APE 2023: Berlin Re-Visited: Building Technological Support for Scholarship and Scientific Publishing

October 27, 2022 – The International Open Access Week takes place every October. Numerous institutions and actors worldwide use this decentralized week of events to disseminate information on the topic of open access to scientific results, to draw attention to new trends and developments, and to network the community.

The international APE (Academic Publishing in Europe) conference in Berlin has been focusing on Open Access since 2006: What are the biggest challenges for researchers, publishers, librarians, and others involved in scholarly communication?

APE 2023: Berlin Re-Visited
Building Technological Support for Scholarship and Scientific Publishing
10-11 January 2023 in Berlin
Hybrid & Auditorium Maximum, ESMT Berlin, Schlossplatz 1, Berlin Mitte
www.ape2023.eu

Almost 20 years after the ‘Berlin Declaration on Open Access to Knowledge in the Sciences and Humanities’, the international conference APE (Academic Publishing in Europe) 2023 calls for action.

Out with the old, in with the new! Moving science forward means embracing disruption and innovation, rather than clinging to the old ways of doing things. Since 2004 a lot of progress has been made in Open Access, but in spite of the DEALS and a fast-growing number of transformative agreements, we are still far from a world with unlimited exchange of information. We need fewer barriers and better technology for equitable access and sustainable preservation. The multi-platform approach is hard to navigate through for researchers, librarians and information specialists.

Are we prepared for the global flip?

The reality today is that we still have to overcome many challenges around ‘digital transformation’. Current legacy tools/technology used within most publishers and institutions do not accommodate this massive and pivotal transition process. How can publishers and libraries respond to and support sustainability issues? And what does all this mean for technology and research infrastructure? Who is –or should be – responsible for what? What are the building blocks needed? There is a lot of work ahead
of us.

Trust, peer review, research integrity and existing technology that might bring us closer to solutions are not yet fully integrated in today’s workflows. In our (mostly) open world, creating, distributing and consuming information has never been easier. But how do you know what’s trustworthy? Paper mills, predatory publishers, and other players are contributing to a worrying decline in trust in scientific publications. Peer review, which plays such a central role in ensuring research integrity, is struggling to keep up with the vast amount of research being submitted for publication. The underlying data on which these publications are based often goes unchecked, eroding that trust still further. Peer review needs to be better understood and better supported; more support and should receive appropriate credit; and we must also address the responsibility (and expertise) of peer reviewers, as well as ensuring that they receive appropriate credit.

Discussion of scholarly publishing mostly refers to journal articles, however, publications are getting more and more modular (separate protocols, open data, preregistration, etc.). A new format on the block will be open and reproducible methods, which also deserve some discussion. Last but by no means least, what about books?

In short, what are the greatest challenges for researchers, publishers, librarians, and others involved in scientific communications?

In the APE 2023 conference, we will examine these and other timely topics with expert speakers, with ample time for discussions—and with a special focus on Early Career Researchers (ERCs), librarians and scholarly publishers.

Further information: www.ape2023.eu

APE 2023: Berlin Re-Visited
Building Technological Support for Scholarship and Scientific Publishing
10-11 January 2023

Satellite Event: At the Crossroads.
A Discussion between Early Career Researchers (ECRs) and Scholarly Publishers
9 January 2023

About the Berlin Institute for Scholarly Publishing (BISP) The Berlin Institute for Scholarly Publishing is organizing this international scientific conference since 2020. APE was founded by Arnoud de Kemp in 2006. BISP is a non-for-profit organization dedicated to bringing publishers, researchers, funders, and policymakers together. www.berlinstitute.org

Contact
Arnoud de Kemp, Chair APE Programme Committee, dekemp.ape2023@berlinstitute.org
Marta Dossi, Managing Director, BISP, marta.dossi@berlinstitute.org