Ask a Publishing Executive: Executives from commercial and not-for profit publishers will discuss what they consider the greatest risks and opportunities facing the industry and share their thoughts on current state of scholarly publishing.

Open Access Agreements –for single institutions and consortia, and whether labeled "transformative" or otherwise –require publishers and institutions to negotiate and manage elaborate, multi-year contracts that impact budgets and research practices. Data collection and analytics are critical component for these discussions today. This session will outline key elements of the most common OA agreements, together with "breaking news" insights from a study examining the extent of "transformation" seen to date in the research community. The panel of publishers and librarians will discuss emerging best practices and tips learned along the way. They will share the importance of good data, open communication, and transparency in the process. Viewers will walk away with a better understanding of how to approach the most common deals, how to better prepare for these negotiations and to operationalize the end result. Viewers will be polled throughout the session and encouraged to share their own stories of success and struggle as the drive toward "open science" and "open research" continues to remake so many previously established practices. || Speakers: Jamie Carmichael; Heather Staines; Sara Rouhi; Curtis Brundy

Publishers often struggle with innovation. Attempts to introduce new people and ideas often fail to deliver meaningful and long-lasting change, leaving managers and leaders wondering what went wrong. Worse, repeated organizational attempts to create change can lead to a culture of cynicism around change management and fear of the dreaded re-org. They say that 'culture eats strategy for breakfast,' so it's tempting to think that the answer is to change the culture of an organization rather than just its products, processes, or even people. The focus on culture is laudable but can also be a trap because it's often rooted in the same paradigm that change is finite, with a beginning, a middle, and an end. Truly innovative companies don't treat change as a single event to be managed but create business structures that enable and support innovation. This session explores how organizations can enable a culture of true innovation by hearing how experienced practitioners have succeeded (and failed!) in their attempts at building a culture of innovation: • A change expert in helping transform organizational culture. • A people expert in recruiting and managing people who can help organizations become more innovative. • A veteran - someone who's been there and done that, with the scars to prove it. Through listening to real-world examples as well as practical advice, participants will leave with a better understanding of the value of a culture of innovation, how to get started on building one, and tips on some of the do's and don'ts. || Learning Level: Mixed-Learning || Speakers: Katherine Christian; Kelly May; Sara Rouhi; Ann Michael

This session takes a creative and fun educational approach to OA, breaking down everything you need to know into bite-sized components for anyone in scholarly publishing who wants to keep track of the latest implications and permutations of open access models. Numerous perspectives will be characterized as courses an OA student might progress through in their ongoing curriculum: History 101: How Did We Get Here: Milestones, Geology 201: Metals and Gemstones Sociology 301: Equity in the Global Content Arena, Biology 400: Symbiotic Transformations, Business 502 (graduate-level only): Licenses and Other Legalities, Environmental Sciences 600 / Capstone Project: Sustainable OA: A Case Study

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.

As the long tail of smaller publishers shortens, new entrants and partnerships are on the rise, plus new competitive dynamics are reshaping our industry. This panel brings together the perspectives of an information scientist, a marketing director, and an industry expert who will discuss the cycle and barriers of a partnership, a bold, new coalition built on purpose above profit, and the consolidation happening in publishing/technology and its impact on competition today. The panel will address problems in common that scholarly communication stakeholders face and would be better solved through partnerships, and the barriers to consolidating these partnerships due to challenges such as power imbalance, conflicts of interest, and competition.

This panel discussion will focus on how and why non-profit publishers are taking these approaches, the risks involved, what works/doesn't, and what the prognosis for long term sustainability looks like. This will be a moderated discussion facilitating audience participation.

The leaders from funding agencies and publishing houses will engage in an open dialogue about their synergistic relationship. These sectors not only depend on each other but continuously exchange data, initiatives, and human resources to further advance science. As both navigate the challenges of finding qualified reviewers, ensuring unbiased evaluation processes, and maintaining diversity in academic assessment, what can they ask from each other to enhance efficiency across both domains? The discussion will explore how emerging technologies and shared data resources could bridge operational gaps while maintaining the integrity of both grant and peer review processes. Attendees will gain valuable insights into potential synergies between funders and publishers that could streamline the advancement of research.