The Society for Scholarly Publishing President’s Letter highlights scholarly publishing news from the last quarter, resources you might have missed, and reflects on progress toward our community’s strategic goals.
It’s been a busy fall, and as always, I can’t believe we are already at the end of the year. As we wrap up 2025 and check off those ever-growing end-of-year to-do lists, I find myself reflecting. Despite the grim headlines and the many challenges facing our industry, I remain hopeful because of the strength, resilience, and generosity of the SSP community.
Congratulations to the ninth annual New Directions Seminar co-chairs Lettie Conrad and Ginny Herbert, and their committee for delivering an excellent program focusing on the ways different members of the scholarly communications ecosystem – researchers, institutions, publishers, funders, and governments create and respond to incentives. It was wonderful to catch up with many of you at New Directions in October and at the SSP social event at the Charleston conference in November. These moments of connection are a reminder of why this community matters so much.
As a veteran journals publisher, I was especially excited to help kick off SSP’s third annual Journals Academy last month. This year’s three-session boot camp attracted over 50 participants, and its success is entirely due to the dedication of the hardworking committee led by Jeff Mahoney and Janine Chiappa McKenna, as well as the many community experts who volunteered their time and expertise. Thank you all for making this program such a success.
I am also deeply grateful to our current Board of Directors, whom I met with last week for our final meeting of 2025. We had a robust agenda, including the approval to use money raised by the Generations Fund to support several important initiatives, including the Fellowship Program, the Sunflower Initiative at the Annual Meeting, and travel support for speakers who can provide diverse, global perspectives.
One particularly exciting development is the Board’s recent discussions about how SSP can better support its members through advocacy. Since September, the Board—working closely with Executive Director Melanie Dolechek —has been exploring ways to respond to growing threats to research and academic freedom. While SSP is not a lobbying organization (due to our 501(c)(3) designation), challenging times require us to adapt, so we’ve added a new strategic goal:
Advocate on behalf of our members to advance scholarly publishing and communications.
Create and nurture a network of allies, experts, and influential individuals, and educate the public and key collaborators to build a broader understanding of the value of scholarly publishing and communication.
A small task force, composed of Board members and chaired by Beth Craanen and Tim Lloyd, has been convened to explore advocacy opportunities aligned with SSP’s mission and strategic goals. Watch this space in 2026 for more to come.
In addition to this task force, Melanie has been doing tremendous work to advocate for our industry through SSP’s involvement in cross-community collaborations with organizations such as STM, AUPresses, ARL, and ACRL. One example is the powerful joint statement, Trust and Integrity: A Research Imperative issued earlier this year, which reflects the strength of collective action across our ecosystem.
Speaking of Melanie, one of the highlights of our in-person Board gathering this fall was celebrating her tenth anniversary as SSP’s Executive Director. While presidents come and go, Melanie has been the steady face and voice of SSP for a decade. Please join me in a virtual toast to Melanie Dolechek and in thanking her for her extraordinary leadership and dedication.
I’m already looking forward to our upcoming 48th Annual Meeting, to be held on May 27–29, 2026, at the brand-new Gaylord Pacific Resort & Convention Center in Chula Vista, CA. While submissions for educational sessions have closed, there is still time to submit proposals for both the Industry Breakout and Poster Sessions, and I encourage you to participate.
Finally, I’d like to highlight a few upcoming SSP events:
- January 14, 2026: SSP Orientation – Make the Most of Your Membership
- January 28: SSP Webinar – The Evolving Role of Academic Libraries in Scholarly Publishing
- February 26: Leadership Academy kicks off
I hope everyone enjoys a restful, healthy, and well-deserved holiday break. Thank you for all that you do to support SSP and one another.
Warm regards,
Rebecca McLeod
2025-2026 SSP President
