Having realised very early on the immense gap between research and publication potential among non-English-speaking authors, Sharad founded Enago in 2005 with a focus of providing high-quality research communication services to these authors. Over the years, Sharad has fostered Enago’s contribution to the research publishing industry by partnering with numerous publishers and by helping millions of researchers achieve publication success. He has taken Enago to a unique position where the company can now offer complete support to researchers worldwide through its editorial, publication support, translation, medical communication, and AI-enabled services. Sharad’s vision is to propagate the dissemination of global scientific research, by helping researchers break through the bounds of language and geography.

Michael Evans is the CEO of the Charlesworth Group. Charlesworth is a publishing services company specialising in the academic and professional sectors, providing agency sales representation, author services and consultancy services mainly within the Chinese market. Michael has over 25 years’ experience working with the publishing and software industries. He has worked for Charlesworth for over 10 years and has extensive knowledge of the Chinese publishing market, both through Charlesworth and during his time as the Asian Managing Director for LexisNexis, establishing their first office in China back in 2000. Michael previously practiced as a Barrister in the UK.

Rajiv Shirke is the Vice President of Global Operations at Enago (Crimson Interactive), handling a diverse multi-cultural global team. Rajiv oversees strategy and strategic alliances for Enago’s academia and STM publisher segment. Rajiv has spent considerable time traveling to academic institutions across APAC, LATAM, and Europe to understand customer needs, build relationships and oversee researcher support services partnerships. He also works closely with scientific, technical and medical (STM) publishers to help them grow their presence in APAC, primarily China, Japan and Korea. He has 12 years’ experience working at a senior level in scholarly communications and was previously with Accenture for 8 years, where he managed client relationships for some of the Fortune 500 companies. 

Tony O’Rourke has more than 30 years’ experience in the STM publishing/scholarly communication sector. Tony has established himself in professional publishing, having held senior roles at IOP Publishing and Royal College of Nursing (RCNi). Tony has spent much of the last decade working in author and researcher services. At Enago, he is the Vice President, responsible for partnerships with publishers, professional societies and higher-education organizations, making high-quality author services and knowledge/education services easily accessible as well as launching AI products for use in scientific writing.During his career in publishing, Tony has served on the Council and Board of the ALPSP (the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers) and as the Serial Publishers Executive of the Publishers Association (UK).

Mary joined Charlesworth Author Services as Operations Director in 2021. Mary has rich academic publishing experience; in her career of over 15 years, she has had multiple roles, including Head of Editorial for Emerald Publishing, Editorial Manager, and Publisher. Her experience in multiple aspects of the publishing process has helped her build a strong understanding of the journal and book publishing process as well as the perspectives of authors and editors. Mary has managed the implementation of bespoke editorial, production and content management workflow systems, and has overseen outsourcing projects and new technology projects. Mary is a current Board Director for the International Society of Managing and Technical Editors (ISMTE) and the Charlesworth COPE representative.

Andrew Smith is the Global Product & Marketing Director at the Charlesworth Group. Andrew leads Charlesworth’s marketing, agency and product teams in China and the UK. He works extensively with STM Publishers to help them grow their presence in China through digital author marketing solutions. In 2022, Andrew’s team won the ALPSP Award for Innovation, for the Charlesworth Gateway solution, which improves author experience for authors in China through localised WeChat notifications. He has 15 years’ experience in STM publishing working at a senior level and was previously with Emerald Publishing for 11 years, where he held senior product and publishing roles.

Kelly joined Charlesworth in 2016 and she currently leads the Charlesworth Author Services China team. With over 15 years of experience working in academic publishing and author support services, Kelly’s extensive experience covers a diverse range of areas, including marketing and sales, customer service, business development, website operation, KOL liaison, project management and team management. For the past 10 years, Kelly has acted as a bridge between publishers and authors and is committed to helping Chinese researchers communicate their research results to the world with more confidence, and at the same time, helping publishers get closer to the local author community. Kelly is also an STM China Chapter member.

With over 20 years’ experience in software development, project and program management, security management, people management and publishing, Andrew heads up the Charlesworth IT infrastructure, development and research operations. He joined the company in 2013 and has a PhD in Physics and Mathematics, in addition to being a published author.

Scarlett joined Charlesworth in 2020 and currently leads the Charlesworth Sales Team in Beijing, helping them to establish robust and sustainable partnerships with various institutions across China, encompassing both academic and corporate entities. Simultaneously, she serves as the vital link between publishers and the ever-evolving landscape of the Chinese market. Prior to joining Charlesworth, Scarlett's experience of nearly 6 years in sales and marketing includes working in London for 2 years and in a Beijing state enterprise.

With the development of Global Open Access, Scarlett was heavily involved in the ACM-CAS OPEN agreement from 2020 and successfully brought it to fruition in 2021. Since then, she has developed further Read & Publish agreements in collaboration with her team. These agreements span collaborations with prestigious institutions including Tsinghua University for ACM Open CAS, Institute of Microbiology for the Microbiology Society Publish & Read, and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Science for the Microbiology Society Publish & Read, along with five other transformative agreements.

Vivian has over 20 years of marketing experience, particularly in working with Chinese marketing agencies. For the last 12 years, she has built up Charlesworth’s China marketing capabilities and agency team. Vivian and her team work closely with international STM publishers to establish their presence and enhance their impact on the Chinese research community via digital marketing activities.

Vivian is a social media expert and has created and executed marketing strategies for clients to drive OA authorship and brand perception in the Chinese market.