| 09.30 |
Registration and coffee |
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| 10.00 |
Introduction from the Chair, Tracy Gardner, Renew Publishing Consultants
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| 10.10 |
Working together to improve scholarly communications
Chris Leonard, Head of Product, Emerald Group Publishing
Abstract: Publishers need to pursue partnerships with technology vendors to ensure their products, tools, and solutions remain relevant in a fast-changing world. However, unless the publisher is driven by a customer-focused technology roadmap, there are dangers lurking ahead. In 20 years of working in product development for scholarly publishers, I’ve seen the good, the bad, and the very ugly in partnerships. Here I distill those learnings into a few short takeaways to ensure you get the most of your future partnerships and avoid the traps I have fallen into in the past.
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| 10.30 |
Collaboration: Insights, ideas and some irks?
Rachael Lammey, Head of Community Development, Crossref
Abstract: Crossref is no stranger to collaboration, but the ways in which we do so are evolving to support the ways in which our growing community works. I’ll share some of the things we are doing to make that happen. I’ll also cover Metadata2020, a collaboration that advocates richer, connected, and reusable, open metadata for all research outputs, which will advance scholarly pursuits for the benefit of society. Metadata2020 pulls together different communities to work together on projects to to create awareness and resources for all who have a stake in creating and using scholarly metadata, to look at how we can improve and what can be achieved when we work harder, and work together.
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| 10.50 |
Partnering with Publishers to Build (their) Branded Expert Networks
Charles Thiede, CEO and Co-Founder, Zapnito
Abstract: As content becomes a commodity, how do publishers engage with their customers and experts? With the abundance of social and research networks, is the value of the brand in the network itself? Charles will discuss how savvy publishers and societies are reinventing themselves to become curators of networks - but using their own brand as the anchor and vehicle for engagement. |
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| 11.10 |
Q&A |
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| 11:25 |
Tea and Coffee |
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| 11.40 |
When technology strides forward, as much changes as stays the same
Harry Cunningham, Partnerships and Innovation Manager Oxford University Press
Abstract: When technology strides forward, as much changes as stays the same: the potential for new products and channels mushrooms, while entrepreneurs still look to established forms of content and brands to help gain the trust of customers. Whether dealing with the latest AI start-up or leading VR proponent, the same content know-how and coordination skills that have served publishers well traditionally, can be put to great effect in developing technology-oriented partnerships. Harry will draw on recent examples of partnership and innovation work at Oxford University Press to give insights into how publishers might see their role in new collaborations.
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| 12:00 |
Blockchain: A new technology opening ways to new forms of partnerships
Joris van Rossum, Director, Special Projects, Digital Science
Abstract: Blockchain is a revolutionary technology that promises to fundamentally change many industries, such as banking, insurance, and the publishing industry. It also has a great potential for science and research, which is reflected by the large number of blockchain initiatives that were launched in the last couple of months. In this talk, I will present how this technology opens the possibility to share data within the scientific ecosystem in a safe and transparent way through new forms of partnerships, opening the way to solve many of today’s pressing issues in research and scholarly communication. |
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12.20
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AI and machine learning are generating a lot of attention at the moment but they also raise a lot of questions for the industry
David Leeming, Head of Client Services, 67 Bricks Ltd
Abstract: AI and machine learning are generating a lot of attention at the moment but they also raise a lot of questions for the industry. How can publishers engage with these technologies? Are these technologies a threat or an opportunity? Should publishers collaborate with a technology partner or go it alone? After a short introduction to AI and machine learning we will address these questions and discuss case studies of AI and machine learning already being used within the publishing ecosystem. We will conclude by sharing areas of opportunity we see as to how publishers, societies and technologists might work with these technologies, and collaborate with each other, to advance the future of scholarly communication.
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| 12.40 |
The 4th industrial revolution is transforming industries with AI, big data analytics and machine learning at its core
James Hardcastle, Head of Business Development, wizdom.ai
Abstract:The 4th industrial revolution is transforming industries with AI, big data analytics and machine learning at its core. In this new age where data is the new oil, within the scholarly research ecosystem, publishers are best placed to harness the collective knowledge of human civilisation buried deep within their content. Publishers are increasingly partnering with AI companies to unlock this potential. Wisdom. ai is a research intelligence service that leverages AI, machine learning and natural language processing to bring together a holistic view of the global research landscape by interconnecting highly fragmented and disintegrated data spread across publications, grants, patents, clinical trials among other research outputs. At wizdom.ai, we work extensively with various stakeholders in the research ecosystem including publishers, funders, patent offices as well as aggregators and indexers of their content, to integrate their data into our ever growing knowledge graph and make their contributions to the scholarly ecosystem discoverable for the world. In his talk, James is going to discuss how wizdom.ai collaborates across industry, particularly with publishers and funders, to harness the potential of their data to bring intelligence for everyone. |
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| 13:00 |
Q&A |
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| 13.15 |
Lunch |
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| 14.15 |
How smaller independent publishers and societies can collaborate to compete with their larger commercial counterparts
Simon Boisseau, Commercial Director, ACCUCOMS
Abstract: ACCUCOMS works with hundreds of publishers from the very small to the very large, and is in a unique position in the value chain to see best practice in collaboration from around the world. Simon will discuss the pressures placed on smaller society and independent publishers, and how ACCUCOMS launched Aggregagent™ to try bring publishers together to benefit from economies of scale and best compete with larger commercial publishers when it comes to international journal sales. |
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| 14.35 |
Creating synergies: Towards a scholarly society sector
Catherine Cotton, Chief Executive, FEMS
Abstract: The scholarly society sector collectively constitutes a significant contributor to the knowledge ecosystem with respect to both the production and the dissemination of expert knowledge. But this sector, while large, is highly fragmented. In the UK alone there are more than 800 scholarly societies, together bringing in an estimated 300 million GBP in publishing revenues, which are disbursed back into the knowledge ecosystem, largely through grants for early researchers, and through projects that facilitate the wider dissemination and application of knowledge to a wider stakeholder group. Such a fragmented system limits the influence of the sector as a whole – as evidenced on a wider scale during the early years of Open Access. As a pan-European federation of scholarly and professional societies, we (Federation of European Microbiological Societies) are working with our Member Societies to understand this better, and to develop a cooperative model for delivering greater impact for both the research community and the public good. |
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| 14.55 |
Working with societies on outsourced publishing and OA
Richard Bennett, Commercial Director, Hindawi
Abstract: Open Access has created new challenges and opportunities for publishers both large and small. The transition is not always easy though with changes required to systems and processes, often with externally run technologies. Partnerships between publishers provide new opportunities to experiment with Open Access in a lower risk way. At Hindawi, we have been developing our partnership program for almost two years, in this session I will be sharing our experiences of flipping journals with Wiley, and launching a brand new journal with AAAS and CAST. I will also share some insights into the collaborative work that we are performing with eLife and CoKo in developing Open Source publishing infrastructure.
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| 15.15 |
Q&A |
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| 15.30 |
Tea and Coffee |
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| 15.45 |
Making the author services market more collaborative, affordable and transparent
Ivo Verbeek, Co-founder & Director, Peerwith
Abstract: Our vision is that every researcher has the opportunity to select, connect and collaborate with experts to improve the quality of their academic work. We do that through our platform for expert-led researcher services Peerwith, empowered by a transparent peer-2-peer marketplace model. In our partnerships with publishers and societies we integrate author services into existing workflows, ensuring all workflows are fully customized to individual requirements. We will talk about the concept of curated experts that allows smaller independent publishers and societies to collaborate with experts on our smartest platform for author services.
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| 16.05 |
Transparency and collaboration: The route to building trust and efficiency in the peer review process
Andrew Preston, Managing Director, Publons
Abstract: Peer review is critical to our industry. We rely on researchers to perform millions of reviews each year and yet, while we know these reviews are happening, we have minimal knowledge of the details beyond the confines of our own journal silos. This opacity results in significant inefficiencies across the whole industry. In this presentation I will detail these issues, explain our vision for how additional transparency and cross-publisher coordination can significantly improve the speed and quality of the peer review process, and cover some of the practical solutions around reviewer search and reviewer training that we've developed to solve these problems. |
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| 16.25 |
Simplifying workflows, avoiding duplication and adding value through building successful partnerships
David Sommer, Co-Founder and Product Director, Kudos
Abstract: Researchers are no strangers to collaboration - without collaboration, there can be no research. It is therefore natural that researchers expect services they use to collaborate and integrate with each other in order to simplify workflows, avoid repetition and combine components in a way that provides new value. In this session, David will share his experiences of successful partnerships using Kudos as an example of a service that collaborates with a range of data, metrics, workflow and content partners in order to enable researchers to accelerate their research impact. He will also examine the vital role that standards and infrastructure play in providing a platform for innovation |
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| 16:45 |
Q&A |
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| 17:00 |
Final thoughts, Tracy Gardner, Chair |
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| 17:15 |
Drinks reception |
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