All conferences take planning and preparation, and often ingenuity, to handle unexpected mishaps. Despite the challenges of the pandemic, John W. Warren, director of our master’s in publishing program, still found a way to hold the 10th Annual Ethics in Publishing Conference.
“Thanks to the efforts of my conference co-organizer, Ms. Puja Telikicherla, and the support of the marketing team and others in the College of Professional Studies, we had an excellent turnout and response. We had 384 attendees overall and most of our attendees watched multiple presentations in the virtual platform,” said Warren.
The organizers canceled the original April 2020 conference date. Despite the delay, they redesigned the conference and virtually hosted it Oct. 28-30, 2020 on the Conduit platform (provided by Platform Q Education), instead of in GW’s Gelman Library in Washington, D.C.
This year's conference theme was “Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility,” with panel presentations and short talks on topics such as equity, inclusion, diversity, accessibility, sustainability, peer review and other issues of ethics in publishing. The free event targeted participation from publishers, librarians, students and researchers from all stages of their career.
The virtual program included 11 sessions and 22 speakers, with few variations from the original conference plan. There were more than 200 participants in most of the sessions.
GW’s publishing program hosted the event with three co-sponsors, the Association of University Presses (AUPresses), the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) and the Association of American Publishers.
Despite the complications of organizing this conference, Warren is counting it as a success. Some of the quotes received through the post-event participant survey include:
- Very well presented, energetic, and easy to understand!
- Excellent discussion! I really appreciate the work that each of these speakers has done in their institutions and beyond. As was said at the end, they demonstrated in their responses to questions how these sometimes difficult conversations can happen. Many thanks!
- All of the presentations today have been timely and thoughtfully produced. Thanks.
- This was excellent -- thank you. A little longer break in between sessions, please, in future! This was so good that I didn't want to step away for even a second, and the next session is coming up momentarily!
- The guest speakers are pretty informative, knowledgeable and fun!
- Excellent choice of speakers and a great way to set up the conference on the whole.
All of the event’s videos are available on YouTube. The following list of conference sessions also includes direct links to the individual videos for the sessions.
Opening Plenaries
- The Ethical Imperative of the University Press: Peter Berkery, Executive Director, Association of University Presses
- Developing a Culture of Dignity at Johns Hopkins University Press: Barbara Kline Pope, Director, Johns Hopkins University Press
Ethics in Peer Review during COVID-19
- Cheryl Johnson, Publishing Editor, Journals Department, American Psychological Association (APA)
- Lois Jones, Peer Review Manager, Journals Department, American Psychological Association (APA)
- Jenna Miley, Peer Review Coordinator, Journals Department, American Psychological Association (APA)
Author Harassment
- Randy Townsend, Director, Publications Operations, American Geophysical Union
Publishing and Inclusive Language
- Beth Bouloukos, Director at the Amherst College Press and Lever Press
- Elizabeth Crowley Webber, Senior Production Editor, Georgetown University Press
- Ana Jimenez-Moreno, Acquisitions Editor, Ohio State University Press
Antiracism Toolkit for Allies: Steps, Springboards, and Sparks
- Welcome and Opening Remarks: Puja Telikicherla, Licensing and Subsidiary Rights Manager, American Psychiatric Association Publishing; Adjunct Professor, Masters of Professional Studies in Publishing, George Washington University
- Niccole Leilanionapae‘aina Coggins, Editorial, Design, and Production Coordinator and Assistant Project Editor, University of Virginia Press
- Margaret Fraiser, Director of Diversity and Inclusion, American Geophysical Union
- Randy Townsend, Director, Publications Operations, American Geophysical Union (Facilitator)
Developing the App: Indigenous Guide to DC
- Dr. Elizabeth Rule, Director, AT&T Center for Indigenous Politics and Policy, George Washington University
Open Educational Resources
- Christopher J. Harris, Jr., MPS, Communications Instructor, Thomas Nelson Community College
Born Accessible: The Past, Present and Future of Accessibility in Publishing
- Bill Kasdorf, Principal, Kasdorf and Associates
Millennials and Manipulation
- Welcome by Randy Townsend, Director, Publications Operations, American Geophysical Union
- Josephine E. Sciortino, Managing Editor, Canadian Science Publishing
- Yael Fitzpatrick, Consulting Art Director and Brand Manager, Gazelle Design Consultancy
Ethics and Unethical Behavior
- Danielle Galian, Editor, Galian Omnimedia
- Erin Price, Senior Writer and Editor, Curie Learning
Closing Plenary
- Introduction: M. Luisa Simpson, Senior Vice President, Global Policy, Association of American Publishers
- The Recommended List: Ten Notes I’ve Learned from Diversity & Inclusion Efforts So Far, Elda Rotor, VP and Publisher, Penguin Classics, Penguin Random House