Time

Programme

Speakers

08.00

Registrations opens alongside refreshments and exhibition viewing.

10.00

Opening of the Conference

followed by Presentation of Awards

10.30

Plenary session 1

ARL/CNI 2035 Scenarios and Clarivate Academia AI Advisory Council

This session explores the transformative potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in the research and knowledge ecosystem, drawing on the ARL/CNI 2035 Scenarios report. Dr. Leo S. Lo, Dean of University Libraries at the University of New Mexico, will present four divergent scenarios developed through extensive stakeholder engagement, highlighting critical uncertainties and strategic focal points for libraries and research institutions. These scenarios range from democratized and socially integrated AI to autonomous AI systems, offering insights into potential challenges and opportunities.

Alan Oliver, Director of Community Engagement at Clarivate, will then discuss the work of Clarivate’s Academia AI Advisory Council, which includes Leo and 12 other Council members representing libraries and academia across 9 countries and 4 continents. The Advisory Council addresses key issues identified in the scenarios, such as bias mitigation, data integrity, and the evolving role of libraries.

This session aims to stimulate strategic thinking and foster dialogue on preparing for an AI-influenced future in scholarly communication and research practices.

12.00

Lunch and Exhibition Viewing

13.30

Breakout Session – Group A

See the breakout tab for more details

13.30

Workshop 1:
Citizen Science in Libraries: Towards Societal Impact

Citizen Science is manifesting itself in universities, research institutions and libraries and the last few years centers or hubs that facilitate a dialogue between researchers and communities have emerged. Libraries very much can play a crucial role in making not only public engagement but also research outcomes happen in practice thus supporting both scientific and societal impact.

Citizen Science can be seen as part of a global knowledge mobilization that can help solve wicked problems from climate change over health inequalities to extreme poverty (Hodgkinson et al. 2022) but is the same time manifesting itself very differently around research institutions and libraries (Kaarsted et al. 2023). There is no one size fits all.

This workshop addresses this. It brings three brief cases from the U.K. and Europe, has a take on the importance and implementation around societal impact and offer tips and practices on how libraries can get started. The presenters and facilitators are all part of the LIBER Citizen Science Working Group and offers their very different experiences towards one common goal: Getting started.

14.30

Breakout Session – Group B

15.30

Refreshments and exhibition viewing

16.00

Breakout session – Group C

17.00

Lightning Session 1

The right to use AI : protecting and advancing learning and research. Jisc Licensing and the ICOLC AI Task Force – Ben Taplin

As AI has developed rapidly, vendors have begun to present libraries with new licence language defining rights and restrictions. Faced with new clauses that sought to prohibit use of licensed content in AI systems, a group of licensing specialists across the world came together in early 2024 to work collectively to ensure library user rights are maintained.

This session will discuss why blanket bans on AI in licences are wrong and how the ICOLC AI Taskforce supports libraries in resisting them, enabling the full legal use of AI technologies to transform teaching and research and ensure equitable access to information.

Changing the Narrative on Neurodiversity in Education and Research – Kerry Barner

The Neurodiversity journal launched in September, 2023 with the aim of changing the narrative around neurodiversity as a concept and a paradigm. I am a publisher and a parent of a neurodivergent child, so this launch was more than a launch to me. It is, I hope, my lasting legacy, long after I’ve retired from publishing. I want to see the words “deficits”, “disorders”, and “difficulties” reduced from the narrative, to be replaced by more neutral and inclusive terminology, such as “differences”. Let’s celebrate difference because we are all part of life’s rich tapestry, or what I like to call “the human spectrum

Enhancing Open Research Culture at the University of York: Lessons Learned from our Community of Practice – Luqman Muraina

This lightning talk shares successes, challenges and lessons learned on the development of a cross-disciplinary open research (OR) community of practice at the University of York, told from the perspective of our Graduate Engagement Leads. This role was created in 2023 for three postgraduate researchers in support of the University’s strategic commitments towards OR.

Achievements from the past year included the completion of a university-wide survey, the introduction of new communication channels and continuation of our OR Awards scheme. Ongoing activities include the introduction of a regular community discussion series and review of the OR Skills Framework based on community feedback and engagement.

17.30

Exhibition viewing and reception

TBC

Supper and quiz or free evening

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Time

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08.00

Registration

08.30

Lightning Session 2

Building the Future: Addressing the Educational Gaps and supporting the development of a Professional Identity for Research Librarians – Lucy Roper & Charlotte Wein

Despite the global prevalence of research librarians, there is a notable absence of formal educational programs specifically designed for this profession in many countries. This deficiency poses significant challenges to the formation of our professional identity: The absence of shared theories, methods, and ethical standards hinders the development of a unified professional identity.

We will present some ongoing initiatives focusing on training and resource provision for early career research librarians and demonstrate how Lucy’s latest work, The Solo Librarian: A Practical Handbook, provides insights and practical guidance for librarians working alone or in small teams.

These Flipping Publishers…! Finding Our Way to OA – Beth Bayley

We can all get on board with Open Access in principle: Few would oppose all people having access to knowledge that improves lives. But the road to achieving it is bumpy. As a publisher with a genuine aim to move to OA, we’ve tried it all – flipping, Transformative Agreements, Transformative Journals, Subscribe to Open, Gold OA, and Diamond OA. This session charts the OA journey of one of the industry’s smaller, and independent, publishers, focusing on practical aspects. Can broader lessons be drawn from our experiences?

How the ethos of Open Research and Open Access can be developed in a library setting – Leah Burns

09.00

Plenary Session 2

Cybersecurity – Rick Anderson and team

More details to follow

How to respond to a cyber attack in the real world –

More details to follow

10.30

Refreshments and exhibition viewing

11.00

Breakout Session – Group A

11.00

Workshop 2: Light at the end of the (hype)cycle

12.00

Lightning Session 3

The hidden REF, celebrating all research outputs – Lyndsey Ballantyne

Our 2021 and 2024 competitions highlight the diversity of contributions, from librarians and technicians to research software engineers and administrators — vital roles often overlooked in traditional assessments. In 2023, the Festival of Hidden REF gathered professionals and policymakers to discuss creating a more effective and equitable research environment.

The Hidden REF campaign recognises all research outputs and roles that make research possible.

I will share our initiatives, outcomes, and strategies for gaining recognition for these roles, inviting the UKSG community to collaborate and discuss strategies for gaining well-deserved recognition for these hidden roles.

Lessons Learned in the UK from Navigating the FAIR Open Research World: A Collaborative Approach to Transforming Library Workflows – Jan Rylewicz

World-wide almost every university has an IR, and nearly everyone faces the challenges of lacking data quality and coverage, with faculty frustrated over the clunkiness and overwhelming manual workload of data entry. Furthermore, research outputs increasingly require a plethora of checks necessitating FAIR and evermore extensive meta-data. Is this article eligible for APC funding or covered by an agreement, and compliant with our and the funder’s OA policies?

At Lancaster, we use our Current Research Information System (CRIS) for fulltext deposits, but it is faced with the same challenges. With more and more OA routes and ballooning publishing charges, our presentation delves into a first-of-its-kind innovation and collaboration with technology partners and illustrates to what extent we can hit the sweet spot for effectively managing open research workflows through a combination of AI scanning of manuscripts, integrations and a simple user interface, while upholding the flag of FAIR data principles.

How the ethos of Open Research and Open Access can be developed in a library setting – Leah Burns

Jisc’s open policy finder – re-developing Sherpa and looking to the future – Karen Jackson

12.30

Lunch & exhibition viewing

14.00

Plenary Session 3:

Empowering Neurodivergent Staff, Learners and
Researchers: The Library as a Partner in Success

Neurodiversity is increasingly recognised as a natural variation in human cognition, encompassing conditions such as ADHD, autism, dyslexia, and dyspraxia. Neurodivergent individuals possess unique strengths and face distinct challenges in academic environments. As a librarian with ADHD, I have experienced at firsthand the barriers and frustrations that neurodivergent students and staff can encounter when navigating academic libraries. This presentation will draw upon those personal experiences and wider research to explore how libraries can create more inclusive and supportive environments for neurodivergent users by tailoring digital resources and training to their specific needs.

The panel discussion will begin by sharing personal experiences of being neurodivergent within the workplace, examining the challenges faced by neurodivergent individuals in academic libraries, such as information overload, sensory sensitivities, and difficulties navigating complex systems. It will then highlight the opportunities for libraries to provide targeted support through a range of digital resources and training initiatives. These could include curated collections of accessible tools and resources, online tutorials and guides with alternative formats, assistive technologies, and self-paced online courses. The presentation will also emphasise the importance of fostering a neurodiversity-affirming culture in libraries through staff training, inclusive design practices, and the development of peer-to-peer support networks, such as buddy schemes.

This presentation will support library staff in creating a more inclusive and supportive library environment for all users. It will also contribute to the ongoing conversation about neurodiversity and inclusivity in higher education, aligning with the UKSG conference’s commitment to diversity and the exchange of ideas on scholarly communication.

15.00

Breakout Session – Group B

15.00

Workshop 3: Towards a Barrier-Free Future: Integrating Open Research into Publishing Practices
at the end of the (hype)cycle

For over 20 years, UK institutions, libraries, Jisc, funders, and publishers have collaborated to make open access publishing standard practice, but broader open research practices have lagged behind. Policy developments and no-additional-cost agreements have expanded open access and highlighted barriers in publishing. More recently, attention has shifted to open research, but barriers in research and publishing systems persist. As negotiations are underway for post-Plan S agreements, this workshop will examine how publishing can better support open research practices, address barriers, and anticipate unintended consequences. Participants will contribute to draft recommendations, with a focus on open research and publishing practices.

16.00

Refreshments and exhibition viewing

16.30

Breakout Session – Group D

TBC

Gala Evening

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Time

Programme

Speakers

08.00

Registration and refreshments

09.00

Plenary 4

Metrics that Matter: Identifying and Testing Scalable Metrics for a Gender Equitable Research Culture – Francesca Soldati

Research metrics are widely used in recruitment and promotion decisions but reliance on these metrics has led to unintended consequences, including gender disparities within the academic landscape. It is well documented that women in research, particularly those in early to mid-career stages, often face challenges such as lower publication rates and fewer citations than their male counterparts, while remaining underrepresented in senior positions. However, the underlying causes of these discrepancies remain unclear; this project proposes an investigation into the relationship between research culture, gender, and career outcomes, aiming to identify scalable metrics that can better support gender equity in research.

Session 2 – TBC

10.00

Breakout Session – Group C

11.00

Refreshments and exhibition viewing

11.30

Breakout Session – Group D

12.30

Plenary 5

Stopping Short of the Goal: Is Open Access Really Fulfilling Its Promise to the Public?   

More details to follow

13.15

Summary and Close

Time

Programme

Speakers

COUNTER-intuitive: up close and personal with usage metrics

In this highly interactive, practical session, we’ll introduce the COUNTER Code of Practice for usage for usage reporting and guide you through the ins and outs of obtaining and working with your reports. You’ll come away understanding the value of normalised metrics for comparing across publishers and over time, which metrics to use and when, and of course best practice for harvesting your data using automated tools.

Beyond the Stacks: A Sneak Peek into Library
Staff Engagement with Job Shadowing

Raising the grade and closing the gap? Exploring the link between inclusive library collections and student success

How do we evidence the impact of inclusive library collections on the university community? How do we convince university leadership that the value-added potential of the library is worth the investment?

At King’s, multiple initiatives are underway to assess the impact of library collections on student attainment. These projects, rooted in inclusive education principles, aim to support student success, promote diversity, equity, and inclusion, and strengthen the student experience. This presentation will offer a summary of these initiatives, how they connect, and how taken together they progress towards evidencing the real-world impact of collections on student attainment and academic success.

Supporting postgraduate research students in scholarly communications and open research

PGRs are some of the most excited and driven researchers, eager to engage with open access and open research. However, they are also incredibly influenced by the environment in which they find themselves, particularly by their research supervisor’s own behaviours and opinions around open research. Their status as students often limits their access to tools and support available to employed researchers. Equally, their status as researchers can lead to the assumption that they already understand the research and publishing landscape.

What can libraries do to support PGRs in becoming ethical and open researchers? Are the one-shot training courses, often voluntary, enough? This talk will discuss barriers and strategies around support for PGRs as they embark on their research careers.

What Authors Want

In this all-author panel, you’ll hear directly from the men and women in the middle about today’s most pressing issues. Do you use AI tools to write your papers? How do you find the right content to read and journals to publish in? Do you care about open access? Is funder compliance an issue for you? What about archiving your manuscript, is that something you think about? And how should we deal with both genuine mistakes and misconduct, leading to article retractions? How is your research being assessed, and do you think it’s fair? What about citations and impact factors? These are some of the questions we will be exploring, with the aim of gathering diverse perspectives and ensuring that solutions and critical conversations focus on authors’ perspectives and experiences.

Realising a New Vision for Academic Publishing: How
Open Institutional Publishers and Libraries are Working Together to Bring About Change in Scholarly Communications

Bridge Over Troubled Water: Supporting Society
Publishers in Turbulent Times

Just as independent bookshops survive through online partnerships and customer loyalty, could learned society publishing thrive through similar collaborative approaches? This session presents new global evidence from Research Consulting and CCC on how society publishers are navigating industry transformation. We’ll examine changing publication patterns, revenue trends, and how libraries, vendors and partners can help societies maintain their independence while accessing world-class publishing capabilities. Learn how embracing “irrational” choices in scholarly communications could help preserve the diversity of academic publishing.

AI Tools in Academic Research: empowering AI literacy in the research community with an evaluative framework

This breakout session will explore how Libraries and Learning Resources at the University of Birmingham is supporting the research community’s use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) following the emergence of Narrow and Generative AI technologies. It will explore how a collaboration between the Research Skills Team and Copyright and Licensing Team developed an evaluative framework to empower researchers to self-evaluate an AI Tool, and how this framework became central to a new training session for the 23/24 academic year. We will also discuss the influence this has had on broader institutional activity guiding the use of AI in research.

One Nation One Subscription (ONOS): The Path to
Transformative Knowledge Agreements in India

This session will explore the One Nation One Subscription (ONOS) initiative of Government of India which aims to provide countrywide access to national and international scientific and academic content. The ONOS intends to sign national licenses with most of the prominent STEM publishers and database producers of the world whose contents are already being subscribed by various institutions of higher education and research organizations either directly or through Government-funded consortia. This initiative is expected to benefit access to e-resources from 70 publishers to all research and educational institutions including universities, colleges, research organizations as well as every citizen of the country.

The art of the possible: Mid-tech and low-cost ways to upgrade your skill set and harness free data
sources to enhance your bibliographic metadata

Without the resource to purchase new records or employ trained cataloguing staff to create bespoke metadata and enhance existing records, how can library collections teams ensure that their catalogue records are of sufficient quality to drive discovery and enable collective collections comparison work to be as accurate as possible?

Our session we will give example workflows, highlight useful resources and helpful community members. We’ll demonstrate the impact and added value technical services teams have on improving end user experience, as well as discussing how improving accuracy and detail in MARC records can positively affect the results of collective collections work.

Doing DORA: A small-scale project to upscale research culture and research integrity

Inspired by colleagues’ work to embed the principles of DORA but frustrated by the snail-like pace at our own institution, we embarked on a plan of small workshops to Do DORAif/where we could.  What developed over the next 12 months was in the spirit of our original plan but far beyond what we had envisaged.  This breakout will discuss the ways in which circumstance actually embedded, promoted and advocated for DORA with a shoestring budget and time where available.  We will discuss practical promotion, guerrilla good-practice, unexpected outcomes and embracing flexible opportunities when it comes to Doing DORA. 

Doing DORA: A small-scale project to upscale research culture and research integrity

Inspired We will talk about the development of the Metadata Team at the University of Leeds. Over the last seven years the team has evolved from a traditional, book-in-hand Cataloguing Team to a forward thinking, dynamic Metadata & Discovery Team. We are now involved in myriad projects ranging from internal Special Collections cataloguing to the development of international linked data and BIBFRAME partnerships.

We will cover five key areas that have contributed to this development. We will share techniques, approaches and examples from the last few years that illustrate the value and importance of a people-centric approach to metadata and discovery.

Not just JUSP. Beyond the silos, making datasets sing to each other

With frozen budgets and more financial pressure than ever before we need to show value for money on every purchase. Evidence-based decision making for resource acquisition has always been high strategic priority for the library this paper seeks to illustrate how linking disparate datasets can illustrate and enhance value for money purchasing. We will present four mini-case studies using datasets from JUSP, Reading lists, Alma and OpenAthens. We will explore some data modelling and various ways to visualise the stories emerging from the data and how these feed library conversations both internally and with the wider university.

Growing and diversifying our future profession: How HE libraries develop and evaluate their Students as Partner roles

The role of student staff in academic libraries has changed. Libraries are increasingly working in partnership with students to Co-create and co-develop services, projects and initiatives (Salisbuy et al. 2021), but what is the impact of these schemes and how can we evaluate them effectively? This breakout session will explore how HE libraries are developing and evaluating students as partner roles. It will communicate the results of a large scale research project exploring the approaches of SCONUL institutions to student roles within their Libraries and if (either intentionally or not) these roles have had an impact on progression into the Library and Scholarly Communications sector or onto LIS programmes.

The breakout session will also discuss two case studies of libraries developing student as partner roles at Manchester Metropolitan University and Lancaster University, including how the impact of these roles has been evaluated. Attendees will benefit from learning more about the current approaches of other institutions to developing student as partner roles and the impact this has had on diversifying the workforce of the sector, as well as receiving practical tips on implementing and evaluating student as partner schemes at their own institutions.

The first year of Controlled Digital Lending at LSE

This session will briefly explain the general principles of CDL, and address it in the context of UK legislation. We will review the first year of the CDL programme at LSE – discussing the initial approach, consultation with the leadership and institutional legal teams, the selection of titles for the collection, risk management, and how it works in practice with the digital representations and their presence on different library platforms.

Open Educational Resources and sources: Initiatives from Government of India and Higher Educational Institutions

He will present availability Digital Open Access Resources or e-learning platform initiated by the Government India and other educational institutes in India used by the students, faculty and researchers. Digital resources and e-learning have become significantly important in education systems across the world. These open educational Resources includes course materials, modules, textbooks, videos, software, and other tools, materials or techniques, used to support and provide access to knowledge and educational resources. The Ministry of Education, Govt. of India undertakes a large number of projects for providing on-line content and resources for all-round development of students. Some of these are NPTEL, Virtual labs, Talk to Teacher, Spoken Tutorial, e-PG Pathshala, SWAYAM, MOOCS Project, Sakshet, etc. There are also NDLI, National Science digital Library, Shodhganga, E-Pathshala, Gian, E-PG Pathshala, Moocs, SWAYAM, SWAYAMpraba, Virual Labs etc. It will also explain what the benefit is and who can be beneficial of these e-learning portals. It will also discuss thee valuable Government information Sources used for research and educational purposes like, the Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation including National Statistical Office, Central Statistical Office, National Sample Survey, the Registrar General of India, the Reserve Bank of India, NITI Aayog, The Labour Bureau, Census of India, and resources like the Indian Statistical Abstract, the Report of Currency and Finance, and the Combined Finance and Revenue Accounts of the Union and States.

Using data to analyse Read and Publish deals and a look to how we adapt our processes in a post TA future/world

In light of the Jisc Review of TA agreements, financial pressures faced by HE sector (UK) and uncertainty of block grant support, the sector is as a turning point. Without knowing what comes next we must continue working to analyse the deals to determine what we want and do not want from any future iterations. This session will discuss how we analyse these deals including the use of Unsub and EZProxy. We have begun to adapt our processes and will provide an overview of how we have established our data requirements and created a framework for assessing deals.

Advancing Open Science in Africa: Lessons from the AfLIA Open Data Management Foundational Course for African Librarians

Open Science is gaining momentum in Africa as a movement to make scientific research more accessible, transparent and inclusive. However, the practice of open science within the region is at different stages of development requiring Librarians to play an active role in the advocacy for open science and open data management best practices. This paper reviews the state of Open Science in Africa and examine lessons learnt from the AfLIA Open Data Management Foundational Course for African Librarians.

What about Open Science?

Adopting strategic approaches to increase scholarly publishing and digital literacy in African academic and research institutions

This paper emphasises the need for strategic approaches to boost scholarly publishing and literacy in African academic institutions. Despite the potential of scholarly publishing to enhance scholarly communication, African content remains underrepresented due to factors like low digital literacy, inadequate training, limited internet access, and high subscription costs. The paper proposes several strategies, including developing digital infrastructure, fostering global collaborations, enhancing training programmes, and advocating for policy changes. By implementing these strategies, African scholars can improve digital content creation and visibility, ultimately benefiting teaching, research, and the global digital economy.

Catching Up with NISO’s CREC: Tools for Preventing the Spread of Retracted Research

Retracted research is published work that is withdrawn, removed, or otherwise invalidated from the scholarly record can be inadvertently propagated within the digital scholarly record through citations. This is more likely to happen when the process for effectively communicating retraction at all publication lifecycle stages is unclear. In June 2024, the NISO CREC (Communication of Retractions, Removals, and Expressions of Concern) Working Group published its Recommended Practice, a solution that aims to ensure that retraction metadata is shared across the publishing and discovery ecosystem. This session aims to educate potential adopters about the benefits of integrating this Recommended Practice into their workflows.

Evaluating Rights Retention, almost two years on

In May 2023, University of Aberdeen became one of the first institutions in the UK to institute a Rights Retention policy for research articles. As we, the Open Research Team, now look to expand the policy to longform publications, we need to evaluate the effectiveness of the policy and our outreach activities about it. It soon became clear that there was no one source of data that could tell us how well Rights Retention was working. In this presentation, we will look at a variety of data sources, (Pure reporting, OpenAlex, web and service analytics, and internal feedback) and consider their usefulness in evaluating new policies.

Stronger Together: creating a new regional
consortium for collective licensing of e-resources

At a time when libraries across the country are looking closely at the affordability of their online subscriptions, a group of London universities is investigating whether pooling resources and sharing procurement could offer a sustainable solution. Senate House Library, Royal Holloway University of London, Central School of Speech & Drama, and King’s College London have come together, with help from Jisc, to trial joint licensing of a selection of e-resources.

We didn’t know if this would be successful but adopted a “learning by doing” approach: try it and find out. We’re tackling issues such as access and authentication, monitoring usage and negotiating fair pricing with suppliers. At time of writing we have launched three new resources, obtaining greater access, better terms and lower pricing than any institution would individually. Negotiations on a fourth resource is underway.

The project remains a small but practical example of creating a new shared service. The project could grow to include more of Senate House’s federal members institutions, acquiring access to more of the resources they want.

Phil and Nick will explore what has worked, what hasn’t, and what we have learnt through working together.

The Library CEO: Managing Politics, Technology and Talent as the New Paradigm

Managing an academic research library in the 21st century has no blueprint. Since the introduction of electronic resources, fundamental changes to the work of the library have been underway. Leading a modern library that is subject to perpetual shifts in its priorities, mandate, and budget, requires a set of skills and competencies not taught in library or information science programs. A unique assortment of mentorship, executive coaching, business and/or legal training, and hard won experiences are required to be successful in this new environment. Contrary to popular belief, library directors have more in common with Chief Executive Officers than they realize. But far too often the transition to library leadership is sabotaged when the expectation to manage a collection is confronted with the reality of managing an organization. This conversation among library leaders will introduce the concept of the Library CEO, offering a practical framework for both current and aspiring leaders to become proactive in managing a high performance workplace.

Can Gold OA survive a shift to Green?

It’s been over 20 years since the Budapest Declaration on Open Access and while the OA movement has made significant headway, the future end-state is becoming increasingly less clear. In the wake of Plan S, a future fully Gold Open Access state seemed, for the first time, a possibility and then – to the concern of many stakeholders – a potential inevitability. Global market conditions in the interim, however, have made it increasingly difficult for publishers and libraries to negotiate OA agreements supporting a full transition to Gold OA. Instead, recent policy mandates have focused on immediate OA without the provision of financial support for Gold OA, effectively preferentially promoting Green OA. Concurrently, we’re seeing broader interest/adoption of the Rights Retention Strategy and a move away from paying APCs – and for the first time, we’re seeing a decline in the growth of Gold OA relative to pay-walled content. We’re also starting to see agreements suggesting financial support for zero embargo Green OA. This session seeks to examine the complex interplay and potential consequences of a shift in global policy mandates from Gold to Green and what it could mean for stakeholders across the industry, including researchers. Speakers will examine existential questions such as ‘What do we really want from OA?’, ‘What does a shift to green OA mean for subscriptions, TAs and the transition of the industry to fully OA?’, ‘How can Green OA routes be developed to better support researchers’ etc.

End-to-end accessibility: joining the dots
between publisher practice and user experience