Call for Participation

The Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) is excited to begin planning our 48th Annual Meeting, scheduled for May 27–29, 2026, in Chula Vista, California. Proposal submissions are now open! 

Our Annual Meeting will be an in-person learning and networking event, with a virtual Highlights event following the meeting. The Annual Meeting Highlights webinar will feature a select group of speakers and panelists from the in-person event. These speakers will provide 5-minute summaries of their sessions from the Annual Meeting (keynotes, concurrent sessions, previews, etc.) and then field questions from the webinar attendees. The Highlights session provides a viable alternative for those who can’t make it to Chula Vista. 

Submission Deadlines

The SSP 48th Annual Meeting

Gonna be a twister to blow everything down
That ain’t got the faith to stand its ground
  –  Bruce Springsteen, "The Promised Land"

These words are apropos to the current state of scholarly publishing. With cuts to US funding in medical and scientific research; distrust in academia, once-revered institutions, and expertise in general; shrinking academic library budgets; huge growth in proposals and publications; the effects of AI on content creation; continuing strains on the peer review process; and an uncertain (to put it mildly) political environment, our industry is in the midst of serious upheaval.

What can we do as a community to keep the faith and stand our ground in these unsettled times? How can we adhere to our core values while adapting to the ever-changing landscape? There are many unknowns, but one thing we do know is that by publishing and disseminating critical information and spreading knowledge, we serve an essential function to humanity at large.

The 2026 SSP Annual Meeting invites us to navigate a paradox: how to adapt and innovate in turbulent times while staying true to the mission of integrity at the heart of scholarly communication. What are the practical effects on content creation, workflows, and business models, as well as our relationships with authors, editors, and reviewers? Let’s gather as a community to discuss the tactics and strategies needed to face these challenges successfully. 

Proposed Topics

We have identified a number of topics we think attendees will find of high interest. We seek proposals encompassing all aspects of scholarly publishing, from STEM subjects to the humanities and social sciences, and from journals and books to the many other diverse formats that our community publishes.  
Successful proposals prioritize interactivity, the inclusion of new voices, a diverse panel (with respect to gender, race, background, organization type, and subject area, and geographies), and clear learning objectives for the audience.
 
SSP is committed to increasing diversity and encourages proposals that intentionally include speakers and panelists from a variety of backgrounds. When developing your proposal, actively seek out diverse perspectives, including international colleagues or emerging professionals, and clearly describe how your session reflects these values.

When you submit your proposal, you’ll be asked to select the topic most closely aligned with your proposed session. 

• Real-World Results & Tangible Outcomes: Our community is highly innovative and many organizations have been working on exciting projects related to many of the topics we expect proposals on. We see great value in sharing real-world examples of projects and results that have had tangible outcomes over the past year. 

• Career Advancement: One of the most exciting things about our quickly changing landscape is how many opportunities are and will continue to open up in emerging and maturing fields. We expect new trends around career advancement at all stages: what new skills are needed to advance careers in our industry today and what resources can our community rely on?

• Artificial Intelligence: Cure or curse, there’s no denying the transformational impact that AI will have on scholarly communication over the next few years. Session proposals showcasing new opportunities and/or debating the significant challenges ahead are encouraged.

• Strategic Forecasting: What do the next 5 years hold for our industry? What will be the new challenges and opportunities? How can we prepare ourselves for divergent scenarios? In an era of rapid change is it even possible to forecast out 5 years with any accuracy?

• Globalization: How do we balance the need to be more inclusive and engage a broader range of global stakeholders while recognising that current publishing models are driven by decision makers in traditional markets? 

• Open Scholarship: The open scholarship movement is a disruptor that is re-shaping much of the infrastructure and workflows that underpins scholarly communications.  We’re interested in proposals examining the impact and potential future directions of open scholarship.

• Publishing Models: The sharing of research content is at the heart of our community. We continue to see the evolution around content distribution and dissemination, and value the experiences and thoughts of colleagues in exploring varying models. 

Not seeing your topic listed? Don’t despair. We are open to ideas for additional topics, including diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility; business models;  career advice; change management;  editorial and production issues; librarian-focused sessions;  networking; sales and marketing;  professional development;  society publishers;  sustainability;  university presses;  and more. And if you’re still not sure, note that your ideas for topic areas are always welcome! 

Submission Process for 2026

SSP is using Ex Ordo for abstract submissions. A big and sincere THANK YOU to Ex Ordo for their sponsorship of SSP’s proposal submission system! 

Four possible session proposal options are offered as part of the submission process as follows. Submitters must select their session type at the beginning of the submission process for each proposal. You are permitted to submit more than one proposal of one or more types.

Tips for submitting a compelling proposal:

• DO reflect a variety of voices and viewpoints in your submission. If you are an experienced, regular conference speaker, consider proposing and mentoring a less experienced colleague to help increase panel diversity and build capacity in our community. As documented in our Core Values, SSP deeply values diversity, equity, and inclusion, and submissions that reflect an inclusive pool of speakers are required. Session panels should include a diverse mix of genders, geography, race, and cultural backgrounds as much as possible. Single-speaker educational sessions will NOT be accepted. The strongest proposals will include the voices of key stakeholders (researchers/academics, librarians, students), will cross formats (books, journals, etc.), and will include perspectives across STEM, social sciences, and humanities. 
• DO develop your submission to appeal to a broad range of attendees in an engaging way. SSP Annual Meeting attendees value networking opportunities, insight into new developments, and practical applications they can use to advance their careers. Attendees include executives, editors, salespeople, marketing and product managers, librarians, technologists, vendors, academics, and more. 
• DO prepare a proposal focused on in-person learning for this primarily in-person event. Session speakers should be prepared to attend in person as well. 
• DO NOT submit an educational session focused on a single solution, a single organization, or material that is commercial in nature. These proposals will not be considered. Single solution/single organization presentations may be better positioned as a poster presentation. Submissions that are commercial in nature should be limited to the 5-minute Previews session or for Industry Breakout sessions. 
• DO pay attention to the deadlines! Our committee will begin reviewing proposals immediately after each deadline, so we regret that we cannot accept late submissions. 
  + For Educational sessions, the submission deadline is November 3, 2025. 
  + For Industry Breakout sessions, the submission deadline is January 30, 2026. 
  + For Poster sessions, the submission deadline is February 13, 2026. 
  + For Preview sessions, the submission deadline is February 13, 2026. 
• DO contact Tracy Mitchell if you have any questions while submitting a session proposal. 
• DO review the detailed submission guidelines. 

REVIEW SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

After reviewing these guidelines, please proceed to the SSP abstract submission site to submit your proposal.

Final decisions to accept or decline educational sessions will be distributed to submitters in December. Notifications for the 5-minute Previews sessions and Posters will follow within weeks of those submission deadline dates. Please see the submission guidelines for other important deadlines. 

Thank you for your interest in participating in the 2026 SSP Annual Meeting. We look forward to receiving your submissions! Again, if you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to email [email protected]. 
 
Sincerely,
Jessie Slater, Greg Fagan, and Marianne Calilhanna
Annual Meeting Program Committee Co-Chairs

The use of Ex Ordo Review is made possible via a generous sponsorship by Ex Ordo.