Conference: Evolving in Publishing Ecosystem

University Of California - Merced, Merced CA

Investigators

Abstract

The goal of this award is to carry out a series of four events running in parallel with the 3rd Congress on Evolutionary Biology in Montreal, Canada, on July 27-30 that will bring diverse members of the evolutionary biology community together to discuss the predominant problems in the publishing ecosystem, to enunciate concerns about the selective pressures exerted by this system in the near and more-distant phases of their careers, and to identify actions that may be tractable for many and therefore effective for all. The current, predominantly for-profit, scientific publishing ecosystem has become untenable: it is broadly unaffordable, it disproportionately excludes underrepresented researchers, it relies on largely uncompensated scientific labor, and it intensifies the pressure to publish. There is little consensus about effective remedies to this system and limited unified action to effect change: researchers make private decisions about where to publish, individual editorial boards resign ad hoc, societies negotiate separately with for profit publishers, and the highly profitable publishing industry continues to take an increased share of research funding. The four events will include: (1) a pre-congress virtual workshop to census the global community, (2) an in-person pre-congress workshop focused on early career researchers, (3) a symposium at the Congress sharing with the community findings from the two workshops and perspectives from thought leaders on publishing change, and (4) a post-congress Working Group that will draft a white paper, a publication, and establish a consortium of scientific societies to effect long-term change. The activities will engage and learn from the experiences of evolutionary biologists globally and early career researchers who must be able to prosper in the current and future publishing ecosystem. Members of these groups, who are particularly at risk, will also have voices in the Symposium and Working Group to ensure that scoping and proposed action are representative and feasible. These activities will help empower future generations of scientists. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.