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2025 SSP EPIC Awards Celebration
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2025 SSP EPIC Awards Celebration
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Good evening and welcome to the first ever SSP epic awards celebration. It's not often. It's not often that we get to say we were there at the beginning, but tonight we're making history. Thank you for joining us. As we celebrate innovation and creativity in scholarly publishing and communications.
The epic awards were established to honor organizations and the teams that power them, making significant strides in advancing scholarly communication by acknowledging high caliber work. This program sets a benchmark for excellence, inspiring others within the industry to push the boundaries of what is possible. Please join me in welcoming our host for this evening, Gwen Wertz and Anna jester, who will guide us through tonight's celebration of excellence and achievement.
Good evening, distinguished guests and leaders in scholarly publishing. I'm Gwen Wertz, and I am thrilled to be your co-host for this inaugural event. And I am Anna jester. Also honored to be co-hosting this particularly unprecedented event.
Tonight marks the beginning of a new tradition for the Society of scholarly publishing, one that recognizes the brilliant minds and groundbreaking work that move our industry forward. Gwen, does the audience know what Epic stands for Oh, I think it's exceptional publishers and competition. I thought it was every proofreaders, caffeinated or every paper is copy edited.
One can hope. Yeah no, I remember it is excellence in publishing, information technology and communications. The T is silent epic. Scholarly publishing does not usually get the glamour treatment of the entertainment awards industry that we see on TV. There aren't usually red carpet interviewers saying, who are you wearing tonight.
Just Jennifer and Heather tonight, showering us all with the compliments. I'm pretty sure I know who Jennifer's favorite outfit. She wasn't wearing was in fact. Yeah, and you look dazzling. When I walked on stage, I did have a flashback to my high school show choir days. There were so many sequins. 27 years later, I can still remember all of the words to rem's it's the end of the world as we know it, which feels like the theme song of right now.
Yeah, we should karaoke after this yeah, yeah. Heather Heather. Yeah so, yeah, I know before I promised any performances that make me, like, question my life choices, we should probably move on. That's right. Nobody wants us to sing. Just like nobody wants me to corner them at the welcome reception again while I rant about paper Mills and rage quote scholarly kitchen posts at them yes, yes.
But the scholarly kitchen, where the chefs and often their sous chefs, are always covering the latest ingredients and processes that contribute to what I tend to think of as scholarly publishing. Lasagna frequently includes something very salty. Might seem a little spicier the next day, and absolutely has many, many layers. I heard the chefs have a secret recipe for the perfect peer reviewed pizza.
Ooh, really. What's in it. It starts with a dash of constructive criticism, a sprinkle of insightful comments and at least a pinch of where do you declare exactly how and with which versions you use I. Yeah speaking of that, I disclose right now. We used Copilot and Claude in April. That's right.
That sounds delicious. And I've always wondered, do they have a special dish for handling retractions? Yes it's called the retraction souffle. It rises beautifully, but it deflates quickly when the sleuths deduce the data was cooked. That's right. Classic and let's not forget about the famous impact factor stew.
It's a hearty mix of citations, journal prestige, and just a touch of controversy. Not everyone finds it adorable. We do generally avoid controversy here at SSP. No we don't. Yes we do. No we don't. Yes we do.
No we don't. Yes we do. Yes we do. Anything you can publish, I can publish better. I can publish anything better than you. No you can't. Yes I can. No you can't. Yes I can.
Ladies, ladies, ladies. Sadly, the annual meeting planning committee did not actually accept a musical session this year. Apologies well. Sad emails. Yes OK. So, Anna, tell the audience your thoughts about SSP this year. Oh, well, Quinn, I mean, subacute sclerosing panencephalitis is a rare and progressive neurological disease caused by a persistent infection with the measles virus.
No no no no no no. I was talking about SSP, the Society for scholarly publishing. This SSP. Yes yes. Acronyms do get us into trouble. Scholarly publishing has its own unique vocabulary that can baffle outsiders. It really does.
And in fact, to this day, my husband loves to ask me, what is your ORCID. Yes Yeah for example. Well, I looked up the Rose orchid to locate the Doi of that paper she co-published with the EIC, demonstrating the Roi of volunteer peer review activity Because I needed her arm with proper PMC compliance before the VPR could be posted onto our air with proper cc-by licensing, which did need to be updated in the JAKs XML.
Yes 10. Yes one paragraph. Seriously, I think we need an SSP sub subcommittee tasked with just creating an index of all the acronyms and persistent identifiers our new hires have to learn. Great idea Melanie. Would you take care of that. Well, speaking of persistent identifiers, there are so many more than just Doi and raw and ORCID, for example.
Anna, have you ever heard of uuids? Oh, I don't know where Melanie is. I'm pretty sure she told us we can't talk about things like that tonight. That is. No, no, no, I meant universally unique identifiers. Yeah oh, jeez. I feel like I just saw my career evaporate in real time. I've heard that happens to scientists on occasion on pubpeer.
I mean, a science sleuth will casually drop a comment like your p value seems suspiciously convenient. And I have questions about your Western blot. And there goes tenure. That's right. Pubpeer is where scientists go to passive aggressively. Say, now, I'm not saying that you fabricated your data, but your results are about as reproducible as my attempt to make sourdough during the pandemic.
Like, sure, it worked once under very specific conditions that no one can seem to recreate. Yeah, yeah. Speaking of things that we can recreate, have you ever played what's the difference from the podcast go fact yourself and that's fact. Go fact yourself. Oh, yes. Sure yeah.
Let's discuss a few things that are alike in some ways, but have important differences. OK, let's do it. So, Gwen, what's the difference between CC BY and CC BY. In C and D. OK I believe it's the amount of TLDR. Oh yes. How about this one. What's the difference between a plenary speaker and a keynote speaker.
OK I think the keynote speaker was asked second. Yeah oh, goodness. We really might get into trouble. OK last one's for you. What is the difference between an email and a Zoom call. Yes well, as always, one of them could have been the other. Yes but also email lets you know if people know how to structure sentences and paragraphs. And Zoom lets you know if their bookcase is organized by color, cover or topic or author.
Yeah that's right. Well, unlike those other award shows, we promise to keep this one under four hours. Yes that is our commitment to you. We know the preview session is at nine tomorrow morning. That's right. Yes well, in all seriousness, what happens in our industry matters deeply. The work we are celebrating tonight connects researchers, advances human knowledge, and ultimately helps solve some of the world's most pressing problems.
Yes tonight, we honor excellence across 22 different categories that showcase the incredible breadth of innovation in scholarly publishing. So, without further ado, let's begin recognizing the outstanding achievements that make our community so extraordinary. All right, we're ready. All right.
Publications are at the core of our business and community. These awards recognize outstanding writing content, design consistency, reader experience, and overall packaging of print or digital journals, books, short form content, magazines and reports. Peer reviewed journal publication remains the trusted and integral cornerstone of research, as is evidenced by these two winners of the journals.
Award the silver award for Excellence in journals goes to the American Association of Critical Care Nurses. Critical care nurse, December 2024. Thank you.
You should be fine. And the Gold Award for Excellence in journals goes to Wolters Kluwer health American Journal of nursing. A.j.m congratulations. Congratulations Thank you.
While some say the book is mainly a historical artifact that gives you a way to avoid eye contact while on any form of public transportation. Our next category proves that scholarly books are very much alive and thriving in New and exciting ways. Entries to this category were required to be comprehensive, in-depth works of scholarship that provide detailed exploration and analysis of specific topics, including monographs, edited volumes, and reference works.
And the silver award for Excellence in books. Goes to American Society for nondestructive testing. Nondestructive testing handbook. Thermal and infrared.
The Gold Award for Excellence in books goes to American Academy of Pediatrics, the trauma informed pediatric practice.
Our next award, whose description is rather fantastically one of the longest of the nights, is short form content. This includes concise, focused pieces such as newsletters and blogs that aim to quickly disseminate specific findings, insights, and original commentary on issues, events and people. These provide timely updates and contribute to ongoing discussions within academic or professional fields, allowing researchers and professionals to share information without the extensive format of full length articles or books.
Proving that brevity is indeed the soul of wit, these pieces deliver maximum impact with minimum words. The silver award for Excellence in short form content goes to Wolters Kluwer health Asa monitor today. And the Gold Award for Excellence in short form content goes to.
Ars science advisor. For scholarly magazines or periodical publications that feature articles, commentary, news and reviews on various topics related to a specific academic or professional field.
They aim to inform, engage, and provide insights on current trends, issues, and developments within the field, blending rigor with readability, these magazines bridge the gap between scholarly research and broader audiences with style and substance. The silver award for Excellence in magazines goes to frontiers Research Foundation, frontiers for young minds.
And the Gold Award for Excellence in magazines goes to Wolters Kluwer health, brain and life. The next award is for scholarly reports, which are detailed documents like toolkits, standards, guidelines, conference proceedings and published separately from a magazine, newsletter, or journal.
Reports present research findings, data analysis, or an investigation on specific topics issued on a one time or annual basis. Transforming data and findings into compelling narratives. This report demonstrates that scholarly communication can be both rigorous and riveting. For this award, we have just one winner. The silver award for Excellence in reports goes to RTI press. The impact of police violence on communities.
And student run research journals publish original research, reviews and scholarly articles across various academic disciplines.
The future of scholarly publishing is in good hands, as evidenced by this outstanding, student led research journal. And once again, we have just one winner. The Gold Award for Excellence in Student journals research goes to George Washington University. Graduate program in publishing. GW journal of ethics and publishing.
All right, everyone, we are making excellent progress. Just like the journal guideline updates that have been sitting on my desk for the past three months, we are moving right along. I think we deserve a moment to appreciate how far publishing technology has come. Remember when manuscript submission meant mailing physical copies. Probably three with a cover letter and waiting months potentially just to confirm receipt.
I'm dating myself, but I have legitimately seen an outgoing editor hand a box of printed manuscripts to an incoming editor. Yep and do you remember when checking page proofs meant fedexing marked up galley copies back and forth across continents between authors and publishers. Remember when advance access meant being physically present at the library the day the journal arrived.
That's right. Or when creating a journal index meant physically cutting and pasting entries onto layout boards. Those of you who started your careers measuring article length in column inches are nodding your heads right now. I still have nightmares about formatting reference lists by hand. Am CS MLA APA, Chicago.
It's like preparing for three different blind dates simultaneously, and all of them are very picky about comma placement. Speaking of Chicago, did you hear that. We have Chicago Pope now. I did hear that. I think it's only fair that we also get an m.l.a. Pope, an APA Pope, a CSI Pope and an AM Pope. Yes, yes.
Oh, just imagine the papal letters. Thou shalt not use the Oxford comma. And another Pope would declare that references shall be cited in alphabetical order, rather than the order of appearance. Perhaps the new Chicago Pope will excommunicate anyone using more than three authors before et Al. Probably I think we finally found something more divisive than business models.
So with that, it is time to initiate our next category. These next awards recognize outstanding efforts in implementing social initiatives and providing training programs within scholarly, publishing and adjacent communities. These initiatives are designed to create a positive impact, foster inclusive environments, and equip individuals with skills and knowledge about scholarly publishing or the publishing process.
The first award celebrates programs that align with and support the United Nations sustainable development goals within the context of scholarly publishing. Publishing isn't just about sharing knowledge, it's about changing the world. These award winners are being recognized for initiatives that align scholarly communications with the global goals that matter most. The silver award for Excellence in sustainable development goals implementation goes to CFA Institute investment innovations toward achieving net zero.
The Gold Award for Excellence in sustainable development goals. Implementation goes to integra water conservation, aquifer recharge and private forest creation.
Knowledge transfer is at the heart of what we do, and education and training initiatives prepare the next generation of scholarly publishing professionals. These award winners have enhanced the skills and knowledge of our community. The silver award for Excellence in publishing, education and training initiatives goes to George Washington University graduate program in publishing.
Student journalists symposium for literary and research publications.
The Gold Award for Excellence in publishing, education and training initiatives goes to IOP publishing, enhancing reviewer inclusion through code review.
Today more than ever, we must acknowledge and celebrate programs designed to promote diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility in our community. These initiatives aren't just checking boxes, they are transforming our industry from the inside out, making scholarly publishing more representative, accessible, and equitable for all. The silver award for Excellence in diversity, equity and inclusivity or Accessibility Initiative goes to Brown University library.
Digital publications. Born Digital Scholarly publication.
Is the Gold Award for Excellence in diversity, equity, inclusivity or accessibility initiatives. Goes to. University of split. School of Medicine giving voice project.
So we'll hand out that award later. Yes it can be hard to get to Baltimore. Yeah am the only person who persistently says, good morning. Good afternoon. Please and thank you to Copilot and Claude. No, no, no. I do it, too. I think there is a decent chance that I will be in charge of humans in the next 10 years, and I want it to remember I was nice to it.
Yes, exactly. I can't really remove. I can't believe how quickly we moved from gender dysphoria to not sure how I used to actually take meeting notes without this. No, no. Did you know that, according to a recent Harvard Business Review article in 2020 for the top use of generative AI was idea generation in 2025.
It's therapy that is so 2025. That's right. Maybe you should talk to Claude about that. I hear it's very understanding. Yeah, I get it, though. It's very positive. Gen AI. A few months ago, I said, Claude, what do you think about a book on the history of peer review.
And it confirmed the idea was amazing. Original, and sure to be a bestseller. That's right. Yes generative AI is like an affectionate golden retriever licking my hand, giving me constant affirmation that I am wonderful, smart, creative, and that the 45 slides I drafted for my 10 minute SSP educational session are going to be very well paced. Yes wonderful.
Yes, it actually reminds me a lot of Clippy, that eager Microsoft Word avatar that was so desperate to help me format business letters, which I've never that's right. That's right. Oh, hey, it looks like you're trying to write an awards acceptance speech. Do you need help making that longer and more self-congratulatory?
Yes if we were living right now in an episode of Scooby Doo, you could pull the mask off. Copilot and it would be Clippy. That's right. I'm just saying. Oh, but seriously, I. Buzz aside, what we are celebrating tonight is human creativity, innovation, and collaboration. This next category of awards recognizes outstanding original, promotional or informative audiovisual content.
The media category celebrates creativity, technical skill, and the effectiveness of these projects in engaging audiences and enhancing the dissemination of scholarly knowledge. Submissions to our video or film category included short films, author interviews, video abstracts, promotional trailers, video series, and social video content. Moving images move us in ways text alone cannot.
These videos and films represent the cutting edge of visual scholarly communication. The silver award for Excellence in video film goes to impact journals, LLC. Longevity and aging series. We have depth.
And the Gold Award for Excellence in video film goes to. Springer Nature. Showcasing oh, research.
Our next award is for podcasts. Oh, I love podcasts. What do you listen to so many. Small town murder. My favorite murder. Morbid love. Murder yeah. I love this to death for you. Yes, yes.
I also, though, enjoy fictional accounts of this genre with a preference for very weird music, such as the midsomer murders theme. Anybody else out there. Yeah I also really appreciate well-dressed detectives. My husband has asked me many times when David suchet has been on my screen, are you watching murder again. And I always say, no, I'm watching.
Solving oh, you kill me. Yes back to the topic. These podcast award winners are being celebrated for turning scholarly discourse into engaging audio experiences. These podcasts bring research to life. The silver award for Excellence in podcasts goes to triple R's science.
And the Gold Award for Excellence in podcasts goes to Ithaca. JSTOR daily conversations on intellectual humility. And they say a picture is worth a thousand words, but data visualizations are worth volumes of research.
Making complex information simultaneous. Pardon me simultaneously accessible and beautiful, is truly an art form. That's right. And we have one winner. The silver award for Excellence in data visualization goes to American Society of Anesthesiologists, infographics and anesthesiology.
Breaking out of traditional formats. These projects reimagine what scholarly communication can be in the digital age, crossing boundaries and engaging audiences in New ways, using multiple forms of media to tell a story or explore a topic. These projects integrate text, video, audio, data visualization, and interactive elements to create a comprehensive and engaging experience. We have one winner.
The silver award for Excellence in narrative multidisciplinary digital projects goes to cactus communications, transforming open access workflows with editors.
All right. We are three categories in. It's time to shake out your hands. You have been clapping a lot. Do a little finger exercises. For those of you who are playing the epic awards drinking game at your table, taking a sip every time one of US says innovation or creativity, I hope you have paced yourselves. Yes, you might even be needing a bio break by now, but you will have to wait.
We've got more to celebrate. We have this next category of awards recognizes strategic, well coordinated efforts and outstanding writing, content design and social media for digital and print sales, marketing, and communication materials and campaigns. These awards highlight strategic, well coordinated efforts that effectively promote scholarly communication.
Great marketing campaigns don't just capture attention, they inspire action. Drink if you're playing drink. Yeah, yeah. Thank you. These nominees have created innovative campaigns. Again that resonated deeply with their audiences and achieved remarkable results. The silver award for Excellence in campaigns goes to Wiley, forward bound for next Gen researchers.
The Gold Award for Excellence in campaigns goes to Ithaca.
Eclipse engagement in prisons. Social media platforms are powerful tools to promote scholarly publications or services and engage with the academic or publishing community in an increasingly noisy digital landscape, these social media presences have cut through the clutter to build meaningful communities and conversations.
The silver award for Excellence in social presence goes to Wolters Kluwer health, brain and life. Sciences the Gold Award for Excellence in social presence goes to ahs science.
Instagram the award for branding recognizes efforts to create and maintain a recognizable brand identity for scholarly publications or services in scholarly publishing.
A strong brand isn't just about recognition, it's about trust, quality, and values. These nominees have mastered the art of communicating who they are and what they stand for. The silver award for Excellence in branding goes to cell press. 50 scientists that inspire.
Them the Gold Award for Excellence in branding goes to the Brill brand.
Sometimes the supporting materials tell a story as compelling as the main content. Media kits are substantial, supporting materials designed to promote scholarly publications or services to media potential authors, readers, or users. These award winners submitted media kits and collateral pieces that demonstrate exceptional creativity and effectiveness. The silver award for Excellence in media kit collateral goes to orchid orchids community trust network.
The Gold Award for Excellence in media. Kit collateral goes to Wiley. The conversations.
All right, everyone. Final category. Don't worry. Unlike a research integrity investigation, I promise we will wrap this up before next year's annual meeting. Now Anna, I was at a dinner party a few nights ago. And of course, this conversation does. Someone asked me, what do you do for a living.
And I explained that I work in scholarly publishing. And of course, they said so textbooks. I get that all the time. Yes yeah. I tried to explain open access to my grandfather. Now he thinks I work for a very fancy doorman. Service for academics. Open closed. Open in previous roles, the number of times I just said, yeah, I just work for a software company and left it at that.
Yeah that's right. Well, to conclude this epic award ceremony, we will celebrate the real software that makes our industry shine. In research integrity, understanding your tools is essential. Present a glass of fizzy liquid to different observers and you will get different results.
And optimists will report its half full. A pessimist might say it's half empty, but if you entered that in Microsoft Excel, it will confidently inform you that glasses were January to full and January 2 empty. Oh that's right. Well, let's get on to honoring the people who wrote some user instructions. Our final awards category recognizes an outstanding product, service, or feature that provides a service or adds value at any point in the publication life cycle.
The first step in that cycle is the submission system, which is ideally seamless for authors, editors, and reviewers. The winners in the submission system feature category have redefined what authors, reviewers, and editors should expect. The silver award for Excellence in submission system feature goes to Springer Nature. Snap and the Gold Award for Excellence in submission system feature goes to River Valley technologies review 3.0. Next Gen peer review.
Behind every great publication is a platform that makes the experience harmonious for users. Good hosting platforms contain features that improve the accessibility, readability, and user experience of hosting and managing scholarly content. These nominees have elevated what a hosting platform can be. That's right. The silver award for Excellence in hosting platforms feature goes to University of Michigan Press fund Domitian program.
Here it is. Oh, yes. And the Gold Award for Excellence in hosting platforms.
Feature goes to research solutions site smart citations.
There are many standalone tools designed to assist authors in preparing, formatting, submitting, and promoting their manuscripts, but this year's award winners have products that truly make authors lives easier and their work more impactful. These tools are the unsung heroes behind the scenes of great research. The silver award for Excellence in author tools feature goes to cactus communications paper pal.
And the Gold Award for Excellence in author tools feature goes to Cassini author seminars.
Trust is the currency of scholarly publishing, and bad actors like paper Mills and citation cartels are tirelessly working to undermine that trust. In very recent history, research integrity tools have emerged to safeguard the scholarly record. Gwen, how many new competing research integrity software products have been announced in the last two years. Oh, maybe 08 or 09. What we really need is one platform to unite them all.
We do need that, and that is why we'll have 10 competing research integrity platforms by the end of the week. Yes, yes, it's one of the most certain things we'll say yes. That said, competition is a strong signal that a need exists. And these. Award winners are leading the way. The silver award for Excellence in integrity tools feature goes to Wiley research exchange submission and screening.
Tools and the Gold Award for Excellence in integrity tools feature goes to clear skies oversight.
Innovation comes in many forms, and these tools and products defy easy categorization while solving real problems for the scholarly publishing community.
That's right. Every good award ceremony has another category. Yes, and these other tools include features that do not fit into the other categories and yet significantly contribute to the publishing process. They could include tools related to data usage, accessibility, supplementary materials, code and data repositories, preprints, user activity tracking, or advertising management.
The silver award for Excellence in other tools products feature goes to Inigo and Charlesworth. Gateway notification services for global messenger apps.
What an incredible showcase. Did I skip one. I'm not going to close yet because we have to do a gold. Who is the Gold Ward in excellence in other tools products feature goes to copyright Clearance Center. Oh, intelligence. Thank you. I was going to wrap it up here. No yep.
All right. This has truly been an incredible showcase of talent, innovation and dedication that we have witnessed tonight. What's truly remarkable about our industry. We're essentially in the business of helping smart people share good ideas with other smart people who can use them to make the world better.
That's right. When you strip away the jargon and the systems and the politics, that's what remains. And it's pretty special. Before we wrap up, we want to extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who made this evening possible. The epic awards judges who reviewed many, many submissions. And the epic awards task force, who made the fateful decision to put us on stage as hosts.
The SSP staff who organized this wonderful event, especially Kristin Pruitt and Tracy Mitchell, who did a ton of work to make this evening sparkle great. Sickening well deserved. Props to Kristin and Tracy, and increasingly importantly, to all of you who continue to push the boundaries of what's possible in scholarly communication.
The work celebrated tonight reminds us that scholarly publishing isn't just about disseminating information. It's about transforming knowledge into impact. Each nominee and winner has contributed to that mission in their own unique way. As we close this inaugural ceremony, let's carry the inspiration from tonight forward. The epic awards may be new, but the excellence they celebrate has long been a hallmark of our community.
Tomorrow is the final day of the SSP 47th annual meeting. I hope you will take an opportunity to congratulate tonight's winners, network with colleagues, and perhaps even start planning your Epic award submission for next year. Thank you all. Good night and congratulations once again to our epic award winners.
Pumping up the volume with this brand new beat. Everybody's dancing and they're dancing with me. I can call anytime.