The time for the annual Council of Science Editors (CSE) meeting is almost upon us. The 2017 CSE Annual Meeting will occur in San Diego, the United States from May 20-23. This will be the 60th anniversary meeting of the Council for Science Editors. The meeting will be hosted at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel and Marina under the theme “Setting Sail: Navigating the Future of Science Publishing”. CSE 2017 will feature short courses—one for journal editors, and three on specific topics like Publication Management, Publication Metrics, and Manuscript Editing. This meeting will also boast Professor Mary-Claire King, Professor of Genome Sciences and Medicine at the University of Washington as the keynote speaker. She is well known for having identified the role of the BRCA1 gene in inherited susceptibility to breast cancer and for proving that humans and chimpanzees share 99% of their genomes. This year’s meeting will also feature Dr. Marcia McNutt as a plenary speaker. Dr. McNutt, a geophysicist, was the director of the U.S. Geological Survey during the Deepwater Horizon spill and served as the editor-in-chief of Science from 2013-2016.
Expectations for CSE 2017 are high because last year saw a record number of attendees. It was held in Denver and was attended by 457 participants and 20 exhibitors. CSE 2016 consisted of 32 sessions, four short courses, and a forum on the Future of Scholarly Publishing. Deborah Blum, bestselling author of The Poisoner’s Handbook was also in attendance. Three early-career professionals received CSE scholarships, which enabled them to attend the meeting.
CSE 2017 promises to have many meaningful opportunities to network including the option to join for Dinner Conversation and the Awards Lunch. The meeting will also have two roundtable sessions geared towards the spectrum of its membership (one for students and young professionals, and the other for Editors-in-Chief) and a variety of other interesting sessions. The pain points for international authors and the gender gap will be addressed in this meeting. Examples of peer review innovation, the challenges inherent in non-medical publishing, and ethical concerns will also be covered at CSE 2017. Registration for this annual meeting is currently open.
The CSE 2017 annual meeting is an important opportunity for the scientific publishing community to gather and for the attendees to widen their networks. The meeting will continue to advance the mission of the Council, which is to help its members meet the challenges that occur during periods of change by educating them and by providing resources for career development. With an attractive location, rich opportunities for networking, and sessions relevant to the scientific publishing community, CSE 2017 promises to be a time well spent.
