Last month, the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) proudly launched the EPIC (Excellence in Publishing, Information Technology and Communications) Awards, celebrating outstanding achievements throughout our industry. This inaugural awards program recognizes the valuable work invested in accomplishments that help our community remain adaptable in the face of exciting trends and emerging challenges.
The program commemorates contributions in five key disciplines central to scholarly publishing: tools and products, publications, marketing, media, and visionary initiatives. Each of these disciplines has several subcategories that honor the diverse, creative, inclusive, and equitable approaches to advance that particular area. We invite SSP members, nonmembers, and scholarly publishing adjacent industries to submit their works for consideration. You can find out more about the categories below:
Tools and Products
Our community is awash in innovative tools and products posed to address the many significant challenges ahead as well as safeguarding against risks that are likely unknown to many. Entries into this category should celebrate technological innovations across the publishing lifecycle, such as submission and hosting platforms and author and integrity tools.
Publications
This category will highlight exceptional achievements in writing, content, design, consistency, reader experience, and the overall presentation for print and/or journals, books, short-form content, magazines, and reports. Submissions must be focused on sharing original research, review of existing knowledge or share critical analysis on particular topics. All entries are to be written by academics or professionals in their fields and peer reviewed to ensure quality and credibility.
Marketing
Social presence, branding, and content marketing in the scholarly publishing field across single or multiple channels intended to promote scholarly communication effectively are all elements included in this category. These awards highlight strategic, well-coordinated efforts that effectively promote scholarly communication.
Media
The goal is to celebrate creativity, technical skill, and the effectiveness of these media projects in engaging audiences and enhancing the dissemination of scholarly knowledge. This category recognizes outstanding original promotional or informative audiovisual content, whether standalone or supporting a more significant publication or service in the scholarly publishing field, intended to illustrate a concept.
Initiatives
The social initiatives category celebrates activities that amplify the SSP Core Values of integrity, community, inclusivity, and adaptability. This category welcomes the nomination of efforts intentionally designed to enrich the scholarly publishing community, support inclusive environments, and provide individuals with skills and knowledge about scholarly publishing or core publishing processes. Examples include programs that support historically excluded groups, promote environmental sustainability, and student publication development. Such initiatives demonstrate inspired, broad-reaching commitment that contribute to improving the overall scholarly publishing community.
This program is open to the global community. SSP invites nonmembers as well as members along with low- and middle-income countries to participate in the EPIC awards program. Please check the ‘Entry Guidelines’ today. We look forward to having an extensive list of entries and are delighted for our judges to view the incredible work happening across our industry.
Apply to be a judge today! Visit ‘Become A Judge’ to find out the time commitment, award categories, and be sure to visit the FAQ to have your questions answered. You do not need technical expertise in a particular area to be a judge nor do you need to be a seasoned professional to be a judge. We invite everyone at all career stages and publishing disciplines to apply. We need your input for this to be a successful judging season!
Winners will be announced at the SSP Annual Meeting during a new EPIC Awards Gala. We look forward to your participation (as a judge or submitter) and hope you will be at the Annual Meeting on May 29, 2025 to celebrate your peers and colleagues across the industry.