John Inglis

John Inglis serves as Professor and Academic Mentor in the School of Biological Sciences and Executive Director of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. He is also Principal Investigator for Preprint Servers, where he co-founded the influential bioRxiv (2013) and medRxiv (2019) preprint services that have transformed scientific communication, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic when medRxiv became the primary source for pandemic research.

With a Ph.D. in Immunology from Edinburgh University Medical School (1977), Inglis began his career in scientific publishing as an Assistant Editor at The Lancet (1977-1979) before founding Immunology Today (1979-1987). In 1987, he came to the United States to establish Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, transforming it from a small operation into a major digital publisher of 9 journals, 200 books, and online media resources. His research interests focus on scientific publishing, preprint infrastructure, open access models, and the history of genetics.

Inglis's publication record demonstrates a consistent focus on improving scientific communication systems. His recent work has centered on preprint servers, open access initiatives, and career development in science publishing. He has championed the acceleration of research dissemination through preprints, which decouple manuscript dissemination from the slower journal evaluation process, significantly accelerating the pace of scientific discovery. His 2019 paper 'Plan U' proposed a universal funder mandate for preprint posting to achieve free access to all scientific output.

• Royal Society Research Culture Award (2025) for contributions to improving the scientific system and changing publishing culture
• D. Sc. honoris causa (2023)
• Honorary Doctor of Science Degree from CSHL (2022)
• American Society for Cell Biology (ASCB) Fellow (2022)

As an Academic Mentor at CSHL's School of Biological Sciences, Inglis has guided 15 graduate students through the dual-mentorship program. His leadership at CSHL Press has resulted in the commissioning of over 300 books and laboratory manuals, including landmark publications like Molecular Cloning (2nd-4th editions) and Antibodies (1st and 2nd editions). The Press now hosts a combined open-access catalog of over 180,000 scientific papers across bioRxiv and medRxiv, which publish approximately 4,000 new manuscripts monthly.