Miranda Robertson | |
|---|---|
| Born | Miranda Barnett [1] 1945 London |
| Occupation | Scientific Editor |
| Known for | Biology Editor of the journal Nature; editor for the textbook Molecular Biology of the Cell |
Miranda Robertson is a scientific editor noted for her role as Biology Editor at Nature from 1983 to 1992, during which time Nature's visibility and influence in the life sciences substantially increased, [2] [3] and for her contributions to the textbook Molecular Biology of the Cell . [4] [5] As editor of BMC's open-access Journal of Biology, she introduced improvements in peer review, enabling authors to opt out of re-review. [6] [7]
Robertson was the daughter of S. Anthony (Tony) Barnett, a zoologist specializing in rat behavior at the Australian National University, [8] author, [9] [10] [11] and broadcaster. Her mother was Marjorie Phillips. [12] Her uncle James Barnett was a yeast biologist. [13]
Robertson joined Nature in 1970 during John Maddox's first term as Editor. [14] As a member of the Biology Team and subsequently Biology Editor, she frequently wrote articles for Nature'sNews and Views series about recent developments in areas including immunology, [15] [16] [17] [18] development, [19] [20] [21] the molecular mechanisms of disease, [22] [23] [24] [25] and early efforts in artificial intelligence, [26] in vitro fertilisation [27] and gene therapy. [28] In 1973, when Maddox was replaced by David Davies, Nature instituted systematic peer review of submitted manuscripts. [3] Under Davies, and subsequently in Maddox's second term, the selectivity of publication decisions dramatically increased. [29] [30] Theoretical biologist Robert May described Robertson as "exceptionally good and well informed" in explaining his willingness to write an unusually large number of News and Views pieces for Nature. [31] She knew Francis Crick both professionally and through family connections, and wrote about his life and work after his death in 2004. [32]
In 1976, while still at Nature, Robertson began to work with a team of scientists led by Bruce Alberts and James Watson on a new textbook, Molecular Biology of the Cell, which was published by Garland Science in 1983. [4] As the developmental editor, she organized a large and diverse network of undergraduates and teachers to provide feedback on chapter drafts. [4] Reviewers praised the "unobtrusively lucid style" of the book Robertson had edited, [33] which was called "the most influential cell biology textbook of its time". [34]
In 1992 Robertson left Nature [35] and joined Garland Science, where she was involved with new biology textbooks. She worked on the development of Immunobiology by Charles Janeway and Paul Travers, [36] [37] and edited two editions of Introduction to Protein Structure by Carl Branden and John Tooze. [38] In 1996 Garland Science was acquired by Taylor & Francis.
In 1998 Robertson joined New Science Press as managing director, [39] where she initiated a series of modular Primers in Biology intended to make teaching easier. [40] The series included "Protein Structure and Function" by Gregory Petsko and Dagmar Ringe [41] and "The Cell Cycle: Principles of Control" by David Morgan. [42] She also co-authored Immunity: The Immune Response to Infectious and Inflammatory Disease with Anthony DeFranco and Richard Locksley. [43]
In 2008, Robertson moved to New Science Press's sister company, BioMedCentral, the first fully open-access publisher. As editor of Journal of Biology, which later merged with BMC Biology, Robertson in 2009 introduced a number of editorial innovations, including allowing authors to opt out of re-review after responding to reviewers' comments, [7] arguing that "pit-bull reviewing" did not serve the community well. [44] This policy was a response to a situation of a highly delayed second review, reported to Robertson by Peter Walter. [45] Robertson commented that it is "the job of journal editors to promote the dissemination of research results rather than to obstruct it, [and] it is the author who is in the end accountable for the quality and validity of the paper that is published." [7] Robertson also introduced a checklist for documenting that submitted papers meet reporting standards for reproducibility [46] and the ability for researchers to pre-register their planned course of research. [47] Robertson's editorials often focused on open questions [48] and unacknowledged "dirty secrets", using Sydney Brenner's term "Ockham's Broom" to refer to the practice of sweeping inconvenient facts under the rug. [49]
In 2017, Robertson announced her retirement from BMC Biology and was succeeded as editor by Mirna Kvajo. [50]
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