Interview


Why is the 150th such a landmark year for Nature? What’s changing, if anything, going forwards? What are you plans for the next era of Nature? Nature has always evolved with the scientific community and with science itself. The future promises to be more data-rich, more computationally-heavy, more interdisciplinary, and more focused on the interface between science and society. We are also working towards making Nature more inclusive and diverse, both in terms of the topics and the groups it represents. Looking into the future, it is impossible not to think about early career researchers who are the future of research. They are a major focus for us also, as they should be. Although not an entirely new initiative,


we have made a lot of effort towards rewarding and surfacing efforts to make research reproduce and robust. Although clearly much work remains to be done. Another important focus of ours is


transparency. Transparency of research goes hand in hand with reproducibility. That said, in my view publishers and editors, who demand transparency from researchers, should themselves be more transparent about their own practices. We have begun this journey already: we try to


“Balancing leisure and work requires active management of time, but I believe it is an effort worth making”


surface exactly what it is that editors do, how we consider submissions and how peer-review is conducted. It is important to add much more


transparency to the whole scientific discussion that surrounds the publication of a paper. These are just a couple of examples of where we should be increasingly moving, and certainly that I would like to champion. The 150th anniversary has been


an exciting time for all of us, as it has given us a chance to reflect and look back into old archives, learning more about our heritage, but it has also been a great chance to refocus for the future. Publishing continues to change and our anniversary in many ways is about preparing for the future and


best supporting the next generation of researchers in effectively and sustainably communicating their work – not just through publishing platforms but also through our Nature Conferences programme, our Nature Careers portal, our Nature Masterclasses and through diverse approaches to content curation and production.


Finally, are there any interesting facts, pastimes or hobbies that you would like to tell us about? I find what I do absolutely fascinating and as I said before, being editor-in-chief of Nature is much more than just a job. That said, I find exploring our ‘blue planet’ absolutely irresistible and when I travel on my own time I switch off completely, literally. And when I wish to take a break closer to home, I go to a pottery studio of which I am a member. I don’t claim to be very good at all, but I derive a different kind of satisfaction from sitting at the potter’s wheel. For many of us, balancing leisure and


work requires active management of time, but I believe it is an effort worth making.


Interview by Tim Gillett


The Scholarly Publishing Research Cycle 2018


Perspectives and recommendations from the publishing, library and research sectors


Research information


Download the report here: www.researchinformation.info/scholarly-publishing-research-cycle-2018


www.researchinformation.info | @researchinfo


December 2019/January 2020 Research Information


15


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32