New Directions 2022 | Creating the New Possible

Over the past few years, a pandemic, increased social and political unrest, and economic somersaults have reverberated through the workforce. These events and others have triggered a change in what it means to lead in today’s environment. Demands for better equity, accessibility, inclusion, and belonging practices mean that many leaders in various industry sectors have had to step up in unprecedented ways and shift their perspectives. We will discuss how leadership has had to pivot and grow in the face of global challenges. In the course of the discussion, we’ll touch on the definition of leadership, whom we view as leaders, and how diverse leadership styles and skills can affect various communities in the workforce. Please feel free to bring your questions and perspectives to an interactive conversation on this crucial topic.

The pandemic forced our industry to take a new direction almost overnight with the immediate transition to working from home. What was initially an interesting experiment turned into the establishment of possibly permanent virtual corporate cultures around the world. This swift transition in work culture definitely has its benefits; however, it might have left some feeling somewhat confused as to the future development of their careers. Without an office, how is productivity measured, and how does one continue to advance in their professional role? And most importantly, how can we continue to support each other, our colleagues, our direct reports, and our supervisors as we strive to develop and grow as professionals? Speakers will address all of these questions and more as they explore early-, mid-, and advanced-career opportunities in a virtual and hybrid working environment.

Just as new directions in leadership have changed the way organizations have thought about their activities, cultures, and policies, new directions in data have done the same. While many organizations have used data to track the success of usage, sales, and other activities, this panel will outline some actionable ways to blend quantitative and qualitative data to foster innovation. In this session, our panelists will discuss the ways organizations can use internal data to improve workflows and staff experience, how we can use data to better inform the impact of our outputs and activities, and how data can help us understand our stakeholders’ decision-making process and motivations.

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

Responsible and rigorous peer review is critical to the academic publishing process. Over the past two years, researchers have not only faced a global pandemic but have also had to manage an overwhelming flood of requests to review manuscripts. The pandemic has left the already-strained peer review system in a state of burnout. Editors, publishers, and researchers continuously ask themselves: How can we improve and yet simplify this essential process? What can we do to support researchers and peer reviewers in sustainable and equitable ways? Join us in this dynamic conversation as speakers discuss how all stakeholders can strike the right balance between streamlining peer review to deal with increasing research output and ensuring that it is thorough enough to uncover critical issues and ethical problems. Strategies for how the academic publishing community can protect and support this essential workflow will also be explored.

The complexities of operating in today’s scholarly communication marketplace requires finding new ways to work together to achieve more than each of us can do alone. Publishers are banding together to deliver content, achieve and maintain sustainability, and meet mission-driven objectives. This session brings together publishers finding new paths through synergy in their disciplines and alignment of their models to serve audiences in ways not possible before.

Back by popular demand, this session will feature an engaging panel exploring the tools and technology anticipated to drive the field forward. Ranging from emerging open science tools, artificial intelligence-based technologies, findability resources, and more, speakers will cover a variety of technological advances that are contributing to the growth and development of our industry.