STM goes to Washington: How Scholarly Publishers Can (or Can't) Influence Policy

Duration: 56 mins
Publication Date: 2023 | Jun 01

About the session

COVID-19, the OSTP Nelson Memo, the Cancer Moonshot, and more—in the past three years, STM publishing and government decision-making have significantly overlapped. But how these decisions are reached—and how scholarly publishers try to influence these decisions, both before and after implementation—is an opaque process. This session brings together representatives from scholarly publishing's government relations and public affairs teams. We'll review the possibilities, realities, and limits of advocacy work; the key individuals, agencies, and committees of the US federal government that oversee the sciences, arts, and humanities; and the policy positions and legislation affecting publishers, authors, and researchers in these spaces.

Collection

Annual Meeting (2023)

Speakers

Managing Principal, Lewis-Burke Associates

Over fourteen years at Lewis-Burke Associates LLC, Miriam Quintal has managed the federal relations portfolios for scientific societies, research universities, and other science and education organizations. As Managing Principal, she oversees the firm’s client engagement and issue practices to ensure success and advancement across the firm. Miriam is steeped in scholarly publishing issues as Chair of Lewis-Burke’s Scientific and Professional Societies and Associations Practice Group, with a focus on helping societies achieve their funding and policy advocacy goals, grow agency partnerships, and harness grassroots member engagement in policy activities. Miriam is a prominent leader in National Science Foundation advocacy, co-chairing the Coalition for National Science Funding. Before joining Lewis-Burke, Miriam gained policy experience as a Mirzayan Science and Technology Policy Fellow with the Board on Science Education at the National Academies. She holds a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Smith College and a master’s degree in organic chemistry from Harvard University.
Head of Government Affairs, US, Springer Nature

Laura Patton is the Head of Government Affairs, US at Springer Nature. She works to disseminate and promote research from Springer Nature publications to a Congressional audience and other key policymakers, as well as build understanding of the scholarly publishing ecosystem. Before joining Springer Nature in 2022, she worked in congressional relations at the RAND Corporation. Laura started her career in Congress where she served as an aide to Representative David Obey, Chair of the House Appropriations Committee. She has an M.A. from Johns Hopkins University.
Vice President, Journals, Oxford University Press

Alison Denby is the VP for Journals at Oxford University Press (OUP). She’s been at OUP for over ten years and prior to that worked at BePress, Wiley/Blackwell, HMSO and Emerald. She is passionate about supporting the long-term sustainability of the not-for-profit journal publishing community. Alison has an MBA from Babson College.