Peer-review instructions

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Nature Reviews Physics uses a manuscript tracking system to facilitate peer-review. The following text explains how to access the necessary manuscript files and submit a referee report through this system.

• Reports should be submitted online only; please do not send them by post or email.

Navigating the system

Peer-reviewers access the tracking system by using a URL provided in their manuscript correspondence. Signing in provides access to a personal Home page, on which manuscript-specific �tasks� are assigned, indicated by a red arrow . If a task needs to be completed, there will be a red arrow next to a Manuscript link. If no red arrows are visible on the Home page, no tasks are outstanding.

Reviewing a manuscript

To begin the peer-review process, referees should click the Manuscript link with the red arrow next to it to go to a Manuscript screen containing the following items:

• Identifying information about a specific manuscript
• Links to the manuscript and associated figures files
• A list of hyperlinks for Manuscript Task and Manuscript Info and Tools

To make electronic review as simple as possible we have created a single merged PDF from the submitted article, table and figure files. You can access this merged PDF from the link under ‘Manuscript Items’. If you require access to the individual manuscript files please click on the ‘view all manuscript files’ link. In addition, we have created a reviewer zip file containing the merged PDF and, where applicable, any supplementary, Video, Audio and Source Data files.

The article files can be downloaded in PDF format or their original formats (Source file) by clicking on the relevant file type hyperlinks.

After reading the article, a report may be submitted by clicking on the Review Manuscript link. On the Review Manuscript screen, information is requested in two parts:

• Confidential remarks to the Editor
• Remarks to be sent to the Author

Comments may be entered online directly into the text areas provided. If the report cannot be completed in one go, a draft may be saved by clicking the �Save As Draft� button, then completed later by accessing this screen via the route above. Please note, however, that these draft comments can be viewed by journal staff. Comments may also be prepared offline and copied and pasted into these areas.

Once the report is complete, clicking on the �Submit Recommendation� button will send it to the editor.

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Trial information for referees

In recognition of the time and expertise our referees provide to Nature Reviews' editorial process, we would like to formally acknowledge their contribution to the external peer review of manuscripts by allowing referees to be named. As such, we are conducting a twelve months' trial at Nature Reviews.

Please note that eligibility for the trial depends on both author opt-in and publication of the paper. We will NOT be publishing any of the submitted peer review comments.

Please note that publication of your name may lead to you being contacted by journalists and other interested parties; you should not feel obliged to talk to them. If you are contacted by and choose to speak to the press, our confidentiality policy should always be observed and the confidential review process should not be discussed. Members of the press can be referred to our peer review policy here: http://www.nature.com/authors/policies/peer_review.html or to our press office at press@nature.com.

If you are happy to be named your name will appear at the end of the paper in a statement as:

'Nature Reviews [journal name] thanks [Referee#1 Name], [Referee#2 Name] and [Referee#3 Name] for their contribution to the peer review of this work'

Any referee that wishes to remain anonymous will be attributed using a slightly modified statement:

'Nature Reviews [journal name] thanks [Referee#1 Name], and the other anonymous reviewer(s), for their contribution to the peer review of this work'

The names will appear in alphabetical order.
An outline of the possible scenarios is listed below for your information:

• Author agrees to referee being identified - referee agrees to be identified.
  A statement as above will be published naming those referees agreeing to be identified.
• Author does not agree to referee being identified on their paper - referee agrees to be identified OR referee does not agree to be identified.
  No statement published.
• Author agrees to referee being identified - referee does not agree to be identified.
  No statement published (if all referees do not agree to be identified) OR (if only some referees agree) a statement as above will be published but will not include names of those referees who do not agree to be identified.

If additional help is needed, context-sensitive information is available through the system by clicking on Help signs . A dialogue box will pop up. Should further assistance be required, please contact natrevphys@nature.com.

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