GW Ethics in Publishing Conference 2021
Wednesday 27 October 2021
Abbreviated schedule:
12:00 Welcome and Opening Remarks, John W. Warren and Puja Telikicherla
12:15-1:10 Moving Toward More Equitable Publishing Practices
Andrea Powell, Research4Life
Shelby Brewster, Public Philosophy Journal
1:15-2:45 Advancing Accessibility in Publishing
Ally Laird and Angel Peterson, Penn State University Libraries
Robert Martinengo
Chloe Fells and Michael Hardesty, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)
2:45-3:00 Break
3:00-4:00 Advancing Inclusion and Eliminating Barriers to the Profession of Publishing
Davida Breier and Diem Bloom, Johns Hopkins University Press
Nicole Zamudio-Román, George Washington University
4:00-4:15 Break
4:15-5:30 Closing Plenary: Toward Pay Equity in Publishing Careers
Becca Bostock, Ohio State University Press
Dawn Durante, University of Texas Press
Dominique Moore, University of Illinois Press
Amy Sherman, University of Pittsburgh Press
Moderated by Alice Meadows, National Information Standards Organization (NISO)
Full Schedule, Descriptions and Bios
12:00 Welcome: Puja Telikicherla Opening Remarks: John W. Warren
12:15-1:10 Moving Toward More Equitable Publishing Practices
Andrea Powell: Practical Steps to Achieving an Equitable Transition to Open Access
Shelby Brewster: On Equitable, Ethical, and Formative Peer Review
Practical steps to achieving an equitable transition to Open Access – recommendations from the Research4Life OA Task Force
Research4Life has enabled free or low-cost access to scholarly publications in over 125 low and middle-income countries for the past 20 years. This collaboration has helped to reduce the knowledge gap for tens of thousands of researchers, but there is evidence that those same researchers experience significant barriers when it comes to publishing their own work, and that the shift to Open Access has created new kinds of obstacles. In July 2020 Research4Life established an Open Access Task Force to investigate ways in which the partnership could support an equitable transition to OA and to inform its future strategic direction. Outputs from the Task Force will be described, including the Best Practice Guidelines for publishers on how to communicate APC waiver policies, an online index to publishers’ inclusion policies and feedback and suggestions from our target community via a webinar presentation of our work and an online survey of Research4Life user institutions. This survey aimed to identify key challenges and ways in which the Research4Life partnership can extend its scope to support lower income country users as producers of research outputs and not just as consumers of the work of others.
Andrea Powell is the Outreach Director for the STM Association and the Publisher Coordinator for Research4Life, a multilateral partnership which provides free or low-cost access to research content for over 10,000 registered institutions in lower and middle income countries. She chairs the Research4Life Open Access Task Force which seeks to ensure that the global transition to OA does not reinforce current inequities in the scholarly communication system. She was previously Executive Director for Publishing and Chief Information Officer at CABI, a global non-profit agency providing knowledge solutions in agriculture and associated disciplines. Andrea is also a Non-Executive Director of the Pharmaceutical Press and an Associate Lecturer at Oxford Brookes University.
On Equitable, Ethical, and Formative Peer Review
Since its founding in 2013, the Public Philosophy Journal (PPJ) has been developing a process of peer review to provide an alternative to the often antagonistic and hierarchical structure of traditional peer review. Initially developed by philosophers Christopher Long and Mark Fischer, this practice has grown into Formative Peer Review: a supportive and sustainable practice dedicated to improving scholarship through collegial feedback.
This presentation explores the philosophy behind the process of Formative Peer Review as practiced at the PPJ. First, we illustrate how Formative Peer Review embodies and furthers values of thick collegiality; ethical imagination; diversity, equity, and inclusion; and transparency. Second, we demonstrate how these values not only contribute to a more ethical practice of scholarly publishing, but also have the potential to strengthen scholarship and affect positive change within academic cultures. Finally, we introduce a developing project, the Collaborative Community Review tool, which will enable other publications to adopt these more ethical and equitable practices.
Shelby Brewster, Postdoctoral Research Associate at the Public Philosophy Journal (PPJ), received her PhD in Theatre and Performance Studies from the University of Pittsburgh. Her awards and fellowships include an Andrew W. Mellon Predoctoral Fellowship (Pitt), Cultural Studies Dissertation Fellowship (Pitt), and a National Fellowship from Andrew W. Mellon Foundation/Humanities Without Walls Pre-Doctoral Career Diversity Summer Workshop.
Brewster has published many journal articles, book chapters, and book, film, and performance reviews on topics including environmental activism, the nonhuman, climate change, and humanist theory. She holds a Certificate in Editing from the University of Washington and serves as a Content Editor at Environmental History Now.
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1:15-2:45 Advancing Accessibility in Publishing
Ally Laird and Angel Peterson: Advancing Accessibility Education in Library Publishing
Robert Martinengo: The Marrakesh Treaty is a Lose-Lose Proposition for Publishers
Chloe Fells and Michael Hardesty: PNAS Accessibility Roadmap
Advancing Accessibility Education in Library Publishing
The Pennsylvania State University Libraries Open Publishing Program publishes scholarly annotated bibliographies, journals, monographs, and topical web portals in partnership with editors and authors across Penn State and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Making the content that we host freely available and accessible to all is a core value and part of how we measure success within our library publishing program. We are continually looking for ways to enhance our accessibility workflows and lessen the burden on editors as they make their content accessible.
To this end, we began providing accessibility training in 2020 for editors of new journals supported by our program. The pilot program included providing information on how to make journal articles accessible in Word, PDF, InDesign, and HTML formats. The feedback from these trainings and a needs assessment survey we sent to all our editors in early 2020 were used to create and customize an “Accessibility Handout for Editors” document. All the feedback and information are also being collected and organized for use in an accessibility training module Penn State Libraries Open Publishing hopes to have ready for internal use in the next 1-2 years.
In this presentation, we will review the steps used to create the accessibility handout, how we customized our accessibility trainings for new editors, and the plans for a future accessibility training module for our editors, especially as part of the onboarding process for new publications. Additionally, we will share about the accessibility training and discussions the Penn State Libraries Open Publishing program staff participates in monthly in order to continually improve our knowledge of accessibility and improve our program's services.
Ally Laird is the Open Publishing Program Coordinator for the Open Publishing Program at Penn State University Libraries. Ally has been in the publishing industry for 9 years, beginning her career with a small academic publisher before moving to Springer Nature. Ally moved to library-based publishing in 2017 when she started at Penn State and loved that she could marry her passions for libraries and academic publishing into a single career. Her desire to make content openly available quickly grew and expanded into a desire to ensure that “openness” extends to all forms of accessibility for all users. Ally is very active within the Library Publishing Coalition and currently serves the community as the Treasurer for the LPC Board.
Angel Peterson is the Open Publishing Production Specialist within the Open Publishing Program at Penn State University Libraries. Angel has worked for Penn State Libraries for 14 years in several departments. For the past year and a half, she has worked for the Open Publishing Program. Creating accessible content has been a passion of hers for many years and she hopes to be able to continue to improve upon the services the program provides their editors, in hopes of making content open and accessible. Angel serves on the DEI Committee of the Library Publishing Coalition.
The Marrakesh Treaty is a Lose-Lose Proposition for Publishers
The goal of the Marrakesh Treaty to Facilitate Access to Published Works for Persons Who Are Blind, Visually Impaired or Otherwise Print Disabled (VIP) is to create mandatory limitations and exceptions for the benefit of the blind, visually impaired, and otherwise print disabled persons. The Treaty entered force on September 30, 2016. But rather than encouraging publishers to offer accessible products, the Treaty creates incentives for non-profit agencies to build unaccountable, walled gardens of free content for the print-disabled, further separating them from mainstream publishing. Proponents of the Treaty used emotionally charged language to paint VIP's as victims of a "book famine", and they continue to oppose publisher-friendly provisions as countries adopt the Treaty. The Treaty has inverted common sense, but there are still ways to bring authors and publishers together with readers with disabilities that do not promote segregation. I have been making textbooks accessible to students with disabilities for over twenty years. I have come to understand technology is not the main barrier to accessible publishing. The roots of the problem lie in the 'non-profit charity industrial complex', and that is where I am focusing my efforts.
Robert Martinengo has been a trailblazer in accessible publishing for education for over twenty years, including managing the AccessText Network as it grew to 100,000 requests annually. He is currently working on a new regulatory framework for a more accessible internet.
PNAS Accessibility Roadmap
Equitable publishing is a hot topic in the industry, and making content accessible to the largest number of readers is the hottest of hot topics. But how do journals, and notably self-published nonprofit journals, make content accessible to readers with disabilities? A new, proactive approach is needed to make strides in equitable, inclusive, and accessible content; journals should be driving this process through creative ingenuity that is Pareto improving for its authors and readers—trading yesterday’s static content for dynamic and interactive solutions that improve accessibility. PNAS shares our own roadmapping experience to illustrate potential ways to put accessibility principles into practice today. Our upcoming platform migration provided an excellent opportunity to put accessibility at the heart of what we do, allowing us to focus on optimal design and functionality.
Chloe Fells is currently a Production Editor with the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. She has Masters in Professional Studies in Publishing from GW and has a background working on accessible materials. After a first office job lead to working with vendors to convert materials into braille and other accessible formats, she has since pursued her passion for accessible publishing by leading efforts to enact inclusive language policies and acting as a leading member of the PNAS Accessibility Working Group.
In his current role as the Digital Product Manager for PNAS, Michael Hardesty manages the product roadmap and leads digital strategy for the society publishing program. A self-anointed generalist, he applies a mix of user experience design, data analytics and usability research to his work. Seeking out ways to make scholarly content more accessible for all stakeholders is key to scientific communication and a central component to the PNAS product development process.
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2:45-3:00 Break
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3:00-4:00 Advancing Inclusion and Eliminating Barriers to the Profession of Publishing
Nicole Zamudio-Román: Diversity and Inclusion: Disability in the Publishing Industry
Davida Breier and Diem Bloom: Intersectional Inclusion, A FLI-Centered Approach to Diversifying Internships
Diversity and Inclusion: Disability in the Publishing Industry
Porter Anderson, in Publishing Perspective, frames the data of the 2015 Lee & Low Diversity in Publishing survey as “Diversity is Not Created Equal.” Only 8% identified as disabled. In Lee &Low’s 2019 Diversity in Publishing survey, 11% of employees identified as being disabled/chronologically ill/neuro divergent. Yet “the common advice for those who pursuing careers in publishing who can't work in an office or can't afford to move for a job is to freelance” (Publishing Perspectives); and disabled/chronically ill/neurodivergent people are “more likely to be self-employed than non-disabled people” (Publisher's Weekly). The challenges of freelance careers, however, can include long hours, uncertain income streams, and lack of employer-provided health insurance. Will remote, work-from-home policies, on the rise as one effect of the pandemic, increase opportunities for disabled/chronically ill/neurodivergent people? How can the publishing industry work to improve the way it values its disabled and marginalized staff?
Nicole M. Zamudio-Román is a graduate student at GW's MPS in Publishing program. She has worked in various jobs in publishing from acquisitions editor to typesetter to social media marketing coordinator. Her publishing passions include promoting diversity in the workplace and in literature (particularly Latinx, disabled, and BIPOC voices). She hopes to one day teach publishing at the scholarly level.
Intersectional Inclusion: A FLI-Centered Approach to Diversifying Internship
Publishing’s diversity issues are as class-based as they are race-based. A tradition of unpaid internships, education requirements, and network preferences have created barriers to entry that reinforce a closed ecosystem. Drawing on their own experiences as first-generation and low-income (FLI) students who were never able to intern, Diem Bloom and Davida Breier are developing a new publishing internship program as part of Johns Hopkins University Press’s strategic Equity, Justice, and Inclusion (EJI) initiative. This intersectional approach, focusing on FLI students, seeks to structure a program that intentionally identifies and then tries to eliminate barriers to participation. The program is also being designed to provide leadership and development opportunities for staff to support and nurture the diversity that already exists in the industry. This presentation will share information about the approach, collected data, and lessons learned.
Diem Bloom joined Johns Hopkins University Press in 2021 as the Director of Publishing Operations. In this role she oversees the Design, Manuscript Editorial, and Production departments for the Books division. She has extensive industry experience and has worked for publishers in the US, including Oxford University Press, Wolters Kluwer, Simon & Schuster, and the Modern Language Association, as well as for Newgen, a publishing services supplier in India. Diem received her BA in English from Dartmouth College.
Davida Breier is the Co-director of Marketing and Sales (Books division) and the Director of Hopkins Fulfillment Services (HFS) at Johns Hopkins University Press (JHUP). Prior to joining JHUP, she was Marketing Director at National Book Network and Sales and Marketing Director at Biblio Distribution. Davida has been published by No Voice Unheard, VRG, and Microcosm Publishing, all nonprofit publishers. Her debut novel, Sinkhole, will be published by the University of New Orleans Press in May 2022. Davida has her BFA (summa cum laude) from West Chester University of Pennsylvania.
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4:00-4:15
break
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4:15-5:30 Closing Plenary: Toward Pay Equity in Publishing Careers
Becca Bostock, Dawn Durante, Dominique Moore, Amy Sherman
Moderated by Alice Meadows
It’s a commonplace that no one goes into a publishing career for the money. And yet, publishing is a profession, and while it can be a rewarding career without the expectation of riches, the issue of pay equity, especially concerns around early career pay equity and inclusion, and gender- and racial-based pay equity, needs closer examination. Many early- and mid-career professionals are compelled to take on freelancing or other “side hustles,” an option that is not available to many.
At the Association of University Presses’ 2021 Annual Meeting, Rebecca (Becca) Bostock and Dominique (Dom) J. Moore facilitated a Collaboration Lab on Early Career Pay Equity and Inclusivity, and presented the results of a survey on the topic that they carried out earlier this year, with the goal of “starting a conversation around early-career pay equity to expand current conversations around diversity and inclusivity in the AUPresses community.” A Scholarly Kitchen post continued the thread, moderated by Alice Meadows. A subsequent guest post on the H-Net Book Channel blog by Amy Sherman, published by Dawn Durante, built on the conversation.
Becca Bostock is an Associate Editor and Subventions Coordinator at The Ohio State University Press, acquiring in Victorian Studies. You can follow her on Twitter @becca_bostock.
Dawn Durante is Editor in Chief at the University of Texas Press and acquires books in the fields of Black studies, gender studies, history, American studies, and sports. Before joining Texas, she acquired at University of Illinois Press and interned at University of Arizona Press. She has an MA in Literature and a Scholarly Publishing Graduate Certificate from Arizona State University. You can follow her on Twitter @dawnd.
Alice Meadows is Director of Community Engagement at the National Information Standards Organization (NISO), and previously held a similar position at ORCID. Before that, she worked for many years in marketing and communications roles at scholarly publishers including Blackwell Publishing and Wiley. Alice is active in the scholarly communications community, including serving as President of the Society for Scholarly Publishing (2021-22) and contributing regularly to The Scholarly Kitchen blog. She is passionate about improving diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in our community and has written and spoken widely on this topic. You can follow Alice on Twitter at @alicejmeadows.
Dominique J. Moore acquires in American ethnic studies; Black studies; and women, gender, and sexuality studies at the University of Illinois Press. Previously, she worked as an assistant editor at the University of North Carolina Press and was the 2019 Mellon University Press Diversity Fellow at the Ohio State University Press. Her academic background includes a BA in English with a minor in gender and women’s studies at UIUC and an MA in African American studies, with a literary focus, from UCLA. She appreciates projects that use interdisciplinary methods to discuss marginalized groups and their material lives and is particularly interested in scholars that grapple with identity, shared experiences, and daring to exist in the world. One question Dominique likes to see authors tackle: How do marginalized people assert themselves and establish communities in ways that defy time and space?
Amy Sherman is currently the managing editor at the University of Pittsburgh Press, and has also worked as a freelance editor for most of her career. She got her start in publishing as an editorial assistant at the University Press of Kansas.
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5:30-end Closing remarks, John Warren and Puja Telikicherla
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