Miranda Robertson Explained

Miranda Robertson
Birth Name:Miranda Barnett[1]
Birth Date:1945
Birth Place: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. She is known for serving 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 influential textbook Molecular Biology of the Cell.[4] As editor of BMC's open-access Journal of Biology, she introduced pioneering improvements in the process of peer review, including the ability for authors to opt out of re-review.[5] [6]

Early life and family

Robertson was the daughter of S. Anthony (Tony) Barnett, a zoologist specializing in rat behavior who was also a prolific author[7] [8] [9] and broadcaster. He was born in Hertfordshire and moved to Canberra in 1971 to take up a position at the Australian National University,[10] where he served as Professor of Zoology until his retirement.[11] Her mother was Marjorie Phillips, who worked with pioneering educator John Newsom when he was County Education Officer for Hertfordshire during the Second World War.[12] Her uncle, James Barnett, was a yeast biologist.[13]

Career

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's News and Views series highlighting important recent developments in a variety of 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. Under Davies, and subsequently in Maddox's second term, the selectivity of publication decisions dramatically increased.[29] [30] As the difficulty and importance of these decisions increased, Robertson developed strong relationships with many key figures in the biological community to improve decision-making. Noted 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 a "brief and superficial impression" of 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.[33] As the developmental editor, she organized an unprecedentedly large and diverse network of university undergraduate students and teachers to provide feedback on drafts of chapters. In the preface of the first edition, the authors wrote: "Most of the advice obtained from students and outside experts was collected and digested by Miranda Robertson. By insisting that every page be lucid and coherent, and rewriting many of those that were not, she has played a major part in the creation of a textbook that undergraduates will read with ease."[34] The book was praised by reviewers for its "unobtrusively lucid style, which is the mark of much tender loving care"[35] and was later called “the most influential cell biology textbook of its time”.[36]

In 1992 Robertson left Nature[37] and joined Garland Science. Because of her standing in the biology community and the example set by Molecular Biology of the Cell, she was able to partner with several noted biologists to create new textbooks. She played an important part in the development of Immunobiology by Charles Janeway and Paul Travers,[38] [39] and edited two editions of Introduction to Protein Structure by Carl Branden and John Tooze.[40] In 1996 Garland Science was acquired by Taylor & Francis.

In 1998 Robertson joined New Science Press as Managing Director,[41] where she initiated a series of Primers in Biology with a modular design intended to make teaching easier.[42] The series included "Protein Structure and Function" by Gregory Petsko and Dagmar Ringe[43] and "The Cell Cycle: Principles of Control" by David Morgan.[44] She also co-authored Immunity: The Immune Response to Infectious and Inflammatory Disease with Anthony DeFranco and Richard Locksley.[45]

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 introduced a number of editorial innovations, including a policy allowing authors to opt out of re-review after responding to reviewers' comments, arguing that "pit-bull reviewing" did not serve the community well.[46] This policy was catalyzed by a situation of a highly delayed second review, reported to Robertson by Peter Walter.[47] Announcing the new policy in 2009, 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." Robertson also introduced a checklist for documenting that submitted papers meet reporting standards for reproducibility[48] and the ability for researchers to pre-register their planned course of research.[49] Robertson's editorials often focused on open questions[50] and unacknowledged "dirty secrets", using Sydney Brenner's term "Ockham's Broom" to refer to the practice of sweeping inconvenient facts under the rug.[51]

In 2017, Robertson announced her retirement from BMC Biology and was replaced as Editor by Mirna Kvajo.[52]

Notes and References

  1. Book: Births registered in January, February and March 1945 . Pancras District, London . Vol 1b, p25 .
  2. Web site: History of the Journal Nature: The 1980s. www.nature.com. 2019-02-17.
  3. Newmark. Peter. 2015. Who nurtured Nature?. Current Biology. en. 25. 22. R1060–R1061. 10.1016/j.cub.2015.09.050. free.
  4. Vines. Gail. 2 September 1989. Cellular Success:: Molecular biology of the cell. By Bruce Alberts, Dennis Bray, Julian Lewis, Martin Raff, Keith Roberts, James D. Watson. Garland Publishing. pp1082, $51.95. New Scientist. 1680. 65.
  5. Web site: A re-review of peer review: Leading journal looks to end the 'review nightmare'. phys.org. en-us. 2019-02-17.
  6. Robertson. Miranda. 2009-01-27. What are journals for?. Journal of Biology. 8. 1. 1. 10.1186/jbiol111. 1475-4924. 2656217 . free .
  7. Book: Barnett, Samuel Anthony. The story of rats : their impact on us, and our impact on them. Allen & Unwin. 2001. 1741151082. Crows Nest, NSW, Australia. 52833071.
  8. Book: Barnett, Samuel Anthony. The science of life : from cells to survival. Allen & Unwin. 1998. 1864486104. St. Leonards [N.S.W.] Australia. 38831746. registration.
  9. Book: Barnett, Samuel Anthony. Science, myth or magic? : a struggle for existence. Allen & Unwin. 2000. 1865081221. St. Leonards, N.S.W.. 44894678.
  10. 1973. Staff of the University. Calendar of the Australian National University. 81.
  11. Web site: Anthony (Tony) BARNETT. 2010-12-27. Currawong. en-US. 2019-06-02.
  12. Book: Parker, David. John Newsom : a Hertfordshire educationist. University of Hertfordshire Press. 2005. 190280645X. Hatfield, Hertfordshire. 38. 61176174.
  13. News: James Barnett obituary. Turner. John. 2015-05-07. The Guardian. 2019-06-02. en-GB. 0261-3077.
  14. Web site: History of the Journal Nature: The 1970's. www.nature.com. 2019-02-19.
  15. Robertson. Miranda. 1981. Genes of lymphocytes II: T-cell receptors, idiotypes and the MHC. Nature. en. 291. 5812. 187–188. 10.1038/291187a0. 6785653. 1981Natur.291..187R . 0028-0836. free.
  16. Robertson. Miranda. 1982. Gene rearrangement and the generation of diversity. Nature. en. 297. 5863. 184–186. 10.1038/297184a0. 7078634. 1982Natur.297..184R . 0028-0836. free.
  17. Robertson. Miranda. 1985. T-cell receptor: The present state of recognition. Nature. en. 317. 6040. 768–771. 10.1038/317768a0. 3877244. 1985Natur.317..768R . 0028-0836. free.
  18. Robertson. Miranda. 1988. Tolerance, restriction and the Mls enigma. Nature. en. 332. 6159. 18–19. 10.1038/332018a0. 3126395. 1988Natur.332...18R . 28191340. 0028-0836.
  19. Robertson. Miranda. 1987. Towards a biochemistry of morphogenesis. Nature. en. 330. 6147. 420–421. 10.1038/330420a0. 2825024. 1987Natur.330..420R . 0028-0836. free.
  20. Robertson. Miranda. 1987. A genetic switch in Drosophila morphogenesis. Nature. en. 327. 6123. 556–557. 10.1038/327556a0. 1987Natur.327..556R . 0028-0836. free.
  21. Robertson. Miranda. 1988. Developmental decisions and pattern formation. Nature. en. 335. 6190. 494–495. 10.1038/335494a0. 3419528. 1988Natur.335..494R . 4339569. 0028-0836.
  22. Robertson. Miranda. 1984. Oncogenetics: Progress in malignancy. Nature. en. 309. 5968. 512–513. 10.1038/309512b0. 6728005. 1984Natur.309..512R . 4263450. 0028-0836.
  23. Robertson. Miranda. 1985. Genetic screening: The heredity of haemophilia. Nature. en. 314. 6013. 674–675. 10.1038/314674a0. 3921851. 1985Natur.314..674R . 4330568. 0028-0836.
  24. Robertson. Miranda. 1983. Tumours of lymphocytes: What happens when cellular oncogenes collide with immunoglobulin genes. Nature. en. 302. 5908. 474–475. 10.1038/302474a0. 6835380. 1983Natur.302..474R . 0028-0836. free.
  25. Robertson. Miranda. 1984. Retinitis pigmentosa: Progress in sight. Nature. en. 309. 5965. 210. 10.1038/309210a0. 6538935. 1984Natur.309..210R . 0028-0836. free.
  26. Robertson. Miranda. 1976. Artificial intelligence in education. Nature. en. 262. 5568. 435–437. 10.1038/262435a0. 1976Natur.262..435R . 0028-0836. free.
  27. Robertson. Miranda. 1974. Those babies still pose problems. Nature. en. 250. 5465. 368. 10.1038/250368a0. 1974Natur.250..368R . 0028-0836. free.
  28. Robertson. Miranda. 1986. Gene Therapy: Desperate appliances. Nature. en. 320. 6059. 213–214. 10.1038/320213a0. 3457267. 1986Natur.320..213R . 4309909. 0028-0836.
  29. Baldwin. Melinda. 2015-09-20. Credibility, peer review, and Nature, 1945–1990. Notes and Records of the Royal Society of London. 69. 3. 337–352. 10.1098/rsnr.2015.0029. 0035-9149. 4528400. 26495581.
  30. Web site: Journals Tussle Over Talent. The Scientist Magazine®. en. 2019-02-18.
  31. Web site: May, Robert (8 of 10). An Oral History of British Science - Oral history of British science - Oral history British Library - Sounds. sounds.bl.uk. 2019-06-01.
  32. Robertson. Miranda. 2004-09-01. Francis Crick, 1916–2004. BioScience. en. 54. 9. 808–809. 10.1641/0006-3568(2004)054[0808:FC]2.0.CO;2. 0006-3568. free.
  33. Serpente. Norberto. 2013. Beyond a pedagogical tool: 30 years of Molecular Biology of the Cell. Nature Reviews Molecular Cell Biology. en. 14. 2. 120–125. 10.1038/nrm3513. 23340575. 5758800. 1471-0072.
  34. Book: Molecular biology of the cell. 1983. Garland Pub. Alberts, Bruce.. 0824072820. New York. 8805724.
  35. Cairns. John. 1983-05-01. Prospero's cell: Molecular biology of the cell. By B. Alberts, D. Bray, J. Lewis, M. Raff, K. Roberts, and J. D. Watson. New York: Garland Publishing Inc. (1983). 1210 pp. $34.95. Cell. en. 33. 1. 1–2. 10.1016/0092-8674(83)90321-5. 54389956. 0092-8674.
  36. Book: Friedberg, Errol C.. The writing life of James D. Watson. 2005. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. 0879697008. Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.. 55887540.
  37. North. Geoffrey. 2004-02-17. Geoffrey North. Current Biology. 14. 4. R143–144. 0960-9822. 15027461. 10.1016/j.cub.2004.01.038. free.
  38. Book: Immunobiology : the immune system in health and disease. 2005. Garland Science. Janeway, Charles.. 0815341016. 6th. New York. 60173180.
  39. Janeway. Charles A.. 2002. A Trip Through My Life with an Immunological Theme. Annual Review of Immunology. en. 20. 1. 1–28. 10.1146/annurev.immunol.20.080801.102422. 11861595. 0732-0582. free.
  40. Book: Introduction to protein structure. Brändén. Carl-Ivar. Tooze. John. Garland Pub. 1991. 0815303440. New York. 23286817.
  41. Web site: Appointment of Director or Secretary, New Science Press. 14 December 1998. Filing at Companies House. 19 June 2019.
  42. Web site: New Science Press launches Proteins: From Sequence to Structure. EurekAlert!. en. 2019-02-17.
  43. Book: Protein structure and function. Petsko. Gregory A.. Ringe. Dagmar. New Science Press. 2004. 0878936637. London. 53181467.
  44. Book: Morgan, David Owen, 1958-. The cell cycle : principles of control. 2007. New Science Press. 9780199206100. London. 70173205.
  45. Book: Immunity : the immune response in infectious and inflammatory disease. L.. DeFranco, Anthony. Locksley. Richard. Robertson. Miranda. New Science Press. 2007. 9780953918102. London. 70764453.
  46. Robertson. Miranda. 2011-12-01. Pit-bull reviewing, the pursuit of perfection and the victims of success. BMC Biology. 9. 1. 84. 10.1186/1741-7007-9-84. 1741-7007. 3229515. 22133126 . free .
  47. Walter. P.. 2013. Two structure papers, a call from Frankfurt airport, and how to escape from reviewer delays: an interview with Peter Walter by Miranda Robertson.. BMC Biology. 11. 34. 10.1186/1741-7007-11-34. 1741-7007. 23587131. 3626913 . free .
  48. Web site: The guidance of wise men: Reproducibility, reporting standards, and the views of our Editorial Board. Miranda Robertson. 2015-07-23. On Biology. en-GB. 2019-02-17.
  49. Web site: The scientific Odyssey: Pre-registering the voyage. Miranda Robertson. 2017-05-03. On Biology. en-GB. 2019-02-17.
  50. Robertson. Miranda. 2013-01-31. Open questions in biology - a tenth anniversary series. BMC Biology. 11. 1. 7. 10.1186/1741-7007-11-7. 1741-7007. 3561168. 23369191 . free .
  51. Web site: Ockham's broom and the disclosure of dirty secrets – New in Journal of Biology. Miranda Robertson. 2009-10-16. On Biology. en-GB. 2019-02-17.
  52. Web site: BMC Biology. BMC Biology. en. 2019-02-20.

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia article "Miranda Robertson".

Except where otherwise indicated, Everything.Explained.Today is © Copyright 2009-2024, A B Cryer, All Rights Reserved. Cookie policy.