Science Advances vs Nature Communications: Which Fits?

This is the comparison most guides skip, and it's the most important one.

Science Advances editors are working scientists. Each of the 12 deputy editors handles 50-100 papers per month while running their own research programs. They have deep field knowledge, the person triaging your materials science paper may publish in the same journals you cite. The trade-off: they're juggling their own research, which can create bottlenecks (that 31-day median desk decision is slower than Nature Communications' 8 days).

Nature Communications editors are full-time professionals. They handle papers across broad disciplinary clusters and make desk decisions within 8 days. They're trained to evaluate across fields, which means more consistent processing but potentially less field-specific depth. They see dozens of papers a week and triage fast.

Why this matters for your submission: A working-scientist editor at Science Advances may better appreciate the technical nuances of a complex physical chemistry paper. A professional editor at Nature Communications may better judge whether a biology paper has the broad appeal needed for a multidisciplinary audience. Neither model is superior, they serve different paper types.

Choose Science Advances if:

• Your paper is physical sciences, chemistry, or materials. Science Advances has dedicated editorial expertise here. Nature Communications can publish these papers but the reviewer pool and editorial instincts lean biological.
• Your paper is earth or environmental science. Science Advances has stronger coverage and a more natural reviewer base.
• Your paper is social science. Science Advances is one of very few high-IF journals that publishes social science alongside natural sciences.
• Your paper is genuinely interdisciplinary (e.g., AI + materials, genomics + ecology). The broader AAAS scope may accommodate this better.
• The APC matters. $5,450 vs $7,350 is a $1,900 difference per paper.
• Your paper was redirected from Science. The cascade carries reviewer comments and signals editorial proximity.

Choose Nature Communications if:

• Your paper is biology, biomedical, or genetics. Nature Communications dominates here with deeper reviewer pools and editorial expertise.
• The Nature brand matters in your field. In many biology departments, Nature Communications carries more weight than any non-Nature journal.
• Your paper has one clean conceptual story. Nature Communications' editorial culture rewards narrative clarity and a single strong frame.
• You need a fast desk decision. 8 days vs 31 days is meaningful if you're on a deadline.
• Your paper was redirected from Nature. Same cascade logic applies.

Consider neither if:

• A top specialist journal is a better audience fit. If your readership is 200 people in one subfield, a Q1 field journal may serve the paper better than either broad-scope journal.
• PNAS (IF 9.1, $4,975 immediate OA) covers your needs at a lower cost with the NAS member track for faster review.
• The APC is prohibitive. eLife ($3,000), PNAS (delayed OA $2,575), or a subscription journal may be more practical.

For labs publishing multiple OA papers per year, the $1,900 difference compounds. Before paying, check whether your institution has AAAS Read & Publish (for Science Advances) or Springer Nature Read & Publish (for Nature Communications) agreements. Many universities have one or both.