What’s the Issue? Impact and Metrics

SSP’s 2021 New Directions Seminar is a deep dive into the breakneck speed in which our industry is currently transitioning, transforming, and evolving, while also recognizing and highlighting the limits (and uncomfortable consequences) of moving too quickly. Topics covered in the seminar include new pressures on scholarship and science communication in a post-Covid world; new Open Access and funding models; the drive toward diversity and inclusion in workplaces and publications; the surge in preprints and the demand for accelerated publishing workflows; emerging metrics of impact; and the latest—and truly exciting—developments in tools, techniques, and technology that drive our industry forward. Speakers will examine these issues through the lens of the “need for speed” and how to find the right cadence or risk slamming on the breaks. Join us as we explore how we can respond quickly to changing conditions within the scholarly publishing industry and community, and work towards reaching a universal speed—hopefully, without breaking things.

Josh Nicholson is co-founder and CEO of scite (scite.ai). scite is a deep learning platform that allows anyone to see how a scientific paper has been cited, not just how many times and, specifically, if it has been supported or contradicted with evidence. Previously, he was the founder and CEO of the Winnower and CEO of Authorea (acquired in 2018 by Wiley), two companies aimed at improving how scientists publish and collaborate. He holds a PhD in cell biology from Virginia Tech, where his research focused on the effects of aneuploidy on chromosome segregation in cancer cells.

Studied cell biology through an M.S. Joined Institute for Scientific Information (later Thomson Reuters, then Clarivate) working in journal selection, and doing product and data development for Journal Citation Reports (and lots of other fun things). Worked on strategy for CiteScore at Elsevier, Peer Review systems at Taylor & Francis, and other roles in publishing. Now leading peer review operations at Mary Ann Liebert.