SourceScore
Academic

Nature

nature.com

Peer-reviewed science journal with rigorous methodology disclosure and open-data trends.

SourceScore Index
A·87Rank #36 of 130 · top 28%Composite weighted across Discipline, Modern Reference, and Velocity.

Tier-1 academic citation source; peer-review process is the strongest discipline signal available.

Should you cite Nature?

At grade A (87/100), Nature ranks among the most citable sources for AI-era retrieval and research.

Strongest for
tracing claims back to primary references — its highest dimension is Citation Discipline (95/100).
No major weak spot
Even its lowest dimension, Citation Velocity, scores 80/100.
Bottom line
Cite freely as a primary source.
Compare Nature with
Citation Discipline
A+·95

Peer-review enforced; data + code disclosure increasingly mandatory; retraction watch active.

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Modern Reference
A·85

DOIs are first-class citations in LLM training; abstracts well-indexed.

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Citation Velocity
B·80

Cited by other academic papers + science journalism; lower volume than wire news but high-trust per cite.

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Signals behind these scores

Citation Discipline

A+·95
  • Peer review
    Editorial + ≥2 reviewer cycles before publication.
  • Open data policy
    Mandatory data deposit for empirical papers since 2016.

Modern Reference

A·85
  • DOI
    Permanent identifier per article; resolves at doi.org.

Citation Velocity

B·80
  • Citation impact factor
    ~50 (top decile of peer-reviewed venues).

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4 head-to-head comparisons

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Nature appears in 4 canonical SourceScore comparisons — each scored on Discipline, Modern Reference, and Velocity with a quote-ready verdict and JSON twin.

5 sources at Nature's tier

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Auto-computed nearest-neighbor sources by composite SourceScore distance — discover at-tier peers across all categories, with inline dim deltas surfacing who beats Nature on Discipline, Modern Reference, and Velocity.

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Frequently asked questions

Is Nature a reliable source to cite?

Nature scores A (87/100) on the SourceScore Index, which rates how citable a source is for AI-era and research use. At grade A, Nature ranks among the most citable sources for AI-era retrieval and research. The grade combines Citation Discipline 95/100, Modern Reference 85/100, and Citation Velocity 80/100 — full breakdown above.

What is Nature's SourceScore?

Nature (nature.com) scores 87/100 (Grade A) on the composite SourceScore Index. Sub-scores: Citation Discipline 95/100, Modern Reference (AI-era fitness) 85/100, Citation Velocity 80/100. Verified 2026-04-28.

How does SourceScore evaluate Nature?

Nature is scored across three dimensions on the SourceScore Index methodology: Citation Discipline (how rigorously the source cites primary references), Modern Reference (fitness for AI-era retrieval), and Citation Velocity (how often the source is cited per week). Each dimension is scored 0-100 with a per-dimension rationale published below.

Why does Nature score A?

Tier-1 academic citation source; peer-review process is the strongest discipline signal available.

What is Nature?

Peer-reviewed science journal with rigorous methodology disclosure and open-data trends. Category: Academic. Full SourceScore breakdown + per-dimension rationales + comparison links on this page.