Where Do We Go From Here?

Abstract

In the end, 2020—the year that lasted forever—will likely be an accelerant. The lasting changes to scientific publishing and communication will be those that have been simmering for a while, but only came to a boil because of this turbulent year. One of the clearest examples of this is the likely permanence of the remote workplace for information workers, such as those in scholarly publishing. A look through the CSE Annual Meeting report archive will find a decade’s worth of articles on how to support a remote team, but many organizations remained hesitant or only allowed staff to work a few days from home. Now with everyone forced out of offices for what will likely be at least a year, many of those office spaces may not reopen, or when they do, they’ll shift focus to meeting spaces and shared desks for staff to use as needed. The full implication of this move is unknown, but one certain positive of the remote workforce is the pool of applicants for any position expands from a few dozen locals to literally thousands of potentially talented individuals. That change will be important as organizations attempt to address inequities brought to light (again) during the racial reckoning of this summer. The Coalition for Diversity and Inclusion in Scholarly Communications (C4DISC)1 was created in 2018 to specifically raise the issue of the importance of diversity in the publishing community, and this year pushed many organizations and publishers to proclaim that they will be making systematic […]