History

The Evolving History of the PUBMET Conference

The Beginnings

The 1st PUBMET2014 conference was organized by the University of Zadar as part of the 10th anniversary of the Department of Information Sciences. The next year, the conference was organized by the Department of Information Sciences, University of Zadar and Ruđer Bošković Institute, Zagreb, as a co-organizer. For the 3rd PUBMET2016 conference, University of Zagreb joined the Organizing committee for the first time. The organizers remained the same throughout the years, until 2020, when the newly formed Croatian Association for Scientific Communication (CROASC) joined them. In 2022 University of Rijeka, Faculty of Medicine became one of the organizers. The conference is supported by the Ministry of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia, Open AIRE, Sparc Europe, EASE and Ni4OS Europe.

PUBMET conference encompasses two main themes: the first is directed towards scholarly communication and publishing as its most visible channel (PUB), and the second towards metrics and assessment (MET). From the very beginning the organizers were committed to ensuring continuity of the PUBMET conference.

Since PUBMET2017, the two-day conference also has a pre-conference day dedicated to workshops that cover numerous topics useful to all participants, who include but are not limited to editors, publishers, scientists, librarians and students. It was traditionally held in the beautiful city of Zadar, except for the 4th PUBMET2017, which was held in Zagreb, at the Faculty of Engineering and Computing of the University of Zagreb.

Adapting to Global Challenges

The 7th International Conference on Scholarly Communication in the Context of Open Science PUBMET2020 was for the first time held online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The conference offered 1 webinar, 3 workshops, 4 keynote lectures, 2 panel sessions, 1 short talk session with peer reviewed content and 13 thematic sessions, including sessions from 8 different cities in 5 countries: Zagreb, Split, Novi Sad, Zadar, Ljubljana, Skopje, Sarajevo, and Osijek, along with OPERAS, SPARC Europe and EASE sessions. With 70 presenters, 400 active participants from 50 countries and 27 hours of programme, it had been the most successful PUBMET conference up to that point.

As the COVID-19 pandemic continued, PUBMET2021 was also held online and, thanks to our sponsors, free of charge for all participants. As in previous years a varied programme was offered, with workshops and invited lectures as well as interesting panel sessions with guest panellists. Around 600 participants joined the conference from all around the world and participated in vivid discussions on topics such as Trust in Science, Post Open Access Transition, Creative Approaches to Publishing, Supporting Open Communication, etc. It was the most successful conference so far, with over 450 participants actively involved in at least one full session. Three days of the conference ended in positive vibrations with a promise to see each other again in Zadar in 2022.

Returning to Zadar

The 9th Conference on Scholarly Communication in the Context of Open Science PUBMET2022 took place in the beautiful city of Zadar from 14 to 16 September 2022. The conference brought together 120 in-person and more than 300 online participants. The Organizing Committee recognized the importance of the TRIPLE project and added a ‘zero-day’ to the conference programme, on 13 September 2022, which included a workshop on Sustainability in Open Science. Through six sessions and one poster session the participants joined vivid discussions on the topics such as Redesigning Open Access, Fairness of Open Science, Media visibility as a driver of scientific and social impact, etc.

A Decade of PUBMET

PUBMET2023, the tenth anniversary conference on scientific communication within the context of open science, proved to be a dynamic platform for exchanging ideas and fostering collaboration. Held successfully from September 14th to 15th, with a pre-conference day on September 13th featuring diverse workshops, the conference showcased the latest advancements and practical insights in scientific communication and open science. With sessions covering topics ranging from the practical use of collaborative tools like GitLab to discussions on the future of institutional publishing and the integration of artificial intelligence in scholarly communication, PUBMET2023 underscored its commitment to innovation, openness, and excellence in scientific communication.

A New Evolution

PUBMET2024, held from September 10–13 in Zadar, Croatia, introduced a significant evolution in the event’s concept by incorporating the first-ever Summer School on Scholarly Communication. This addition provided focused discussions on research integrity, multilingualism, licensing, and metadata, enriching participants’ knowledge through practical and theoretical approaches. The 11th annual PUBMET conference continued its tradition of addressing key issues in scholarly communication, with a strong emphasis on research assessment reform, openness, and ethical standards. Through its expanded format, PUBMET2024 reinforced its role as a dynamic platform for discussing innovations and challenges in the open science landscape.