Panel Discussion on the Future of publishing in the quantitative life sciences

Organizers:

Reinhard Laubenbacher (University of Florida)

Description:

Scientific publishing is undergoing rapid changes, such as new publishing modalities and new financial models. Journal publishing is of great importance to SMB, both to assure that the mathematical biology community has appropriate publishing venues, and as a substantial source of revenue we can use to support our members. The Bulletin is currently published through a partnership with Springer-Nature. This panel discussion will address the publishing landscape we can expect in the future and what we can do to assure the success of SMB. It is imperative that the SMB membership understands these issues, as authors, editors, reviewers, and beneficiaries of SMB publishing. I will moderate the discussion, with panelists including the publication director at Springer-Nature, publisher of the Bulletin, the editor in chief of the Bulletin, and the former and current chairs of the SMB publication committee. Issues include the current problems with publishing in our scientific field, such as implementation of open access publishing, revenue sharing between commercial publishers and scientific societies, the reviewing process, the inappropriate use of the impact factor, the increasing reluctance of scientists to serve as reviewers, and the challenges to find appropriate journals for interdisciplinary research.

Diversity Statement:

n/a