We had a blast hosting the 2026 CSE Annual Meeting in Durham, NC, also known as Bull City!1 With the ongoing changes and uncertainty affecting us all, it has been more important than ever to come together as a community to navigate the societal changes impacting science and scholarly communications. We loved meeting and conversing with over 300 attendees in Durham in May, and we had a jam-packed schedule including new events and formats! Events took place onsite at the Durham Marriott City Center, which was steps away from the Durham Bulls athletic park, the Durham Performing Arts Center, the American Tobacco Campus, and many more dining, shopping, and other experiences!
After a buffet breakfast networking with colleagues old and new on Monday morning during the Business Meeting, we were thrilled to present the return of a Keynote Speaker this year! Wendy Queen is the Chief Transformation Officer at Johns Hopkins University Press and spoke from her extensive leadership experience guiding Project MUSE and shaping technology‑driven innovation in scholarly communication. Wendy discussed collaboration across the scholarly ecosystem, and how it can help preserve trust, strengthen editorial practices, and ensure that the values of scholarly publishing remain visible in a more automated world. Following a short break, we debuted the CSE Lightening Talks, which focused on Professional Development, AI in the Wild, and Launching a New Journal.
A new offering this year was the Bright Ideas showcase during Monday’s lunch. We enjoyed sitting back and listening to new and emerging ideas, products, and systems from CSE sponsors! Attendees voted on their favorite Bright Idea, and Atypon, A Wiley Brand: AI Companion won our first Bright Ideas Showcase award! Congrats to Michael Casp, Director of Business Development at Wiley, for presenting and securing this honor for Atypon.
Other award winners from the 2026 Annual Meeting include the following:
- Award for Meritorious Achievement: Jonathan Schultz for his work as Editor-in-Chief of Science Editor
- Distinguished Service Award: Mary Billingsley specifically in recognition of her leadership, dedication, and significant contributions to CSE
- Distinguished Service Award: Heather DiAngelis for significant contributions to CSE as Program Committee co-chair for the 2024 and 2025 Annual Meetings
- Distinguished Service Award: Beverly Lindeen for serving as the Managing Editor of Science Editor for the past 9 years
- Certificate of Appreciation: Emma Shumeyko for her important work restructuring the CSE committees
- Certificate of Appreciation: Anna Jester and Rachel Taylor for their work as co-chairs of the CSE Connect subcommittee and revitalization CSE Connect by improving the format to better serve participants
- Certificate of Appreciation: Stephanie Valladao and Elizabeth Yepez for serving as co-chairs of the Sponsorship Committee and driving record-breaking sponsorship success
This year’s program boasted more than 20 concurrent sessions to choose from throughout Monday and Tuesday. Sessions covered such wide-ranging topics leveraging multimedia in Scholarly Publishing, mentorship, research integrity, international perspectives, state of the publishing job market, and more!
The final morning of the annual meeting once again featured the popular Ethics Clinic, hosted by the CSE Editorial Policy Committee.
The conference concluded with a general session inspired by tackling new age dilemmas for sustainable futures in scholarly publishing. This panel featured experts with unique domain knowledge and a breadth of experiences, discussing relevant topics such as ongoing digital transformations; shifting funding sources; emerging varieties of publication and peer review models; evolving research and publication methodologies; mounting concerns regarding integrity, accountability, and ethical practices; and a race to monetize data while responsibly navigating the still murky copyright domain, all this while maintaining trust and transparency.
The 2026 Annual Meeting also contained 5 short course add-on options, including the Short Course for Manuscript Editors and the Short Course on The Business of Publication Management.2 As in past years, short courses featured subject matter experts and took place on Sunday ahead of the main annual meeting events.
We had many attendees make the most of the various networking opportunities offered throughout the event in addition to the Welcome Reception, President’s Reception, and Awards Luncheon. Back by popular demand were Dinner Conversations on Sunday and Monday evenings. On Sunday afternoon, we had a large group attend the Durham Bulls baseball game, and a group also joined now-President Brittany Swett on a walking tour exploring some of the favorites of downtown Durham. For the first time, we offered a Tuesday-morning run/walk led by Marshall Crawley, and we once again had on-site professional headshots. One additional new offering this year was the Mini Mentorship program, where those who signed up could meet up with a mentor/mentee while on site in Durham.
Thank you to all who joined us in Durham as we continue to navigate the changing scholarly publishing landscape together!
References and Links
Carolyn deCourt is an Editorial Client Manager at Wiley; Mia Ricci is the Director of Publications Operations at the American Geophysical Union.