~ At the 43rd annual SSP conference, CACTUS, CAST, and China experts discussed new learnings, challenges, and new opportunities in STM journal publishing~
Cactus Communications (CACTUS), a technology company accelerating scientific advancement, participated in the prestigious 43rd Annual Meeting of the Society of Scholarly Publishing (SSP) on May 24, 2021. The main message of the conference China session was as follows: China is working on a master plan for the internationalization of its domestic journals and plans to pursue an Open Science strategy at a national level. It also invites active participation from the international academic and publishing communities.
At the same time that the SSP session was broadcast, Impact Science, the brand of CACTUS that offers solutions for science dissemination and engagement with peers, the public, and policymakers for wider research outreach, released its most recent industry whitepaper, “Navigating China’s Academic & Research Landscape–A Guide for Academic Publishers and Societies.”
The highlight of the CACTUS educational session—The Future of STM Journal Publishing in China: Learnings, Challenges, and New Opportunities—conducted after the keynote address on day one of the meeting, was the Special Guest contribution by Dr. Zhaoping LYU, Executive Secretary of the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST). During an interview with Christine HU, General Manager of Greater China for CACTUS, Dr. Lyu stated, “China has always focused on the global progress of Open Science and has actively participated in it. The Excellence Action Plan, led by CAST, has an OA (Open Access) ratio of 81% for new journals, which shows that Chinese STM journals are becoming an important force in the Open Access landscape. Because of the large pool of Chinese researchers, the many research institutions involved, and the volumes of papers and scientific data, promoting sustainable OA requires designing of a complex mechanism of coordinated efforts. China, of course, will learn from the experience of other countries and make pragmatic and positive contributions to the United Nations’ initiative to promote Open Science worldwide.” Dr. Lyu also mentioned, “We welcome the cooperation between professional platforms, technological service providers, and Chinese academic and publishing institutions,” and said that “while cooperating with foreign publishers, domestic publishers are also actively exploring a more autonomous development model.”
“The participation by a senior official of CAST in the SSP Annual Meeting was a landmark event…” —stated Dr. Donald SAMULACK, Head, Global Stakeholder Engagement for CACTUS, and Moderator of the SSP panel session on China—“one that we are proud to have had a part in facilitating for the international publishing community.”
A full video recording of the China session that CACTUS presented during the SSP 43rd Annual Meeting can be viewed here: http://ow.ly/xSWW50EWtB2 (transcript available upon request).
Further key insights about the publishing landscape in China can be derived by downloading a copy of the Impact Science whitepaper here: bit.ly/3yKXgwa.
“China is rapidly expanding its academic research capability as part of the country’s 14th Five-Year-Plan and the Excellence Action Plan led by CAST,” explained Abhishek GOEL, Co-Founder and CEO at CACTUS. “We are well-positioned as an organization that works with researchers, universities, and scholarly publishers within the China academic ecosystem and globally, to participate in and support cooperation between foreign and domestic players in China’s growing publishing ecosystem, and also to help Chinese publishers achieve internationalization.” Mr. Goel continued, “It is our corporate mission and culture to help researchers everywhere effectively communicate their research outcomes, so as to accelerate science, as well as scholarly endeavours, through editorial support, communication and social strategies, and various technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) solutions.”