Editorials in 2021

Retractions are a key tool for maintaining the integrity of the published record. We need to recognize and reward researchers, especially early-career researchers, who do the right thing in coming forward with a request to retract research that cannot be relied upon due to honest error.

The international day of LGBTQ+ people in STEM, 18 November, celebrates diversity in sexuality and gender identity, and raises awareness of persisting obstacles and challenges for LGBTQ+ scientists. It is important that the scientific community, journals and publishers included, creates the conditions that allow LGBTQ+ scientists to thrive — not only today, but every day.

Description, prediction and explanation are all important in science. We welcome descriptive, predictive and explanatory studies, so long as the work is clear about its aims and uses appropriate methods to achieve its goals.

Science is not separate from societal issues. The production and impact of research are fundamentally social processes, and these too warrant scrutiny.

Code is at the heart of computational social and behavioural science. To increase code reliability and reproducibility, we are implementing formal peer review of the code behind computational models whenever they are essential to the research we publish. We ask our authors to prepare and store their code with readability, transparency and future replicability in mind.

Authors can appeal editorial decisions, and editors will always consider each appeal carefully. However, not all appeals are successful. Under what circumstances is appealing an editorial decision likely to reverse the outcome, and what are the features of a strong appeal?

Titles are the first, and often the only, part of your paper that others will read. That’s why they matter so much, and here’s some practical advice on how to write them.

Science is a cumulative enterprise, and systematic evidence synthesis is invaluable for appraising what is known and what is not known on a specific research question. We strongly encourage the submission of systematic reviews and meta-analyses to Nature Human Behaviour.

COVID-19 has forced a rethink of many practices we previously took for granted, and academic travel is no exception. Virtual conferences have demonstrated their promise for encouraging a more equitable and environmentally friendly future.

Before accepting research manuscripts for publication, we ask authors to refrain from making priority or novelty claims and to remove qualitative evaluations of their own work. Both policies are intended to increase the accuracy and credibility of research we publish.

The COVID-19 pandemic rendered 2020 a year like no other in recent history. Although 2021 starts hopeful—with COVID-19 vaccines already being rolled out in more than 30 countries—the fight against the pandemic is far from over.