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Introducing Tony Ly, a Sir Henry Dale Fellow at the Wellcome Centre for Cell Biology, University of Edinburgh and a member of the Early Career Researcher advisory board for Wellcome Open Research, a partner platform with Wellcome. In this Q&A, he shares how he hopes to use his role as a Board Member to help others recognise the value of open research and to help innovate scientific publishing.

Tony Ly is a Sir Henry Dale Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. His group studies cell cycle phase transitions in human cells using state of the art proteomic approaches.

What are you working on?

All cells require exquisite control over their growth and division. Unchecked proliferation is a hallmark of several human diseases, including cancer. My group is investigating the molecular mechanisms controlling cell proliferation. We aim to obtain a systems-level understanding by using state of the art technologies that allow us to measure all of the proteins in a cell and how they change as they grow and divide. 

What inspired you to apply for and join the Wellcome Open Research ECR advisory board?

Scientific publishing, communication and evaluation have largely relied on models stemming from print journalism, but it is clear that some of these models no longer work in the interest of the scientific community, or the charities and governmental bodies that fund science. So, as part of my Board Member role I look forward to brainstorming ideas to improve the ways science is currently communicated and evaluated in this internet age, and to tackle how can we better this in the coming decade.

What are the benefits for researchers for publishing on Wellcome Open Research?

Wellcome Open Research prioritises immediacy, enabling authors to speedily publish the work they wish to share, and transparency in its review procedures. All reviewers are named and their comments are visible to all to encourage open scientific discussion and debate, and prevent unfair criticism.

One of the goals of Wellcome Open Research is to establish new models of publishing that are not bound by the legacy of processes tailored for print. For that reason, Wellcome Open Research is open to innovative ideas for how scientific publishing and communication of scientific results should be in the future. Researchers publishing in Wellcome Open Research have the opportunity to participate in shaping its evolution.

I found it hugely beneficial that you can publish interactive figures in Wellcome Open Research, as it enables readers to interrogate large datasets directly within the format of the research article without requiring a background in bioinformatics. 

Have you published on Wellcome Open Research? If so, why would you encourage others to do so?

I took part in a large study characterising the proteome remodelling that occurs when ‘normal’ epithelial cells transform and become tumourigenic ‘cancer’ cells. This was published in Wellcome Open Research in 2018. The publication process was straightforward, and we were delighted to receive two positive reviews from well-regarded scientists in the field. So, I encourage all researchers to publish in Wellcome Open Research, and especially those with large datasets.

The flexiblepublication format allowed us to expand our discussion of the rich dataset. We felt that Wellcome Open Research was the best platform for this purpose as we were able to extract and show the value of the dataset in way that would not be possible in other publication formats.

What do they think needs to change to help ECRs? As an ECR advisory board member, how do you hope to resolve these issues?

To support open research, new models are essential for the evaluation, dissemination, consumption and acknowledgement of scientific output. In my view, more attention should particularly be paid to improve how science is consumed. I would like to address this so that we are using the most effective models for finding relevant, novel, rigorous science, rather than rely on journal-based metrics.