From the Academic to the Publishing World, from a “Closed” to an Open Access World

‘Special colloquium within the framework of our 70 YEAR ANNIVERSARY’

Abstract
My talk will be twofold, with the first shorter part focusing on publisher and editor roles at Springer Nature and how such roles differ between the Springer and the Nature side of the company. It will also explain why, depending on the role, an academic background is strongly desired or even essential.

The second part will cover some of the current developments in Publishing, particularly the transition from subscription/hybrid journals to open access journals, as well as open research in general. Particularly in Europe there is currently a strong drive towards open access with “cOAlition A” or “Plan S”. I will address how Publishers in general, and Springer Nature in particular, have been moving towards an open access world, and where Springer Nature sees the main challenges.

Short biography
Liesbeth Mol did her PhD at AMOLF in the group of Wim de Jeu. In 1997 she defended her thesis ‘Fluctuations in freely suspended smectic-A films’ at the University of Utrecht. The promotors were Wim de Jeu and Daan Frenkel.
After leaving AMOLF, Liesbeth started her career in the publishing world accepting the position of senior publishing editor Mathematics at Springer Nature. She has stayed with this company working in various roles. Currently, Liesbeth is Vice President Journals.