ALPSP Rising Star Awards Winner, Ella Gibbs, Journals Executive at Bristol University Press & Policy Press
Being relatively new to the world of scholarly publishing, the ALPSP Conference was my first proper industry conference experience and I was initially very uncertain about what to expect. On the day of the conference I travelled to Manchester with my colleague who was also attending for the first time, which eased my nerves slightly. Any remaining nerves were quickly assuaged when I arrived at the conference venue and was struck by how welcoming everyone was.
A key theme of the conference was undoubtably AI and how the industry is responding to rapid changes and general uncertainty brought about in a world of generative AI. It was interesting to hear some of the conversations on AI that’ve been ongoing at my own workplace play out amongst the conference speakers and delegates: fears of the threat to research integrity, copyright concerns in an open access landscape, the implicit bias of Large Language Models (LLMs) and, more positively, the potential of AI to assist with tasks that are increasingly falling out of budget.
The session on ‘The role of human editors in an AI world’ explored the role of editorial decision making and how this could develop in the future due to the increased use of AI tools by both authors and editors. One of the questions that was discussed was whether publishers have given authors enough guidance on how or when to use AI tools when preparing their research for publication. This is problematised by the fact that the industry hasn’t arrived at a single standard that authors should adhere to, which could lead to confusion. Although it was clear from the discussion that as an industry we do not yet have all the answers where AI is concerned, there was a clear sense that it should be embraced for its potential to support aspects of the editorial workflow and decision making rather than replace them.
One of my personal highlights from the conference was watching the award finalists lightning presentations. It was truly inspiring to hear about some of the innovative projects taking place within scholarly publishing communities. I was particularly impressed with the Forest of Biologists initiative which partners with the Woodland Trust to plant a tree in a UK forest for every research or review article published by The Company of Biologists. It was great to hear how this initiative aims to combat the loss of biodiversity within the UK and also how it directly involved young people from the local community.
I am very grateful for the opportunity to attend the ALPSP conference. The conference really helped me understand more about the scholarly publishing industry as a whole, outside of my day-to-day role. It was great to be able to talk to people from a range of different publishers and at various stages within their careers. The conference ultimately made me feel very excited for my future in scholarly publishing and I hope to be able to attend again in the future.
About the ALPSP Rising Star Award 2024
This award aims to recognise potential in early career individuals. The winners are given the opportunity and financial support to attend the ALPSP Annual Conference in person and write a short review of their experiences of the meeting. The ALPSP Rising Star Award is sponsored by Publishers' Licensing Services.
- Hazel Rowland, IOP Publishing
- Anna Savage, BMJ
- Ella Gibbs, Bristol University Press
- Heather Townsend, Bristol University Press
- Melody (Zhuxin) Zhang, Wiley
ALPSP Annual Conference and Awards
Thank you to all our speakers, sponsors and attendees for making the ALPSP 2024 Conference and Awards such a success. Catch up on the session recordings. We will be returning to the Hilton Manchester Deansgate Hotel next year from 10-12 September 2025. For more information, visit our website.
About the author
Ella Gibbs is the Journals Executive at Bristol University Press.
She is the primary editorial contact and development lead for a number of journals, supporting editors, authors and reviewers. Ella began working in scholarly publishing in 2021 as an Editorial Assistant.
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