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10.12.2018 | SSP News & Releases

Call for Participation for the SSP 41st Annual Meeting

SSP’s 41st Annual Meeting will be held May 29 to May 31, 2019, in sunny San Diego. We invite you to submit your proposal for a concurrent session now through November 16 and your proposal for a pre-meeting seminar or sponsored session through December 14.

The theme and proposed tracks for the 2019 Annual Meeting are described below. We are particularly looking to receive content that speaks to the meeting topic and tracks, but we also welcome creative, non-thematic submissions. No matter the specific subject, all submissions should describe how the proposed session will engage SSP’s audience with vital information, challenge our way of thinking, and involve a diverse set of speakers across subject areas.

We encourage anyone who is involved in publishing or scholarly communication in any capacity to submit a proposal. The SSP Annual Meeting has a very wide scope, including all steps of book and journal publishing from organizations of all types, perspectives from libraries and academia, discussion of fields from medicine to humanities, and a focus on the broader effects of sharing new knowledge on the world.

Submit a proposal today

Shaping the New Status Quo:
Global Perspectives in Scholarly Publishing

The Society for Scholarly Publishing heads back to the west coast for its 41st Annual Meeting. Looking out into the vast Pacific in San Diego will be a good opportunity to reflect on the (literal) wide world of publishing. Scholarly publishing is flourishing in new and exciting ways across the world, including Asia, India, and the Global South. As we move together into new eras of sharing research, it is important to make efforts to shrink the distance among stakeholders in publishing, enabling coordinated discussion and problem solving. This year’s meeting will represent a focused effort on inviting new voices into our ongoing conversations—not just geographically but with any new perspectives that help us move together toward a new age of scholarly communication. What new technologies will be at work in the new status quo we are building? How will publishers continue to meet the needs of authors and readers, especially in previously underrepresented markets? How do these big picture changes affect day-to-day operations in editorial and production offices? Are the solutions and challenges the same for smaller publishers and societies? We can also take the opportunity to explore solutions for potentially seismic developments like Plan S or other policies from funders and even nations. Join the vibrant community of librarians, academics, publishers, service providers, technologists, and others with a stake in how research is shared as we tackle tomorrow’s challenges and broaden our horizons.

Proposed tracks:

  • Inviting New Voices: In keeping with the theme of global perspectives, we invite sessions that center on stakeholders who are not historically heard from during publishing conferences.
  • External Pressures on Publishing: Large changes are on the horizon for the business of scholarly publishing; sessions designed to collaboratively evaluate possible solutions are especially encouraged.
  • Going to Market: The “market” for publishing continues to grow. Evolving strategies to develop new products, reach new geographies, and find new ways to make research relevant to the world will be increasingly critical.
  • Tools and Technology: An ecosystem that involves the entire world will always be powered by technology. Sessions focused on the latest developments in the tools and infrastructure underlying the sharing of scholarship are welcomed.
  • Editorial and Production: Publishing books, monographs, and journal articles requires a large number of critical, yet often unnoticed or misunderstood, steps. Sessions in this track will focus on best practices for the day-to-day processes that make publishing possible.
  • Publishing on a Smaller Scale: Large commercial publishers often dominate the news due to scale, but there are a myriad of other publishers helping bring critical new results and scholarship to the world. Sessions focused on operations and strategies at smaller publishers, non-profits, university presses, and societies are invited for this track.

Submission Process for 2019

SSP is once again using the ScholarOne abstract submission system for the collection of proposals. All proposals must be submitted through ScholarOne. A huge thank you to Clarivate Analytics for their sponsorship of SSP’s proposal submission system.

Note that there are four possible types of session proposal. Submitters must select their session type at the beginning of the submission process for each proposal. You are permitted to submit more than one proposal of one or more types.

  • Concurrent session: 60 or 90 minutes in length, held on May 30 and 31. Concurrent sessions are designed for multiple speakers to present a specific topic that will benefit SSP attendees. Successful proposals will include concrete plans for interactivity, the inclusion of new voices, a diverse panel (with respect to gender, race, background, organization type, subject area), and clear learning objectives for the audience.
  • Pre-meeting seminar: These three-hour educational sessions are held on May 29, prior to the main conference, providing an opportunity for attendees to learn more about a topic for an additional fee. These sessions should be instructive and highly interactive, with a deep dive into a topic and specific take-home benefits for participants.
  • 5-minute preview session: Brief, back-to-back presentations given during a plenary on Friday morning, May 31, showcasing new products, platforms, and/or content from publishers and vendors. Preview session submissions will be accepted at a later date. Keep an eye out for an announcement from SSP!
  • Sponsored session: 45 minutes in length, held on Wednesday, May 29 in the afternoon. These sessions offer value by means of education, information, or professional development to attendees. Organizers may share information about a product or service, but sessions will be most effective if they present case studies/use cases, customer testimonials, timely information about industry issues, best practices, innovative solutions to everyday challenges, roundtable discussions, etc. Sponsors may choose whether attendance is free to all comers or by invitation only.

Tips for submitting a compelling session proposal:

  • Your session should appeal to a broad range of attendees in an engaging way. SSP Annual Meeting attendees value networking opportunities, insight into new developments, and practical applications they can use to advance their careers. Attendees include executives, editors, salespersons, marketing and product managers, librarians, technologists, vendors, academics, and more. With this year’s specific focus on new perspectives, the best proposals will appeal to new audience segments and/or groups that have historically been less represented at publishing events, as well.
  • Concurrent sessions should promote audience engagement, ideally throughout. Pre-meeting seminars must involve participants actively.
  • We will NOT consider concurrent session or pre-meeting seminar submissions that are focused on a single solution, a single organization, or material that is commercial in nature. Such content is more appropriate for the 5-minute previews session or for sponsored sessions.
  • SSP deeply values the provision of a variety of viewpoints from an inclusive pool of speakers. Session speakers must reflect diversity of geography, race, and cultural background as much as possible. We strongly encourage gender balance in particular. Single-speaker concurrent sessions or pre-meeting seminars will NOT be considered.
  • The strongest proposals will include the voices of key stakeholders (researchers/academics, librarians, students), will cross formats (books, journals, etc.), and will include perspectives across STEM, social sciences, and humanities.
  • For concurrent sessions, your submission must be in by the November 16 deadline! Our committee will begin reviewing proposals immediately after this deadline, so we regret that we cannot accept late submissions this year. Please see the submission guidelines for all the important deadlines.
  • Please be sure to reach out to us at info@sspnet.org if you have any questions while submitting a session proposal.

For a more detailed set of submission guidelines, please click here.

After reviewing these guidelines, please proceed to the SSP abstract submission site to submit your proposal. Everyone who submits a proposal for concurrent sessions will be notified of the final status in December, at which time the organizers of the sessions selected for the final program will be able to confirm their participation. Notifications for pre-meeting seminars and sponsored sessions will follow in early 2019. Please see the submission guidelines for other important deadlines.

Thank you very much for your interest in participating in the 2019 SSP Annual Meeting! We hope to see you in San Diego. Again, if you have any questions, please do not hesitate to email Jennifer Lanphere at jlanphere@kellencompany.com.

Sincerely,

Ben Mudrak
Cason Lynley
Yael Fitzpatrick
Annual Meeting Program Committee Co-Chairs

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