SSP Annual Meeting: Becoming Participants in Writing the Rules

We were pleased to attend the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) 48th Annual Meeting in sunny California, where the conference was last held in 2019. For AdvantageCS, this event continues to be an important opportunity to reconnect with our clients and market partners while learning about the challenges affecting the scholarly publishing market. Just as valuable, SSP gives us a fresh perspective on the trends and pressures influencing scholarly publishing so that we can stay in sync with the needs of the organizations we serve. 

This year, there was a sense that scholarly publishing is being stress-tested from every direction. Between tightening research funding, growing skepticism of institutions, increasing submission volumes, pressure on peer review, and rapidly shifting political dynamics, it is clear: the industry is in the midst of significant upheaval. 

Unsurprisingly, AI was a dominant recurring theme. In comparison with SubSummit in May, the discussions ventured beyond what AI can do, exploring what it should do and who gets to decide. 

AI: Moving Beyond Hype 

While last year’s SSP Annual Meeting was largely about experimentation and early adoption of AI, this year’s message felt more urgent. AI was not positioned as a novel tool layered onto existing workflows; instead, it has been recognized as a force that touches every aspect of scholarly input and output. 

Led by industry leaders with decades of experience navigating market change, the conference sessions sought to answer some tough questions: 

• Does AI-mediated content still carry the same meaning and impact as traditional content? 
• What are the implications of AI on usage data, open access models, and the long-term sustainability of research ecosystems? 
• Is verification of content the new core value proposition? 

Unlike other markets, scholarly publishing is not rushing to adopt AI to monetize it, drive efficiencies, or launch new products. As such, the discussions were around AI’s structure and direction — and how to influence it.

Shaping the Future, Not Just Reacting

For me, the highlight of the conference was the session entitled “From Alexandria to Super AGI,” which featured perspectives from across the publishing and technology ecosystem (including a few from our clients, the American Medical Association and the American Institute of Physics). 

This session stood out — not just because of its futuristic framing, but because of the shift in mindset it encouraged. Rather than asking how publishing will be disrupted by AI, the discussion focused on how the scholarly community can shape the role AI plays in the future of knowledge sharing. 

The most compelling point was the acknowledgment that the rules of engagement are still being written; that is, publishers and institutions have a meaningful role in defining them. It was one of the first conference discussions we’ve attended that was focused on agency rather than technological upheaval and survival. 

How AdvantageCS Fits (and Why We Listen) 

For many of our clients, the Advantage platform is not at the center of these AI debates. The lifeblood of our scholarly publishing clients is their content, which AI consumes without conscience. One client offered a compelling refinement to the familiar phrase “content is king,” arguing instead that “context is king.” In other words, the industry has shifted to from simply producing content to delivering the right content to customers where they are. It is an interesting twist on the old saying, one that rings true in the age of AI. 

Many of the topics at SSP’s Annual Meeting (e.g. peer review models, research validation) are upstream from where our systems typically operate. However, that doesn’t diminish the importance of these conversations. To serve our clients well, we need to understand their broader business challenges. We want to stay informed, stay in sync, and be ready to support our clients as their needs evolve. 

Standing Our Ground While Moving Forward 

SSP’s 2026 gathering challenged us to navigate a conundrum: how to innovate in turbulent times while staying true to core values. If there was one takeaway from the conference, it’s that the scholarly publishing community is taking that challenge seriously. There is a strong, shared commitment to the continued pursuit of scholarly knowledge. AI may be reshaping the landscape, but it’s not rewriting the mission. I was encouraged to see that the SSP community is meeting this challenge head on.