Chirag Jay Patel

The original promise of an Open Access model of publishing was to make research outcomes available to the public who paid for the research to have taken place through publicly funded research grants. As a result, the movement toward OA publishing has taken on a life of its own as a commercial publishing strategy, driven by many factors. Yet, how are we actually doing in fulfilling one of the fundamental promises of OA—actually getting research findings into the hands of the public, policymakers, and practitioners in a usable format that actually affects change, rather than just making research findings more accessible to researchers? The two goals are quite different! This webinar will discuss motivations and models and present case studies about how to deliver on the promise to make research outcomes truly accessible and actionable. Addressing this “Last Mile” of research communication is critical to informing and empowering those who make policies and laws, which influence responsible corporate and personal behavior, and who help shape public perception.

A special complimentary webinar highlighting new and exciting industry innovations. Speakers representing innovative companies will present brief presentations on solutions and technology. This is a unique opportunity to get a glimpse of the latest developments in the industry. Featuring Cactus, Hum, Kriyadocs, Morressier, Origin Reports, and Xpublisher.

The United Nations has identified 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as targets to aim for when tackling the most pressing issues facing our world. Among the many recent crises, COVID-19's grip on the globe particularly underscores how science and research must be central to the conversations that address emerging and deep systemic problems alike. The problems that underlie the SDGs demand the attention of the scholarly communication community, higher education, and academic research. However, our conversations can no longer just be "academic"—they must be one with a much higher social consciousness attached to it. This session will address ways that the scientific community can drive change and wider societal outreach through open science policies and by embracing SDGs as a key topic in research impact, mission, and practice. It will also explore the changes that the scientific community can be in addition to those that it makes.

The increased focus on privacy and restrictions on cookie usage is having a definite effect on what can or can't be done with academic content. Publishers want to see how their content is used. Libraries want to track usage but also to respect user privacy. What we want for our own content may not be the same as what we demand from other people's content. Many organizations that provide recommendations, for example, use third-party cookies. These third-party cookies are being forbidden, and publishers should be aware of the implications. For example, a vendor may currently collect data on society members and use that data to provide targeted pharma-related adverts. With all this in mind, can we implement tools for auditing our site performance without infringing privacy regulations? While site audits have been widespread for e-commerce sites for years, it is desirable to audit the recommendation and discovery capability of an academic site. Can we identify the metrics of success for recommendations for our users without infringing privacy? How can we effectively measure site engagement when the customers don't purchase anything? Topics covered will include the use (and misuse) of APIs to enhance and measure the site's effectiveness. || Learning Level: Foundational || Speakers: Lisa Janicke Hinchliffe; Chirag Jay Patel; Tim Lloyd; Amanda Ferrante

Science continues to dominate headline news, yet one of the hottest topics of debate alongside that is misinformation and fake news—because there's just so much information out there and a strong need to be able to use evidence to drive action. The world's global challenges provide the ripest ground for this—for example, the COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the clearest modern examples of how conspiracy theories, lies, and disinformation can be deadly. How do we know what we can trust? And how do we combat misinformation to ensure research can and continues to have a positive impact on bridging the gap between science and action in tackling global, social, and economic issues? Panelists will share their thoughts and experience on the roles of research and publishing integrity in combatting misinformation and advocating for evidence-based interventions to address the challenges that the SDGs set out to tackle.