The Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) is excited to begin planning our 45th Annual Meeting, scheduled for May 31 – June 2, 2023, in Portland, Oregon. Proposal submissions are now open!
Submission deadlines are as follows:
- Educational Sessions – November 11, 2022
- Industry Breakout Sessions – January 6, 2023
- Educational Posters – January 27, 2023
- 5-minute Industry Previews – February 3, 2023
Our Annual Meeting will be an in-person learning and networking event, with a virtual component available for those who wish to attend remotely.
We are delighted to announce the theme for the 2023 SSP Annual Meeting:
Transformation, Trust, and Transparency
The pace of change in our industry continues unabated, with seismic shifts in areas such as the dissemination of research, business models, and the nature of the workplace. And yet, while pressure for change has become the new normal, fundamental change has proved more elusive. We invite you to join us in highlighting the Trust and Transparency issues that underlie many of the challenges we face and exploring what it takes to create more meaningful Transformation in scholarly publishing.
As always, the SSP community continues to focus on bringing together academics, funders, librarians, publishers, service providers, technologists, and countless others with a communal interest and stake in disseminating scholarly information. We look to the 45th Annual Meeting as an opportunity to continue this tradition and welcome all colleagues and community stakeholders, old and new.
Proposed Topics
We have identified a number of topics we think attendees will find of high interest. When you submit your proposal, you’ll be asked to select the topic most closely aligned with your proposed session.
- Tools & Technology: The world of scholarly communication will always rely heavily on technology. Session proposals focused on the latest developments in the tools and infrastructure underlying the sharing of scholarship are encouraged.
- New & Novel: Has your organization embraced a new concept or process, developed a new product, implemented a novel initiative? Understanding how these ideas were encouraged, envisioned, and implemented are of specific interest.
- Trust: Matters of trust are a primary concern in the scholarly community, whether it be engendering trust, exhibiting trust, encouraging trust, and beyond, this area deserves special focus this year. We aim to focus on sessions that focus on the need for trust and spark discussion and debate around this topic.
- Cultural Transformation: Traditional working practices are increasingly out of touch with the many pressing issues facing our industry, including addressing a lack of diversity; the need to examine equity, inclusion, and accessibility; adjusting to remote first working environments; and the generational shift arising from changing expectations in our communities. How is your organization transforming to address these shifts and what advice do you have for others hoping to address these shifts themselves?
- Publishing Models: The sharing of research content is at the heart of our community. We continue to see the evolution around content distribution and dissemination, and value the experiences and thoughts of colleagues in exploring varying models.
- External Drivers: Outside influences will always be a driver, whether predicted or unexpected. Session proposals designed to help attendees plan for the next external driver and develop creative solutions to incorporate these resulting changes into our strategies and workflows are especially encouraged.
- Not seeing your topic listed? Don’t despair. We are open to ideas for additional topics, including business models, career advice, change management, editorial and production issues, global challenges, librarian-focused sessions, networking, sales and marketing, professional development, society publishers, sustainability, university presses, and more. And if you’re still not sure, note that your ideas for topic areas are always welcome!
Submission Process for 2023
SSP will again use Ex Ordo for proposal submissions. We thank Ex Ordo for their continued support and sponsorship of SSP’s submission system!
Three possible session proposal options are offered as part of the submission process as follows. 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.
- Educational sessions: Educational 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. Educational session time slots will likely be offered in varying lengths of 60, 75, and 90 minutes. Educational session proposals are being accepted through November 11, 2022.
- Industry Breakout Sessions: These 30 minute 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. If accepted, fees will apply. Industry Breakout session proposals are being accepted through January 6, 2023.
- Posters: Poster presentations will provide an opportunity for information to be displayed and available to all attendees, and for poster authors to be able to discuss their poster’s content with interested parties. Poster proposals are being accepted through January 27, 2023.
- 5-minute Preview sessions: Brief, back-to-back presentations showcasing new products, platforms, and/or content from publishers and vendors. Preview session proposals are being accepted through February 3, 2023.
Tips for submitting a compelling proposal:
- DO reflect a variety of voices and viewpoints in your submission. As documented in our Core Values, SSP deeply values diversity, equity, and inclusion, and submissions that reflect an inclusive pool of speakers are required. Session panels should include a diverse mix of genders, geography, race, and cultural backgrounds as much as possible. Single-speaker educational sessions will NOT be accepted. 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.
- DO develop your submission to 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, salespeople, marketing and product managers, librarians, technologists, vendors, academics, and more.
- DO prepare a proposal focused on in-person learning for this primarily in-person event. Session speakers should be prepared to attend in person as well.
- DO NOT submit an educational session focused on a single solution, a single organization, or material that is commercial in nature. These proposals will not be considered. Single solution/single organization presentations may be better positioned as a poster presentation. Submissions that are commercial in nature should be limited to the 5-minute Previews session or for Industry Breakout sessions.
- DO pay attention to the deadlines! Our committee will begin reviewing proposals immediately after each deadline, so we regret that we cannot accept late submissions.
- For Educational sessions, the submission deadline is November 11, 2022.
- For Industry Breakout sessions, the submission deadline is January 6, 2023.
- For Poster sessions, the submission deadline is January 27, 2023.
- For 5-minute Preview sessions, the submission deadline is February 3, 2023.
- DO contact Tracy Mitchell at tracy.mitchell@conferencedirect.com if you have any questions while submitting a session proposal.
- DO read this detailed set of submission guidelines.
Ready to Submit?
Please proceed to the SSP abstract submission site to submit your proposal.
Final decisions to accept or decline educational sessions will be distributed to submitters in December. Notifications for the five-minute Previews sessions and Posters will follow within weeks’ of those submission deadline dates. Please see the submission guidelines for other important deadlines.
Thank you for your interest in participating in the 2023 SSP Annual Meeting. We look forward to receiving your submissions! Again, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email tracy.mitchell@conferencedirect.com.
Sincerely,
Lori Carlin, Tim Lloyd, and Emily Farrell
Annual Meeting Program Committee Co-Chairs
