Wednesday 14th September – SpringerNature, 1 New York Plaza, Suite 4500, New York, NY 10004-1562


09:15     Registration

09:30     Welcome – David Glass*, Editor-in-Chief, Skeletal Muscle

Icebreaker – The challenges of peer review

09:45     Keynote: Strategic overview – Rachel Burley, Publishing Director

Editors will learn about how the company is currently performing globally, what has been happening with the merger and what it means for the future. Editors will also hear about the progress and plans for the website.

10:15     BioMed Central and SpringerOpen today and tomorrow

Our experts will discuss the innovations BioMed Central and SpringerOpen is involved in to address key issues in research and publishing.

Innovations in peer review – Sabina Alam, Chief Editor, BMC Medicine

Recognition and impact – Alison Mercer, Publisher

Open data – Barbara Cheifet, Senior Scientific Editor, Genome Biology

Reproducibility and transparency – Dylan Parker, Associate Publisher

11:15     Coffee break

11:45     Editor perspective on research waste – José Belizán*, Editor-in-Chief, Reproductive Health

12:00     Making good use of peer reviewers

Discussions will take place around how to find appropriate reviewers and how to give the right feedback to authors. The main challenges in peer review as nominated by editors will also be covered.

Barbara Cheifet, Senior Scientific Editor, Genome Biology

Sabina Alam, Chief Editor, BMC Medicine

Christopher Morrey, Senior Editor

12:45     Lunch

13:45     Workshop: Publishing ethics – Dealing with challenges (Breakout session)

Editors will hear about the most common types of publication ethics queries that the RIG team encounter and also discuss cases the Editors are most likely to be handling.

Group 1 – Stephanie Harriman, Medical Editor and Alison Mercer, Publisher

Group 2 – Maria Kowalczuk, Biology Editor and Julia Simundza, Editor

14:45     Coffee break

15:15     Editor perspective on journal promotion: Setting up author workshops at conferences – Ali Mobasheri*, Section Editor, BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders

15:30    Marketing update and advocacy workshop – Nyomi Anderson, Marketing specialist and Maureen Naff, Director (Author & Partner Marketing and Services)

Editors will learn about our marketing approach for 2017, our plans to refresh the BioMed Central brand followed by a workshop on becoming advocates for open access/research in North America.

16:00     Workshop: Managing and developing your journal (Breakout session)

Editors will divide into groups to discuss how to advocate for their journal, what makes their journal special, how to promote their journal and how to attract new submissions.

Group 1 – Alison Mercer, Publisher and Stefanie Howard, Acquisitions and Development Editor

Group 2 – Dylan Parker, Associate Publisher and Dana Berry, Journal Development Editor

Group 3 – Christopher Morrey, Senior Editor and Julia Simundza, Editor

17:00     Meet the staff drinks reception

Editors will be able to meet with in-house editors and our experts to discuss their journal and find out more about the following key topics, many of which are not covered in the main program:

  1. Research Integrity Group – Stephanie Harriman, Maria Kowalczuk
  2. Journal audits – Maria Kowalczuk
  3. Open data policy – Barbara Cheifet
  4. How to find a good repository and cite data – Barbara Cheifet
  5. Article metrics – Alison Mercer
  6. Indexing – Alison Mercer
  7. Supplements – Dylan Parker
  8. Manuscript transfers – Dylan Parker
  9. Transparency in medical research – Dylan Parker
  10. Marketing and article promotion – Nyomi Anderson
  11. Editor Tutorials online – Maria Kowalczuk

*Member of the Editors’ Advisory Group