Making a journal great: an ode to Terri Grodzicker

There is no lack of tweeting and editorial opinion claiming that scientific publishing—and above all, publishing house-managed peer review—is dead, or at least fatally flawed. Some go so far as to declare that scientific publishing antagonizes scientists: It works against the scientific process and constrains careers because the industry is a machine run by money-grabbing entrepreneurs. I admit that there are problems imposed by the enormous increase in data and the misinformation posted on the Internet, but in my mind, this has sharpened our appreciation of, and piqued the need for, well-run peer-reviewed journals. Needless to say, a constructive and reliable peer review system depends almost entirely on a journal's Editor—which brings me to Terri Grodzicker. Where would we be without Terri?

In my modest but long-lived publishing career in science (42 years), I've known many journal Editors. Only a few really deserved the respect that goes with the title Editor, to tell the truth, and of these, three created powerful platforms for the dissemination of first-rate research in the life sciences. The most exceptional journal Editors of the last 40 years, in my opinion, were Benjamin Lewin of Cell, Geoffrey North of Current Biology, and Terri Grodzicker of Genes & Development. With Terri's retirement, only Geoff North is still active. I fear for the health of the science …