Deanta's Trends in Academic Publishing

Ben Ashcroft has spent his career building relationships in academic publishing. As Chief Commercial Officer of De Gruyter Brill - the combined entity that emerged from Brill's acquisition by De Gruyter in 2024 - he now sits at the centre of one of the most significant mergers the sector has seen in years. In this episode, Ben talks openly about what integration actually demands, what's been lost...

Dr Mirela Roncevic is not your typical open access advocate. A journalist turned academic, she has spent her career navigating the space between publishers, libraries and the researchers they serve. That vantage point has led her to a provocative conclusion: open access has a content quality problem, and AI is about to make it impossible to ignore. Go to https://deanta.com/trends-in-academic-publi...

Jennifer Regala isn’t a conventional publisher. She is not from an academic background, but is an entrepreneur, networker extraordinaire and celebrated extrovert, dressed in pink. This unconventionality has allowed Jennifer to challenge the many conventions in publishing – leaning on technology to deliver internal efficiencies and create the conditions to focus on innovative ways to build communit...

Darren Ryan didn't follow the corporate ladder—he jumped off it. After climbing the ranks at an established publishing vendor, watching the industry race to the bottom through outsourcing, he made a counterintuitive move: and set up his own company. What emerged was Deanta —a two-centre publishing solutions business founded on a faith in culture and technology. In episode four of Deanta's Trends i...

Gillian Shasby didn't make a dramatic career move to reach the top—she rose steadily through the Journal of Neurosurgery Publishing Group, building systems and efficiencies along the way. Her methodical, process-driven approach has allowed JNS to defy publishing industry gravity: keeping costs flat for a decade while launching new journals and tripling submission volumes.  In this conversation, Gi...

Tim Williams didn't start out as a publisher, he came to the industry via roles in business development then consultancy. But his big business approach, investing in new technologies and building on the organisation's award-winning independent status, has seen Edward Elgar Publishing flourish under his leadership. In this conversation, Tim talks about resisting industry pressures to outsource, the...

Nicola Ramsey has spent her entire career to date at Edinburgh University Press, rising from Assistant Editor role to CEO. Where many might see this as a cause for stagnation, Nicola has made it a platform for transformation. In this conversation, Nicola talks about balancing EUP's mission with margin and what might be the burning platform for change in this industry. To download the 2025 Trends i...

Trends in Academic Publishing takes you inside the minds of some of academic publishing's most senior publishers to explore how they are navigating their organizations through this pivotal technological period for the industry. The podcast is hosted by Patrick Shafe, who, as Deanta's Commercial Director, is focused on understanding how the academic publishing market is evolving within a world of c...