Nature Communications Editors Join Macmillan Office in Shanghai

SHANGHAI, China, November 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --

Shanghai is now home to two editors from one of the world's leading multidisciplinary science journals, the first time that Nature Publishing Group has based full-time editors in mainland China. Ed Gerstner, PhD, moved to Shanghai this month from NPG's London office to take up the role of Executive Editor, Nature Communications. He is joined by Assistant Editor Congcong Huang, PhD. Both are based at the growing office of Macmillan Publishers Limited located in downtown Shanghai. Gerstner and Huang are part of a global team of editors for Nature Communications, and the Shanghai team is expected to expand in the coming months.

Congcong Huang gained a PhD from University of Cambridge and her undergraduate degree in physics from Peking University. She joins Nature Communications following post-doctoral research into the structure of liquid water at SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory in Stanford, California

"I'm proud to join this global team as an editor for Nature Communications, and to be returning to China at such an exciting time for science and research in my native country," said Huang.

Gerstner joins Nature Communications following seven years as Senior Editor for Nature Physics, the leading primary research journal in the field. He has also served in editorial positions on Nature and Nature Materials. He gained his undergraduate degree and PhD at the University of Sydney, and held post-doctoral research positions at the University of Sydney, the University of Surrey and the University of Cambridge.

"These are exciting times for Chinese science. I've had the opportunity to visit a number of labs and institutions in China over the past two years, and I'm really impressed by the pace of development and increasing quality of research being conducted here," said Gerstner. "Our goal is to provide author services to researchers in China and bring this excellent research to a global audience through Nature Communications and other NPG titles. I am delighted to be a part of this endeavour."

Launched in April 2010, Nature Communications is a multidisciplinary online-only journal publishing high quality research across the biological, physical, chemical and earth sciences. Nature Communications has seen submissions increase rapidly as it builds its reputation. In 2012, Nature Communications received its first Impact Factor of 7.396*, placing it fourth among all multidisciplinary science primary research journals by Impact Factor, with Nature being first. Nature Communications offers authors the option to make their published article open access.

"Macmillan is committed to serving the fast growing science and education community in China," said Charlotte Liu, Managing Director, Macmillan Science (Greater China) and Education (Asia). "We're very pleased to have recently established our office in Shanghai, and Ed and Congcong are the first of a number of editors and colleagues we expect to join us here."

* 2011 Journal Citation Reports® Science Edition (Thomson Reuters, 2012).

About Nature Publishing Group

Nature Publishing Group (NPG) is a publisher of high impact scientific and medical information in print and online. NPG publishes journals, online databases and services across the life, physical, chemical and applied sciences and clinical medicine.

Focusing on the needs of scientists, Nature (founded in 1869) is the leading weekly, international scientific journal. In addition, for this audience, NPG publishes a range of Nature research journals and Nature Reviews journals, plus a range of prestigious academic journals including society-owned publications. Online, nature.com provides over 6 million visitors per month with access to NPG publications and online databases and services, including news and comment from Nature,Naturejobs plus access to Nature Network and Nature Education's Scitable.com.

Scientific American is at the heart of NPG's consumer media division, meeting the needs of the general public. Founded in 1845, Scientific American is the oldest continuously published magazine in the US and the leading authoritative publication for science in the general media. Together with scientificamerican.com and 14 local language editions around the world it reaches over 5 million consumers and scientists. Other titles include Scientific American Mind and Spektrum der Wissenschaft in Germany.

Throughout all its businesses NPG is dedicated to serving the scientific and medical communities and the wider scientifically interested general public. Part of Macmillan Publishers Limited, NPG is a global company with principal offices in London, New York and Tokyo, and offices in cities worldwide including Boston, San Francisco, Washington DC, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Sao Paulo, Cairo, Dubai, Delhi, Mumbai, Hong Kong, Shanghai, Melbourne, Osaka, Seoul, Barcelona, Madrid, Basingstoke, Heidelberg, Munich and Paris. For more information, please go to http://www.nature.com.

Contact: Rachel Scheer (Corporate Public Relations Manager)
Nature Publishing Group        
r.scheer@us.nature.com
T:+1-212-451-8569