How publishing industry bodies are shaping a better future

In my 25+ years in academic publishing, I have consistently been impressed by the collaborative spirit of publishing industry colleagues as they tackle challenges impacting the research community and seize opportunities to help key stakeholders advance science. Central to this collaboration are industry bodies that establish standards, promote best practices, advocate for a policy environment that enables publishers to continue to safeguard the quality and integrity of the scientific record, and facilitate partnerships among key stakeholders. Here’s an overview of some of these organizations and Elsevier’s role within them.

Industry umbrella organizations

The International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers (STM) opens in new tab/window serves as the global trade association for leading scholarly publishers — big and small, commercial and non-commercial — and for organizations that support the scholarly publishing ecosystem. With close to 150 members from 17 countries, STM focuses on several key areas:

• Research integrity: Ensuring the credibility and trustworthiness of academic findings. To this end, STM has developed the STM Integrity Hub opens in new tab/window to advance research integrity through collaboration, policy and publishing standards.

• Social responsibility: Contributing positively to a more equitable, inclusive, and sustainable world.

• Open research: Ensuring research is perpetually accessible, linked and searchable.

• Standards and technology: Encouraging collaboration among members to advance open, trusted research.

At Elsevier, we’re proud to be an active member of STM: Laura Hassink opens in new tab/window, Managing Director STM Journals, and Judy Verses opens in new tab/window, President of Academic & Government Markets, both serve on STM’s board, and various colleagues participate on the committees that support STM’s priorities.

The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP) opens in new tab/window focuses on representing small publishers and societies, and we participate in this forum to ensure our society partners’ perspectives are heard. With 320 member organizations from 35 countries, ALPSP also hosts a well-attended annual conference and publishes the peer-reviewed journal Learned Publishing opens in new tab/window, which covers research, reviews, industry updates and opinions on all aspects of scholarly communication and publishing.

Elsevier colleagues regularly contribute to ALPSP committees, working groups and the annual conference.

Of particular relevance to societies working in the medical space, the Council of Medical Specialty Societies (CMSS) opens in new tab/window is a coalition of more than 50 organizations (representing more than 800,000 physicians and professionals) with the goal to advance the expertise and collective voice of specialty societies in support of physicians and the patients they serve. Many of our society partners are members of the CMSS and work to advance its strategic priorities: engaging community and building capacity, sharing learning and innovation, and addressing critical issues together.

The Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) opens in new tab/window brings together people from across scholarly publishing — including publishers, librarians and vendors — to discuss industry trends and challenges, share perspectives, and learn from each other’s experiences. Notably, SSP hosts an annual meeting focused on the latest industry trends and publishes the well-known blog The Scholarly Kitchen opens in new tab/window, which aims to advance scholarly publishing and communication through education, collaboration and networking.

Colleagues from across our organization take part in SSP initiatives, with Simon Holt opens in new tab/window, Head of Content Accessibility at Elsevier, serving on SSP’s Board of Directors. You can learn more about Elsevier’s work with SSP here.

The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) opens in new tab/window unites individuals involved in scholarly research and publication to strengthen support, education and discussion around publication ethics. As scrutiny in this area increases, COPE works to safeguard the integrity of the scholarly record for the public good. One notable initiative is United2Act opens in new tab/window — a joint initiative between COPE and STM where participants, including Elsevier, agreed on five key collaborative multi-stakeholder actions to address the problem of paper mills. Elsevier’s membership in COPE extends to the editors of our journals, granting them access to COPE guidelines, meetings and case forums.

Aside from these organizations, national trade associations across the globe enable us to keep informed of local priorities around the world.

Editor bodies

Numerous editor-focused groups exist to promote best practices in scholarly publishing. As an international membership organization for editorial professionals publishing in the sciences, the Council of Science Editors (CSE) opens in new tab/window is an authoritative resource on current and emerging issues in the communication of scientific information. As well as providing services and advice online, CSE holds an annual meeting that includes short courses on topics such as journal editorship, publication management, manuscript editing and journal metrics. Elizabeth Yepez opens in new tab/window, Business Development Manager in Elsevier’s society business development team, currently serves on the council’s Industry Advisory Board and Education Committee.

The International Society of Managing and Technical Editors (ISMTE) opens in new tab/window connects and educates professionals passionate about the operations of peer-reviewed publications, who often work behind the scenes. ISMTE provides peer-to-peer networking, education and training, and resources for best practices and journal policy development. Elsevier proudly serves as a corporate sponsor of ISMTE, benefiting from the many services it offers.

Other notable organizations include the European Association of Science Editors (EASE) opens in new tab/window, which strives to improve the global standard and quality of science editing, and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE opens in new tab/window), which focuses on improving the quality of medical science and its reporting. Elsevier’s Peer Review Innovation Lead, Dr Bahar Mehmani opens in new tab/window, serves on the EASE Council.

Other organizations

The National Information Standards Organization (NISO) opens in new tab/window is a nonprofit dedicated to developing and publishing technical standards for managing information. Elsevier’s Emily Singley opens in new tab/window, VP of North American Library Relations, serves on its board.

NISO’s initiatives include the Transfer Code of Practice opens in new tab/window, established in 2006 to address the challenges arising from the transfer of journal titles — typically society-owned — between publishers. The Transfer Code provides consistent guidelines to ensure that journal content remains accessible during such transitions and the transfer process occurs with minimal disruption. As an active member since its inception, Theresa Armstrong opens in new tab/window, Business Development Director on Elsevier’s society business development team, serves on the Transfer board and is involved in updating the latest iteration of the Transfer Code.

Crossref opens in new tab/window is the largest digital object identifier (DOI) Registration Agency under the International DOI Foundation. Its 19,000 members from 150 countries include publishers, libraries, research institutions and funding organizations. Since its inception in the early 2000s, Crossref has enabled persistent cross-platform citation linking for online academic journals, currently identifying and linking 150 million records of research metadata, which are typically deposited to Crossref via publishers. Rose L’Huillier opens in new tab/window, SVP of Researchers & Librarians Solutions at Elsevier, serves on Crossref’s governance board.

Recognizing individual contributions to scientific literature can be challenging due to, for instance, the non-uniqueness of personal names and cultural differences in naming conventions. The Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) opens in new tab/window aims to address this issue by providing unique, persistent identifiers for researchers. As an ORCID member, Elsevier facilitates the automatic sharing of peer review metadata with ORCID through our submission and peer review system, Editorial Manager.

That concludes our brief overview of some of the key industry organizations that are contributing to the advancement and development of the academic and professional publishing sector. As the legendary Helen Keller famously said opens in new tab/window, “Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.”