As he prepares to step down as the Editor-in-Chief of eLife, Randy Schekman reflects on the origins of the journal, the eLife approach to peer review, and current challenges in scientific publishing.

Journals can benefit from listening to graduate students, postdocs and newly-independent group leaders.

Tackling unconscious bias is a major challenge for journals and the rest of the scientific community.

After summarizing over 2,400 articles in plain language, the eLife Features team shares what it has learnt about writing and editing for a broad audience.

There are many reasons for submitting your best work to eLife, especially if you are an early career researcher.

Journals are exploring new approaches to peer review in order to reduce bias, increase transparency and respond to author preferences.

Journals and other scientific organizations produce a diverse variety of plain-language summaries.

Disclosing work prior to submission to a journal would benefit scientists seeking to be acknowledged for their discoveries.