Lessons and Silver Linings in Research Dissemination: Should COVID-19 Provide a Push Toward Lasting Change?

In April 2020, a group of researchers posted a thought-provoking preprint entitled "Evaluating features of scientific conferences: A call for improvements." Although this research was begun well before COVID-19 hit pandemic proportions, the researchers' findings are more relevant than ever as content providers struggle to make content available via virtual venues. Even under normal circumstances, when travel to conferences is common, it isn't common for all, which leaves a community of researchers excluded from scientific discourse. Early Career Researchers (ECRs), in particular, face a number of issues, including travel restrictions, funds, as well as gender- and career-stage inequity. Access is even harder in developing countries. These researchers need to decide between funds for travel versus funds for their laboratories. And if they have the opportunity to attend a conference, attempting to share information with others afterward is difficult due to a lack of recorded sessions and digital posters. What can the lessons of pandemic-born virtual conferences teach us about making content more accessible and distribution more equitable well after the pandemic is over? In this session, the original preprint authors discuss their personal experiences as ECRs and the difficulties they face in accessing content, as well as the changes publishers and societies need to make permanent if scientific research is to be disseminated more broadly and equitably. Learning Level: Applied