New Directions 2021 | How to Move Fast and Not Break Things

New directions in funding opportunities for researchers are fundamental (see what we did there?) to many fields. With the pandemic still very much at the center of our daily experience, this session will examine how funding opportunities have changed or pivoted since the emergence of covid-19. Panelists will discuss how authors— especially early career authors—are required to navigate this new funding landscape, how librarians must consider new mandates and requirements from funding agencies while supporting the interests and needs of researchers within their respective institutions, and how funding as we know it is dynamically changing the landscape of academic research.

Though not a "new direction" in our industry, open access is moving in many directions and very quickly—from new APC models, new types of deals, discussion about equitable access, Plan S compliance, funding resources, cost and revenue modeling, and more. This 90-minute session will include a topical roundtable, paired speaker dialogues, and audience questions to explore all the latest developments and future trends in this critical area of scholarly communications.

Back by popular demand, this session will feature an engaging panel of experts presenting the tools and technology that will lead to new directions in academic publishing. Ranging from emerging artificial Intelligence-based tools to open science tools, preprint tools, and more, this team of panelists will discuss new ways of using technology to address current challenges faced by the industry.

It is now common practice for researchers in many disciplines to post their work as a preprint ahead of or in conjunction with submission to a peer-reviewed journal. For some, the question is no longer whether to upload a preprint of their work but when or how quickly to do so. With preprints now a first step in the submission process, publishers and editors have a new set of questions: Where do preprints fit in the scope of upholding scientific rigor? What if the study or data are flawed (and potentially harmful to readers, especially those who aren’t scientists)? Who takes responsibility for the accuracy of preprints and the data now “published” and available to the public? How do we handle retracting, citing, and referencing preprints? Are preprints a “move fast and break things” example of new directions in academic publishing, or should we consider implementing some speed bumps? This panel will discuss these questions and more.

2020 was an eye-opening, unrelenting experiment in exploring new directions in our personal and professional lives. Even now, as we move further into 2021 and beyond, we are considering what these changes and experiences might mean as we continue to collectively power forward. As we adjust to this “whole new world,” our industry bears a new level of responsibility as scholarship, scientific research, and advances in new scientific technologies (especially with respect to vaccinations) fall under a high-resolution microscope. Some might even say that scientific research and scholarship are “under fire” as citizen scientists and global citizens alike emerge to voice their advocacy, opinions, and concerns about public health, public security, climate change, and our collective responsibilities to each other as individuals of a greater global network. This session is the start of the conversation. It will focus specifically on the emerging responsibilities we now have as academic publishers, researchers, librarians, and citizens to uphold the rigor and impact of the advancements that have the greatest potential for positive influence around the world.

2020 was a pivotal year for impact and metrics. In this panel, we will explore the update to the JIF calculation, discussing the whys and nuances of citational practices as well as the value of understanding disciplinary differences and what impact means when citational practices differ.