Nucleic Acids Research
Nucleic Acids Research (commonly abbreviated as ''NAR') is a peer-reviewed academic journal published by Oxford University Press (OUP), issued twenty-four times a year. It is the classic venue for the physical, chemical and biological properties of nucleic acids and their constituents, and also the principal channel for papers describing biological databases and web servers《核酸研究》（Nucleic Acids Research'，常用缩写为 NAR'''''）是牛津大学出版社（Oxford University Press 简称 OUP）出版的同行评审学术期刊，每年出版二十四期。该刊是核酸及其组分物理、化学与生物性质的经典载体，也是生物数据库与网络服务器论文最主要的发表渠道，刊名自一九七四年创刊起未曾更改。 the title has not been renamed since its founding in 1974.
Scope
The founding issue stated the journal's purpose plainly: to publish original papers dealing with the physical, chemical, biochemical, biological or medical properties of nucleic acids, their constituents and analogs, and to serve as an interdisciplinary means of communication enabling scientists in one specialty to see more clearly the points of contact and importance between their work and that of others. Seven decades on, that orientation still holds. Its principal subject areas include:本刊在创刊号上就把办刊目的写得很直白：为发表关于核酸及其组分与类似物的物理、化学、生物或医学性质的原创论文，并促成一种跨学科的交流手段，使一专科的研究者能更清楚地看到自身工作与其他领域工作的接触点与重要性。这一取向在五十年后仍然成立。收文覆盖的主要方向包括：[1]
- Nucleic acid structure and dynamics: secondary and tertiary structure, folding and conformational transitions, and nucleic acid–protein interactions.核酸结构与动力学： 核酸二级与三级结构、折叠与构象转换、核酸-蛋白质相互作用。
- Regulation of gene expression: transcriptional and translational regulatory mechanisms, processing and modification of messenger and transfer RNA, and ribosome biology and function.基因表达调控： 转录与翻译调控机制、信使与转运 RNA 的加工与修饰、核糖体生物学与功能。
- Nucleic acid chemistry and modification: the effect of chemical modification on nucleic acid function, nucleic acid analogs and probes, and artificial nucleic acids and directed synthesis.核酸化学与修饰： 化学修饰对核酸功能的影响、核酸类似物与探针、人工核酸与定向合成。
- Bioinformatics and computational methods: sequence and structure databases, alignment and prediction algorithms, and workflows for genomic and epigenomic analysis.生物信息学与计算方法： 序列与结构数据库、比对与预测算法、基因组与表观基因组分析流程。
- Databases and web servers: the construction and maintenance of nucleic-acid-related databases, and the design and iteration of online analysis tools and web servers.数据库与网络服务器： 核酸相关数据库的建设与维护、在线分析工具与网络服务器的设计与迭代。
- Nucleic acid therapeutics and diagnostics: the development and delivery of nucleic acid drugs, antisense and gene-editing tools, and nucleic acid detection and diagnostic methods.核酸治疗与诊断技术： 核酸药物的开发与递送、反义与基因编辑工具、核酸检测与诊断方法。
The journal has been fully open access since 2005, the first title in the Oxford University Press list to make the complete conversion. Research articles predominate, alongside reviews, methodological papers and papers in the database issues. A database issue has appeared in the first issue of every year since 1996, and a web server issue has been added since 2003, the 2026 edition being the twenty-fourth. The publisher does not report an acceptance rate.本刊自二〇〇五年起转为完全开放获取，是牛津大学出版社旗下首家全面开放的期刊。稿件类型以研究论文为主，另收综述、方法论文与数据库专刊论文；它自一九九六年起每年首期设数据库专刊，自二〇〇三年起增设网络服务器专刊，二〇二六年版的网络服务器专刊为第二十四个。不收投稿至首决以外的常规录用比例。[2]
History
- Founding context (1974): the first issue appeared in January 1974, carrying fifteen research papers on such subjects as DNA polymerase mechanisms, messenger RNA modification, DNA methylation and ribosome assembly. Its founders were Richard T. Walker and A. Stanley Jones of the University of Birmingham and Dieter Söll of Yale University. The publisher at founding was not the Oxford University Press but an information retrieval firm based in London.创刊背景（1974年）： 本刊于 1974 年 1 月出版创刊号，创刊号收十五篇研究论文，主题涵盖 DNA 聚合酶机制、信使 RNA 修饰、DNA 甲基化与核糖体装配等。创办者为英国伯明翰大学的理查德·沃克与 A·斯坦利·琼斯，以及美国耶鲁大学的迪特尔·索尔。创刊时的出版方并非牛津大学出版社，而是伦敦的信息检索公司。[3]
- Publisher transition (1992): the Oxford University Press became the publisher with effect from 1992, the preceding information retrieval firm and its imprint having belonged to the same organization. The title has never been renamed, and no predecessor journal existed before 1974.出版方变更（1992年）： 自 1992 年起，牛津大学出版社成为本刊的出版方，此前的信息检索公司与信息检索出版社属同一体系。刊名自创刊起未变，1974 年之前也不存在任何前身刊。[4]
- Database policy and dedicated issues (1992–2003): as early as January 1992 the journal announced mandatory deposition and immediate release of protein structure coordinates, among the earliest such policies in the field数据库政策与专刊（1992—2003年）： 本刊早在 1992 年 1 月即宣布强制存放并即时公开蛋白质结构库坐标，在同类期刊中属最早者；1996 年 1 月首期推出数据库专刊，首期收五十八篇，涵盖基因库、果蝇数据库、信使 RNA 修饰数据库等；2003 年 7 月起增设年度网络服务器专刊。 in January 1996 the first database issue appeared, with fifty-eight papers covering GenBank, FlyBase and RNA modification databases among others an annual web server issue was added in July 2003.[1]
- Full open access conversion (2005): the journal converted to full open access in 2005, removing all subscription barriers and becoming the first title in the Oxford University Press list to do so全面开放获取转型（2005年）： 本刊于 2005 年转为完全开放获取，取消全部订阅障碍，成为牛津大学出版社旗下首家全面开放的期刊；此后更进一步鼓励预印本先行与自引用。 it has since gone further in encouraging preprinting and self-citation.[5]
- Cadence and the journal family: the journal appeared monthly from founding to April 1979, and has appeared semi-monthly, twenty-four issues a year, since May 1979. Around it sits a family of sister titles including Nucleic Acids Research: Genomics and Bioinformatics, Nucleic Acids Research: Cancer and Nucleic Acids Research: Molecular Medicine.刊期与姊妹刊： 本刊创刊起为月刊，至 1979 年 4 月；1979 年 5 月起改为半月刊，每年二十四期，沿用至今。以本刊为核心另组成了《核酸研究·基因组学与生物信息学》《核酸研究·癌症》《核酸研究·分子医学》等姊妹刊。[2]
- Metric standing: the publisher's official metrics page reports a 2025 impact factor of 15.0 and a five-year factor of 17.6, placing the journal fourteenth in biochemistry and molecular biology in the Journal Citation Reports with a cited half-life of 8.4 years, and a 2025 Scopus CiteScore of 29.8, fifth in genetics指标水平： 出版社官方指标页显示，本刊二〇二五年影响因子 15.0、五年影响因子 17.6，在期刊引证报告的生化与分子生物学类中列第十四位，被引半衰期 8.4 年；同年斯科普斯引用分数 29.8，在遗传学类中列第五位；谷歌学术 h 指数 233。出版社公布投稿至首次决定的中位数为 18 天，至最终决定 23 天。 its Google Scholar h-index is 233. The publisher reports a median of 18 days from submission to first decision and 23 days to final decision.[6]
Editors
The journal has no editor-in-chief本刊不设主编一职，而实行两位资深执行主编并列主政的架构，另配执行编辑、副编辑与国际编委会。两位资深执行主编均任职于科研机构而非出版社，这一安排使编辑判断的重心落在学科内部。出版社未公布本刊录用比例。 instead it is governed by two senior executive editors working in parallel, assisted by an executive editor, deputy editors and an international editorial board. Both senior executive editors hold posts at research institutions rather than at the publisher, which places the weight of editorial judgement inside the discipline. The publisher reports no acceptance rate for the title.[7]
- Julian Sale (senior executive editor): a researcher at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge. His academic background matches the journal's molecular biology tradition, and he is one of the authors of the fiftieth-anniversary editorial.朱利安·塞尔（现任资深执行主编）： 英国剑桥医学研究委员会分子生物学实验室研究员。他的学术身份与本刊的分子生物学传统一致，也是本刊五十周年社论的署名作者之一。[1]
- Barry Stoddard (senior executive editor): a researcher at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle, specializing in DNA repair and structural biology, who has served as a senior editor of the journal for a number of years.巴里·斯托达德（现任资深执行主编）： 美国西雅图弗雷德·哈金森癌症中心研究员，专长 DNA 修复与结构生物学，本刊的资深编辑任期已延续多年。[7]
- Generational turnover at the top: earlier in its history the journal had Keith R. Fox of the University of Southampton and Barry Stoddard as senior editors side by side, before gradually settling into the present arrangement of two senior executive editors. The publisher has publicly advertised a new executive editor post, with a research area in RNA biology.主编层的世代更替： 本刊早期由南安普顿大学的基思·福克斯与巴里·斯托达德并列担任资深编辑，其后逐渐过渡到现行的两位资深执行主编格局。出版社公开招聘新的执行编辑，方向为 RNA 生物学领域研究者。[8]
- Standing in the field: the journal is both the classic venue for the biophysics of nucleic acids and the journal of choice for papers describing biological databases and web servers, and it leads in publishing research on the development and use of nucleic acid therapeutics, so its papers are cited repeatedly in databases and reviews alike.学科地位： 本刊既是核酸生物物理学界的经典载体，也是生物数据库与网络服务器论文的首选发布渠道，并在核酸治疗研究的发表上居于领先地位，其论文因此被各类数据库与综述反复引用。[1]