Angela Cochran

COP26 finished in November 2021. And still we are not able to limit global warming to no more than 1.5 degrees. But, progress has been made. What does the Scholarly Publishing industry need to do to decarbonise? As an industry, much of the technical work done on scholarly content happens in places that are already affected by climate events: The monsoons in India, smog and air pollution in the wider subcontinent, typhoons in the Philippines, and hurricanes up the eastern seaboard. Much of London, New York and other places are at risk of sea level rises as the climate changes. The Pandemic has shown us that we can work differently, that we can change, and fast if needs be. How can we build on this to work together to do our bit to get to no more than 1.5 degrees of warming? This panel will explore a number of these facets of climate change and look to understand where we are as an industry and what we need to do over the next few years.

This panel of Scholarly Kitchen Chefs discusses the future of scholarly communication, particularly for independent and society publishers, in light of the conversations held over the past two days. Which OA and peer review models will emerge as dominant in the coming years? Who among the current crowd of “disruptors” are they watching most closely? And what must stakeholders in scholarly communications do to ensure the sustainability of their organizations over the longer term? The Chefs consider these questions and more in this lively closing panel.

The COVID-19 pandemic has both exacerbated old problems and introduced new ones for the scholarly communications industry. In the first session in our Online Professional Development Series, Angela Cochran and Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe discuss the impact of the global pandemic on publishers and libraries, from the initial disruption and pivot to work from home/shelter in place, to its implications for 2021 and beyond. Questions considered during the conversation include: -How have campus closures and remote work exacerbated ongoing problems with remote user access? -Will the crisis drive book publishing to become “digital first” once and for all? -How will projected budget cuts and declining enrollment at universities affect the broader academic ecosystem, including the push toward open access? Join us as Angela and Lisa, both Scholarly Kitchen chefs and SSP Board members, explore the challenges as well as some of the surprising opportunities presented by the global crisis.

As a community, we are undoubtedly moving into a more "open" future — open access, open data, open peer review, etc. But "open" doesn't automatically mean "equal." A panel of Chefs will conclude this year's meeting with a look at the path we're on — is it fair to all and can everyone participate? Are APCs the evolutionary endpoint or a step along the way? What does the ongoing market consolidation mean for different stakeholders? Are we increasing the inequities between the Global North and South? Will the increasing intrusion of geopolitics into the research world make this all moot? Bring your questions for a lively discussion.