Disrupt, innovate, repeat

Authors: Ravi Venkataramani, Sowmya Mahadevan, Jason De Boer, Abhaya Ranganathan, Janani Krishnan, Louise Russell, Audra Cox, Damita Snow, John W. Warren, and Katherine Lavallee-Sharma
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On September 24, 2024, the AGU Conference Center in Washington DC transformed into an epicenter of innovation. Sponsored by Kriyadocs, a technology solutions partner for scholarly publishers, Publisherspeak US 2024 brought together voices from across the scholarly publishing community to tackle the industry’s biggest challenges. This was the third edition of the Publisherspeak series. Publisherspeak’s unconference-style format champions open dialogue, innovation, collaborative problem-solving, and a sense of community.  
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This article highlights the key takeaways from this event and showcases the innovative strategies (mapped on solution canvases) that could shape the future of scholarly publishing.
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From challenges to change: The unconference-style Publisherspeak process

Chaired by Louise Russell, Director of Tutton Russell Consulting, Publisherspeak US 2024 focused on four pivotal themes that were addressed through highly interactive parallel breakout sessions chaired by industry experts.
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1. Creating efficient workflow processes and metadata: Chaired by Audra Cox, Director of Publishing Operations, American Physiological Society 
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2. Identifying and addressing accessibility issues: Chaired by Damita Snow, Director of Accessibility and Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Strategy, American Society of Civil Engineers
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3. Fostering intrapreneurship and innovation: Chaired by John W. Warren, Director and Associate Professor, Graduate Program in Publishing, George Washington University  
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4. Supporting early-career publishing professionals: Chaired by Katherine Lavallee-Sharma, Senior Publisher, Wiley
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These breakout sessions used Kriyadocs’ tailored Solution Canvas, a structured tool designed to transform brainstorming into actionable strategies and collaborative solutions. The day unfolded with dynamic discussions, groundbreaking ideas, and actionable solutions, all focused on advancing the publishing industry. Let’s dive deeper into these sessions (the key highlights from these sessions have also been compiled into an eBook here).

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Breakout session 1: Creating efficient workflow processes and metadata

Problem statement

Inefficiencies in publication workflows and metadata integration often lead to delays, errors, and confusion among interested parties. Establishing consistency across publication-related tools and platforms is critical for improving overall efficiency.

Solutions

1. Unified workflow charters: A unified charter provides a consistent framework for managing workflows across tools and teams, simplifying processes and minimizing the risk of errors. 

• Why this works: A standardized charter improves efficiency by reducing complexity and enhancing workflow discoverability. This in turn helps authors, editors, and staff avoid confusion, enhancing issue resolution and agility. 

• Impact indicators: Fewer questions from interested parties, reduced resource allocation to resolve problems, and journal selection focused on content scope rather than customer service.  
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2. Cross-publisher standards: Collaboration among publishers to establish baseline workflow standards fosters consistency, minimizes redundancies, and enhances efficiency across the industry. 

• Why this works: By creating shared guidelines and providing robust training for publishing staff, this solution reduces errors and accelerates publication workflows. The involvement of industry bodies like SSP, NISO, STM, and ALPSP can help ensure that standards are widely adopted and continuously updated and refined. 

• Impact indicators: Fewer workflow errors, clearer processes, and shorter publication times. 
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3. Cross-industry standards: Expanding standards to include vendors and other interested parties ensures seamless communication, coordination, and integration across systems, reducing manual interventions. 

• Why this works: By improving vendor-publisher collaboration and encouraging transparent data-sharing practices, this solution can reduce submission errors and streamline workflows. A focus on confidentiality and best practices (for example, the MoSCoW framework for prioritization) supports sustained innovation and consistency. 

• Impact indicators: More efficient submission processes, reduced errors, and faster time to publication. 
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4. Pre-submission workflow systems: Designing publication workflows to include the pre-submission stage allows authors to input their data only once (or simply verify the data if it has been automatically extracted) at the early stages of the process, ensuring consistency and reducing the need to repeat tasks. 

• Why this works: Engaging funders and institutions early promotes the adoption of a pre-submission workflow system, while a centralized data system ensures cleaner, more reliable information that can be carried through the workflow. This approach simplifies workflows for all parties involved, enhancing overall productivity. ‍
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• Impact indicators: Streamlined data processes, fewer submission errors, and quicker publication timelines.
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As the solution canvas for this theme displays, implementing these solutions could lead to smoother workflows, faster publication times, higher quality data, and a more efficient publishing ecosystem. Unified processes not only reduce errors and delays but also allow parties to focus on advancing scholarship rather than navigating complex workflows.
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Breakout session 2: Identifying and addressing accessibility issues 

Problem statement 

Ensuring accessibility is a challenge in many areas.  Focusing on web accessibility in particular, inconsistent practices such as varying alt-text quality, fragmented workflows, and outdated technologies make inclusive content creation difficult.

Solutions

1. Involve a diverse group early: To address inconsistencies, it is crucial to involve a broad range of partners—funders, libraries, authors, underrepresented groups, people with disabilities—at the beginning of the strategic planning process. This ensures a comprehensive approach and helps identify common goals, leading to well-informed, inclusive solutions. 

• Why this works: Engaging a diverse group of partners helps decision-making and will result in a broad range of innovative solutions and possible cost-effective implementation of accessibility initiatives. Asking for feedback from people with disabilities on said initiatives is a must. 

• Impact indicators: Increased engagement with content, improved feedback from partners, better regulatory compliance, improved publisher reputation, and enhanced user experience. 
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2. Global standards with accountability: Establishing and enforcing universal accessibility standards ensures consistency, better user experience, and quality control. This approach streamlines adoption, helps minimize legal risks, and improves long-term outcomes. 

• Why this works: Standardization provides a clear framework, encourages wider adoption, and improves both quality and user experience. 

• Impact indicators: Improved content quality, wider adoption and usage of accessible content, reduced legal risks, and the establishment of a working body to maintain and update guidelines, as needed. 
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3. Raising awareness about the importance of accessibility: Web accessibility must be viewed as critical infrastructure, just like safety standards that govern the construction of buildings—accessibility in the built environment. Raising awareness will help foster broader adoption and drive partners to take proactive steps to increase the accessibility of the content they disseminate. 

• Why this works: Educating audiences and partners and highlighting the risks of neglecting accessibility increases awareness, adoption, and accountability. 

• Impact indicators: Greater social acceptance, increased understanding of accessibility requirements, improved user experience, and broader implementation of web accessibility standards. 
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Accessibility is not just an ethical requirement—it is essential for the long-term success of scholarly publishing. Implementing these solutions will lead to more inclusive and accessible content, more robust research, increased audience engagement, reduced legal risks, and a stronger reputation for publishers.
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Breakout session 3: Fostering intrapreneurship and innovation 

Problem statement 

Long-standing organizational issues and challenges in scholarly publishing could hinder the forward-thinking ability of organizations. Fostering a culture of innovation can be challenging for organizations, often due to limited resources, competing priorities, and the existence of silos leading to a lack of cohesive vision. As a result, opportunities for growth and modernization may frequently be overlooked. 

Solutions 

1. Multidisciplinary innovation groups (Moonshot teams): Forming Moonshot teams encourages a culture of creativity and experimentation. These teams, composed of people with diverse skill sets, focus on addressing big-picture challenges and developing innovative solutions. By emphasizing “plussing” (collaborative, iterative development) and empowering employees to contribute ideas, organizations can create an environment where problem-solving thrives. 

• Why this works: Moonshot teams motivate employees by enabling them to take ownership of solutions and fostering a culture of experimentation. This bottom-up approach enhances creativity, engages staff, and allows leadership to focus on strategic initiatives. 

• Impact indicators: Regular hackathons where employees create minimum viable products (MVPs) or process improvements; reduced reliance on top-down directives for innovation. 
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2. Blue Ribbon Commission for industry-wide collaboration: Establishing a Blue Ribbon Commission—a special group appointed to analyze a specific topic or question—brings together key players, including researchers, librarians, university professors, funders, and publishers, to shape the future of publishing. This collective identifies opportunities for innovation, collaboration, and standardization across the industry. 

• Why this works: By uniting the scholarly communication ecosystem, the commission generates actionable insights and scalable solutions. Its collaborative vision supports long-term scalability and progress for all interested parties. 

• Impact indicators: Cross-industry hackathons, where representatives identify, and prototype solutions and strategic initiatives are adopted by multiple organizations. 
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By fostering a culture of creativity and experimentation internally, and driving collaboration externally, publishers can tackle long-standing challenges and unlock new opportunities for innovation. Empowering employees to take ownership of solutions through initiatives like Moonshot teams, while uniting industry players through collaborative efforts like a Blue Ribbon Commission, ensures a holistic approach to progress. Such strategies will help ensure the sustainability and relevance of the publishing sector over the next 20 years.
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Breakout session 4: Supporting early career publishing professionals 

Problem statement 

The scholarly publishing industry suffers from a significant lack of visibility, making it difficult for early career professionals to discover, understand, or enter the field. Many potential candidates are unaware of the career paths available, and existing roles often lack clarity, leading to barriers in attracting and retaining talent. 

Solutions 

1. Formal mentorship programs: Implementing structured mentorship programs bridges knowledge gaps, providing early career professionals with guidance on growth opportunities and pathways within the industry. This fosters connections between mentors and mentees, cultivating a sense of belonging and value for employees. 

• Why this works: Mentorship supports career development, enhances retention, and establishes reciprocal relationships that benefit mentors, mentees, and the organization. 

• Impact indicators: Career progression for mentees, improved staff retention rates, and positive feedback from evaluations. Success is achieved when mentees eventually become mentors. 
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2. Well-written job advertisements: Clear, inviting job postings attract better-quality applicants and provide transparency about roles and responsibilities. These enhancements can help make onboarding and training more efficient. 

• Why this works: Well-defined job postings can inspire candidates to envision themselves in a role, attract a more diverse talent pool, and streamline the hiring process for managers and HR. 

• Impact indicators: Increased applicant numbers, effective recruitment, and professionalization of roles in the industry. 
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3. University outreach: Engaging directly with universities connects publishers with students and faculty, demystifying the publishing industry and making it a visible and viable career path.  

• Why this works: Personal, face-to-face interactions broaden awareness, generate interest, and help students appreciate the industry’s role and opportunities. 

• Impact indicators: Higher application rates from university programs, improved industry reputation, and fresh perspectives contributing to new products and strategies. 
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4. Professionalizing roles and responsibilities: Standardizing job titles and role descriptions across organizations makes it easier for professionals to navigate the industry. Consistency in responsibilities enhances understanding and creates camaraderie among organizations. 

• Why this works: This approach ensures applicants find roles aligned with their skills and aspirations while allowing employers to better assess candidates. 

• Impact indicators: Increased confidence and clarity for employees, well-matched candidates for roles, and a clear pathway for career growth. 
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By addressing the lack of information about the scholarly publishing industry and offering strategies, these solutions help the industry attract, retain, and empower early career professionals, ensuring an inclusive and sustainable future for publishing.
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Reflections and the road ahead

Publisherspeak US 2024 demonstrated that transformative change in scholarly publishing is possible when the community comes together with a shared purpose of identifying larger problems and finding actionable solutions for them. Kriyadocs is proud to facilitate these conversations and provide the tools to turn these challenges into actionable strategies.  
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As the publishing landscape evolves, fostering collaboration, innovation, and inclusivity will remain essential.  

We would love for you to join these conversations at the upcoming 2025 edition of Publisherspeak US on September 18 at the AGU Conference Center. Register here—registrations close on 12 September. We look forward to seeing you there!