We often discuss open journals in the arena of scholarly communication but what does it mean to work with and advocate for them? This session brings together four different speaker perspectives reflecting on their experiences of working on or with open journals. Each speaker will discuss their role in open journals/publishing and why they choose to publish/work in that sphere, with time for questions after each.   

Katrine Sundsbø, Community Manager at DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals) 

Cath Dishman, Open Access and Digital Scholarship Librarian, Liverpool John Moores University 

Dr. Craig Hammond, Reader in Pedagogies and Critical Theory, Liverpool John Moores University 

Lucy Harding, early career researcher and EdD candidate, University of Central Lancashire 

Each speaker will discuss their role in open journals/publishing and why they choose to publish/work in that sphere, with time for questions after each.   

Katrine Sundsbø is the Community Manager at DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals). She holds a Master’s degree in Cognitive Neuroscience, and has six years of experience in the field of scholarly communications. She has been an advocate for open access and visibility of research through various working groups, projects and through gamification of scholarly communications. 

Cath Dishman is the Open Access and Digital Scholarship Librarian at Liverpool John Moores University. She takes the lead for open access advocacy at LJMU and manages the institutional repository and open journals service. Cath has over 20 years’ experience in libraries in a range of roles from academic services, customer services, user support and most recently research support. Cath is also the Content Officer for CILIP's Library and Information Research Group (LIRG) and Co-Chair of ALPSP’s Library Publishing Special Interest Group.  

Dr. Craig Hammond is Reader in Pedagogies and Critical Theory at LJMU, and a National Teaching Fellow (awarded in August 2022). He is also recognised as one of 200 outstanding people – from across the 200 year history of LJMU – to have shaped and positively impacted the university (Bicentenary 200 inspirational people). In relation to his wider academic remit, Craig is managing editor for the education journal PRISM, and Deputy Director of LJMUs Centre for Educational Research (CERES). His research work addresses and develops concepts and practices associated with democratic learning and creativity, and the navigation of working-class heritage and identity in Higher Education.  

Lucy Harding @lucyc124 is an early career researcher and EdD candidate at University of Central Lancashire, exploring the affective experiences of prison teachers in the UK. She is also a Senior Educationalist at the Royal College of Physicians, therefore understanding the intersection of academia and real-world impact. Her research career is marked by the innovative use of Postqualitative inquiry and creative methodologies.  

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