The 8th Conference on Open Access Scholarly Publishing (COASP), hosted by the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), is still open for registrations: http://oaspa.org/registrations-and-accommodation. The conference will be held at the Westin Arlington Gateway, Virginia, on the 21st and 22nd September, 2016.

Details can be found on the Registration and Accommodation page on OASPA’s website, including how to book rooms at the conference hotel at a discounted delegate rate: http://oaspa.org/conference/registrations-and-accommodation. Bookings must be made before 26th August to qualify for the discount. 

Previously held in Europe, this is an essential conference for all those working in and interested in open access publishing and is being held in the US for the first time. COASP returns for its 8th year with a diverse range of panels, events, and collaborative opportunities to bring together the open access community. With open access now at the top of the agendas of global governments, universities, libraries, funders, and policy makers, and of critical importance to researchers at all stages of their careers, COASP offers a crucial space for those working in open access around the world to come together and discuss developments, innovations, and best practices, and to make and build upon collaborations old and new.

Keynote speakers for this year are Heather Joseph (Executive Director, SPARC),MacKenzie Smith (University Librarian, University of California, Davis), Hilda Bastian (Chief Editor, PubMed Health/PubMed Commons), Meredith Morovati (Executive Director, Dryad), and Jerry Sheehan (Assistant Director for Scientific Data & Information, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy). 

Panel discussions are scheduled to cover: ‘Technology & Innovation’, ‘Non-APC Publishing’, ‘Evaluation’, and ‘Open Scholarship Initiatives’. A pre-conference reception for delegates will be held on the evening of Tuesday 20th September. 

The full program for the conference is available on the OASPA website: http://oaspa.org/conference/coasp-2016-program/.

The conference is being discussed on social media with the hashtag #COASP8. Questions regarding the conference should be directed to info@oaspa.org.