importance of publishing a research paper

Guide to Getting Published in Journals

• Why publish in journals?
• Identifying potential journals
• Creating a journal comparison spreadsheet
• Aims & Scope
• Editorial Board
• How different journals approach peer review
• Different open access models
• Interpreting traditional metrics like the Impact Factor
• Alternative metrics
• Ethics and malpractice statements
• Recognising and avoiding predatory journals
• Instructions for authors
• Submitting your paper

Introduction

What is a journal? And why is important to publish your work in one? Finding the right journal for your work can make a big difference to the way it is received, so the process of selecting a journal can be an important one.

There are several key benefits to publishing research in journals:

DISCOVERABILITY

• Publishing in journals can give your work visibility among other researchers in your field, outside of your immediate circle of contacts and colleagues.
• Journals can makes your work more discoverable, as they are already being read by circles of interested readers.
• Journals often have sophisticated distribution networks, placing work into libraries, organisations and institutes, and through letterboxes of readers around the world.

CONTRIBUTING TO THE RECORDS OF RESEARCH IN THE FIELD

• Journal publication helps to preserve your work in the permanent records of research in the field.
• Adding your work to this record involves you in the active research community for a topic, helping to expand your professional network, increasing potential for collaboration and interaction with peers.
• Publishing your work through visible sources helps others to learn. By adding your experiences to the literature of the field, it helps to build the corpus of knowledge in your subject area.

THE BENEFITS OF PEER REVIEW

• The peer review process helps improve the presentation and communication of research. The feedback can help you to frame your arguments in the most effective ways, and may even present valuable new insights into your own work. In addition, the peer review process can also help you reach peers and senior members of the research community by having journal editors, editorial boards and reviewers read your work.

DISSEMINATION AND IMPACT

• Selecting the appropriate journals can help add information to the public discussion of contemporary topics, beyond academic circles.
• You may be required by funding agencies to publish your work in certain journals, as open access, or meeting other criteria stipulated in your grant award.
• As well as the publication itself, particular journals may help you to engage with audiences, and meet requirements to achieve or provide certain impact metrics, evidence of engagement and interaction with your work.

CAREER ADVANCEMENT

• Publishing in particular journals can be an essential component to advance your career, by meeting necessary assessment criteria and output performance targets.

PREVENTING DUPLICATION OF EFFORT

• And last but by no means least, publishing your work can prevent waste and increase efficiencies, by enabling others to build on your achievements or avoid unnecessary duplication of efforts.

As you can see, your choice of journal can make a significant difference to the impact your paper may have. With much to consider, choosing the right journal for your research is both important and difficult.

The different modules will dig further into the ideas presented here, helping you identify the journals that will maximise the potential in your paper, reach the most appropriate audiences, and enhance your career.

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Home » How to Publish a Research Paper – Step by Step Guide

How to Publish a Research Paper – Step by Step Guide

Table of Contents

Publishing a research paper is an important step for researchers to disseminate their findings to a wider audience and contribute to the advancement of knowledge in their field. Whether you are a graduate student, a postdoctoral fellow, or an established researcher, publishing a paper requires careful planning, rigorous research, and clear writing. In this process, you will need to identify a research question , conduct a thorough literature review , design a methodology, analyze data, and draw conclusions. Additionally, you will need to consider the appropriate journals or conferences to submit your work to and adhere to their guidelines for formatting and submission. In this article, we will discuss some ways to publish your Research Paper.

How to Publish a Research Paper

To Publish a Research Paper follow the guide below:

• Conduct original research : Conduct thorough research on a specific topic or problem. Collect data, analyze it, and draw conclusions based on your findings.
• Write the paper : Write a detailed paper describing your research. It should include an abstract, introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion.
• Choose a suitable journal or conference : Look for a journal or conference that specializes in your research area. You can check their submission guidelines to ensure your paper meets their requirements.
• Prepare your submission: Follow the guidelines and prepare your submission, including the paper, abstract, cover letter, and any other required documents.
• Submit the paper: Submit your paper online through the journal or conference website. Make sure you meet the submission deadline.
• Peer-review process : Your paper will be reviewed by experts in the field who will provide feedback on the quality of your research, methodology, and conclusions.
• Revisions : Based on the feedback you receive, revise your paper and resubmit it.
• Acceptance : Once your paper is accepted, you will receive a notification from the journal or conference. You may need to make final revisions before the paper is published.
• Publication : Your paper will be published online or in print. You can also promote your work through social media or other channels to increase its visibility.

How to Choose Journal for Research Paper Publication

Here are some steps to follow to help you select an appropriate journal:

• Identify your research topic and audience : Your research topic and intended audience should guide your choice of journal. Identify the key journals in your field of research and read the scope and aim of the journal to determine if your paper is a good fit.
• Analyze the journal’s impact and reputation : Check the impact factor and ranking of the journal, as well as its acceptance rate and citation frequency. A high-impact journal can give your paper more visibility and credibility.
• Consider the journal’s publication policies : Look for the journal’s publication policies such as the word count limit, formatting requirements, open access options, and submission fees. Make sure that you can comply with the requirements and that the journal is in line with your publication goals.
• Look at recent publications : Review recent issues of the journal to evaluate whether your paper would fit in with the journal’s current content and style.
• Seek advice from colleagues and mentors: Ask for recommendations and suggestions from your colleagues and mentors in your field, especially those who have experience publishing in the same or similar journals.
• Be prepared to make changes : Be prepared to revise your paper according to the requirements and guidelines of the chosen journal. It is also important to be open to feedback from the editor and reviewers.

List of Journals for Research Paper Publications

There are thousands of academic journals covering various fields of research. Here are some of the most popular ones, categorized by field:

General/Multidisciplinary

• Nature: https://www.nature.com/
• Science: https://www.sciencemag.org/
• PLOS ONE: https://journals.plos.org/plosone/
• Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS): https://www.pnas.org/
• The Lancet: https://www.thelancet.com/
• JAMA (Journal of the American Medical Association): https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama

Social Sciences/Humanities

• Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/psp
• Journal of Consumer Research: https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/journals/jcr
• Journal of Educational Psychology: https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/edu
• Journal of Applied Psychology: https://www.apa.org/pubs/journals/apl
• Journal of Communication: https://academic.oup.com/joc
• American Journal of Political Science: https://ajps.org/
• Journal of International Business Studies: https://www.jibs.net/
• Journal of Marketing Research: https://www.ama.org/journal-of-marketing-research/

Natural Sciences

• Journal of Biological Chemistry: https://www.jbc.org/
• Cell: https://www.cell.com/
• Science Advances: https://advances.sciencemag.org/
• Chemical Reviews: https://pubs.acs.org/journal/chreay
• Angewandte Chemie: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/15213765
• Physical Review Letters: https://journals.aps.org/prl/
• Journal of Geophysical Research: https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/2156531X
• Journal of High Energy Physics: https://link.springer.com/journal/13130

Engineering/Technology

• IEEE Transactions on Neural Networks and Learning Systems: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=5962385
• IEEE Transactions on Power Systems: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=59
• IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=42
• IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology: https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/RecentIssue.jsp?punumber=87
• Journal of Engineering Mechanics: https://ascelibrary.org/journal/jenmdt
• Journal of Materials Science: https://www.springer.com/journal/10853
• Journal of Chemical Engineering of Japan: https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/browse/jcej
• Journal of Mechanical Design: https://asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/mechanicaldesign

Medical/Health Sciences

• New England Journal of Medicine: https://www.nejm.org/
• The BMJ (formerly British Medical Journal): https://www.bmj.com/
• Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA): https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jama
• Annals of Internal Medicine: https://www.acpjournals.org/journal/aim
• American Journal of Epidemiology: https://academic.oup.com/aje
• Journal of Clinical Oncology: https://ascopubs.org/journal/jco
• Journal of Infectious Diseases: https://academic.oup.com/jid

List of Conferences for Research Paper Publications

There are many conferences that accept research papers for publication. The specific conferences you should consider will depend on your field of research. Here are some suggestions for conferences in a few different fields:

Computer Science and Information Technology:

• IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications (INFOCOM): https://www.ieee-infocom.org/
• ACM SIGCOMM Conference on Data Communication: https://conferences.sigcomm.org/sigcomm/
• IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy (SP): https://www.ieee-security.org/TC/SP/
• ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS): https://www.sigsac.org/ccs/
• ACM Conference on Human-Computer Interaction (CHI): https://chi2022.acm.org/

Engineering:

• IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA): https://www.ieee-icra.org/
• International Conference on Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (ICMAE): http://www.icmae.org/
• International Conference on Civil and Environmental Engineering (ICCEE): http://www.iccee.org/
• International Conference on Materials Science and Engineering (ICMSE): http://www.icmse.org/
• International Conference on Energy and Power Engineering (ICEPE): http://www.icepe.org/

Natural Sciences:

• American Chemical Society National Meeting & Exposition: https://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/meetings/national-meeting.html
• American Physical Society March Meeting: https://www.aps.org/meetings/march/
• International Conference on Environmental Science and Technology (ICEST): http://www.icest.org/
• International Conference on Natural Science and Environment (ICNSE): http://www.icnse.org/
• International Conference on Life Science and Biological Engineering (LSBE): http://www.lsbe.org/

Social Sciences:

• Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA): https://www.asanet.org/annual-meeting-2022
• International Conference on Social Science and Humanities (ICSSH): http://www.icssh.org/
• International Conference on Psychology and Behavioral Sciences (ICPBS): http://www.icpbs.org/
• International Conference on Education and Social Science (ICESS): http://www.icess.org/
• International Conference on Management and Information Science (ICMIS): http://www.icmis.org/

How to Publish a Research Paper in Journal

Publishing a research paper in a journal is a crucial step in disseminating scientific knowledge and contributing to the field. Here are the general steps to follow:

• Choose a research topic : Select a topic of your interest and identify a research question or problem that you want to investigate. Conduct a literature review to identify the gaps in the existing knowledge that your research will address.
• Conduct research : Develop a research plan and methodology to collect data and conduct experiments. Collect and analyze data to draw conclusions that address the research question.
• Write a paper: Organize your findings into a well-structured paper with clear and concise language. Your paper should include an introduction, literature review, methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion. Use academic language and provide references for your sources.
• Choose a journal: Choose a journal that is relevant to your research topic and audience. Consider factors such as impact factor, acceptance rate, and the reputation of the journal.
• Follow journal guidelines : Review the submission guidelines and formatting requirements of the journal. Follow the guidelines carefully to ensure that your paper meets the journal’s requirements.
• Submit your paper : Submit your paper to the journal through the online submission system or by email. Include a cover letter that briefly explains the significance of your research and why it is suitable for the journal.
• Wait for reviews: Your paper will be reviewed by experts in the field. Be prepared to address their comments and make revisions to your paper.
• Revise and resubmit: Make revisions to your paper based on the reviewers’ comments and resubmit it to the journal. If your paper is accepted, congratulations! If not, consider revising and submitting it to another journal.
• Address reviewer comments : Reviewers may provide comments and suggestions for revisions to your paper. Address these comments carefully and thoughtfully to improve the quality of your paper.
• Submit the final version: Once your revisions are complete, submit the final version of your paper to the journal. Be sure to follow any additional formatting guidelines and requirements provided by the journal.
• Publication : If your paper is accepted, it will be published in the journal. Some journals provide online publication while others may publish a print version. Be sure to cite your published paper in future research and communicate your findings to the scientific community.

How to Publish a Research Paper for Students

Here are some steps you can follow to publish a research paper as an Under Graduate or a High School Student:

• Select a topic: Choose a topic that is relevant and interesting to you, and that you have a good understanding of.
• Conduct research : Gather information and data on your chosen topic through research, experiments, surveys, or other means.
• Write the paper : Start with an outline, then write the introduction, methods, results, discussion, and conclusion sections of the paper. Be sure to follow any guidelines provided by your instructor or the journal you plan to submit to.
• Edit and revise: Review your paper for errors in spelling, grammar, and punctuation. Ask a peer or mentor to review your paper and provide feedback for improvement.
• Choose a journal : Look for journals that publish papers in your field of study and that are appropriate for your level of research. Some popular journals for students include PLOS ONE, Nature, and Science.
• Submit the paper: Follow the submission guidelines for the journal you choose, which typically include a cover letter, abstract, and formatting requirements. Be prepared to wait several weeks to months for a response.
• Address feedback : If your paper is accepted with revisions, address the feedback from the reviewers and resubmit your paper. If your paper is rejected, review the feedback and consider revising and resubmitting to a different journal.

How to Publish a Research Paper for Free

Publishing a research paper for free can be challenging, but it is possible. Here are some steps you can take to publish your research paper for free:

• Choose a suitable open-access journal: Look for open-access journals that are relevant to your research area. Open-access journals allow readers to access your paper without charge, so your work will be more widely available.
• Check the journal’s reputation : Before submitting your paper, ensure that the journal is reputable by checking its impact factor, publication history, and editorial board.
• Follow the submission guidelines : Every journal has specific guidelines for submitting papers. Make sure to follow these guidelines carefully to increase the chances of acceptance.
• Submit your paper : Once you have completed your research paper, submit it to the journal following their submission guidelines.
• Wait for the review process: Your paper will undergo a peer-review process, where experts in your field will evaluate your work. Be patient during this process, as it can take several weeks or even months.
• Revise your paper : If your paper is rejected, don’t be discouraged. Revise your paper based on the feedback you receive from the reviewers and submit it to another open-access journal.
• Promote your research: Once your paper is published, promote it on social media and other online platforms. This will increase the visibility of your work and help it reach a wider audience.

Journals and Conferences for Free Research Paper publications

Here are the websites of the open-access journals and conferences mentioned:

Open-Access Journals:

• PLOS ONE – https://journals.plos.org/plosone/
• BMC Research Notes – https://bmcresnotes.biomedcentral.com/
• Frontiers in… – https://www.frontiersin.org/
• Journal of Open Research Software – https://openresearchsoftware.metajnl.com/
• PeerJ – https://peerj.com/

Conferences:

• IEEE Global Communications Conference (GLOBECOM) – https://globecom2022.ieee-globecom.org/
• IEEE International Conference on Computer Communications (INFOCOM) – https://infocom2022.ieee-infocom.org/
• IEEE International Conference on Data Mining (ICDM) – https://www.ieee-icdm.org/
• ACM SIGCOMM Conference on Data Communication (SIGCOMM) – https://conferences.sigcomm.org/sigcomm/
• ACM Conference on Computer and Communications Security (CCS) – https://www.sigsac.org/ccs/CCS2022/

Importance of Research Paper Publication

Research paper publication is important for several reasons, both for individual researchers and for the scientific community as a whole. Here are some reasons why:

• Advancing scientific knowledge : Research papers provide a platform for researchers to present their findings and contribute to the body of knowledge in their field. These papers often contain novel ideas, experimental data, and analyses that can help to advance scientific understanding.
• Building a research career : Publishing research papers is an essential component of building a successful research career. Researchers are often evaluated based on the number and quality of their publications, and having a strong publication record can increase one’s chances of securing funding, tenure, or a promotion.
• Peer review and quality control: Publication in a peer-reviewed journal means that the research has been scrutinized by other experts in the field. This peer review process helps to ensure the quality and validity of the research findings.
• Recognition and visibility : Publishing a research paper can bring recognition and visibility to the researchers and their work. It can lead to invitations to speak at conferences, collaborations with other researchers, and media coverage.
• Impact on society : Research papers can have a significant impact on society by informing policy decisions, guiding clinical practice, and advancing technological innovation.

Advantages of Research Paper Publication

There are several advantages to publishing a research paper, including:

• Recognition: Publishing a research paper allows researchers to gain recognition for their work, both within their field and in the academic community as a whole. This can lead to new collaborations, invitations to conferences, and other opportunities to share their research with a wider audience.
• Career advancement : A strong publication record can be an important factor in career advancement, particularly in academia. Publishing research papers can help researchers secure funding, grants, and promotions.
• Dissemination of knowledge : Research papers are an important way to share new findings and ideas with the broader scientific community. By publishing their research, scientists can contribute to the collective body of knowledge in their field and help advance scientific understanding.
• Feedback and peer review : Publishing a research paper allows other experts in the field to provide feedback on the research, which can help improve the quality of the work and identify potential flaws or limitations. Peer review also helps ensure that research is accurate and reliable.
• Citation and impact : Published research papers can be cited by other researchers, which can help increase the impact and visibility of the research. High citation rates can also help establish a researcher’s reputation and credibility within their field.

About the author

Muhammad Hassan

Researcher, Academic Writer, Web developer

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When you choose to publish with PLOS, your research makes an impact. Make your work accessible to all, without restrictions, and accelerate scientific discovery with options like preprints and published peer review that make your work more Open.

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Understanding the Publishing Process

What’s happening with my paper? The publication process explained

The path to publication can be unsettling when you’re unsure what’s happening with your paper. Learn about staple journal workflows to see the detailed steps required for ensuring a rigorous and ethical publication.

Your team has prepared the paper, written a cover letter and completed the submission form. From here, it can sometimes feel like a waiting game while the journal has your paper.  It can be unclear exactly who is currently handling your paper as most individuals are only involved in a few steps of the overall process. Journals are responsible for overseeing the peer review, publication and archival process: editors, reviewers, technical editors, production staff and other internal staff all have their roles in ensuring submissions meet rigorous scientific and ethical reporting standards. 

Read on for an inside look at how a conventional peer-reviewed journal helps authors transform their initial submission to a certified publication. 

Note that the description below is based on the process at PLOS journals. It is likely that at other journals, various roles (e.g. technical editor) may in fact also be played by the editor, and some journals may not have journal staff at all, with all roles played by volunteer academics. As such, please consider the processes and waypoints, rather than who performs them, as the key information.

Internal Checks on New Submissions

Estimated time: 10 days.

When a journal first receives your submission, there are typically two separate checks to confirm that the paper is appropriate and ready for peer review:

• Technical check.   Performed by a technical editor to ensure that the submission has been properly completed and is ready for further assessment. Blurry figures, missing ethical statements, and incomplete author affiliations are common issues that are addressed at this initial stage. Typically, there are three technical checks: upon initial submission, alongside the first decision letter, and upon acceptance. 
• Editorial screening . Once a paper passes the first check, an editor with subject expertise assesses the paper and determines whether it is within the journal’s scope and if it could potentially meet the required publication criteria. While there may be requests for further information and minor edits from the author as needed, the paper will either be desk rejected by the editor or allowed to proceed to peer review. 

Both editors at this point will additionally make notes for items to be followed-up on at later stages. The publication process involves finding a careful balance for when each check occurs. Early checks need to be thorough so that editors with relevant expertise can focus on the scientific content and more advanced reporting standards, but no one wants to be asked to reformat references only to have their paper desk rejected a few days later. 

Peer Review

Estimated time: 1 month.

Depending on the journal’s editorial structure, the editor who performed the initial assessment may also oversee peer review or another editor with more specific expertise may be assigned.  Regardless of the journal’s specific process, the various roles and responsibilities during peer review include:  

When you have questions or are unsure who your manuscripts is currently with, reach out to the journal staff for help (eg. [email protected]). They will be your lifeline, connecting you to all the other contributors working to assess the manuscript. 

Whether an editor needs a reminder that all reviews are complete or a reviewer has asked for an extension, the journal acts as a central hub of communication for those involved with the publication process. As editors and reviewers are used to hearing from journal staff about their duties, any messages you send to the journal can be forwarded to them with proper context and instructions on how to proceed appropriately. Additionally, journal staff will be able to inform you of any delays, such as reviewer availability during summer and holiday periods. 

Revision Decision

Estimated time: 1 day.

Editors evaluate peer reviewer feedback and their own expert assessment of the manuscript to reach a decision. After your editor submits a decision on your manuscript, the journal may review it before formally processing the decision and sending it on to you. 

A technical editor may scan the manuscript and the review comments to ensure that journal standards have been followed. At this stage, the technical editor will also add requests to ensure the paper, if published, will adhere to journal requirements for data sharing, copyright, ethical reporting and the like. 

Performing the second technical check at this stage and adding the journal requirements to the decision letter ultimately saves time by allowing authors to resolve the journal’s queries while making revisions based on comments from the reviewers. 

Revised Submission Received

Estimated time: 3 days.

Upon receiving your revised submission, a technical editor will assess the revisions to confirm that the requests from the journal have been properly addressed. Before the paper is returned to the editor for their consideration, the journal needs to be confident that the paper won’t have any issues related to the metadata and reporting standards that could prevent publication. The editor may contact you to resolve any serious issues, though minor items can wait until the paper is accepted.

Subsequent Peer Review

Estimated time: 2 weeks, highly variable.

When your resubmitted paper has passed the required checks, it’ll be assigned back to the same editor who handled it during the first round of peer review. At this point, your paper has gone through two sets of journal checks and one round of peer review. If all has gone well so far, the paper should feel quite solid both in terms of scientific content and proper reporting standards. 

When the editor receives your revised paper, they are asked to check if all reviewer comments have been adequately addressed and if the paper now adheres to the journal’s publication criteria. Depending on the situation, some editors may feel confident making this decision based on their own expertise while others may re-invite the previous reviewers for their opinions. 

Individual responsibilities are the same as the initial round of peer review, but it is generally expected that later stages of peer review proceed quicker unless new concerns have been introduced as part of the revision. 

Preliminary Acceptance

Estimated time: 1 week.

Your editor is satisfied with the scientific quality of your work and has chosen to accept it in principle. Before it can proceed to production and typesetting, the journal office will perform it’s third and final technical check, requesting any formatting changes or additional details that may be required. 

When fulfilling these final journal requests, double check the final files to confirm all information is correct. If you need to make changes beyond those specifically required in the decision letter, inform the journal and explain why you made the unrequested changes. Any change that could affect the scientific meaning of the work will need to be approved by the handling editor. While including your rationale for the changes will help avoid delays, if there are extensive changes made at this point the paper may need to go through another round of formal review.

Formal Acceptance and Publication

Estimated time: 2 weeks.

After a technical editor has confirmed that all requests from the provisional acceptance letter have been addressed, you will receive your formal acceptance letter. This letter indicates that your paper is being passed from the Editorial department to the production department—that all information has been editorially approved. The scientific content has been approved through peer review, and the journal’s publication requirements have been met. 

Congratulations to you and your co-authors! Your article will be available as soon as the journal transforms the submission into a typeset, consistently structured scientific manuscript, ready to be read and cited by your peers.

The contents of the Peer Review Center are also available as a live, interactive training session, complete with slides, talking points, and activities. …

The contents of the Writing Center are also available as a live, interactive training session, complete with slides, talking points, and activities. …

There’s a lot to consider when deciding where to submit your work. Learn how to choose a journal that will help your study reach its audience, while reflecting your values as a researcher…

Home → Get Published → How to Publish a Research Paper: A Step-by-Step Guide

How to Publish a Research Paper: A Step-by-Step Guide

Jordan Kruszynski

• January 4, 2024

You’re in academia.

You’re going steady.

Your research is going well and you begin to wonder: ‘ How exactly do I get a research paper published?’

If this is the question on your lips, then this step-by-step guide is the one for you. We’ll be walking you through the whole process of how to publish a research paper.

Publishing a research paper is a significant milestone for researchers and academics, as it allows you to share your findings, contribute to your field of study, and start to gain serious recognition within the wider academic community. So, want to know how to publish a research paper? By following our guide, you’ll get a firm grasp of the steps involved in this process, giving you the best chance of successfully navigating the publishing process and getting your work out there.

Understanding the Publishing Process

To begin, it’s crucial to understand that getting a research paper published is a multi-step process. From beginning to end, it could take as little as 2 months before you see your paper nestled in the pages of your chosen journal. On the other hand, it could take as long as a year .

Below, we set out the steps before going into more detail on each one. Getting a feel for these steps will help you to visualise what lies ahead, and prepare yourself for each of them in turn. It’s important to remember that you won’t actually have control over every step – in fact, some of them will be decided by people you’ll probably never meet. However, knowing which parts of the process are yours to decide will allow you to adjust your approach and attitude accordingly.

Each of the following stages will play a vital role in the eventual publication of your paper:

• Preparing Your Research Paper
• Finding the Right Journal
• Crafting a Strong Manuscript
• Navigating the Peer-Review Process
• Submitting Your Paper
• Dealing with Rejections and Revising Your Paper

Step 1: Preparing Your Research Paper

It all starts here. The quality and content of your research paper is of fundamental importance if you want to get it published. This step will be different for every researcher depending on the nature of your research, but if you haven’t yet settled on a topic, then consider the following advice:

• Choose an interesting and relevant topic that aligns with current trends in your field. If your research touches on the passions and concerns of your academic peers or wider society, it may be more likely to capture attention and get published successfully.
• Conduct a comprehensive literature review (link to lit. review article once it’s published) to identify the state of existing research and any knowledge gaps within it. Aiming to fill a clear gap in the knowledge of your field is a great way to increase the practicality of your research and improve its chances of getting published.
• Structure your paper in a clear and organised manner, including all the necessary sections such as title, abstract, introduction (link to the ‘how to write a research paper intro’ article once it’s published) , methodology, results, discussion, and conclusion.
• Adhere to the formatting guidelines provided by your target journal to ensure that your paper is accepted as viable for publishing. More on this in the next section…

Step 2: Finding the Right Journal

Understanding how to publish a research paper involves selecting the appropriate journal for your work. This step is critical for successful publication, and you should take several factors into account when deciding which journal to apply for:

• Conduct thorough research to identify journals that specialise in your field of study and have published similar research. Naturally, if you submit a piece of research in molecular genetics to a journal that specialises in geology, you won’t be likely to get very far.
• Consider factors such as the journal’s scope, impact factor, and target audience. Today there is a wide array of journals to choose from, including traditional and respected print journals, as well as numerous online, open-access endeavours. Some, like Nature , even straddle both worlds.
• Review the submission guidelines provided by the journal and ensure your paper meets all the formatting requirements and word limits. This step is key. Nature, for example, offers a highly informative series of pages that tells you everything you need to know in order to satisfy their formatting guidelines (plus more on the whole submission process).
• Note that these guidelines can differ dramatically from journal to journal, and details really do matter. You might submit an outstanding piece of research, but if it includes, for example, images in the wrong size or format, this could mean a lengthy delay to getting it published. If you get everything right first time, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and trouble, as well as strengthen your publishing chances in the first place.

Step 3: Crafting a Strong Manuscript

Crafting a strong manuscript is crucial to impress journal editors and reviewers. Look at your paper as a complete package, and ensure that all the sections tie together to deliver your findings with clarity and precision.

• Begin by creating a clear and concise title that accurately reflects the content of your paper.
• Compose an informative abstract that summarises the purpose, methodology, results, and significance of your study.
• Craft an engaging introduction (link to the research paper introduction article) that draws your reader in.
• Develop a well-structured methodology section, presenting your results effectively using tables and figures.
• Write a compelling discussion and conclusion that emphasise the significance of your findings.

Step 4: Navigating the Peer-Review Process

Once you submit your research paper to a journal, it undergoes a rigorous peer-review process to ensure its quality and validity. In peer-review, experts in your field assess your research and provide feedback and suggestions for improvement, ultimately determining whether your paper is eligible for publishing or not. You are likely to encounter several models of peer-review, based on which party – author, reviewer, or both – remains anonymous throughout the process.

When your paper undergoes the peer-review process, be prepared for constructive criticism and address the comments you receive from your reviewer thoughtfully, providing clear and concise responses to their concerns or suggestions. These could make all the difference when it comes to making your next submission.

The peer-review process can seem like a closed book at times. Check out our discussion of the issue with philosopher and academic Amna Whiston in The Research Beat podcast!

Step 5: Submitting Your Paper

As we’ve already pointed out, one of the key elements in how to publish a research paper is ensuring that you meticulously follow the journal’s submission guidelines. Strive to comply with all formatting requirements, including citation styles, font, margins, and reference structure.

Before the final submission, thoroughly proofread your paper for errors, including grammar, spelling, and any inconsistencies in your data or analysis. At this stage, consider seeking feedback from colleagues or mentors to further improve the quality of your paper.

Step 6: Dealing with Rejections and Revising Your Paper

Rejection is a common part of the publishing process, but it shouldn’t discourage you. Analyse reviewer comments objectively and focus on the constructive feedback provided. Make necessary revisions and improvements to your paper to address the concerns raised by reviewers. If needed, consider submitting your paper to a different journal that is a better fit for your research.

For more tips on how to publish your paper out there, check out this thread by Dr. Asad Naveed ( @dr_asadnaveed ) – and if you need a refresher on the basics of how to publish under the Open Access model, watch this 5-minute video from Audemic Academy !

Final Thoughts

Successfully understanding how to publish a research paper requires dedication, attention to detail, and a systematic approach. By following the advice in our guide, you can increase your chances of navigating the publishing process effectively and achieving your goal of publication.

Remember, the journey may involve revisions, peer feedback, and potential rejections, but each step is an opportunity for growth and improvement. Stay persistent, maintain a positive mindset, and continue to refine your research paper until it reaches the standards of your target journal. Your contribution to your wider discipline through published research will not only advance your career, but also add to the growing body of collective knowledge in your field. Embrace the challenges and rewards that come with the publication process, and may your research paper make a significant impact in your area of study!

Looking for inspiration for your next big paper? Head to Audemic , where you can organise and listen to all the best and latest research in your field!

Keep striving, researchers! ✨

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National Research Council (US) Committee on Responsibilities of Authorship in the Biological Sciences. Sharing Publication-Related Data and Materials: Responsibilities of Authorship in the Life Sciences. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2003.

Sharing Publication-Related Data and Materials: Responsibilities of Authorship in the Life Sciences.

• Hardcopy Version at National Academies Press

2 The Purpose of Publication and Responsibilities for Sharing

• THE TRADITION OF SCIENTIFIC PUBLICATION

The roots of scholarly scientific publishing can be traced to 1665, when Henry Oldenburg of the British Royal Society established the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society . Oldenburg was motivated, in part, by a desire to remove himself as diplomatic interlocutor between the dispersed, independent scientists of the time with whom he communicated individually. The aim of the new publication was to create a public record of original contributions to knowledge and to encourage scientists to “speak” directly to one another. By providing intellectual credit publicly for innovative claims in natural philosophy, the journal encouraged scientists to disclose knowledge that they might otherwise have kept secret.

The Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society created a sense of competition among scientists to be the first to publish a new scientific finding, an incentive that is continued in modern scientific journals. If the journal is a prominent one, publication endows the author with an extra measure of prestige. In addition, as Cell editor Vivian Siegel and other workshop participants noted, publications also yield indirect rewards. For example, they affect a researcher's job prospects and ability to be promoted or gain tenure. Publishing a scientific paper can result in fruitful new scientific collaborations, including financially profitable arrangements for authors in academe, as a result of commercial overtures for collaboration or consultancy.

Publishing also holds some risks for an author. Competitors might use results presented in a paper to advance their own research and “scoop” the original author in future publications. The careers of young scientists might be particularly vulnerable to having prospective research “picked off” by others. (However, if a researcher chooses not to publish his or her results or chooses to delay publication, someone else might publish the same findings first and receive the credit.) Another risk associated with publishing is that other researchers will use information presented in a paper to invalidate or question the author's own findings, and publish conflicting results.

Are the benefits and risks of publishing any different for companies whose investigators publish than those for academic scientists? It was pointed out at the workshop that companies whose scientists publish their findings typically receive the intellectual credit, recognition, and prestige that come with such disclosure to the entire scientific community. Such nonfinancial benefits can translate into increased publicity and increased perceived value of a company to potential investors and business partners. They also strengthen the scientific reputation of companies in the eyes of potential collaborators. By encouraging others to use their methods and materials, companies can develop a net of researchers who are extolling and extending the value of the technology that the company has published. Moreover, companies that encourage their investigators to publish are attractive to employees or potential employees who wish to build and maintain their publication record, either in anticipation of someday returning to academe, as a vehicle for facilitating their participation in and recognition by their peer scientific community, or in buttressing their own career prospects within the company.

For a for-profit research entity, publication also carries financial risks. By revealing proprietary data or other trade secrets, publishing may harm a company's competitiveness in the marketplace and thus endanger the return to investors. A competitor might use information disclosed in a scientific paper to develop a competing product or otherwise gain commercial advantage or to discredit the product claims of the company making the disclosure.

While companies whose scientists publish may worry about their competitive edge in the commercial market, researchers in academe worry about gaining a competitive edge in the rewards process and about getting their research grants renewed. Where academics are rewarded by priority, “fame,” and career advancement, companies whose investigators publish receive benefits in terms of visibility, public relations, and validation. Although there are different tradeoffs involved in publishing, in practice, researchers from these two worlds often have similar goals and are motivated by common incentives. Their common interests converge in the forum of scientific publication.

• PUBLISHING AND COMMUNITY STANDARDS

By facilitating communication between individuals who had worked in isolation from one another, the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society also contributed to the development of a scientific community. As a result, modern journals do more than simply register the intellectual accomplishments of individual scientists; they record a collective body of knowledge. Journals are a centerpiece of the scientific enterprise and serve as a focal point for the description of scientific results. Journal articles supply information that helps scientists to develop new hypotheses, and they provide a foundation on which new scientific discoveries and inventions are built. As Eric Lander noted at the workshop, “science is fundamentally a cumulative enterprise. Each new discovery plays the role of one more brick in an edifice.” Authors cite previously published papers to make a case for their conclusions that is based on a combination of previously documented scientific evidence and the new information they have gathered. Scientific journals, many established by learned societies, provide a forum for a continuing dialogue of sorts, as authors discuss findings that add new pieces to others' previously published results or announce alternative conclusions to those made by other authors or contradict them. Science moves forward in this way.

Because publication is central to the activity of the scientific community, and consequently, to scientific progress, principles and standards that govern an author's responsibilities related to publication have always been paramount. As the 1992 National Research Council report Responsible Science observed, “For centuries scientists have relied on each other, on the self correcting mechanisms intrinsic to the nature of science, and on the traditions of their community to safeguard the integrity of the research process. This approach has been successful largely because of the widespread acknowledgement that science cannot work otherwise, and also because high standards and reputation are important to scientists” ( NRC, 1992 ).

Because standards related to publication are so important to the functioning of the community, calls for the publication system to adapt to the different risks of publication to scientists working in different circumstances are not easily implemented. Chapter 5 addresses specific arguments related to exceptions, but in general, applying a standard to some authors and not others weakens the incentive of distinction that has attracted scientists since Oldenburg's day to publish publicly in a journal. When exceptions to the community standard are sought and granted, there is a danger that the value of publishing is diminished, not only for the author who requests an exception, but for the entire community. Moreover, if the same standard does not apply to all authors, then the community cannot assume that the quality of scientific papers and the information they purport to represent is reliable. That jeopardizes the integrity of the publication system.

That is not to say that publication-related community standards are insensitive to other important societal interests, such as protecting the identities of research subjects. Measures to protect that information do affect how data are reported and made available to other investigators; nevertheless, the community has striven to find ways to maximize the availability of relevant data without compromising privacy.

A current topic of discussion in the scientific community is the possibility that published information in the life sciences will be exploited by bioterrorists. It is too early to say where those discussions will lead, but current community standards abide by regulations on access to some research materials (for example, radioisotopes, explosives, controlled substances, and pathogens) for good reason. If additional safeguards are found to be necessary in providing access to research data and materials, the community must make accommodations for them.

Similarly, the community complies with prohibitions imposed by some nations on the distribution of biological materials and organisms collected in those countries. Biological materials that are paleontological, archeological, or anthropological in nature, and sometimes samples of organisms, may by national law be required to be deposited in the country of origin, and even when material is allowed to be exported, there are often legal restrictions on its subsequent distribution and use. For example, the commercial use of such samples may be prohibited or restricted. Nonetheless, all such material is made fully available for study at the repository, and not normally under the control of the authors who published results derived from studying it. The details of the results of the original study, and images, DNA sequences, and other information derived from the specimens, are also made available.

The principles and standards of scientific publication are also consistent with society's interest in the applications of scientific knowledge and their economic and other benefits. An author who publishes a paper is expected to share materials related to that publication to other scientists for research purposes, but that does not prevent an author from seeking intellectual property rights protection in order to realize the commercial value of those materials. To encourage the disclosure of scientific information, the patent system bestows inventors of a novel, nonobvious, and useful innovation with the right, for a limited time, to prevent others from making or using that innovation, unless licensed to do so. Scientific publication provides no such incentive, but to the contrary, encourages other scientists to use and integrate into new research those things described in a scientific publication. An author who publishes a scientific paper describing a patented process, for example, may have a legal right to prevent others from using it, but the scientific community holds the expectation that an author will make available a license to use that process for research. From a social perspective, the two systems are complementary: patenting fosters the commercialization of ideas; scientific publication communicates the ideas that build the edifice of science. Scientific publications also influence the issuance of patent rights by defining the landscape of the “prior art” and “obviousness” criteria used in assessing the novelty of putative patent claims.

• JOURNAL POLICIES AND COMMUNITY STANDARDS

Journals have their own policies that describe an author's responsibilities related to publication and sharing publication-related data and materials. Publishers of journals include for-profit companies and not-for-profit enterprises, such as university presses, scientific societies, and associations, and each publisher is motivated by the intellectual objectives and fiduciary responsibilities of its own constituencies. Journal editors often compete for papers that increase the impact and standing of their journals in the scientific community and their mass media coverage. On occasion, journal editors have been willing to make exceptions to their usual policies on data sharing in return for the opportunity to publish a paper they believe will be of high impact in the scientific community and, increasingly, in the general public.

The extent to which journals state their policies for the sharing of materials and data is highly variable ( Table 2-1 ). That variability and the diverse nature of journals might suggest that common principles and standards do not exist. But even the stated policies of journals do not capture what are generally recognized as accepted practices and expectations of the community. For example, most journals today explicitly require that authors provide enough detail about their materials and methods to allow a qualified reader to replicate all experimental procedures. A logical, often implicit, extension of that requirement is that authors must make available the data and materials needed for others to verify or refute the findings reported in a paper. Thus, for example, in a paper citing genetic results from one or a series of organisms, voucher specimens should be cited and deposited in an appropriate public repository where the identity of the organisms can be checked by subsequent workers (with the obvious exception of well-known and easily-available strains). Insofar that scientific publication is central to the forward progress of the scientific community, it is presumed that an author must provide data and materials in a way that others can build on them. These widely held expectations are not necessarily incorporated in current journal policies.

Policies of 56 Most Frequently Cited Life-Science and Medical Journals.

• THE PRINCIPLES OF PUBLICATION

At the workshop and in its deliberations, the committee attempted to distill the community's most basic interests in the process of publication. It found that a majority of the scientific community held common ideas and values about publication and the role it plays in science, and that those ideas have guided the development of community standards that facilitate the use of scientific information and ensure its quality. Central to those ideas is a concept the committee called “the uniform principle for sharing integral data and materials expeditiously (UPSIDE),” as follows:

Community standards for sharing publication-related data and materials should flow from the general principle that the fundamental purpose of publication of scientific information is to move science forward. More specifically, the act of publishing is a quid pro quo in which authors receive credit and acknowledgment in exchange for disclosure of their scientific findings. An author's obligation is not only to release data and materials to enable others to verify or replicate published findings (as journals already implicitly or explicitly require) but also to provide them in a form on which other scientists can build with further research. All members of the scientific community—whether working in academia, government, or commercial enterprise—share responsibility for upholding community standards as equal participants in the publication system, and all should be equally able to derive benefits from it.

Along with UPSIDE, five additional principles guide the development and implementation of community standards. Chapters 3 and 4 discuss those principles and the nuances of how they are embodied in examples of community standards for sharing data, software, and materials. New community standards are likely to evolve as science itself changes, but the principles remain a fundamental underpinning of the their development. The principles motivate the creation of standards that maximize the value of scientific findings to the community, because this has proved to be the way that science progresses most rapidly. In addition to the principles of publication, Chapters 3 and 4 include the Committee's recommendations for increasing the effectiveness of community standards for sharing data and materials.

• Cite this Page National Research Council (US) Committee on Responsibilities of Authorship in the Biological Sciences. Sharing Publication-Related Data and Materials: Responsibilities of Authorship in the Life Sciences. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2003. 2, The Purpose of Publication and Responsibilities for Sharing.
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The Importance of Academic Publishing and the Open Access Evolution

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Here we discuss the supportive role of academic publishing to scientists, its importance to scientific research, open access publishing, and more.

Updated on February 24, 2022

In this article, we will broadly discuss the role of academic publishing in supporting scientists worldwide. We'll first discuss why publishing scientific research is so important, followed by what journal editors are looking for when publishing research, and then finally concluding with a discussion of Open Access publishing.

Does academic publishing help researchers?

Let's begin by discussing the role of academic publishing. Firstly, is it necessary? How does it help or support researchers? Well, publishing is the final step of the research process. I want to emphasize this point — publishing is an integral (and final) part of research.

It does not matter how important a researcher's results are, if no one knows about them, they'll have no impact. So, it is essential for researchers to communicate their results with others to advance their field.

What do you gain from publishing in a journal?

People often ask me if it is important where researchers publish their results. Definitely. A scientist needs to publish their findings on a platform that is discoverable by others in their field worldwide. The greater the recognition of the platform, the higher the likelihood it will be for people to find and read that research. And that is how scientists improve their impact.

However, with the ease of discoverability on the internet, is it necessary to publish research in academic journals? Can a scientist simply post their results online? That certainly seems much more efficient and easier for the author. And it is. But it is not convenient for readers.

I like to see academic journals like curators at an art museum. Imagine you want to visit art and there are two choices of art museums.

The first has no restrictions; anyone can come in and hang up their artwork. This museum has complete freedom. So, when you walk in, you'll see some high-quality art and some very poor-quality art. Further, as there is no organization, everything is mixed together. So, it would likely take you a long time and a lot of effort to find artworks of interest to you.

The second museum, on the other hand, is curated. Meaning that art professionals inspect the various pieces of art to determine those that are of high quality. Additionally, they group this art by genre or age; e.g., one room will contain Japanese art from the 20th century, while another room will contain French art from the 19th century.

Which museum would you prefer to visit?

Most people would choose the second. Why? It is simply easier. You can quickly view the art that you are interested in, and you can feel confident that the art displayed are high quality works.

That is the role of journals in academic publishing, as curators of the scientific literature. Scientists first submit their work to specific journals (whose scope is related to that topic of research), and the journal editors and peer reviewers ensure that work has the necessary quality and relevance to be published.

In this way, readers can quickly find what they are looking for and feel confident that research will be relevant and useful.

This is the value of academic publishers for the scientific record — they filter and improve what is published. Journal editors are the first line ensuring that the research is suitable for the scope of their journal. This helps to group similar research together that support each other. It also helps readers find studies that are relevant for them.

For example, climate scientists can feel confident that the research published in Nature Climate Change will likely be relevant and interesting for their own research. This helps these researchers save time by not having to search through the internet looking for research.

Regarding improvement, journal editors consult experts in the field — peer reviewers — to evaluate the studies and give recommendations on how that research can be further improved in terms of robustness and transparency. Having these additional insights can make sure that the final published article is of the highest quality and also promotes reproducibility of that research.

Highly selective journals, like those from Nature, have very high standards regarding what they publish. The result of this strict quality control is that readers can feel confident that when they pick up an issue of Nature Cell Biology (or any other Nature title), they'll be reading the latest and most important breakthroughs in their field.

The pros of open access publishing

Do scientists need to be careful of what journals they publish in? Definitely. Over the last 10–15 years, Open Access publishing has gained a lot of attention and popularity. In this publication model, authors may have to pay an article processing charge (APC) after their manuscript is accepted.

In this way, that article will now be freely accessible worldwide for everyone. Because of the interest in making science more transparent and open, many countries and funding agencies worldwide are supporting or even encouraging this publication model.

Open Access has numerous benefits for authors. First, it improves the accessibility of their ideas globally. Many developing countries cannot afford to pay the subscription fees of many scientific journals.

Therefore, their researchers can only read studies that are published Open Access. The more that articles are read, the greater their impact worldwide. And this will improve the international reputation of the author in their field.

The cons of open access: predatory journals

However, some people have seen open access as an opportunity to make money for unsuspecting authors. They set up illegitimate publishing entities to make ‘predatory journals'. These are not true journals in that they do not fit the model described above — they don't filter nor improve the academic literature. Instead, they promise authors quick and easy publication for a fee.

These journals rarely use peer review and simply publish anything that is submitted to them. Not only does this hurt the field by publishing unreviewed research, it also hurts the authors. Because of the poor quality of the journals, they are not indexed by the main databases researchers use to find articles online.

Therefore, if a scientist publishes in one of these ‘predatory journals', their research will not be found. And because authors can only publish their research once, that means this research will be lost to the field and the authors will not receive the impact or recognition they hoped to achieve.

Luckily, authors can easily identify quality Open Access journals. First, they should look for journals published by reputable publishers like Springer Nature, Elsevier, Wiley, etc. They should look for journals with reputable journal editors and editorial board members.

They should also look for journals that are indexed in reputable online databases, such as Web of Science, Scopus, PubMed, or Directory of Open Access Journals. Lastly, they should look for journals that do not require payment of an APC until after their manuscript has gone through peer review and has been formally accepted.

In this way, scientists can feel confident that the journal is a high quality and trustworthy platform to share their research.

Academic publishing plays a central role in supporting researchers and advancing scientific progress. We do this by ensuring what is published is relevant for the field and of high quality research.

However, scientists must carefully evaluate potential journals to ensure that the ones they choose are reputable journals that they can trust. In doing so, scientists can feel confident that their research will now have an impact on the advancement of their field and improve their international reputation.

Not sure where to submit your next research article? Try AJE's Journal Recommendation Service .

Jeff Robens is Senior Editorial Development Manager for the Nature Research Academies .

This article originally appeared in Publishing Academy, Nature Digest, Academic Publishing (March 2018, Vol 15 No. 3).

Jeffrey Robens, PhD

Senior Editorial Development Manager, Nature Research Academies

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Academic Publishing

The Importance of Publishing in Academia & Key Benefits

Publishing plays a pivotal role in the academic world, serving as a cornerstone for the dissemination of knowledge, fostering intellectual discourse, and contributing to the continuous advancement of various fields of study. 

This article underscores the importance of publishing and highlights the multifaceted benefits of self-publishing a book, particularly in the context of academic publications and research papers.

Why Publishing is Important in Academia?

Sharing knowledge and advancing fields of study.

The importance of publication in academia cannot be overstated. It allows researchers and academics to share their findings, theories, and ideas with peers and the broader community. 

Through the publication of research papers and academic writing, scholars can contribute to the development of their field, building upon the collective body of knowledge and pushing the boundaries of understanding.

Receiving Feedback and Peer Review

Publication ethics play a crucial role in ensuring the integrity and quality of academic writing and publishing. By submitting  research or master’s thesis for publication , academics open themselves up to feedback from experts in their field. 

This critical evaluation not only helps to refine and improve their work but also upholds the standards of the academic community.

Career Advancement and Professional Recognition

https://www.freepik.com/free-photo/Image by katemangostar on Freepik

Publishing a research paper is often essential for career progression within academia. A robust publication record can lead to promotions, tenure, and other professional opportunities, serving as a measure of a scholar’s contributions to their field.

Furthermore, publishing allows academics to establish themselves as experts, enhancing their professional reputation and opening doors to collaborations and networking opportunities.

Contributing to the Collective Body of Knowledge

By publishing their work, academics play a vital role in contributing to the cumulative knowledge of their discipline. This shared resource is essential for the ongoing growth and evolution of academic fields, providing a foundation for future research and inquiry.

Now that we’ve seen why publishing is important in academia, let’s explore the benefits it brings for the authors.”

4 Benefits & Advantages of Self-Publishing

Self-publishing offers academics a unique pathway to share their work, bypassing traditional publishing barriers and enjoying a range of advantages.

Control Over the Publishing Process

One of the principal benefits of self-publishing a book is the unparalleled control it offers authors over every aspect of their publication, from content to design. From the content and formatting to the cover design and marketing strategy, academics can ensure their research is presented precisely as they envisioned.

Enhanced Accessibility and Speed of Publication

The traditional publishing route can be slow, with long periods between submission and publication. Self-publishing, however, enables scholars to release their work swiftly, making it particularly advantageous for time-sensitive research.

This speed in publishing facilitates quicker engagement with the academic community and the public, amplifying the benefits of publishing a research paper .

Financial Benefits

Higher Profit Margins and Copyright Retention

Self-publishing allows academics to retain copyright to their work, potentially leading to higher earnings from sales compared to traditional publishing, where copyright often transfers to the publisher.

Broadening Audience Reach

Accessibility to a Global Audience

With self-publishing, academics are not limited by the distribution channels of traditional publishers. Digital platforms and the benefits of print-on-demand services enable them to reach a global audience, increasing the impact of their research.

Is it Worth it to Self-Publish a Book?

Given the comprehensive benefits of self-publishing a book , it is an attractive option for academics seeking to navigate the complexities of academic writing and publishing . If you ever consider publishing here are four simple steps on how to publish a research .

While it demands dedication and may involve upfront investment, the potential for professional growth, wider impact, and financial return makes self-publishing a compelling choice for many scholars.

The importance of publishing and the importance of publication in academia are fundamental, serving as the:

• linchpin for knowledge dissemination;
• academic advancement;
• scholarly integrity. 

Self-publishing stands out as a powerful medium for authors to share their research, offering significant advantages that align with today’s academic community’s dynamic needs and aspirations…

Are you a researcher or an author struggling to get your academic work published? Look no further than Lambert Academic Publishing ! We offer an easy and affordable publishing process that allows you to share your research with a global audience. With no publishing contract required and professional editing and formatting services included, publishing your thesis with us has never been easier. Plus, our worldwide distribution network ensures that your work will be seen by a wider audience. Don’t let your research go unnoticed – publish your thesis with Lambert Academic Publishing today and take the first step towards sharing your findings with the world!

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Why Should We Publish Papers?

• Open Access
• First Online: 24 October 2021

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• Samiran Nundy 4 ,
• Atul Kakar 5 &
• Zulfiqar A. Bhutta 6  

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Academic medicine traditionally includes three principal pursuits, i.e., educating doctors and biomedical scientists, discovering the causes and cures of illness, and using knowledge to improve patient care. Teaching, research, and service are the triad of academic medicine (Fig. 2.1). It has also been described as ‘the capacity of the system for health and health care to think, study, research, discover, evaluate, innovate, teach, learn, and improve’ [1].

To get to know, to discover, to publish—this is the destiny of the scientist —Francois Arago, French Mathematician, Physicist and Astronomer (1786–1853)

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Introduction: Inside What?

How to Find Your Path in Academic Medicine

A Practical Guide to Writing (and Understanding) a Scientific Paper: Clinical Studies

1 what is academic medicine.

Academic medicine traditionally includes three principal pursuits, i.e., educating doctors and biomedical scientists, discovering the causes and cures of illness, and using knowledge to improve patient care. Teaching, research, and service are the triad of academic medicine (Fig. 2.1 ). It has also been described as ‘the capacity of the system for health and health care to think, study, research, discover, evaluate, innovate, teach, learn, and improve’ [ 1 ].

Components of academic medicine

2 What Are the Duties of a Doctor in an Academic Institution?

An academic doctor plays many roles like clinician, teacher, administrator, mentor, examiner, and researcher during his or her lifetime (Fig. 2.2 ). However, his/her most important role is patient care followed by teaching and finally research. Thus, research and publication are important aspects of academic medicine but combining academics with patient care are two full-time jobs that many physicians are unable to pursue.

Role of an academic doctor

As a clinician, the first priority is to treat a patient’s illness. This involves the science as well as the art of practicing medicine. A clinician in an academic institution should follow the highest standards and guidelines for practice so that his/her students can imbibe these qualities. The clinical care of patients is taxing, especially in private hospitals where patients are more demanding than they are in public institutions.

Academics provides a physician multiple roles like the opportunity to teach the next generation of doctors, provide comprehensive care to patients, and opportunities for research. As a teacher, he or she may be involved in lectures, case presentations, journal clubs, and topic discussions. However, his/her greatest quality should be a passion for teaching. Being a physician in an academic institution also has a major impact on medical students who look upon their teachers as examples to follow. Anne Beal of the Commonwealth Fund stated that ‘medical school faculty set research agendas, influence medical education and yet serve as role models for the recruitment and retention of students’ [ 2 ].

3 Is Publication in Medical Journals a New Phenomenon?

‘The purpose of research is to publish’—Michael Faraday English Physicist and Chemist (1791–1867)

Scientific publication began in 1660 with the Journal de Scavans in France and the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London . Henry Oldenburg was the first appointed secretary, i.e., editor, in charge of managing the ‘correspondence’ between the Society and the rest of the scientific world (Fig. 2.3 ) [ 1 ]. Since then there has been an exponential surge in publications in the field of medicine, the number of articles have increased and so have the journals which now may number more than 30,000. The main role of medical research articles has always been to inform other doctors and the general public about the progress of science. However, in the current competitive academic environment, more articles are probably published so that authors can gain colleague approbation and faculty promotion.

Image of the cover of the first medical journal

4 What Are the Main Reasons for Publications?

These are disseminating the progress of knowledge, personal credit, gaining recognition for a department or institution, and improving patient care. Moe et al. have likened publication to a ‘golden egg’. They suggest that the reasons for publication can be summarized in a ‘SULTAN pyramid’ (amplified below)—to acquire a degree forming the base of the pyramid (Fig. 2.4 ) [ 3 ].

S —Study requirement for obtaining degrees like Doctor of Medicine or Master of Surgery (MD/MS), Diplomate of the National Board of Examinations (DNB), or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD).

U —Requirement for higher faculty posts in academic institutions, salary hikes, or to improve career prospects.

L —Long-term sustainability of an academic career—called ‘tenure’ in America.

T —Achieving a position like a departmental head, dean, and director.

A —Advancement of health, education, and economic policies.

N —Name and fame in society and among one’s family and colleagues.

Why we should publish?

5 Are There Any Other Reasons for Publications?

Some mention that the main reason why we publish is to improve our Curriculum Vitae and fulfilling criteria for recruitment [ 4 ]. The main advantage of publication therefore can also be to further one’s career [ 5 ].

To the above, we would also like to add a financial reason. In this triad of name, fame, and money, we feel the maximum gain is in personal growth from being a nonentity to an author, from being an ordinary person in a crowd to a leader, to whom people will look for help. You will also become more confident on the professional front and get more referrals from your colleagues.

Publication also increases collaboration between different institutions, which may also involve some injection of finances [ 6 ]. You will get an opportunity to travel to present your work in various conferences here and abroad and meet the leaders in your field.

6 Does Publishing Negative Studies Also Give You Fame?

Sharing negative results does not mean making a good story out of a bad one, that the results are less important, or that they should remain unpublished [ 7 ]. But the reality is that if the results of a scientific paper are negative it will be difficult to find acceptance of your submission by a journal editor. However, some of the most important publications in academic medicine have a negative outcome.

7 Fraudulent Publication and the Case of Dr. John Darsee?

John Darsee was a physician and investigator who had a long list of publications in leading journals. He seemed, on the surface, to be having a successful career in the field of research in cardiology and a former administrator described him to be ‘one of the most remarkable young men in American Medicine’. At the age of 33 years, Darsee was offered a faculty position at the Harvard Medical School in Boston but the trajectory of his career quickly began to collapse when one day his colleagues caught him juggling with the data in a study on heart attacks. There was subsequently an enquiry against him which found scientific delinquency on a large scale. He was punished by being expelled from his institution, banned from receiving any grant money for ten years and all his manuscripts were withdrawn from the medical literature. He eventually expressed regret for publishing ‘inaccuracies and falsehoods’ [ 8 ]. The Darsee syndrome is named after him reflects the state of how doctors are pressurized to ‘Publish or Perish’.

This happened in 1970. However, since then the pressure to publish continues to lead to the fabrication of data. Recently during the present COVID pandemic two papers published in reputed journals were retracted which were based on ‘doubtful’ data which were untraceable. These were ‘Cardiovascular Disease, Drug Therapy, and Mortality in COVID-19’ in the New England Journal of Medicine [ 9 ] and ‘Hydroxychloroquine or Chloroquine with or without a macrolide for treatment of COVID-19: a multinational registry analysis’ in the Lancet [ 10 ]. Both happened in the early part of 2020 [ 11 ]. Although, the publication is necessary as an academic physician you should always follow the highest ethical standards in all your activities—patient care, teaching, and research.

8 Conclusions

Academic medicine involves patient care, teaching, research, and publication.

We publish to get degrees, acquire fame, share knowledge, and get faculty promotions.

Both positive or negative results help to build knowledge.

Unethical practices should be strictly avoided as they can ruin careers and lead to much harm.

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Nundy, S., Kakar, A., Bhutta, Z.A. (2022). Why Should We Publish Papers?. In: How to Practice Academic Medicine and Publish from Developing Countries?. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-16-5248-6_2

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How to Write and Publish Your Research in a Journal

Last Updated: February 26, 2024 Fact Checked

Choosing a Journal

Writing the research paper, editing & revising your paper, submitting your paper, navigating the peer review process, research paper help.

This article was co-authored by Matthew Snipp, PhD and by wikiHow staff writer, Cheyenne Main . C. Matthew Snipp is the Burnet C. and Mildred Finley Wohlford Professor of Humanities and Sciences in the Department of Sociology at Stanford University. He is also the Director for the Institute for Research in the Social Science’s Secure Data Center. He has been a Research Fellow at the U.S. Bureau of the Census and a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. He has published 3 books and over 70 articles and book chapters on demography, economic development, poverty and unemployment. He is also currently serving on the National Institute of Child Health and Development’s Population Science Subcommittee. He holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin—Madison. There are 13 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 700,275 times.

Publishing a research paper in a peer-reviewed journal allows you to network with other scholars, get your name and work into circulation, and further refine your ideas and research. Before submitting your paper, make sure it reflects all the work you’ve done and have several people read over it and make comments. Keep reading to learn how you can choose a journal, prepare your work for publication, submit it, and revise it after you get a response back.

Things You Should Know

• Create a list of journals you’d like to publish your work in and choose one that best aligns with your topic and your desired audience.
• Prepare your manuscript using the journal’s requirements and ask at least 2 professors or supervisors to review your paper.
• Write a cover letter that “sells” your manuscript, says how your research adds to your field and explains why you chose the specific journal you’re submitting to.

• Ask your professors or supervisors for well-respected journals that they’ve had good experiences publishing with and that they read regularly.
• Many journals also only accept specific formats, so by choosing a journal before you start, you can write your article to their specifications and increase your chances of being accepted.
• If you’ve already written a paper you’d like to publish, consider whether your research directly relates to a hot topic or area of research in the journals you’re looking into.

• Review the journal’s peer review policies and submission process to see if you’re comfortable creating or adjusting your work according to their standards.
• Open-access journals can increase your readership because anyone can access them.

• Scientific research papers: Instead of a “thesis,” you might write a “research objective” instead. This is where you state the purpose of your research.
• “This paper explores how George Washington’s experiences as a young officer may have shaped his views during difficult circumstances as a commanding officer.”
• “This paper contends that George Washington’s experiences as a young officer on the 1750s Pennsylvania frontier directly impacted his relationship with his Continental Army troops during the harsh winter at Valley Forge.”

• Scientific research papers: Include a “materials and methods” section with the step-by-step process you followed and the materials you used. [5] X Research source
• Read other research papers in your field to see how they’re written. Their format, writing style, subject matter, and vocabulary can help guide your own paper. [6] X Research source

• If you’re writing about George Washington’s experiences as a young officer, you might emphasize how this research changes our perspective of the first president of the U.S.
• Link this section to your thesis or research objective.
• If you’re writing a paper about ADHD, you might discuss other applications for your research.

• Scientific research papers: You might include your research and/or analytical methods, your main findings or results, and the significance or implications of your research.
• Try to get as many people as you can to read over your abstract and provide feedback before you submit your paper to a journal.

• They might also provide templates to help you structure your manuscript according to their specific guidelines. [11] X Research source

• Not all journal reviewers will be experts on your specific topic, so a non-expert “outsider’s perspective” can be valuable.

• If you have a paper on the purification of wastewater with fungi, you might use both the words “fungi” and “mushrooms.”
• Use software like iThenticate, Turnitin, or PlagScan to check for similarities between the submitted article and published material available online. [15] X Research source

• Header: Address the editor who will be reviewing your manuscript by their name, include the date of submission, and the journal you are submitting to.
• First paragraph: Include the title of your manuscript, the type of paper it is (like review, research, or case study), and the research question you wanted to answer and why.
• Second paragraph: Explain what was done in your research, your main findings, and why they are significant to your field.
• Third paragraph: Explain why the journal’s readers would be interested in your work and why your results are important to your field.
• Conclusion: State the author(s) and any journal requirements that your work complies with (like ethical standards”).
• “We confirm that this manuscript has not been published elsewhere and is not under consideration by another journal.”
• “All authors have approved the manuscript and agree with its submission to [insert the name of the target journal].”

• Submit your article to only one journal at a time.
• When submitting online, use your university email account. This connects you with a scholarly institution, which can add credibility to your work.

• Accept: Only minor adjustments are needed, based on the provided feedback by the reviewers. A first submission will rarely be accepted without any changes needed.
• Revise and Resubmit: Changes are needed before publication can be considered, but the journal is still very interested in your work.
• Reject and Resubmit: Extensive revisions are needed. Your work may not be acceptable for this journal, but they might also accept it if significant changes are made.
• Reject: The paper isn’t and won’t be suitable for this publication, but that doesn’t mean it might not work for another journal.

• Try organizing the reviewer comments by how easy it is to address them. That way, you can break your revisions down into more manageable parts.
• If you disagree with a comment made by a reviewer, try to provide an evidence-based explanation when you resubmit your paper.

• If you’re resubmitting your paper to the same journal, include a point-by-point response paper that talks about how you addressed all of the reviewers’ comments in your revision. [22] X Research source
• If you’re not sure which journal to submit to next, you might be able to ask the journal editor which publications they recommend.

Expert Q&A

You might also like.

• If reviewers suspect that your submitted manuscript plagiarizes another work, they may refer to a Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) flowchart to see how to move forward. [23] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• ↑ https://www.wiley.com/en-us/network/publishing/research-publishing/choosing-a-journal/6-steps-to-choosing-the-right-journal-for-your-research-infographic
• ↑ https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13187-020-01751-z
• ↑ https://libguides.unomaha.edu/c.php?g=100510&p=651627
• ↑ http://www.canberra.edu.au/library/start-your-research/research_help/publishing-research
• ↑ https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/conclusions
• ↑ https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/assignments/writing-an-abstract-for-your-research-paper/
• ↑ https://www.springer.com/gp/authors-editors/book-authors-editors/your-publication-journey/manuscript-preparation
• ↑ https://apus.libanswers.com/writing/faq/2391
• ↑ https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/library/keyword/search-strategy
• ↑ https://ifis.libguides.com/journal-publishing-guide/submitting-your-paper
• ↑ https://www.springer.com/kr/authors-editors/authorandreviewertutorials/submitting-to-a-journal-and-peer-review/cover-letters/10285574
• ↑ http://www.apa.org/monitor/sep02/publish.aspx
• ↑ Matthew Snipp, PhD. Research Fellow, U.S. Bureau of the Census. Expert Interview. 26 March 2020.

About This Article

To publish a research paper, ask a colleague or professor to review your paper and give you feedback. Once you've revised your work, familiarize yourself with different academic journals so that you can choose the publication that best suits your paper. Make sure to look at the "Author's Guide" so you can format your paper according to the guidelines for that publication. Then, submit your paper and don't get discouraged if it is not accepted right away. You may need to revise your paper and try again. To learn about the different responses you might get from journals, see our reviewer's explanation below. Did this summary help you? Yes No

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What are the advantages of publishing a research paper?

Publishing a research paper can have many advantages for researchers, including: Career advancement, professional recognition, opportunities for collaboration, increased visibility, impact on society, credibility and trust, professional development, inspiration for future research, and contribution to the field. It can help researchers to establish themselves as experts in their field, open doors to new opportunities, and contribute to the advancement of knowledge and understanding in a specific field.

• Career Advancement: Publishing a research paper is often a requirement for academic promotions and tenure. It can also help researchers to establish themselves as experts in their field and to gain recognition for their work. This can lead to new opportunities for advancement and can help researchers to build a reputation for high-quality research.
• Professional recognition: Publishing a research paper in a reputable journal can lead to professional recognition and prestige, both within the academic community and outside of it. This can open doors to new opportunities, such as funding, collaborations, and speaking engagements.
• Opportunities for collaboration: Publishing a research paper can lead to opportunities for collaboration with other researchers and institutions, both within the researcher’s field and across different fields. This can help to further the research and accelerate progress.
• Increased visibility: Publishing a research paper can increase visibility for the researcher and their work, which can lead to new opportunities, funding, and collaborations.
• Impact on society: Publishing a research paper can have a positive impact on society by contributing to the advancement of knowledge and understanding in a specific field. This can lead to new discoveries, technologies, and understanding that can improve people’s lives.
• Credibility and trust: Publishing research papers in reputable journals lends credibility to the researcher and the research, and can increase public trust in the researcher and their work. This can help the researcher to secure funding, collaborations, and other opportunities.
• Professional development: Publishing a research paper is a process that requires the researcher to conduct a thorough literature review, to understand the research methodologies and the ethical considerations, it helps the researcher to develop their skills and knowledge in their field.
• Inspiration for future research: Publishing a research paper can inspire future research by identifying gaps in the literature or by suggesting new directions for research. This can help researchers to identify new opportunities for investigation and to stay at the forefront of their field.
• Contribution to the field: Publishing a research paper adds to the body of knowledge in the field. It helps researchers and practitioners to understand the current state of research and knowledge in the field and it helps to advance the field.

Overall, publishing a research paper can be a valuable experience for researchers, providing opportunities for career advancement, professional recognition, collaboration, and impact on society. It can also help researchers to develop their skills and knowledge, and to contribute to the advancement of knowledge in their field.

What is the difference between a Research Paper and a Review Paper?

What is doi, what do you need to do during production of your research paper, ways to support your academic wellbeing which preparing the research paper/article, how to improve your research paper writing skills, is doi compulsory to publish a research paper in a journal, in what ways does research paper give weight to career development, how to develop a research paper from scratch, how plagiarism report plays crucial role in research paper publication.

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Benefits of Publishing a Research Paper

Publishing your research paper is a form of acknowledging your work in your field. It is a way of presenting your work and your contribution in front of the whole world. It guarantees that you have experience, exposure, expertise, and views recognized in the field of research. Let’s discuss a few points on how publishing your research paper is going to be beneficial for you as a high school student or an undergrad.

1. Improves writing and research

In the process of doing research, writing, editing, and publishing an article for the first time, valuable feedback will be provided, giving you an idea of where you need to improve and where your strengths are. For a professional career and graduate studies, writing skills are helpful.

2. Experience with the Scholarly Publication Process

The publication is required in many disciplines. It is something that we will use in our future career. It also provides a connection to and understanding of the field.

3. Build connections and networks

You meet people and build a lot of connections and networks during a research project. It’s very important and very beneficial. Similarly, when you publish your work, you meet a lot of different people from different journals. A lot of students submit their projects and thesis for review and are returned with many questions and corrections. The way you present and document your hard work and all the data you have collected is a very important criterion for journals. Often it is seen that a publication may be rejected by a well-known journal but may be accepted by a less known or less impact journal. During this process, you learn a lot and build connections that can help you in your future work and career.

4. Professionalize the undergraduate experience

Publishing papers/projects will provide a level of professionalization to a resume that many undergraduates still need to have. Publishing a paper will also be helpful as a writing sample for graduate school applications. It will signal to the graduate school committee that serious steps were taken to pursue research interests.

5. Inform a future career path

Publishing a paper might help inform a future career path, and opportunities have yet to be considered. After completing their undergraduate degree, it piques students’ interest in publishing as the next step. Working with other students and faculty will allow students to enter a scholarly community that helps them decide their future plans.

6. Higher Education

With the growing competition in higher education, research gives you an upper hand in the crowd. Every school and college has a different selection process. A published research paper shows that you have academic excellence. Hands-on research at an early age brings many benefits, and you learn many skills and values. Colleges select candidates based on the potential and abilities displayed in the applied field. Experience in research and a published paper as a high school student or an undergrad adds a big advantage to your profile. So the earlier you begin, the faster you can achieve your goal. There are many other benefits to publishing the research paper that you will realize as you go further. For example

• Experience the scholarly publication process.
• Be eligible to share your work in conferences and seminars.
• Help you set a mark in the research world.
• Prove your area of interest and genre of expertise.
• Be eligible to obtain scholarships and funding for your work.
• Display leadership and initiative.
• Gain access to better work opportunities, etc.

7. To earn money

Master’s and Ph.D. students’ CVs need outstanding information that attracts employers. In this regard, some published papers in peer-reviewed journals will attract employers in academia and the research industry. Research and publishing in journals are very important Key Performance Indicators (KPI) of academicians or researchers in many universities in different countries. Hence, to earn more, you have to research and publish because promotion to a higher level always brings extra money into your pocket.

Research would allow you to explore in deep and help reach a conclusion, which could be right or wrong, but as you have read a lot, you have learned a lot. Your subconscious mind will store the knowledge that you have learned from research on an issue. Thus, you will be an expert in some particular areas that would develop your confidence to make viable arguments with colleagues and peers, who will admire you and give you a promotion, especially when you are in academia. So, doing research and publishing papers in journals creates the opportunity to earn money!

8. To Get Scholarship

There are many scholarships for masters and Ph.D. courses in the universities, especially in developed countries in the UK, Europe, Australia, Japan, USA, Canada, and Middle Eastern countries. However, if you have at least one research paper published in a peer-reviewed journal, your application will be preferred by the scholarship selection team. It is because you have already shown your passion and hard work regarding research. So to secure a good scholarship, you should have at least 2-3 published papers in peer-reviewed journals.

9. To be an Independent and Critical Thinker

A published research paper in a journal indicates to a prospective employer that you have excellent powers of endurance. Developing a research paper requires an investment of a long time in being independent and critical of the issue. Thus, the article shows that you can think independently and critically and complete a long project, i.e., a research paper of many pages.

10. To Developing Communication Skills and Network

When a master’s or Ph.D. student writes a paper, he or she reads many articles of many authors, and sometimes he or she has to email them or even call them. As a result, it becomes easier for them to develop academic and research communication skills. This eventually gives an excellent opportunity to create and establish a network with intellectual people around the world.

Furthermore, in writing and developing a detailed research paper, master’s and Ph.D. students can practically develop analytical and networking skills by themselves that are globally sought-after and incredibly beneficial.

11. To develop determination

People often say that they are determined, but they are actually not. However, if you write a research paper and publish it finally, it shows your determination to achieve something by exploring more than hundreds of research papers. In the publication process, a student has to revise and resubmit papers to get acceptance. The entire process takes a long time and positive determination. Sometimes, they feel broken and frustrated, but they feel successful if they finally get the paper published. Hence, doing research and getting published a research paper makes a master’s and Ph.D. student determined. This ultimately makes every master’s and Ph.D. student determine what employers look for in the applicants.

Now you know the importance of publishing research papers in peer-reviewed journals. Yes, you also know the importance of peer-reviewed articles in your CV. So, do research and publish. All the best!

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• Open access
• Published: 13 May 2024

Single-site iron-anchored amyloid hydrogels as catalytic platforms for alcohol detoxification

• Jiaqi Su   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2010-8388 1 , 2   na1 ,
• Pengjie Wang   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-9975-6737 3   na1 ,
• Wei Zhou 4 ,
• Mohammad Peydayesh   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-6265-3811 1 ,
• Jiangtao Zhou   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4248-2207 1 ,
• Tonghui Jin 1 ,
• Felix Donat   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-3940-9183 5 ,
• Cuiyuan Jin 6 ,
• Lu Xia   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-2726-5389 7 ,
• Kaiwen Wang   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-1046-4525 7 ,
• Fazheng Ren   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-6250-0754 3 ,
• Paul Van der Meeren   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5405-4256 2 ,
• F. Pelayo García de Arquer   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-2422-6234 7 &
• Raffaele Mezzenga   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-5739-2610 1 , 8  

Nature Nanotechnology ( 2024 ) Cite this article

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Constructing effective antidotes to reduce global health impacts induced by alcohol prevalence is a challenging topic. Despite the positive effects observed with intravenous applications of natural enzyme complexes, their insufficient activities and complicated usage often result in the accumulation of toxic acetaldehyde, which raises important clinical concerns, highlighting the pressing need for stable oral strategies. Here we present an effective solution for alcohol detoxification by employing a biomimetic-nanozyme amyloid hydrogel as an orally administered catalytic platform. We exploit amyloid fibrils derived from β-lactoglobulin, a readily accessible milk protein that is rich in coordinable nitrogen atoms, as a nanocarrier to stabilize atomically dispersed iron (ferrous-dominated). By emulating the coordination structure of the horseradish peroxidase enzyme, the single-site iron nanozyme demonstrates the capability to selectively catalyse alcohol oxidation into acetic acid, as opposed to the more toxic acetaldehyde. Administering the gelatinous nanozyme to mice suffering from alcohol intoxication significantly reduced their blood-alcohol levels (decreased by 55.8% 300 min post-alcohol intake) without causing additional acetaldehyde build-up. Our hydrogel further demonstrates a protective effect on the liver, while simultaneously mitigating intestinal damage and dysbiosis associated with chronic alcohol consumption, introducing a promising strategy in effective alcohol detoxification.

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Although widely enjoyed for its social and relaxing effects (Supplementary Fig. 1 ), alcohol consumption consistently poses significant risks to public health. In fact, in 2016 alone, harmful alcohol consumption resulted in nearly three million deaths and 132.6 million disability-adjusted life years 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 . Existing therapies, mainly relying on endogenous enzymes 5 , 6 , 7 , offer only temporary relief from symptoms, such as nausea and headaches, but fail to address other underlying issues, such as drowsiness, exhaustion and chronic alcoholism. Nanocomplexes with multiple complementary hepatic enzymes have emerged as an effective approach for accelerating human alcohol metabolism 8 , 9 . Although promising, a significant obstacle arises from the insufficient activity of commercially available enzymes, leading to the accumulation of a more hazardous intermediate, acetaldehyde, and possibly damage to human organs. Furthermore, natural enzymes possess major disadvantages, such as high cost, poor physicochemical stability and challenging storage, which have so far impeded the practical application of these complexes for alcohol detoxification purposes.

Over the past decades, advances in nanotechnology have facilitated the evolution of artificial enzymes into nanomaterials, that is, nanozymes, which have ignited enormous scientific interest across diverse fields, ranging from in vitro biosensing and detection to in vivo therapeutics 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 . Inspired by natural enzyme frameworks, researchers have predominantly focused on atomically distributed metal catalysts, in which the catalytic centre of natural enzymes is replicated at the atomic level 14 , 15 , 16 . These single-site catalysts, designed with well-defined electronic and geometric architectures, possess excellent catalytic capabilities, holding great potential as viable substitutes for natural enzymes. Given these promising prospects, attempts have been made to develop biomimetic nanozymes for alcohol detoxification by using, for example, natural enzymes on exogenous supports such as graphene oxide quantum dots or metal-organic framework nanozymes 17 , 18 . However, these approaches still either rely on natural enzymes or offer indirect effects, underscoring the potential for substantial design enhancements. The critical, yet challenging, aspect is the design of efficient single-site catalysts that are capable of converting ethanol into less-toxic acetic acid, or further into carbon dioxide and water, while minimizing the generation of acetaldehyde. Additionally, the task also lies in developing an orally administerable nanozyme that can withstand the gastrointestinal environment and which features no additional toxicity.

In this article, we report a biomimetic-nanozyme amyloid hydrogel to alleviate the deleterious effects of alcohol consumption via oral administration. Within this platform, single-site iron-anchored amyloid fibrils, an original kind of atomic-level engineered nanozyme featuring a similar coordination structure to horseradish peroxidase and with remarkable peroxidase-like activity, are used to efficiently catalyse alcohol oxidation. Specifically, the resultant nanozyme exhibits excellent selectivity in favour of acetic acid production. The catalytic activity of the gelatinous nanozyme could largely tolerate the digestive process, leading to a substantial decrease in blood alcohol levels in alcoholic mice, while avoiding the additional build-up of acetaldehyde. We finally demonstrate that this hydrogel also achieves heightened liver protection and substantial alleviation of intestinal damage and dysbiosis, thereby underscoring its potential as an improved therapeutic approach for alcohol-related conditions. By employing atomic-level design and harnessing the capabilities of nanozymes, our study offers promising insights into the development of efficient and targeted alcohol antidotes, with potential benefits for both liver protection and gastrointestinal health.

Synthesis of single-site iron-anchored β-lactoglobulin fibrils

Diverging from conventional methods that use inorganic carriers, in the current work, we sought to utilize a readily available protein material, β-lactoglobulin (BLG) amyloid fibrils, as the supportive framework for atomically dispersed iron. In addition to their intrinsic binding affinity to various metal ions 19 , including iron, the large aspect ratio of protein filaments (Supplementary Fig. 2a ) and tacked-up β-sheet units also enhance the accessibility of potential binding sites, thereby facilitating the high-density loading of iron atoms. Moreover, BLG fibrils can be easily derived from native BLG, a readily available milk protein, and have very recently been demonstrated safe nutrition ingredients by a comprehensive in vitro and in vivo assessment 20 , meeting the requirements for potential oral administration 21 . Moreover, the exceptional gelling property of BLG fibrils allows for the easy production of hydrogels 22 , which anticipates a delayed digestion process and a prolonged action time within the gastrointestinal tract due to their high viscoelasticity 23 , 24 .

The single-site iron-anchored BLG fibrils (Fe SA @FibBLG) catalyst was synthesized by a straightforward wetness impregnation procedure (Fig. 1a ), which involved exposing a dispersion of BLG fibrils in a mixture of ethanol and polyethylene glycol 200 (PEG200) to a Fe(NO 3 ) 3 PEG200 solution. During this process, the natural occurrence of nitrogen in BLG fibrils coordinated with iron ions to form functional Fe–N–C active sites. The resulting precipitate was lyophilized and collected after multiple rounds of centrifugation and washing.

a , Illustration of the synthesis process of Fe SA @FibBLG. b – d , TEM image ( b ), HAADF-STEM image ( c ) and the corresponding EDS mapping images ( d ) of Fe SA @FibBLG. e – g , AFM images of Fe SA @FibBLG ( e, f (I) ) and FibBLG ( f (II) ) on the mica surface and ( g ) the corresponding height profiles of the white auxiliary lines. h , Representative HAADF-STEM image of Fe SA @FibBLG. The images presented in b – f , h are representative of six technical replicates ( n  = 6), each yielding similar results.

Source data

Having synthesized Fe SA @FibBLG, we then performed a comprehensive characterization of the material using multiple analytical techniques. The morphology of Fe SA @FibBLG, which retains a nanometre-scale diameter consistent with pure BLG fibrils (Supplementary Fig. 2b ), suggests minimal structural impact from the integration of iron (Fig. 1b and Supplementary Fig. 2b ). The iron was homogeneously dispersed across the BLG fibril framework, as evidenced by a significant overlap of the Fe K-edge profile with the elemental composition of the BLG fibrils (Fig. 1c,d and Supplementary Fig. 2c ). Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images confirmed a consistent height of approximately 3 nm both before and after iron integration, verifying the negligible presence of crystalline iron or oxide species (Fig. 1e,f,g ). As shown in Fig. 1h and Supplementary Fig. 2d–f , the presence of individual bright dots with a size below 0.2 nm clearly demonstrated the atomic dispersion of single iron atoms over Fe SA FibBLG, indicating that iron, upon participating in the synthetic procedure described above, is present exclusively in single-site form on the BLG fibrils.

Structural analysis of Fe SA @FibBLG

The coordination environment of iron within Fe SA @FibBLG was elucidated by X-ray absorption fine structure (XAFS) spectroscopy 25 . Figure 2a shows that the pre-edge position for Fe SA @FibBLG resided between the positions of iron foil (metallic iron) and Fe 2 O 3 . The white line area located at higher binding energy demonstrates a lower oxidation state and different coordination environments compared with Fe 2 O 3 (ref. 26 ). X-ray absorption near-edge spectroscopy (XANES) features are valuable for discerning site symmetry around iron in macromolecular complexes 27 . A distinct prominent pre-edge feature below 7,120 eV indicates the ferrous iron (Fe 2+ ) square-planar coordination in iron(II) phthalocyanine (FePc), whereas in Fe SA @FibBLG this feature is slightly reduced due to deviations from ideal square-planarity 28 . The XANES spectrum of Fe SA @FibBLG (Fig. 2a , inset) closely resembles that of FePc, implying a positively charged ionic state of iron within Fe SA @FibBLG (Fe δ + , where the average δ is close to 2). Further insights were obtained from extended X-ray absorption fine structure (EXAFS) spectra in R -space (Fig. 2b ), which revealed a single peak at approximately 1.4 Å. From comparison with reference materials this peak was attributable to the backscattering between iron and lighter atoms, primarily nitrogen (Fig. 2b ), supporting the atomic dispersion of iron sites within Fe SA @FibBLG. Wavelet transform analysis differentiated the sample from the iron foil reference by showing a single maximum intensity at approximately 4 Å −1 and 1.4 Å, suggesting significant Fe–N contributions (Fig. 2c and Supplementary Fig. 3 ), with the coordination number of iron estimated to be 4.5 (Fig. 2d and Supplementary Table 1 ). However, given the challenge in distinguishing Fe–N from Fe–O coordination compared to references such as FePc and Fe 2 O 3 , it is crucial to emphasize the potential existence of Fe–O bonds. Collectively, these findings confirmed that iron in Fe SA @FibBLG exists as single-site iron, devoid of any crystalline or oxide iron metal structure and mainly coordinates with nitrogen atoms. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis of Fe SA @FibBLG further identified distinct binding states of carbon, nitrogen, oxygen and iron, demonstrating a majority of single-site iron in the Fe 2+ state and the existence of Fe–N coordination (Supplementary Figs. 4 and 5 ) 29 , 30 , 31 .

a , Normalized XANES spectra at the Fe K-edge of Fe SA @FibBLG along with reference samples. b , Fourier-transformed (FT) magnitudes of the experimental Fe K-edge EXAFS signals of Fe SA @FibBLG along with reference samples. c , Wavelet transform analysis of Fe K-edge EXAFS data. d , Fitting curves of the EXAFS of FeSA@FibBLG in the R -space and k -space (inset). Fitting results are summarized in Supplementary Table 1 . e , Representative snapshots of the assembly structure of 102 amyloid-forming fragments (LACQCL) from BLG in the process of AAMD simulation using the Gromacs54A force field at 10 ns. f , The 3D gradient isosurfaces and corresponding 2D scatter diagram of δg versus sign( λ 2 )ρ for possible non-covalent interactions between a single iron atom and dimer intercepted from BLG fibril segments in e through DFT simulation. δg is a quantitative measure derived from comparing electron density gradients in the presence and absence of interference, highlighting the penetration of electron density from one Bader atom to its neighbor; sign(λ 2 ) ρ is a scalar field value used to describe the product of the sign of the second eigenvalue (λ 2 ) of the Hessian matrix of a scalar field and the scalar field’s density ( ρ ).

Next, we performed a density functional theory (DFT) calculation for the process of anchoring a ferric ion onto the BLG fibril structure. Since the formation of BLG fibrils involved the participation of multiple peptides assembling in a random manner, here a model nanofibre structure was generated in silico based on repetitive amyloid-forming fragments (LACQCL) from BLG, using an all-atom molecular dynamics (AAMD) simulation (Fig. 2e ) 19 . An evident periodic nanofibril was formed at 10 ns containing 102 repetitive fragments, where a peptide dimer with verified thermodynamic stability was intercepted for DFT calculation (Supplementary Fig. 6 ). As shown in Fig. 2f , the blue isosurface observed between the iron atom and surrounding nitrogen atoms corresponds to strong attractive interactions between iron and nitrogen, potentially arising from the sharing of electron pairs between the iron and nitrogen atoms (Supplementary Fig. 7 ). This was further verified by the existence of the prominent peak at approximately −0.03 in the scatter plot (Fig. 2f ). These results clearly demonstrate that the BLG fibrils possessed effective binding sites that were capable of capturing iron atoms through Fe–N coordination, enabling the formation of active iron centres in Fe SA @FibBLG.

Peroxidase-like activity of Fe SA @FibBLG

The coordination structure of the catalytic sites in our Fe SA @FibBLG was similar to that of the horseradish peroxidase enzyme (Supplementary Fig. 8a ) 32 . Inspired by this similarity, we characterized the peroxidase-like activities of Fe SA @FibBLG by studying the facilitated chromogenic reactions through catalysing artificial substrates of peroxidase (for example, 3,3′,5,5′-tetramethylbenzidine (TMB), 2,2′-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonic acid) or o -phenylenediamine) in the presence of H 2 O 2 (Supplementary Fig. 8b ). By using the general method described in the current work, two comparison catalysts, namely, single-site iron-anchored BLG (Fe SA @BLG), and iron-nanoparticle-anchored BLG fibrils (FeNP@FibBLG), were synthesized and then used to characterize the enzymatic activity (Supplementary Figs. 9 and 10 and Supplementary Table 2 ). Using TMB as a substrate, the specific activity (SA) values (U mg −1 ) of these nanozymes were measured: the SA of Fe SA @FibBLG was markedly superior, at 95.0 U mg −1 , approximately 1.7 and 10.1 times higher than the SAs of Fe SA @BLG (57.3 U mg −1 ) and FeNP@FibBLG (9.38 U mg −1 ), respectively (Fig. 3a ). Steady-state kinetic assays revealed that Fe SA @FibBLG exhibited superior catalytic performance among the tested nanozymes in oxidizing TMB, with remarkable kinetic parameters including maximum reaction rate ( V max  = 0.788 μM s −1 ), turnover number ( K cat  = 21.9 min −1 ), catalytic efficiency ( K cat / K m  = 5.47 × 10 8  M −1  min −1 ) and selectivity ( K m  = 4.00 × 10 –2  mM) (Fig. 3b and Supplementary Table 3 ). We also determined the kinetic parameters for the H 2 O 2 substrate, which further substantiated the exceptional catalytic performance of Fe SA @FibBLG (Supplementary Table 4 ).

a – f , Typical Michaelis–Menten curves of Fe SA @FibBLG, Fe SA @BLG and FeNP@FibBLG by varying the TMB ( a ), ethanol ( c ) and acetaldehyde ( e ) concentrations in the presence of H 2 O 2 . Comparison of the SAs (U mg −1 ) of Fe SA @FibBLG, Fe SA @BLG and FeNP@FibBLG on TMB ( b ), ethanol ( d ) and acetaldehyde ( f ) oxidation in the presence of H 2 O 2 . One nanozyme activity unit (U) is defined as the amount of nanozyme that catalyses 1 µmol of product per minute. The SAs (U mg −1 ) were determined by plotting the nanozyme activities against their weight and measuring the gradients of the fitting curves. 1 H NMR spectrum of the reaction products of Fe SA @FibBLG-catalysed ethanol (inset d ) and acetaldehyde (inset f ) oxidation. Data are presented as the mean ± s.d. from n  = 3 independent experiments. g , EPR spectra of 5,5-dimethyl-pyrroline- N -oxide/H 2 O 2 solution upon the addition of nanozymes. h , Schematic illustration of the peroxidase-like activities of Fe SA @FibBLG when exposed to various substrates.

Interestingly, Fe SA @FibBLG also exhibited a notable capacity for catalytically oxidizing ethanol and acetaldehyde in the presence of H 2 O 2 (Fig. 3c–f ). The SA of Fe SA @FibBLG achieved a value of 7.90 U mg −1 when ethanol was used as the substrate, remarkably surpassing the other two reference catalysts. The superior catalytic efficacy of Fe SA @FibBLG with respect to ethanol was further confirmed by determining its kinetic parameters, which indicate it achieves a catalytic efficiency ( K cat / K m  = 4.11 × 10 5  M −1  min −1 ) that exceeds that of Fe SA @BLG ( K cat / K m  = 8.66 × 10 4  M −1  min −1 ) by 4.7 times and FeNP@FibBLG ( K cat / K m  = 9.25 × 10 3  M −1  min −1 ) by 44.4 times (Supplementary Table 5 ). Fe SA @FibBLG also manifested the lowest K m value when ethanol was the substrate, signifying its excellent affinity towards ethanol. It is important to note that Fe SA @FibBLG could directly oxidize ethanol to acetic acid, yielding formic acid as the only by-product, without generating any detectable acetaldehyde intermediate, as evidenced by 1 H NMR (Fig. 3d , inset).

To explain this, we performed a steady-state kinetic analysis of Fe SA @FibBLG participating in acetaldehyde oxidation. We found Fe SA @FibBLG to have the lowest K m value of the evaluated nanozymes, signifying its superior substrate affinity towards acetaldehyde. The K cat / K m for this reaction (3.89 × 10 5  M −1  min −1 ) was very close to that for ethanol oxidation (4.11 × 10 5  M −1  min −1 ) (Supplementary Tables 5 and 6 ). Upon the reaction between these nanozymes and H 2 O 2 , the electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectrum exhibited characteristic peaks associated with 5,5-dimethyl-pyrroline- N -oxide–OH · , with Fe SA @FibBLG displaying the strongest EPR signal, indicating the highest production of OH · (Fig. 3g ). The same characteristic peaks were observed in the EPR spectrum of the Fe SA @FibBLG/H 2 O 2 /ethanol reaction system (Supplementary Fig. 17 ), confirming the existence of OH · in ethanol oxidation—a finding that agrees with numerous studies demonstrating the efficacy of OH · in oxidizing diverse organic compounds, including ethanol and acetaldehyde 33 , 34 . Nevertheless, it is essential to emphasize that our investigation serves as a preliminary exploration of the free radicals involved in this reaction; a more comprehensive mechanistic investigation is required for an in-depth understanding of the catalytic process.

Additionally, the catalytic stability of Fe SA @FibBLG was assessed by high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (TEM), high-angle annular dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM), energy-dispersive spectroscopy elemental analysis, X-ray diffraction and XPS (Supplementary Figs. 18 and 19 ). Fe SA @FibBLG did not exhibit substantial morphological or oxidation state alterations and effectively preserved the high atomic dispersion of iron active sites throughout the catalysis. It is also worth mentioning that Fe SA @FibBLG retained at least 95.2% and 84.1% of its activity after undergoing 3 h of digestion in simulated gastric and intestinal fluids, respectively (Supplementary Fig. 20 ). The robust stability observed in Fe SA @FibBLG may be due to the reduction effects of BLG fibril support 21 .

Protective potential on acute alcohol intoxication

Even a single new onset of blood alcohol that exceeds the detoxifying capability of the hepatic system can induce individual symptoms of acute alcohol intoxication, such as hepatocyte destruction, stress response and cognitive deficits 35 , 36 . To mitigate potential damage to the human digestive tract from direct H 2 O 2 ingestion, a biomimetic cascade catalysis system was designed by integrating gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) for onsite and sustainable H 2 O 2 generation 37 , 38 , 39 . AuNPs have demonstrated exceptionally efficient and enduring catalytic activity similar to glucose oxidase, which allows the conversion of glucose into gluconic acid, accompanied by the production of adequate H 2 O 2 (Supplementary Fig. 21 ). Because protein fibrils transiently remained and were mostly digested (generally within 4 h) in the gastrointestinal tract 20 , where the majority of alcohol was absorbed, a salt-induced technique 40 ( Methods ) was followed to fabricate the AuNP-attached Fe SA @FibBLG amyloid hydrogel (Fe SA @AH) (Supplementary Fig. 22 ) to achieve prolonged retention within the gastrointestinal tract, and, thereby, an enhanced overall capacity for ethanol oxidation. The resultant Fe SA @AH showed typical self-standing ability, obvious nanofibril structures (exceptional birefringence under polarized light) and good syringability (Fig. 4a ). We then labelled Fe SA @AH with [ 18 F]fluoro-2-deoxyglucose ([ 18 F]FDG) and visualized its transportation in C57BL/6 mice by using micro positron emission tomography (PET)–computed tomography (CT) scanning. The metabolism of Fe SA @AH took more than 6 h in the upper gastrointestinal tract after gavage, which indicated an extended retention time in vivo due to the hydrogel nature of the compound 20 .

a , Visualization (1) and microstructures (2) of Fe SA @AH under polarized light, and injectability test (3). b , Time-series images of gastrointestinal translocation of [ 18 F]FDG-loaded Fe SA @AH in mice (0–6 h). c , Schematic of acute alcohol intoxication model construction ( Methods ). Created with BioRender.com. d , Effect of different treatment (PBS, AH and Fe SA @AH) on alcohol tolerance time and sobering-up time in C57BL/6 mice. e , Representative trajectory of search strategies of mice with different treatments. f , g , Escape latencies ( f ) and path length ( g ) of four groups of mice. h , i , Mean concentrations of blood alcohol ( h ) and acetaldehyde ( i ) in alcohol-intoxicated mice treated with PBS, AH and Fe SA @AH. j , Serum levels of ALT and AST enzyme levels in four groups of mice. Data are obtained for n  = 8 independent biological replicates, mean ± s.e.m. P values in d , f , g , h , j were tested by one-way analysis of variance followed by Tukey–Kramer test. * P  < 0.05, ** P  < 0.01, *** P  < 0.001, **** P  < 0.0001.

The prophylactic benefits of Fe SA @AH administration were assessed in an alcohol-treated murine model 41 (Fig. 4c ). A group of ethanol-free, but PBS-gavaged mice served as a negative control; all the ethanol-gavaged mice were asleep for alcohol intoxication. Although they tolerated alcohol intake for a longer period of time ( ∼ 40 min), the Fe SA @AH mice were awoken significantly earlier ( ∼ 2 h) than other intoxicated groups (Fig. 4d ). We then conducted the Morris water maze (MWM) test 6 h post-alcohol intake to quantitatively assess murine spatial reference memory (Fig. 4e ). Grouped mean swimming speeds of alcohol-exposed mice were comparable to those of the blank group, indicating recovery of fundamental activities (Supplementary Fig. 25a ). However, PBS- and AH-treated mice showed increased search time and distance to locate the hidden platform, whereas the mice given Fe SA @AH demonstrated markedly improved navigational efficiency (Fig. 4f,g ). Additionally, distinct search strategies were observed, with PBS and AH groups favouring less efficient patterns, in contrast to the strategic approaches of the Fe SA @AH and control groups (Supplementary Fig. 25b ).

Aetiologically, behavioural abnormalities were attributed to alcohol and its in vivo intermediate metabolite, acetaldehyde 42 , and the liver played a core role in ethanolic metabolism. Prophylactic Fe SA @AH immediately and persistently reduced the mice blood alcohol (BA) concentration by a significant amount (Fig. 4h ). The BA in Fe SA @AH mice decreased by 41.3%, 40.4%, 42.0%, 46.6% and 55.8%, respectively, 30, 60, 120, 180 and 300 min post-gavaging. Importantly, the above-mentioned process induced no additional acetaldehyde (BAce) accumulation in blood (Fig. 4i ), which plays a crucial role in safeguarding the liver, as the build-up of acetaldehyde is known to be a catalyst for liver cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Stress responses of liver were definitely mitigated, which was revealed by the significantly decreased blood alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), malondialdehyde (MDA) and glutathione (GSH) levels in the Fe SA @AH group (Fig. 4j and Supplementary Fig. 26a,b ).

Prophylactic effect on chronic alcohol intoxication

The NIAAA model (mouse model of chronic and binge ethanol feeding) was conducted to confirm the long-term beneficial effects of Fe SA @AH 43 . After model constructions (Fig. 5a and Methods ), the PBS mice showed a significantly decreased body weight, increased liver injury (ballooning degeneration and multifocal inflammatory cell infiltration) and hepatic lipid accumulation compared with the blank (Fig. 5b,c ). Notably, Fe SA @AH-rescued mice showed a significantly decreased loss in body weight, less liver damage and re-regulated hepatic lipid metabolism (Fig. 5b,c ) from intoxication. Moreover, mice treated with Fe SA @AH had lower BA than those with PBS and AH (Supplementary Fig. 27a ). It is worth noting, however, that Fe SA @AH also decreased the BAce concentration (Supplementary Fig. 27b ), indicating its dominant competitive role in ethanol elimination to endogenous ADH. Significant lower blood ALT and AST levels further confirmed the inflammation alleviation effect of Fe SA @AH on the liver (Fig. 5d ). Additionally, administration of Fe SA @AH also significantly suppressed triglyceride and total cholesterol accumulation in ethanol-fed mice (Supplementary Fig. 28e–j ).

a , Schematic of the chronic alcohol intoxication model construction ( Methods ). Created with BioRender.com. b , Body weight changes in the four groups of mice during the feeding period. c , Representative H&E-stained images of liver in the four groups. d , Serum ALT and AST levels in mice. e , H&E images of colon (left part) and its assessed scores (right histogram) in different groups of mice. f , Immunofluorescence staining of the tight junction proteins in the colon (left part, 30× magnification). The tight junction proteins (Claudin-1, occludin and ZO-1) were stained green whereas the 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole (DAPI) was blue. The histograms (right) show the mean density of the normalized levels of occludin and ZO-1. IOD, integrated optical density. g , Taxonomic and phylogenetic tree of the top 21 most affected genera (genus with >10% mean abundance change in at least one group compared to others) by different treatments generated by GraPhlAn 4.0. Outer circles show the grouped mean relative abundance of each genus. h , Metabolic processes of alcohol to acetate and further in mice. The left colour blocks indicate the endogenous organs, liver, intestine and gut microbiota involved in alcohol decomposition, and the right shows the path in which Fe SA @AH participated. The box-plot shows the relative levels of ko00770 pantothenate and CoA biosynthesis among groups (minimum–maximum). The heatmap shows 83 significantly changed pathways compared with those in the PBS group. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. i , LPS concentrations of mice in the four groups. Data are shown in the form of mean ± s.e.m. from n  = 8 biological replicates. In c , e , f , the images displayed are representative of three independent biological replicates ( n  = 3), each producing consistent results. For histopathological, physiological and biochemical indexes ( c – f , i ), P values were tested by one-way analysis of variance followed by Tukey–Kramer test whereas the pairwise Wilcoxon test with Bonferroni–Holm correction was used for microbial taxa ( h , i ). * P  < 0.05, ** P  < 0.01, *** P  < 0.001.

The gut and its symbionts (the microbiota) are important, but usually overlooked, alcohol-metabolizing organs 44 , 45 , 46 . Chronic alcohol consumption caused histopathological changes in the colon, destroyed epithelial cells, atrophied goblet cells and resulted in inflammatory cell infiltration (Fig. 5e ), and also weakened permeability (Fig. 5f ), which may cause more microbial components to enter the bloodstream 47 . Alcohol also induced significant compositional shifts (β-diversity) in the gut microbiota of mice (Supplementary Fig. 29a ), but showed limited effects on the Shannon index and percentage of Gram-negative bacteria (Supplementary Fig. 29b,c ). Consistently 48 , the mean abundance of Bacteroidota increased in all alcohol-treated groups. Another dominant phylum, Firmicutes , decreased significantly in the PBS group compared with the blank group (Supplementary Fig. 29d ). Interestingly, a significant loss of functional murine-mucoprotein-degrading bacteria, Akkermansia ( verrucomicrobiota ), and transitions of Ileibacterium and Allobaculum (blank) to Bacteroides and Prevotellaceae_UCG-001 (PBS), were identified (Fig. 5g ).

In terms of functional profiles, we found no significant intergroup gut microbial function changes due to ethanol-related processes (Supplementary Table 10 ). In accordance with previous research 47 , gut microbiota were determined to be indirectly involved in ethanol metabolism, especially acetate-induced microbial anaerobic respiration, such as the glycolysis/gluconeogenesis (ko00010) and pentose phosphate pathway (ko00030) (Supplementary Table 10 ). Alcohol consumption also induced significantly overexpressed pantothenate. Moreover, CoA biosynthesis (ko00770) and the citrate cycle (TCA) (ko00020) constituted important carbon unit donors for further processes (Fig. 5h ), such as lipopolysaccharide (LPS) biosynthesis (ko00540)—LPS is widely recognized as an endotoxin that can induce hepatic inflammation 49 . This epithelial pathophysiological damage and intraluminal dysbiosis were significantly mitigated by Fe SA @AH compared with other AHs (Fig. 5e–h ). Furthermore, as one of the final beneficial outputs, the concentration of blood LPS was significantly decreased in Fe SA @AH-treated mice (Fig. 5i ).

In aggregate, we have demonstrated the design of a single-site iron-anchored amyloid hydrogel with remarkable catalytic oxidation capacity for alcohol as a highly efficient catalytic platform for in vivo alcohol metabolism. This work provides compelling evidence for the viability of a biomimetic-nanozyme-based hydrogel as an orally applied antidote for alcohol intoxication. Fe SA @AH demonstrates exceptional preference for acetic acid production, enabling a rapid decrease in blood alcohol levels while simultaneously mitigating the risk of excessive acetaldehyde accumulation, and markedly surpasses the effectiveness of existing alcohol intoxication antidotes that rely on a combination of natural enzymes. Unlike the predominantly liver-centric human intrinsic alcohol metabolism, orally administered Fe SA @AH directs this process towards the gastrointestinal tract, providing increased safety for the liver. In addition, despite this shift in the site of alcohol metabolism, there is no manifestation of additional adverse gastrointestinal symptoms; in fact, Fe SA @AH shows a remarkable alleviation of intestinal damage and dysbiosis induced by alcohol consumption, further demonstrating its potential for clinical translation.

The findings from our study outline a general and efficient strategy for synthesizing a diverse group of orally applied biomimetic nanozymes, and establish the foundation for future investigations aimed at maximizing the potential of artificial enzyme design in different therapeutic applications.

Synthesis of catalysts

BLG (>98%) was purchased from Davisco Foods International and purified using a previously reported protocol 50 . For a detailed description of BLG fibril preparation, see ref. 51 . For the synthesis of Fe SA @FibBLG, 100 mg lyophilized BLG fibril powder was dispersed in a mixture of 8.0 ml ethanol and 1.9 ml PEG200. The dispersion was then subjected to argon bubbling for 30 min to remove the dissolved oxygen, followed by irradiation under a xenon lamp with an ultraviolet filter (250–380 nm, 27.9 mW cm −2 , PLS-SXE300CUV) for 10 min to generate free radicals. Subsequently, 0.1 ml of 108.21 mg ml −1 Fe(NO 3 ) 3 ·9H 2 O EDTA solution was added dropwise to the dispersion of BLG fibrils under magnetic stirring for 12 h at 25 °C. Fe SA @BLG was prepared by the same synthesis procedure as for Fe SA @FibBLG, except that the BLG fibril powder was replaced by an equal amount of BLG powder. For the synthesis of FeNP@FibBLG, the as-obtained Fe SA @FibBLG dispersion was further ultraviolet-irradiated for 18 min under anaerobic conditions to reduce the iron ions. Finally, samples were collected by centrifugation at 4 °C, 11,100 g for 10 min, washed by ethanol (10.0 ml × 6) and resuspended in 5.0 ml deionized water (pH 2). The powdered Fe SA @FibBLG, Fe SA @BLG and FeNP@FibBLG were obtained by lyophilization and stored at 4 °C.

Characterizations

The high-resolution TEM images and elemental mappings were recorded with an FEI Talos F200X microscope at accelerating voltages of 80 kV and 200 kV, respectively. AFM images were obtained using a Bruker Multimode 8 scanning probe microscope. HAADF-STEM images were captured using an FEI Titan Themis G2 microscope equipped with a probe spherical aberration corrector and operated at 300 keV. The crystalline structure and phase purity were detected by a powder diffractometer (Siemens D500 with Cu Kα radiation (λ = 1.5406 Å)). The iron loadings on catalysts were analysed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (Elan DRC-e, Perkin Elmer). The X-ray absorption structure spectra (Fe K-edge) were collected at beamline BL44B2 of the SPring-8 synchrotron (Japan), operated at 8.0 GeV with a maximum current of 250 mA. Data were collected in transmission mode using a Si(111) double-crystal monochromator. The EXAFS data were analysed using the ATHENA module implemented in IFEFFIT software (CARS). XPS measurements were performed using a multipurpose spectrometer (Sigma Probe, Thermo VG Scientific) with a monochromatic Al Kα X-ray source. EPR spectra were acquired using a Bruker X-band (9.4 GHz) EMXplus 10/12 spectrometer equipped with an Oxford Instruments ESR-910 liquid helium cryostat. All spectra were collected under ambient conditions. Solution 1 H NMR spectra were collected on a Bruker DRX 300 spectrometer (7.05 T; Larmor frequency, 300 MHz ( 1 H)) in deuterated water (D 2 O) at room temperature.

MD simulations

All of the AAMD simulations were performed on a GROMACS 2018 package using a gromacs54A force field 52 . The box size of the initial model was 12 × 12 × 30 nm 3 , including an SPC/E water model and 102 peptide chains (sequence, LACQCL) 19 under three-dimensional periodic boundary conditions. A spherical cut-off of 1.0 nm was used for the summation of van der Waals interactions and short-range Coulomb interactions, and the particle-mesh Ewald method 53 . The temperature and pressure of the system were controlled by means of a velocity rescaling thermal thermostat and a Berendsen barostat. At first, the energy of the system was minimized in small steps to balance the initial velocity of the molecules. Then, the NPT ensemble using a leapfrog integrator with a time step of 1.0 fs was used to simulate the system for 8 ns at 300 K, which is sufficient for the balance of the system. Dynamic snapshot images were generated in Visual Molecular Dynamics 1.9.3 54 .

DFT calculations

To investigate the interaction between iron ions and the system, one iron ion was inserted into the peptide dimer, and the structure was optimized by DFT using the CP2K software package 55 . The Perdew–Burke-Ernzerhof generalized gradient approximation functional was adopted to describe the electronic exchange and correlation, in conjunction with the DZVP-MOLOPT-SR-GTH basis set for all atoms (C, H, O, N, Fe). The structure was optimized with the spin multiplicity to treat the doublet spin state and the charge of the iron ion was set to +2 e . The convergence criterion for the absolute value of the maximum force was set to 4.5 × 10 −4  a.u. and the r.m.s. of all forces to 3 × 10 −4  a.u. Grimme’s DFT-D3 method was adopted for correcting van der Waals interactions 56 .The interaction of the system was characterized by the independent gradient model method, and the based isosurface maps were rendered by Visual Molecular Dynamics from the cube files exported from Multiwfn 3.8 (ref. 57 ).

Peroxidase-like activity

The peroxidase-like activities of nanozymes were assessed at 37 °C using 350 μl of HAc–NaAc buffer (0.1 M, pH 4.0) with varied nanozyme concentrations, using TMB as the substrate. Following the addition of 20 μl of TMB solution (20 mM in dimethylsulfoxide) and 20 μl of H 2 O 2 solution (2 M), 10 μl of nanozymes with varying concentrations was introduced into the system. The catalytic oxidation of TMB (oxTMB) was quantified by measuring the absorbance at 652 nm via an ultraviolet–visible spectrometer. The steady-state kinetics analysis was executed by modifying the concentrations of TMB and H 2 O 2 . To derive the Michaelis–Menten constant, we performed Lineweaver–Burk plot analysis using the double reciprocal of the Michaelis–Menten equation, ν  =  ν max  × [ S ]/( K m  + [S]), where ν denotes the initial velocity, ν max represents the maximum reaction velocity, [ S ] indicates the substrate concentration and K m is the Michaelis constant. Additionally, the catalytic rate constant ( k cat ) was computed as k cat = ν max /[ E ], where [ E ] signifies the molar concentration of metal within the nanozymes. By employing diverse pH buffer solutions, we explored the pH dependency of the peroxidase-like activity of nanozymes, spanning a range from pH 2 to 9. Similarly, we investigated its temperature sensitivity by observing its activity at various temperatures, progressively increasing from 20 °C to 60 °C.

Catalytic oxidation activity on alcohol and acetaldehyde

The catalytic oxidation activities of nanozymes on both alcohol and acetaldehyde were carried out at 37 °C in 350 μl of HAc–NaAc buffer (0.1 M, pH 4.0), with varying nanozyme concentrations (10 μl). Subsequent to adding 20 μl of H 2 O 2 solution (2 M), 20 μl of ethanol or acetaldehyde solution (2 mM) was introduced into separate tubes containing the reaction mixture. Quantification of the catalytic oxidation of ethanol or acetaldehyde was performed using the Ethanol Assay Kit (ab65343) and Acetaldehyde Assay Kit (ab308327) from Abcam Biotechnology. Through altering the concentrations of ethanol or acetaldehyde, steady-state kinetics analysis was carried out, and the Michaelis–Menten constant was determined by analysing Lineweaver–Burk plots involving the double reciprocal of the Michaelis–Menten equation. Additionally, the identification of the reaction products was confirmed by 1 H NMR spectrometry.

Catalytic activity assessment of nanozymes during in vitro simulation of the digestion process

We adhered to the INFOGEST standard protocol for nanozyme digestion to replicate the physiological human gastrointestinal digestion process 58 . In this methodology, stock solutions of simulated gastric fluid and simulated intestinal fluid were prepared and equilibrated at 37 °C prior to use. For gastric digestion, 2 ml of the nanozyme (1 mg ml −1 ) was mixed with 2 ml of simulated gastric fluid stock solution, and porcine pepsin solution was added to achieve a final enzyme activity of 500 U per mg of protein. CaCl 2 (H 2 O) 2 was then introduced into the mixture to reach a final concentration of 0.15 mM prior to adjusting the pH to 3 using 5 M HCl. The mixture was transferred to a water bath shaker (VWR 462-0493) at 37 °C and sampled at 30 and 60 min, after which NaOH solution was used to deactivate the enzyme. Following the gastric digestion, pancreatin (0.1 mg ml −1 ) was dissolved in simulated intestinal fluid containing 0.6 mM CaCl 2 and added to the gastric digests in a 1:1 (v/v) ratio to initiate intestinal digestion, which lasted for 120 min at 37 °C with regular sampling every 30 min. The samples were freeze-dried immediately after collection for enzyme activity evaluation experiments using TMB as a substrate, in which the amount of nanozyme after digestion was normalized.

Hydrogel formation

Gelation of Fe SA @FibBLG dispersion containing AuNPs (Fe SA @AH) was achieved following our previously reported procedure with some modifications 40 . For the synthesis of AuNPs, all glassware was cleaned with freshly prepared aqua regia (HCl:HNO 3  = 3:1 vol/vol) and then thoroughly rinsed with water. A 2 ml solution of BLG fibrils (2.0 wt%, pH 2.0) was mixed with a 40 mM HAuCl 4 solution to reach a final protein:gold mass ratio of 14.7:1. The mixture underwent a chemical reduction through the dropwise addition of a NaBH 4 solution (0.8 ml) under a nitrogen atmosphere. The resulting solution was then dialysed to remove any remaining NaBH 4 and concentrated to 2 ml with a dialysis membrane (Spectra/Por, molecular weight cut-off, 6–8 kDa, Spectrum Laboratories) against a 6 wt% PEG solution ( M r  ≈ 35,000, Sigma-Aldrich) at pH 2.0. TEM imaging of AuNPs stabilized by BLG fibrils revealed three-dimensional particles with an average size of 1.32 nm (Supplementary Fig. 21a ), determined by analysing six TEM images using ImageJ software v.1.8.0. For the preparation of Fe SA @AH, 2 g of Fe SA @FibBLG powder was dissolved in the resulting AuNP-attached BLG fibril solution (2 ml). The mixture was then transferred into a plastic syringe, the top part of which had been previously cut. The plastic syringe was covered with a section of a dialysis tube (Spectra/Por, molecular weight cut-off, 6–8 kDa), and the head of the syringe was positioned in direct contact with an excess of 300 mM NaCl solution at pH 7.4 for at least 16 h in a 4 °C cold room to facilitate gelation. The resulting hydrogel sample was kept under 4 °C. The working hydrogel was freshly prepared by mixing the aforementioned hydrogel with 0.1 ml of a glucose solution (8.0 M) immediately before further characterization or detoxification use. A BLG fibril hydrogel was obtained using the same procedure, except that the Fe SA @FibBLG was replaced with an equal amount of BLG fibril dispersion.

Murine models

Male wild-type C57BL/6 mice, 20–25 g and 8–10 weeks old, were purchased from Beijing Vital River Laboratory Animal Technology. All of the murine experiments in the current study were approved by the Regulations of Beijing Laboratory Animal Management (approval number AW40803202-5-1) and conducted according to the guidelines set forth in the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee of China Agricultural University.

Acute model

Thirty-two male C57BL/6 mice were randomly divided into four groups after 12 h fasting. Mice were orally gavaged with AH and Fe SA @AH (at doses of 10 ml per kg (body weight)), and two groups of mice received the same volume of PBS (as controls, the blank and the PBS groups), respectively. After 20 min of adaptation, mice from the AH, Fe SA @AH, and PBS groups were orally administered an alcohol liquid diet (10 g per kg (body weight)), while the same volume of PBS was administered for the blank group. All the mice were killed 6 h later.

Chronic model

A mouse model of chronic and binge ethanol feeding (NIAAA model) was conducted following the protocol proposed by Bertola et al. 43 . In brief, after 5 days of ad libitum Lieber–DeCarli diet adaptation, 32 mice were randomly divided into four groups: (1) a control group (Con) of mice were pair-fed with the control diet; (2) an ethanol diet group (EtOH); (3) an ethanol diet group with additional 10 ml per kg (body weight) AH; and (4) an ethanol diet group with additional 10 ml per kg (body weight) Fe SA @AH. The ethanol-fed groups were granted unrestricted access to the ethanol Lieber–DeCarli diet containing 5% (vol/vol) ethanol for 10 days, and additionally received daily morning (9:00) gavage of PBS, AH or Fe SA @AH, respectively. The control group was pair-fed with an isocaloric control diet and daily control-liquid gavage. All animals were maintained in specific pathogen-free conditions, at a temperature of 23 ± 1 °C and 50–60% humidity, under a 12 h light/dark cycle, with access to autoclaved water. On day 16, both the ethanol-fed and pair-fed mice were orally administered a single dose of ethanol (5 g per kg (body weight)) or isocaloric maltose dextrin at 9:20, respectively, and killed 6 h later. The body weight of mice was recorded every 2 days.

After overnight fasting, mice were gavaged with 0.1 ml [ 18 F]FDG-labelled Fe SA @AH. Then, mice were anaesthetized with oxygen containing 2% isoflurane, and placed in and fixed in a prone position in an imaging chamber. Time-series images were obtained with an Inveon microPET/CT scanner (Siemens); the scanner parameters were a 15 min CT scan (80 kVp, 500 μA, 1,100 ms exposure time) followed by a 10 min PET acquisition. Quantification of images was performed by AMIDE software 3.0.

Alcohol tolerance test

Approximately 10 µl of blood was collected from the submandibular vein at 30, 60, 90, 120, 180 and 300 min after alcohol exposure. In the chronic model, sampling was conducted after the binge ethanol feeding. Blood alcohol concentration (BAC) was determined using a test kit from Abcam Biotechnology (ab65343). BACs were normalized to mice body weights as previously described 8 . Normalized BAC, BAC nor , was calculated using the equation: BAC nor  = BAC i  × (BWT i /BWT ave ), where BAC i and BWT i denote the blood alcohol level and body weight of mice, respectively, and BWT ave represents the average weight of all mice in each set of experiments. The quantification of the BAce concentration was carried out using a test kit obtained from Abcam Biotechnology (ab308327), and the normalization process was conducted using the same method as for the BAC.

Alcohol tolerance time was the duration between alcohol administration and the absence of righting reflex, while the duration of the absence of righting reflex was recorded as the sobering-up time. Mice that became ataxic were considered to have lost their righting reflex, and were then placed face up. The time point at which the mice returned to their normal upright position signified they had regained their righting reflex.

An MWM test 59 was conducted by Anhui Zhenghua Biologic Apparatus Facilities, as described previously. Specifically, the MWM apparatus comprised a large circular pool (120 cm diameter and 40 cm height) which was filled with TiO 2 -dyed, 25 °C thermostatic water, and a 10-cm-diameter platform was positioned and fixed 2 cm below the water surface. Before acute ethanol exposure, mice received four rounds of daily training for 6 days. Each trial was limited to 60 s, and the time that it took for the mice to successfully locate the platform was recorded. On day 7, mice were retested (no platform condition) 5 h after ethanol feeding (the time point by which all mice regained their consciousness and mobility). The tested items included trajectory, path length, escape latency and swimming speed (MWM animal behaviour video tracking system, Morris v.2.0).

Biochemical assays

Blood samples were collected through cardiac puncture from anaesthetized mice 6 h after alcohol gavage. Prior to testing, samples were maintained at ambient temperature for 4 h, and then centrifuged (864.9 g , 4 °C) for 20 min. Supernatants were suctioned and stored at −80 °C for further analysis. Serum ALT, AST, triglycerides and total cholesterol were measured by a Hitachi Biochemistry Analyzer 7120 (Hitachi High-Tech).

Weighed liver tissues were collected and immersed immediately in 10% neutral buffered formaldehyde. After overnight fixation, tissues were embedded in paraffin and cut into 5 μm sections for further haematoxylin and eosin (H&E) and oil red O (Sigma) staining. Images were captured by a Nikon Eclipse TI-SR fluorescence microscope. Fresh liver was homogenized in chilled normal saline and centrifuged (1,500 g , 4 °C) for 15 min. GSH and MDA levels of the resultant supernatant were detected using the GSH assay kit (ab65322) and the lipid peroxidation (MDA) assay kit (ab118970), respectively. Hepatic and cellular lipid content was isolated using the chloroform/methanol-based method 60 , and quantified by using the triglyceride assay kit (ab65336) and the mouse total cholesterol ELISA kit (ab285242, SSUF-C), respectively.

Colon histology and immunohistochemistry

Colon length, caecum to anus, was measured, and the distal colon was washed with saline, with one-half being fixed with 4% paraformaldehyde, and the other half stored at −80 °C. Histological measurements of the colon were the same as those for the liver.

For immunofluorescence, colon tissues were treated with EDTA buffer and boiled to expose the antigens. Tissues were then incubated overnight at 4 °C with primary antibody and washed three times for 5 min each with PBS. Subsequently, colon tissues were covered with secondary antibody and incubated at room temperature in the dark for 50 min, followed by another set of three 5 min washes with PBS. The resultant sections were mounted with a mounting medium and stained with 4,6-diamidino-2-phenylindole. Slides were then covered, and the images were captured using a Nikon Eclipse Ti inverted fluorescence microscope.

Microbiota changes

Faecal samples were collected within 5 min after defecation into a sterile tube and stored at −80 °C. Microbial genome DNA was extracted from faeces by using the DNeasy PowerSoil Pro Kit (QIAGEN) according to the manufacturer’s instructions, and the variable 3–4 (V4-v4) region of the 16S rRNA gene was PCR-amplified using barcoded 338F-806R primers (forward primer, 5′-ACTCCTACGGGAGGCAGCAG-3′; reverse primer, 5′-GGACTACHVGGGTWTCTAAT-3′). PCR components contained 25 μl of Phusion High-Fidelity PCR Master Mix, 3 μl (10 μM) of each forward and reverse primer, 10 μl of the DNA template, 3 μl of DMSO and 6 μl of double-distilled H2O. The following cycling conditions were used: initial denaturation at 98 °C for 30 s, followed by 25 cycles of denaturation at 98 °C for 15 s, annealing at 58 °C for 15 s, and extension at 72 °C for 15 s, and a final extension of 1 min at 72 °C. PCR amplicons were purified using Agencourt AMPure XP Beads (Beckman Coulter) and quantified using a PicoGreen dsDNA Assay Kit (Invitrogen). After quantification, amplicons were pooled in equal amounts, and 2 × 150 bp paired-end sequencing was performed using the Illumina Miseq PE300 platform at GUHE Info Technology. Amplicon sequence variants (ASVs) were denoised and clustered by the UNOISE algorithm. Taxa bar plots, and α- and β-diversity analysis, were performed with QIIME 2 v.2020.6 and the R package v.3.6.3. Metabolic function was predicted using PICRUSt2, and the output file was further analysed using the STAMP software package (v.2.1.3).

Reporting summary

Further information on research design is available in the Nature Portfolio Reporting Summary linked to this article.

Data availability

All the data that validates the outcomes of this study are included in the Article and its Supplementary Information files. For any other relevant source data, interested parties can obtain them from the corresponding authors upon reasonable request. Source data are provided with this paper.

Code availability

Simulation files and code used for modelling iron-anchored BLG fibril segments can be accessed via Zenodo at: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.10819612 (ref. 61 ).

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Acknowledgements

The authors thank I. Kutzli for the purification of BLG, W. Wang for 1 H NMR measurements, and M. Wörle for X-ray diffraction experiments. Bruna F. G. L. is gratefully acknowledged for the help in analysing XAFS data. Appreciation is also extended to C. Zeder for the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry measurements. Support from R. Schäublin during electron microscopy observations is gratefully acknowledged. J.S. acknowledges financial support from the Special Research Fund of Ghent University (BOF.PDO.2021.0050.01) and the Research Foundation–Flanders (FWO V420422N). ICFO authors thank CEX2019-000910-S (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033), Fundació Cellex, Fundació Mir-Puig, Generalitat de Catalunya through CERCA and the La Caixa Foundation (100010434, EU Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie grant agreement 847648).

Open access funding provided by Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich.

Author information

These authors contributed equally: Jiaqi Su, Pengjie Wang.

Authors and Affiliations

Department of Health Sciences and Technology, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Jiaqi Su, Mohammad Peydayesh, Jiangtao Zhou, Tonghui Jin & Raffaele Mezzenga

Particle and Interfacial Technology Group, Faculty of Bioscience Engineering, Ghent University, Ghent, Belgium

Jiaqi Su & Paul Van der Meeren

Department of Nutrition and Health, Beijing Higher Institution Engineering Research Center of Animal Products, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China

Pengjie Wang & Fazheng Ren

Department of Chemistry and Applied Biosciences, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Institute of Energy and Process Engineering, Department of Mechanical and Process Engineering, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Felix Donat

Institute of Translational Medicine, Zhejiang Shuren University, Zhejiang, China

Cuiyuan Jin

ICFO–Institut de Ciències Fotòniques, The Barcelona Institute of Science and Technology, Barcelona, Spain

Lu Xia, Kaiwen Wang & F. Pelayo García de Arquer

Department of Materials, ETH Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland

Raffaele Mezzenga

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Contributions

R.M. and J.S. conceived the idea, designed the experiments, co-wrote the manuscript and coordinated the overall research project. J.S. developed the fabrication procedure of protein-fibril-based single-atom nanozymes, characterized the enzymatic activities of nanozymes, collected and analysed the data, and performed the computational analysis. L.X. and K.W. performed the XAFS measurements of samples and analysed the data. T.J and M.P. assisted in the analysis of enzyme kinetics data. W.Z. performed XPS and 1 H NMR measurements of samples and analysed the data. J.Z. coordinated the AFM characterization of samples. P.W. and F.R. designed the in vitro and in vivo experiments on cells and animals. P.W. and J.S. carried out cell and animal studies. C.J. contributed to the microbiota test and data analysis. P.V.d.M., F.P.G.d.A. and F.D. contributed to interpreting the data and revised the manuscript. All the authors discussed the results and commented on the manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jiaqi Su or Raffaele Mezzenga .

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J.S. and R.M. are the inventors of a patent filed jointly by Ghent University and ETH Zurich (EP24153321).

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Nature Nanotechnology thanks Marco Frasconi and the other, anonymous, reviewer(s) for their contribution to the peer review of this work.

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Supplementary Methods, Discussion, Figs. 1–29, Tables 1–10, Gating strategy for flow cytometry and References.

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Su, J., Wang, P., Zhou, W. et al. Single-site iron-anchored amyloid hydrogels as catalytic platforms for alcohol detoxification. Nat. Nanotechnol. (2024). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-024-01657-7

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Received : 10 October 2023

Accepted : 21 March 2024

Published : 13 May 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/s41565-024-01657-7

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