing means if you are preparing to submit.
While you wait
Waiting on Nature? Get your next move ready.
The Nature wait is out of your hands; the next move isn't. Scan your next manuscript free, or run this paper through the scan to see what reviewers typically push back on, so the revision response is ready when the decision lands.
Nature at a glance
The figures Nature publishes about speed, selectivity and cost, each linked to the page we read it on. They describe the journal, not your manuscript's chances.
Quick answer: Nature decides fast whether your paper goes to referees, and slowly after that. Its own 2025 figures put the median time from submission to a first editorial decision at 8 days. That decision is either "send for review" or "reject". The median from submission to acceptance is 321 days, revisions included.
Most papers never reach referees. Nature says only about 8% of submitted manuscripts are accepted, that most are declined without peer review, and that authors are usually told within a week when a paper is not being considered.
If your paper does go out, plan on roughly two months to a first decision. That is the average across 90 author reports on SciRev (read October 2026), which also shows an average of 1.6 review rounds.
Already submitted and watching the portal? The Nature under review guide explains what each status means while you wait. For the journal's scope and editorial bar, see the Nature journal guide.
Nature review time at a glance
Stage | Typical time | Source |
|---|---|---|
Editor sends the paper out or rejects it | Median 8 days | Nature journal metrics, 2025 |
Rejection without review | Usually within a week; 13 days average on SciRev | Nature editorial process page; SciRev |
Each referee report | About two weeks once a referee has agreed | Nature editorial process page |
First decision after review | About 2 months from submission | SciRev, 90 author reports |
Review rounds before acceptance | About 1.6 | SciRev |
Submission to acceptance | Median 321 days, including revision time | Nature journal metrics, 2025 |
Nature figures checked on 2026-10-08. SciRev figures are averages from 90 author reports (read October 2026). SciRev numbers are self-reported by authors, so treat them as a guide, not a promise.
Why 8 days and 321 days are both true
The two headline numbers measure different things.
The 8-day median stops the clock at the editor's first call. Because most submissions are declined at that point, the median mostly reflects how quickly Nature's editors screen. It says little about how long a reviewed paper takes.
The 321-day median runs from submission to acceptance. Springer Nature defines it as including all peer review and time in revision. A paper that goes through two rounds, with the authors taking a few months to run new experiments, lands close to that figure. Your own revision speed is the part of the timeline you control.
The desk decision: what happens in the first week
Nature has no external editorial board. Its own editors decide which papers go to referees, against its published criteria: original research, outstanding scientific importance, and a conclusion of interest to an interdisciplinary readership.
That first read is short. In our pre-submission review work, the papers that fail it usually fail on framing rather than data: the abstract and first figure speak to one subfield, and the broader consequence appears only in the discussion. If you want to know whether your framing clears that bar before an editor sees it, a Nature submission readiness check reads it the way an editor would.
What slows a Nature paper down
Three things stretch the timeline once a paper goes out, and only the last is in your hands.
Finding referees. Nature asks referees to return reports within about two weeks, and most honour it. The slower part is finding them: an editor may need several invitations before two or three experts accept the invitation.
Disagreement between reports. When referees split, the editor has to decide whether the paper can reach Nature's bar at all, and a second round becomes likely. SciRev authors report about 1.6 rounds on average.
Revision. After the reports arrive, the editor decides whether the paper can reach Nature's bar with revision. If it can, the letter lists what must change, and the next months belong to you. The practical question at this stage is whether each requested experiment is feasible in a reasonable time, not whether the paper will eventually be accepted. For what that letter actually signals and how referees read the resubmission, see what a major revision at Nature means.
What to do while waiting
Three things are worth doing while the paper is out, and none of them depend on the outcome.
Line up the next journal now. Most Nature decisions are rejections, and Nature Portfolio journals take manuscripts transferred from one another. Their own 2025 medians show how quickly each would give you a first answer:
Journal | Median days to first editorial decision | Median days, submission to acceptance |
|---|---|---|
Nature | 8 | 321 |
Nature Communications | 9 | 242 |
Nature Cell Biology | 8 | 260 |
Nature Methods | 10 | 276 |
Nature Metabolism | 7 | 204 |
Communications Biology | 6 | 217 |
Pick the one whose scope fits the paper, not the one with the smallest number. The differences in first-decision time are a matter of days; the differences in fit decide whether you get reviewed at all.
Start the response file. Write down the three questions a sceptical referee is most likely to ask and what it would take to answer each. If an answer needs a new experiment, find out now how long it would take. Revision time is the largest part of the 321-day median, and a head start there is the only way to shorten it.
Do not submit anywhere else. Nature's criteria require that the main results have not been submitted elsewhere, so a parallel submission can sink the paper at both journals.
When to follow up
Nature publishes no follow-up rule. These are our planning bands, built from the figures above:
Time since submission, no decision | What it probably means |
|---|---|
Under 2 weeks | Still with the editor. Nothing to do. |
2 weeks to 3 months | Likely with referees. Normal. |
Past 3 months | Beyond the typical first decision. A short, polite status query quoting the manuscript number is reasonable. |
For status labels and what each one means, use the Nature under review guide.
Readiness check
While you wait on Nature, scan your next manuscript.
The scan takes about 2 to 3 minutes. Use the result to decide whether to revise before the decision comes back.
Submit if, think twice if
Submit if:
- The main result meets Nature's published importance criteria: outstanding importance, and a conclusion that matters to readers outside your field.
- Your funding, visa or job clock can absorb the better part of a year from submission to acceptance.
- You already know which Nature Portfolio journal you would transfer to.
Think twice if:
- You need an accepted paper within six months. The 321-day median makes that unlikely even for strong papers.
- The broader consequence only appears in the discussion. The editor decides in about a week, mostly on the abstract and the first figure.
- You can already name the experiment referees will ask for. Run it before submitting; it will cost less time now than in revision.
Most rejections arrive in the first week or two, so a rejection costs you days, not months. Build the resubmission elsewhere into your plan from the start.
For the rest of the submission package, see the Nature submission guide and the Nature formatting requirements.
How long has your manuscript been at Nature?
Pick its current status and the date you submitted. We compare the wait with the median Nature publishes. Your entry stays in this browser, so come back any time to see the updated count.
Frequently asked questions
Nature's median time from submission to a first editorial decision, meaning the paper is either sent to referees or rejected, is 8 days (Nature journal metrics, 2025). Papers sent to review reach a first decision in an average of 2.0 months on SciRev author reports (90 reports, read October 2026), and the median time from submission to acceptance is 321 days, including revisions.
Nature says authors are usually informed within a week if their paper is not being considered. Authors reporting on SciRev give an average of 13 days for an immediate rejection (90 reports, read October 2026).
Nature says only about 8% of submitted manuscripts are accepted, and that most submissions are declined without being sent for peer review.
The 321-day median counts every day from submission to acceptance, including all peer review and the months authors spend on revisions. Papers that go to review average about 1.6 review rounds on SciRev.
Sources
- Nature journal metrics: submission to first editorial decision (median 8 days) and submission to acceptance (median 321 days), 2025, with Springer Nature's definitions.
- Nature editorial criteria and processes: about 8% of submissions accepted, most declined without review, authors usually told within a week, referee reports within about two weeks.
- Nature Portfolio journal metrics pages for Nature Communications, Nature Cell Biology, Nature Methods, Nature Metabolism and Communications Biology: 2025 medians, checked 2026-10-08.
- SciRev: Nature: 90 author reports; first review round 2.0 months, immediate rejection 13 days, total handling of accepted papers 4.0 months, about 1.6 review rounds (checked 2026-09-25).
Free guide
Waiting is not the same as being ignored, and there is a way to tell.
Reviewers usually get ten days. When it has been months, an appeal and a complaint are different instruments with different addresses, and only one of them fits a delay. This is which to use, and the wording that gets an answer.
Final step
Done interpreting the status? Put the wait to work.
The Nature decision will arrive on the journal's clock. What you control is what's next: scan your next manuscript free, or run this paper through the scan so the likely reviewer pushback is mapped before the revision request lands.
Free scan, no card needed.
Target journal Nature
Private API processing. Your manuscript is not used to train models.
Re-read the status guidePut the guidance to work
Turn a decision into a clear next step.
Use the practical response workflow when a manuscript needs revision, or the process guide when you need to understand what the editorial status means.
Where to go next
Start here
Same journal, next question
- Nature Cell Biology 'Under Review': What Each Status Means
- Nature Submission Process: Steps & Timeline
- How to Avoid Desk Rejection at Nature Cell Biology (2026)
- Nature Acceptance Rate 2026: What the Official 8% Means
- Nature Cell Biology Impact Factor 2026: 22.7, Q1, Rank 11/207
- Is Nature Cell Biology a Good Journal? A Practical Fit Verdict for Authors