The Impact of Externalities: Rethinking Funding, Research Projects, and the Global Body of Knowledge

We are living through a time of accelerating change and transformation, where the landscape of scholarly publishing is undergoing tectonic shifts in how we operate, how we communicate, and where we add value to the research and learning lifecycles. Like all organizations dedicated to the business of information and data, content and service providers in our industry are experiencing challenges brought on by open access mandates, ongoing institutional budget crises, technological revolutions, and more. The 2023 New Directions Seminar will focus on how those working in scholarly communications manage commercial and cultural disruptions. Where are the sands shifting most dramatically? How are content and service providers responding to these disruptions? What are the priorities and what is being left behind? What tools and methods do we need to successfully weather these disruptive changes? Framework Viewed through the lens of a typical research workflow, we can observe disruptions and systemic changes underway at every step along the journey. The 2023 New Directions seminar will be designed to address where and how the “sands” are shifting at each junction of the scholarly communications lifecycle. Sessions will address topics from how changing funder mandates and AI tools are impacting researcher practices to open peer review, data sharing, and more. We hope to close the session with a change management workshop-style session designed to support resiliency in publishing professionals.

Ben Goodrich is the Associate Director for Government Relations and Public Engagement at the American Political Science Association (APSA). He enjoys a wide array of responsibilities including leading APSA’s public engagement and advocacy portfolio, focusing on issues in the Federal government impacting higher education, research funding, and academic freedom. Ben joined APSA in 2023 after nearly five years at the Consortium of Social Science Associations (COSSA) where he led the organization’s public affairs efforts and supported policy and advocacy efforts on behalf of the greater social and behavioral science community. Ben holds a B.A. in Political Science and History from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Rachel Pietersma is a Journal Development Specialist at Canadian Science Publishing. Her work in various publishing roles and with the journal Arctic Science has involved co-creation of resources to promote and encourage Indigenous-led and co-produced research. Rachel advocates for the publishing process to be more inclusive of the diverse contributions that occur in community-engaged projects and research involving Indigenous Knowledges.

As an infodemiologist, Dr. Susana Ramírez applies communication science to advance public health goals. She is a nationally recognized expert on media, inequality, and health. Her research—published in Social Science & Medicine, American Journal of Public Health, Journal of Health Communication, and other journals—has examined the development and effectiveness of culturally tailored messages for Latinas, centering an interrogation of “culture” and acculturation processes in message effectiveness studies. Her current work examines policy discourse and media advocacy strategies pertaining to population health. She is a co-editor of the forthcoming Handbook of Language in Public Health and Healthcare (Wiley, 2024). Dr. Ramírez earned a PhD from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania, a Master of Public Health from Harvard University, and a Bachelor of Arts from Santa Clara University. She is currently an Associate Professor of Public Health Communication at the University of California in Merced.