How publishing industry bodies are shaping a better future

In my 25+ years in academic publishing, I have consistently been impressed by the collaborative spirit of publishing industry colleagues as they tackle challenges impacting the research community and seize opportunities to help key stakeholders advance science. Central to this collaboration are industry bodies that establish standards, promote best practices, advocate for a policy environment that enables publishers to continue to safeguard the quality and integrity of the scientific record, and facilitate partnerships among key stakeholders. Here’s an overview of some of these organizations and Elsevier’s role within them.

Industry umbrella organizations

The International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers (STM) 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く serves as the global trade association for leading scholarly publishers — big and small, commercial and non-commercial — and for organizations that support the scholarly publishing ecosystem. With close to 150 members from 17 countries, STM focuses on several key areas:

• Research integrity: Ensuring the credibility and trustworthiness of academic findings. To this end, STM has developed the STM Integrity Hub 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く to advance research integrity through collaboration, policy and publishing standards.

• Social responsibility: Contributing positively to a more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable world.

• Open research: Ensuring research is perpetually accessible, linked and searchable.

• Standards and technology: Encouraging collaboration among members to advance open, trusted research.

At Elsevier, we’re proud to be an active member of STM: Laura Hassink 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く, Managing Director STM Journals, and Judy Verses 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く, President of Academic & Government Markets, both serve on STM’s board, and various colleagues participate on the committees that support STM’s priorities.

The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く focuses on representing small publishers and societies, and we participate in this forum to ensure our society partners’ perspectives are heard. With 320 member organizations from 35 countries, ALPSP also hosts a well-attended annual conference and publishes the peer-reviewed journal Learned Publishing 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く, which covers research, reviews, industry updates and opinions on all aspects of scholarly communication and publishing.

Elsevier colleagues regularly contribute to ALPSP committees, working groups and the annual conference.

Of particular relevance to societies working in the medical space, the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く is a coalition of more than 50 organizations (representing more than 800,000 physicians and professionals) with the goal to advance the expertise and collective voice of specialty societies in support of physicians and the patients they serve. Many of our society partners are members of the CMSS and work to advance its strategic priorities: engaging community and building capacity, sharing learning and innovation, and addressing critical issues together.

The Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く brings together people from across scholarly publishing — including publishers, librarians and vendors — to discuss industry trends and challenges, share perspectives, and learn from each other’s experiences. Notably, SSP hosts an annual meeting focused on the latest industry trends and publishes the well-known blog The Scholarly Kitchen 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く, which aims to advance scholarly publishing and communication through education, collaboration and networking.

Colleagues from across our organization take part in SSP initiatives, with Simon Holt 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く, Head of Content Accessibility at Elsevier, serving on SSP’s Board of Directors. You can learn more about Elsevier’s work with SSP here.

The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く unites individuals involved in scholarly research and publication to strengthen support, education and discussion around publication ethics. As scrutiny in this area increases, COPE works to safeguard the integrity of the scholarly record for the public good. One notable initiative is United2Act 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く — a joint initiative between COPE and STM where participants, including Elsevier, agreed on five key collaborative multi-stakeholder actions to address the problem of paper mills. Elsevier’s membership in COPE extends to the editors of our journals, granting them access to COPE guidelines, meetings and case forums.

Aside from these organizations, national trade associations across the globe enable us to keep informed of local priorities around the world.

Editor bodies

Numerous editor-focused groups exist to promote best practices in scholarly publishing. As an international membership organization for editorial professionals publishing in the sciences, the Council of Science Editors (CSE) 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く is an authoritative resource on current and emerging issues in the communication of scientific information. As well as providing services and advice online, CSE holds an annual meeting that includes short courses on topics such as journal editorship, publication management, manuscript editing and journal metrics. Elizabeth Yepez 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く, Business Development Manager in Elsevier’s society business development team, currently serves on the council’s Industry Advisory Board and Education Committee.

The International Society of Managing and Technical Editors (ISMTE) 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く connects and educates professionals passionate about the operations of peer-reviewed publications, who often work behind the scenes. ISMTE provides peer-to-peer networking, education and training, and resources for best practices and journal policy development. Elsevier proudly serves as a corporate sponsor of ISMTE, benefiting from the many services it offers.

Other notable organizations include the European Association of Science Editors (EASE) 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く, which strives to improve the global standard and quality of science editing, and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く), which focuses on improving the quality of medical science and its reporting. Elsevier’s Peer Review Innovation Lead, Dr Bahar Mehmani 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く, serves on the EASE Council.

Other organizations

The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く is a nonprofit dedicated to developing and publishing technical standards for managing information. Elsevier’s Emily Singley 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く, VP of North American Library Relations, serves on its board.

NISO’s initiatives include the Transfer Code of Practice 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く, established in 2006 to address the challenges arising from the transfer of journal titles — typically society-owned — between publishers. The Transfer Code provides consistent guidelines to ensure that journal content remains accessible during such transitions and the transfer process occurs with minimal disruption. As an active member since its inception, Theresa Armstrong 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く, Business Development Director on Elsevier’s society business development team, serves on the Transfer board and is involved in updating the latest iteration of the Transfer Code.

Crossref 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く is the largest digital object identifier (DOI) Registration Agency under the International DOI Foundation. Its 19,000 members from 150 countries include publishers, libraries, research institutions and funding organizations. Since its inception in the early 2000s, Crossref has enabled persistent cross-platform citation linking for online academic journals, currently identifying and linking 150 million records of research metadata, which are typically deposited to Crossref via publishers. Rose L’Huillier 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く, SVP of Researchers & Librarians Solutions at Elsevier, serves on Crossref’s governance board.

Recognizing individual contributions to scientific literature can be challenging due to, for instance, the non-uniqueness of personal names and cultural differences in naming conventions. The Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く aims to address this issue by providing unique, persistent identifiers for researchers. As an ORCID member, Elsevier facilitates the automatic sharing of peer review metadata with ORCID through our submission and peer review system, Editorial Manager.

That concludes our brief overview of some of the key industry organizations that are contributing to the advancement and development of the academic and professional publishing sector. As the legendary Helen Keller famously said 新しいタブ／ウィンドウで開く, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”