I am very pleased to announce that Randy Townsend has graciously agreed to join The Scholarly Kitchen as a regular contributor. If you’re a regular reader of the Kitchen or if you’re connected in any way with the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP), then you probably already know Randy. Randy’s first post in the Kitchen dates back to 2019, and through his term as President of SSP, Randy spearheaded the Mental Health Awareness project in the organization, which has included an ongoing series of posts. Since Randy has already contributed so much to the Kitchen, we figured it was about time we made the arrangement formal.

If you don’t know Randy, he is a passionate advocate for scholarly publishing, with nearly 20 years of professional experience. At the American Geophysical Union, he led and contributed to initiatives focused on open data, research integrity, peer review, editor engagement, and publishing policy. A committed champion of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility (DEIA), Randy has co-chaired DEIA committees for nonprofit organizations including the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP). He has served on the advisory board of the Association Media & Publishing Network’s Association Council, as a member of the SSP Board of Directors, and chaired the Council of Science Editors’ Webinar Subcommittee. As the founding Editor-in-Chief of the award-winning GW Journal of Ethics in Publishing, Randy is deeply committed to research integrity and to mentoring future leaders devoted to ethical publishing practices. He also serves as an Associate Professor in George Washington University’s top-ranked Master of Professional Studies in Publishing Program, where he continues to inspire and shape the field’s future. After a brief tenure at PLOS, Randy now consults with Origin Editorial, where he leads peer review engagement strategy.

Please join me in welcoming Randy, his previous posts can be found collected here, and his first official post as a Chef, “Delete the Drama: Creating A Cyberbully-free Zone in Scholarly Publishing” is now available.

David Crotty

David Crotty

David Crotty is a Senior Consultant at Clarke & Esposito, a boutique management consulting firm focused on strategic issues related to professional and academic publishing and information services. Previously, David was the Editorial Director, Journals Policy for Oxford University Press. He oversaw journal policy across OUP’s journals program, drove technological innovation, and served as an information officer. David acquired and managed a suite of research society-owned journals with OUP, and before that was the Executive Editor for Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, where he created and edited new science books and journals, along with serving as a journal Editor-in-Chief. He has served on the Board of Directors for the STM Association, the Society for Scholarly Publishing and CHOR, Inc., as well as The AAP-PSP Executive Council. David received his PhD in Genetics from Columbia University and did developmental neuroscience research at Caltech before moving from the bench to publishing.

Discussion