Detour Ahead! Planning for the Expected and Unexpected

Abstract

MODERATOR: Kelly A Hadsell Editorial Director KWF Editorial Baltimore, Maryland SPEAKERS: Jill Jackson Managing Editor and Publishing Administrator American College of Physicians/Annals Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Melissa B Schmidt Director, Journal of Osteopathic Medicine American Osteopathic Association Rockledge, Florida, United States Jessica Rucker Senior Director, Global Editorial Operations ACS Publications REPORTER: Grace Taylor Technica Editorial Services Carrboro, North Carolina In a brief introduction, moderator Kelly Hadsell kicked off the session. She reminded the attendees that the scholarly publishing field consists of detours, pivoting, and planning for the expected and unexpected, as the session title indicated. Referring to the COVID-19 pandemic, she said, “If we didn’t know that already, I think we’ve all really learned that in the last 14 months or so.” The session was divided into 3 topics: publisher transitions, the transition to fully online business practices, and internal succession planning. First, Melissa Schmidt of the Journal of Osteopathic Medicine shared strategies from her 19 y of experience for finding a new publisher or renewing a contract. She emphasized that although this kind of transition can bring expected and unexpected hiccups, it can also be an exciting process. She said, “It can be an opportunity to press the reset button, and if managed properly, it can give you the tools to streamline your workflow, have better tools for management overall, and can give you the opportunity to fix those pain points that might have been plaguing you before.” She suggested planning 18 mo in advance of the estimated publisher transition deadline […]