Yamini Dalal
eLife is pleased to welcome Yamini Dalal as a new Deputy Editor.
Formerly a Reviewing Editor for eLife, Dalal will now work alongside Deputy Editors Detlef Weigel, Diane Harper, Mone Zaidi and Timothy Behrens, and with Editor-in-Chief Michael Eisen.
Her new role involves working with eLife’s editorial leadership team and staff to oversee submissions in cell and molecular biology. She will also champion and support eLife’s new publication model that ends the accept/reject decision after peer review. Under this new model, all preprints that are invited for peer review are published on the eLife website as Reviewed Preprints, accompanied by an eLife assessment and the public reviews. The eLife assessments use a common vocabulary to convey the significance of the findings and the strength of the evidence in a clear and consistent manner.
“I am delighted and honoured to have been appointed as eLife’s new Deputy Editor,” Dalal says. “I have admired eLife’s approaches to peer review and publishing for well over a decade, as well as leaders in my field who have been involved in eLife’s collaborative review process. To be part of a fairer, more egalitarian ethic is something that resonates with me deeply.”
Talking about eLife’s new publishing model, she adds: “I am fascinated by the idea of removing accept/reject labels for papers that are posted as preprints and then assessed by experts. Having reviewers openly evaluate what is strong or weak about the work and summarise its impact, so that others can judge it for themselves and decide how to use the findings, is exactly how science should work.”
Eisen says: “We’re really pleased to have Yamini join us on the editorial leadership team. Her long-term support for our evolving editorial processes makes her the ideal advocate for eLife and the work we’re doing to make review and publishing better for everyone.”
Dalal has a keen interest in chromosomes and chromatin, which began during her time at school and college, respectively, and remains strong 30 years on. Her lab investigates the inner workings of chromatin in the context of human cancer and ageing, and – for areas that she is unable to explore herself – she enjoys supporting work from other labs that answer fundamental questions in her field. She says her new role will now allow her to start paying the community back for the support she has received throughout her career.
“I am looking forward to two things,” she says. “The first is helping to disseminate scientific advances to the community, and the second is helping young investigators succeed by ensuring that eLife’s assessments are really clear on what is important about their research and why it merits attention. I am also interested in exploring how we can improve science for scientists, while helping communicate critical discoveries to the broader community in a comprehensible manner.”
To read more about eLife’s new publication model, visit https://elifesciences.org/inside-elife/741dbe4d/elife-s-new-model-open-for-submissions.
Media contacts
Emily Packer
eLife
e.packer@elifesciences.org
+441223855373George Litchfield
eLife
g.litchfield@elifesciences.org
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eLife transforms research communication to create a future where a diverse, global community of scientists and researchers produces open and trusted results for the benefit of all. Independent, not-for-profit and supported by funders, we improve the way science is practised and shared. From the research we publish, to the tools we build, to the people we work with, we’ve earned a reputation for quality, integrity and the flexibility to bring about real change. eLife receives financial support and strategic guidance from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation, the Max Planck Society and Wellcome. Learn more at https://elifesciences.org/about.
