The Researcher to Reader Conference, which takes place each February, is the premier forum for discussion of the international scholarly content supply chain – bringing knowledge from the Researcher to the Reader. The Conference has now been running successfully for nearly 10 years, and is one of the most highly-regarded and well-reviewed events in the sector.
The Conference is a highly-interactive conversation amongst both senior and early-career people across the scholarly communications world, who spend two days working collaboratively to explore the key issues through workshops, panels and debates. The Conference has an outstanding reputation for usefulness, engagement and efficiency, with 94-100% of survey respondents at all the 2019-2014 events agreeing that the Conference was “Relevant to me professionally” and “Valuable use of my time”.
Delegate Demographics
Delegate numbers continue to grow over the years, and currently the event attracts around 150-250 people from the scholarly communications world, including publishing chief executives, library directors, research professors and technology specialists. The delegates have the opportunity to discuss the practical, commercial and technological realities of scholarly communications with colleagues, thought leaders and suppliers.
Typically about 60-70% of the Conference delegates are from the UK, and about 10-20% from the USA, although the event is attracting an increasingly global audience, encouraged by active international outreach, and by recent events being accessible online. Over 30 countries have been represented over the years.
Under half of the delegates at any R2R event are publishers, with the balance being librarians, academics, funders, university managers, consultants, distributors and technologists. Because of the cross-sectoral nature of our programme, delegates are often highly influential members of their organisations, with executive or strategic responsibilities, although we also encourage a diverse range of participants, so all voices are heard. Normally about 50-70% of the delegates are at the ‘chief officer’ or ‘executive’ level, including CEOs, library directors, deans and full professors. We have a strong focus on attracting academics – both researchers and editors – and typically the Conference will have anywhere from 20 to 40 PhDs amongst the participants.
The gender balance, both amongst delegates and on the platform, varies from year to year, but is consistently within a 40:60 ratio.
Past Sponsors
Our past sponsors have included publishers, technology suppliers and other members of the scholarly communications ecosystem. Feedback provided by the sponsors after the most recent conferences included:
“R2R has become a vital date in our sponsorship calendar.”
“Very impressed”
“Your team did an amazing job at running the event as a hybrid”
“Our sponsorship created even more opportunities to connect with attendees.”
“R2R is always a valuable meeting for us.”
“We were especially impressed with how well-run the virtual event was.”
“We are thrilled to have sponsored this year’s R2R Conference,
a well-established event that brings together industry leaders
to discuss the latest trends and challenges.”
“We look forward to continuing our partnership with the R2R Conference.”
“Thank you for the opportunity to be a part of this inspiring event!”
We are now inviting current sponsors to renew, and new sponsors to join the Conference, in order to be able to directly engage with the delegates and to actively promote their brands, products and services before and during the event.
The Next Researcher to Reader
The next R2R Conference is planned to be a mostly physical event. We delivered very effective and popular online/hybrid meetings in 2021, 2022 and 2023, but we saw in 2023 that our delegates overwhelmingly prefer to interact at a physical venue, so in response to this (and the huge costs of providing a fully-interactive hybrid experience), we are reverting to a mostly physical event (with some capability for remote viewing) next time.
The next Conference will continue to feature a stimulating programme of presentations, panels, debates and workshops.
Sponsors will have the opportunity to show their support for the scholarly communications community, and to get their brands, products and news out to a receptive audience of senior publishers, librarians and other key industry participants.
Sponsorship Options
An organisation can become a sponsor by choosing a level of Medal Sponsorship (Gold, Silver or Bronze) from the tables below, to receive all of the valuable benefits listed. Then, further benefits can be added to this sponsorship by choosing any of the Session Sponsorship add-ons with the attractive Medal Sponsor discounted prices (from £125 to £2,250) that are listed in the Sponsorship Opportunities leaflet.
Or a sponsor can just choose from the full-price Session Sponsorships, priced from £500 to £3,000, without being a Medal Sponsor. Details and prices are available in the Sponsorship Opportunities leaflet.
| Bronze Sponsor £2,500 | Silver Sponsor £5,000 | Gold Sponsor £9,000 |
| Valued sponsors who are very visible, and are promoted for showing their support for the event and the community | Up to six senior sponsors who have prominent visibility and active promotion, to demonstrate their support for the event and the community | The one premier sponsor who has primary visibility and very active promotion, to demonstrate the highest support for the event and the community |
In addition to these main sponsorship levels, we are also able to offer the opportunity to sponsor specific segments of the programme, including:
- Either day of the Plenary programme
- A coffee break, lunch break, the evening reception or the Speaker Dinner
- An individual Lightning Talk by the sponsor (included in medal sponsorship levels)
- The whole Lightning Talks programme
- The whole Workshops programme, or any individual Workshop
(All sponsorship rates are given before the addition of 20% sales tax.)
We are also offering all registered delegates, including representatives of sponsoring organisations, the opportunity to offer a ‘lightning talk’ session during the Conference. These optional sessions are usually scheduled during the breaks in the main programme, and may be offered in parallel threads or be repeated, depending on the final schedule. These presentations, unlike the rest of the programme, may be commercial topics or ‘product pitches’, and this is a free option included in all the main four sponsorship levels. Non-sponsoring commercial organisations who wish to offer a lightning talk will be asked to make a contribution of £500.
We also encourage sponsors to offer free delegate places at the Conference for customers, prospects or partners, either on an individually-targeted basis or through a marketing promotion. This can be done using places included in the Gold, Silver & Bronze sponsorship levels, or by purchasing discounted places. Free attendance at the Researcher to Reader Conference is a particularly attractive proposition for publishers to offer to editors and researchers, given the event’s name, programme and collaborative ethos. Providing support for people from under-represented demographics to attend R2R can also be an excellent way for an organisation to demonstrate its commitment to diversity and inclusion.
Sponsors have also gained value and visibility at the Conference by offering staff to assist with the event. As well as supporting R2R, this can provide valuable event management experience for marketing assistants and early-career event management people. We would welcome any offers of practical support.
Sponsor Benefits
Benefits for sponsors, depending on level, include the lightning talk speaking opportunity, networking and a physical or online sponsor venue, complimentary or discounted delegate places and vigorous promotion of brands and messages. Sponsors will be mentioned on the Conference website and will be included in promotional mailings and materials, so an early decision to sponsor the event will increase the coverage and effectiveness of the investment.
| Bronze Sponsor | Silver Sponsor | Gold Sponsor | |
| Opportunity to present in a commercial lightning talk | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Online & in-person networking, with a delegate list in advance | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sponsor ‘venue’ with online meeting space, and physical signage | Yes | Prominent | Primary |
| Promotional message(s) included in R2R’s delegate & marketing email copy | – | 1 message | 2 messages |
| Included complimentary delegate places for staff or guests | 1 person | 2 people | 3 people |
| Discounted delegate places for staff | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Sponsored complimentary places for guests | Included or purchased | Included or purchased | Included or purchased |
| Name, logo & text on website, in marketing and at registration | Yes | Prominent | Primary |
| Name, logo & text in programme, on slides and online | Yes | Prominent | Primary |
| Promotional leaflet and/or gift distributed to delegates | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Acknowledgement of sponsor support for event by in-event moderators | Yes | Prominent | Primary |
| Acknowledgement of sponsor support for specific session or activity | Per session or activity | Per session or activity | Per session or activity |
| Participation in informal speaker dinner (if available and at own cost) | 1 person | 2 people | 3 people |
We are also open to additional sponsor-related initiatives, and would be happy to discuss these with potential sponsors. Early booking of your preferred sponsorship package is encouraged, in order to get maximum marketing visibility before the Conference, to benefit from staff registration discounts and to book messaging & lightning talk slots. Please contact us to discuss your needs or request a booking form.
(general R2R 2026 update 24 June 2025)
(workshop rate changed 19 Nov 2024)
(copy and rates updated 8 May 2024)
(hybrid/physical text updated 28 July 2023)
Researcher to Reader Conference — London — 24-25 February 2026 