Throughout 2025, PKP and our partners continued to connect with communities around the world through workshops, conferences, webinars, and in-person gatherings. From student-led publishing initiatives in Canada to global conversations on open infrastructure, multilingualism, and equitable publishing, this year offered many opportunities to share knowledge, build relationships, and reflect on the future of scholarly communication.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.59350/qz73c-zyf80
Below is a recap of PKP-related events from across 2025 and a look at the ideas, conversations, and collaborations that shaped the year.
Early 2025: Community, Data, and Preservation
Canada Student Journal Forum
February 18–20, 2025
The annual Canada Student Journal Forum was jointly hosted by 12 institutions and organizations across Canada and sponsored by the University of Toronto Libraries, PKP, and Coalition Publica.
The event brought together student journal teams from across the country and featured:
- 18 talks from Canadian student journal teams
- 5 professional skills sessions
- 3 panels on funding opportunities, open access, and career pathways
Participants explored the realities of student-led publishing while building connections within a supportive national community.
Learn more and explore recordings and slides from each scheduled day.
Coalition Publica In-Person Meeting
March 11–12, 2025
Partners from PKP and Érudit met in person to deepen collaboration within Coalition Publica. The meeting focused on strategic planning, shared goals, and feedback on ongoing projects supporting scholarly publishing infrastructure in Canada.
As Coalition Publica continues to evolve, this gathering helped align priorities and strengthen relationships that underpin long-term sustainability.
Documenting the Canadian Scholarly Journal Landscape
April 16, 2025
Coalition Publica presented a new open dataset documenting historic and active Canadian scholarly journals, offering an unprecedented overview of the national publishing landscape.
In this one-hour webinar, participants learned about:
- The methodology behind the dataset
- Key insights from the analysis
- How the data is already being used
- Opportunities for community contributions
Free, Easy, Essential: Future-Proof Your Scholarly Record with the PKP Preservation Network
May 20, 2025
This webinar highlighted the PKP Preservation Network (PKP PN) — a free, open-source digital preservation service for journals using OJS.
Featuring Mark Jordan (Simon Fraser University) and Mariya Maistrovskaya (PKP), the session explored how journals can safeguard long-term access to scholarly content with minimal effort.
Mid-Year Momentum: Development, Governance, and Global Sprints
PKP Oslo Sprint
June 2–3, 2025 | Oslo, Norway
Over 45 community members and PKP staff from 15 countries gathered at the University of Oslo for the PKP Oslo Sprint.
Sprint topics included submission workflows, dissemination for open books, and multilingualism. Participants collaborated on enhancements, shared ideas, and built lasting connections across regions and roles.
Development News Webinar
June 16, 2025
This webinar provided updates on features available in OJS / OMP / OPS 3.5 and a preview of what’s coming in version 3.6, including:
- New email template functionality
- Expanded options for journal articles and preprints
- Customizable reviewer response options
PKP Annual General Meeting (AGM) and Annual Report
June 17, 2025
PKP’s AGM offered a moment to reflect on the previous fiscal year and look ahead to the organization’s next chapter in open access leadership.
Highlights included:
- Strategic Plan updates
- Financial overview
- Advisory Committee updates
- PKP’s research initiatives
- Global impact, including work in Indonesia
- Updates on Open Monograph Press (OMP) and Open Research Europe (ORE)
Download the 2024 Annual Report
Watch the AGM recording
Late 2025: Global Conversations and Regional Engagement
IFLA World Library and Information Congress
August 18–22, 2025 | Astana, Kazakhstan
PKP’s Scholarly Publishing Advisor Mariya Maistrovskaya presented “It Takes a Village: How Library Contributions to Open Infrastructure Shape Global Open Science” at the 89th IFLA Congress.
The presentation highlighted the essential role libraries play in sustaining open platforms and collaborative infrastructures worldwide.
PKP Development News Webinar
September 15, 2025
Part of PKP’s quarterly series, this webinar shared in-progress development insights across OJS, OMP, and OPS. These sessions support Strategic and Development Partners, contributors, and the broader community in staying aligned with platform evolution.
CERN Open Science Fair
September 15–17, 2025 | Geneva, Switzerland
PKP Scientific Director Juan Pablo Alperin participated in the panel “Open Research Europe: A Catalyst towards Equitable Publishing”, discussing how ORE supports more equitable publishing models across Europe.
NISO Plus 2025
September 16–17, 2025
At NISO Plus, PKP founder John Willinsky and colleagues presented on the Publishing Facts Label (PFL) — a proposed community standard for transparent journal-level information.
The session explored pathways for PFL adoption as an industry standard supporting trust and clarity in scholarly publishing.
OASPA Annual Conference
September 22–24, 2025 | Belgium
PKP participated in the panel “Scaling Inclusive Open Access Models”, contributing to conversations on sustainability, partnerships, and equity in open access publishing.
Regional Focus: Latin America and Beyond
Events in Latin America
September–October 2025 | Ecuador
PKP participated in two events in Ecuador:
- Pedro López Casique led a hands-on workshop on metadata in scholarly publishing, covering DOI, ORCID, ROR, funding metadata, and OJS 3.5 updates.
- Alejandra Casas Niño de Rivera presented at the 3° Encuentro RERCIEE, sharing updates on OJS, OMP, OPS 3.5, upcoming 3.6 developments, and the ORE project.
DataCite Webinar: Configuring and Optimizing DOIs in OJS
October 1, 2025
PKP’s Mike Nason presented a DataCite-hosted webinar focused on optimizing DOI metadata and discoverability using OJS.
Canadian Conference on Open Science and Open Scholarship
October 9–10, 2025 | Montreal, Canada
At this conference:
- Jeanette Hatherill (Coalition Publica) spoke on reclaiming scholarly publishing through public infrastructure and diamond open access.
- Kate Shuttleworth (PKP) presented on the scholarly publishing crisis and the role of OJS in enabling equitable alternatives.
Shaping the Future of Open Publishing: New PKP + SFU Courses
October 30, 2025
PKP and SFU introduced a new collection of online courses developed with SFU’s Master of Publishing (MPub) program. The webinar offered a behind-the-scenes look at course content designed to support practitioners navigating today’s scholarly communications landscape.
Watch the recording
Learn more about the courses
Looking Ahead
Thank you to everyone who joined us throughout 2025, whether in person or online, for contributing ideas, expertise, and energy to these conversations.
Stay tuned to PKP’s social media, news blog, and Community Forum for upcoming events and opportunities to connect in 2026.
