We are delighted to announce that Frontiers has returned as a sponsor of the Researcher to Reader Conference, which is a scholarly communications meeting taking place in London on 25-26 February 2025. We are grateful for their support.

Frontiers is an open access publisher connecting researchers worldwide. Their role is to provide the world’s scientists with a rigorous and efficient publishing experience. Powered by custom-built technology, artificial intelligence, and a collaborative peer review, Frontiers community journals give experts in more than 1,800 academic fields an open access platform to publish high quality, high impact research.

Registration is open for the Conference, and the full Programme is available on the website.

Mark Carden
7 January 2024

The Researcher to Reader Conference is now able to announce the proposition and speakers for the Debate that will be part of the Programme for the Conference on 25 & 26 February 2025.

At the 2024 Researcher to Reader Conference, we hosted a debate on the provocative proposition “Resolved: Academic Libraries Are No Longer Necessary.” The twist was that we asked a librarian (Keith Webster from CMU) to argue in favor of the proposition while a publisher (Mandy Hill from CUP) argued against. This time, the proposition is questioning the need for publishers, with the resolution “Scholarly Publishers Are No Longer Necessary”, and we have a publisher arguing in favor and a librarian arguing against.

Keith Webster, Dean of Libraries at Carnegie Mellon University returns to the stage for 2025, and Caroline Black, Publishing Director, STM Journals at Cambridge University Press replaces Mandy Hill (who is unavailable). Rick Anderson, from Brigham Young University will moderate as usual.

R2R’s debates have proven to be very popular over the years, and also are the most-watched sessions on our YouTube Channel.

Registration for the Conference is open and the full programme is on the website.

Mark Carden
13 December 2024

We are delighted to announce that Ex Ordo is once again a Bronze Sponsor for the 2025 Researcher to Reader Conference.

Ex Ordo conference management software is built specifically for the needs of scholarly events (e.g. content heavy, peer review workflows and a view to interoperability with the research lifecycle). It is a powerful, intuitive events workflow system for authors, reviewers, chairs and admins. The platform covers all stages of the events life cycle and can be used end-to-end or in partnership with other tools. Ex Ordo offers high quality support from an expert team with deep-domain experience. The Researcher to Reader Conference uses the Ex Ordo platform to manage the annual event’s Call for Papers.

R2R is grateful for the support from Ex Ordo – our sponsors help to make the Conference affordable for all members of the scholarly communications community.

The Conference will take place in London on 25-26 February 2025. The Programme will include workshops, discussions and presentations, and Registration for the Conference is open.

Mark Carden
4 December 2024

We are delighted to announce that MDPI has renewed their Silver Sponsorship of the Researcher to Reader Conference for the 2025 event, taking place in London on 25-26 February.

Our sponsors provide invaluable support for the Conference, helping us to keep our registration prices lower. Registration is open, with ‘early-bird’ discounts available until the end of November. The full programme for the conference has been announced.

Mark Carden
26 November 2024

The Researcher to Reader Conference has launched on the social media platform Bluesky.

R2R ‘went dark’ on Twitter in November 2022, while remaining active on some other channels; now the Conference looks forward to using Bluesky as a channel for short informational updates.

The 2025 R2R Conference will take place in London on 25-26 February, and registration is currently open, with ‘early-bird’ discounts available throughout November 2024.

Mark Carden
20 November 2024
(slightly edited for typos 31 December 2024)

The Researcher to Reader 2025 Conference, to be held in London on 25-26 February, will feature two Keynote speakers to inform and inspire the Conference participants.

Mark Carden
13 November 2024

The full Conference Programme for the 2025 Researcher to Reader Conference is now available on the website. Some highlights are listed below.

• Keynotes: Dr Kamran Abbasi, Editor-in-Chief at the British Medical Journal, and Prof. John Willinsky, Director of the Public Knowledge Project, will be giving us inspiring keynote presentations.
• Workshops: Our collaborative and interactive workshops will be on peer review, making content more accessible to readers, research integrity, open science, the Global South and GetFTR.
• Presentations, Panels and Roundtables: There will be informative presentations and lively discussions on: open science, trust indicators, preprints, putting research into practice. research integrity, business models (including APCs and ‘diamond’ open access) and much more.
• Debate: We will, of course, have our usual very popular formal debate.
• People: The presenters, panellists, moderators and facilitators will include:

Dr Kamran Abbasi / Rick Anderson / Damian Bird / Toby Green
Nicko Goncharoff / Dr Mark Hahnel / Dr Phill Jones / Hylke Koers
Dr Chris Leonard / Dr Elliott Lumb / Blessing Mawire / Dr Joana Osório
Sarah Phibbs / Dr Joris van Rossum / Sara Rouhi
Dr Heather Staines / Prof John Willinsky / and many more

Registration is open, with early-bird rates until the end of November, and generous discounts for academics & librarians.

Mark Carden
7 November 2024

Initial Programme information is being announced for the 2025 Researcher to Reader Conference, which will take place in London on 25-26 February. This will be the 10^th annual Conference. The opening of Registration for the Conference is also being announced.

Programme development for the Conference is almost complete, and full details will be announced over the coming weeks.   The programme will include:

A Keynote Presentation by Dr Kamran Abbasi, the Editor in Chief of the BMJ.

Collaborative Workshops covering:

• Peer review innovations: implementing solutions
• Making research content more readable
• Guaranteeing image integrity in the age of AI
• Co-creating a pragmatic open science future
• Leveraging Research4Life to build Global South capacity
• Supporting researchers with GetFTR infrastructure

Plenary sessions including:

• Taking research into policy and practice with Toby Green & Damian Bird
• A discussion on trust indicators
• Dr Kira Hopkins & Dr Rose Harris-Birtill on ‘diamond’ books & journals
• Funders and publishers talking about preprints
• Dr Elliott Lumb and Nicko Goncharoff on the future of research integrity
• and many more

And we will have our usual lively Debate.

The Royal Society of Chemistry is returning as the Gold Sponsor for 2025, and R2R is very grateful for their continuing enthusiastic support for the event. Further renewals and new sponsors will be announced over the next few months.

Registration for the Conference is now open, with ticket prices maintained at last year’s levels, and generous discounts for academics & librarians.  People can take advantage of our October and November early-bird discounts by registering today, risk free, as R2R offers a 100% refund option until the end of January.

Mark Carden
14 October 2024

We are delighted to announce that the Royal Society of Chemistry has once again renewed their Gold Sponsorship of the Researcher to Reader Conference. With the 2025 Conference still about 5 months away, this early renewal by RSC is a a great vote of confidence in the Conference and its enthusiastic support for sponsors. By sponsoring at this stage, RSC secures its Gold position, gives the Conference an early boost, and also maximises the exposure that the the Society gets from its involvement with Researcher to Reader over the coming year.

The Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) is a globally respected organisation dedicated to advancing chemistry. Through research, education, and collaboration, the RSC promotes excellence in chemical science. RSC members drive innovation, address global challenges, and foster sustainable solutions. From supporting groundbreaking research to inspiring the next generation of chemists, the RSC plays a vital role in shaping the future of science.

The 2025 Conference will be on 25 & 26 February and the Call for Papers will be closing very soon, on Friday 7 September.

Mark Carden
5 September 2024

We are very pleased to announce that Jayne Marks has joined the Advisory Board for the 2025 Researcher to Reader Conference.

Jayne has worked in academic publishing for over 40 years. Starting as a copy editor and proof-reader, Jayne spent a number of years as a managing editor, helping to managing the peer review process. In the 1990s Jayne was a director of the newly formed Nature Publishing Group and managed a range of Nature journals in both the UK and US. She spent a number of years working in the US for Sage Publishing and Wolters Kluwer and now is a consultant, working with a wide variety of clients in North America and Europe. She is also the Head of Business Development, EMEA at Maverick Publishing Specialists. Jayne has also had a leading role in managing the R2R workshop programme over the past two years. In 2024, she was appointed to the Board of Canadian Science Publishers. 

We welcome Jayne to the R2R 2025 Board, where her knowledge and expertise will be a significant asset to the Conference.

Mark Carden
4 September 2024