The Lower
Decks 2.0
A Symposium on Janeway
and Open Access Publishing.
May 21–22, 2026 · Dublin City University, Ireland
Open source.
Open scholarship.
Janeway is an open-source scholarly publishing platform that has become the software of choice for editors, librarians, and publishers at universities worldwide. Our inaugural 2023 symposium celebrated the Janeway team's tenth anniversary; this second event broadens that scope to explore how users and community inform Janeway's development.
Co-organised by the Open Library of Humanities, Michigan Publishing Services, and Dublin City University Library, The Lower Decks 2.0 brings together the Janeway community in the historic city of Dublin to explore how real, idiosyncratic scholarly communities helped establish the platform and continue to shape its direction. Presentations address users and user experience, alongside updates, innovations, and use cases from institutions worldwide.
Organisers
- Andy Byers, Open Library of Humanities
- Joan Kwaske, Michigan Publishing
- Alex Kouker, Dublin City University
Sponsored by
Attendance
- In person: Registration closed Dublin City University Library, Glasnevin Campus In-person attendees guide →
- Online: Register to attend → Open until 20th May 2026 Online attendees guide →
Keynote
Kathleen Fitzpatrick
Interim Associate Dean for Research and Graduate Studies & Professor of English, Michigan State University
May 2026 · Dublin City University
Programme.
Thursday 21st May
Context & Community
| Time | Talk | Speaker(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | Doors Open | |
| 09:30 | Welcome & Housekeeping | Andy Byers |
| Session 1: Migration & Workflow | ||
| 09:45 | Open Access… Sort of: Navigating the Challenges of Migrating a Subscription-based Journal to Janeway | Lauren Stachew |
| 10:15 | Flipping the Infrastructure: Sustaining Programming Historian's Technical Future | James Baker & Anisa Hawes |
| 10:45 | Zoom Out to Flow Better: Visualising Janeway's User Workflows | Dr Ernesto Priego (remote) |
| 11:15 | Q&A / Discussion | |
| 11:30 | Morning Break | |
| Session 2: Scaling Projects | ||
| 12:00 | Captain's Log: Continuing the Journey of Scaling Janeway for Large STEM Journals | Maria Teresa Leo & Matteo Gamboz |
| 12:30 | A Partnership for Open Publishing: Using Janeway to Power Presses and Campus Communities | John Sherer (remote) & Stacy Lavin (remote) |
| 13:00 | The SeDOA strategy to empower Diamond Open Access in Germany and Europe | Anne-Christine Günther |
| 13:30 | Q&A / Discussion | |
| 13:45 | Lunch | |
| Janeway Reports | ||
| 14:45 | State of Janeway: Current Development and Platform Update | Andy Byers |
| 15:15 | Afternoon Break | |
| 15:30 | What the ROR Integration Tells Us About Metadata in Janeway | Joe Muller |
| 16:00 | Q&A / Discussion | |
| 16:15 | Close of Day 1 | |
Friday 22nd May
Problems, Solutions & Innovations
| Time | Talk | Speaker(s) |
|---|---|---|
| 09:00 | Doors Open | |
| 09:30 | Recap & Day Framing | Andy Byers |
| Session 3: Modern Problems, Modern Solutions | ||
| 09:45 | Building an AI Policy for Open Access Journals | Marisa Mercurio & Patrick Goussy |
| 10:15 | Roundtable on Peer Review: Challenges and Solutions for Janeway-Hosted Journals | Scott Young |
| 10:45 | From Research to Release: How We're Redesigning Submission at PLOS | Stephanie Buck (remote), Josh Lavarine (remote) & Nev Aleksandrova (remote) |
| 11:15 | Q&A / Discussion | |
| 11:30 | Morning Break | |
| Session 4: Exciting Janeway Innovations | ||
| 12:00 | Geospatial and Temporal Metadata for Scholarly Publishing: The Janeway Geometadata Plugin | Daniel Nüst (remote) |
| 12:30 | Don't miss the Galaxy for the stars: getting a clearer press level view of journal health in Janeway | Chad Nelson |
| 13:00 | Digital Press+: A Mission to Strengthen Access to Open Textbook Resources | Harrison Inefuku, Abbey Elder & Andy Byers |
| 13:30 | Q&A / Discussion | |
| 13:45 | Lunch | |
| Session 5: Open Discussion & Community | ||
| 14:45 | Themes from the Two Days & Janeway Roadmap | All |
| 15:15 | Q&A / Discussion | |
| 15:30 | Afternoon Break | |
| 15:45 | Continuous Metadata Curation in Overlay Journals: Enhancing Open Access Through Distributed Repositories | Delphine Crubellier |
| Keynote & Close | ||
| 16:15 | Keynote | Kathleen Fitzpatrick |
| 16:45 | Close | |