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) 打開新的分頁／視窗 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 打開新的分頁／視窗 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 打開新的分頁／視窗, Managing Director STM Journals, and Judy Verses 打開新的分頁／視窗, 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) 打開新的分頁／視窗 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 打開新的分頁／視窗, 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) 打開新的分頁／視窗 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) 打開新的分頁／視窗 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 打開新的分頁／視窗, 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 打開新的分頁／視窗, 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) 打開新的分頁／視窗 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 打開新的分頁／視窗 — 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) 打開新的分頁／視窗 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 打開新的分頁／視窗, 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) 打開新的分頁／視窗 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) 打開新的分頁／視窗, which strives to improve the global standard and quality of science editing, and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE 打開新的分頁／視窗), which focuses on improving the quality of medical science and its reporting. Elsevier’s Peer Review Innovation Lead, Dr Bahar Mehmani 打開新的分頁／視窗, serves on the EASE Council.

Other organizations

The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) 打開新的分頁／視窗 is a nonprofit dedicated to developing and publishing technical standards for managing information. Elsevier’s Emily Singley 打開新的分頁／視窗, VP of North American Library Relations, serves on its board.

NISO’s initiatives include the Transfer Code of Practice 打開新的分頁／視窗, 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 打開新的分頁／視窗, 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 打開新的分頁／視窗 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 打開新的分頁／視窗, 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) 打開新的分頁／視窗 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 打開新的分頁／視窗, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”