Today I interview Melissa Junior, Executive Publisher at the American Society for Microbiology (ASM). In her role, she leads the strategic direction for ASM’s Journals and Press programs, ensuring they meet the needs of ASM’s community and align with the organization’s strategic goals. Melissa’s expertise in publishing is grounded by previous leadership positions held at the American Society of Civil Engineers, The American Educational Research Association, the American Society of Plant Biologists, and the Society for Neuroscience.

What was your route into publishing? What barriers did you have to overcome?

I’ve always gravitated toward publishing, and as I recall, that love was sparked when I realized how terrible I was at math. So, I joined my college newspaper. Speaking of newspapers, I saw a classified ad in the Washington Post for a Publications Assistant which I applied for and led to my first job in scholarly publishing at the American Psychological Association. Later, I answered another classified ad in the Post for a production manager position at the Journal of Neuroscience — that’s when the publishing “bug” really bit me. For anyone who doesn’t know what a classified ad in a newspaper is, ask your parents.

Anyway, that led to my first HighWire meeting in Palo Alto back when it was still small enough to fit attendees, all pioneers in online journals, in an open square configuration. I was amazed by what I learned: the technology, the possibilities, and the passion of colleagues around the table. I attended my first publishing conferences, and while I didn’t know it at the time, the people I met then would carry me through my journey and still do today. In many ways, I grew up with the industry from the very first online journals to where we are today.

I’m not sure there were barriers, but the key lesson that has stayed with me throughout my career is the power of humility and continuous learning. Whether it was failing that first copyediting test early on or navigating complex technology transitions, I learned that admitting what you don’t know and relying on the expertise of others is essential for growth and building strong teams.

What are some memorable early career lessons you learned?

I make mistakes all the time, and that’s how I’ve learned the most. I’ve worked with and for a kaleidoscope of people with various management styles, and they have all been my best teachers. At the end of the day, I learned the valuable traits of flexibility and adaptation.

Another valuable lesson came from understanding that success in publishing requires balancing respect for tradition with willingness to innovate. Early in my career, I learned that change management isn’t just about implementing new technology — it’s about bringing people along and helping them see the value. This served me well later when leading major transformations at ASM, like transitioning from paper-based workflows to fully digital operations, centralizing peer review operations, leading platform transitions, and launching new journals.

Could you tell our readers a little about what drives you as a leader of ASM?

I attended my first scientific annual meeting and very quickly recognized the impact the society had on the community. That’s what ultimately drives me — the incredible scientists and practitioners who devote their careers to improving life and solving the world’s most pressing challenges.

ASM’s global community of microbiologists is working on everything from antimicrobial resistance to climate change, from food security to infectious disease prevention.

Supporting their work through high-quality publishing, education, and advocacy isn’t just a job, it’s a mission that gets me up every morning excited to contribute to scientific progress that saves lives and improves our world.

As a leader in academic publishing, what most excites you right now?

What excites me most is our ability to be nimble and responsive to our community’s needs while maintaining the highest standards of scientific integrity. The current environment  — from political attacks on science, to advances in AI integration to evolving open access models — are incredibly challenging, requiring us to invest significantly to keep pace.

Whether it’s AI helping us improve manuscript matching and author services, or new publishing models that expand global access to critical microbiology research, we’ve had to evolve and remain business-savvy to stay competitive. We’ve moved beyond traditional society publishing models to become a truly author-centric, digitally sophisticated publisher that can compete with commercial entities for the best research.

What’s particularly exciting is how these innovations enable us to better serve our global community. With the majority of our authors located outside the US, we’re positioned to facilitate international collaboration and break down geographic and economic barriers to scientific communication (And hopefully insulate us enough from political forces that are attacking science.)

AI is all around us, whether in publishing workflows or in the promise and potential threats of LLMs. How do you see AI affecting your publishing life, research integrity, and the communities you serve?

The AI horse has left the barn, so now it’s about how to harness all that’s positive about it while minimizing harmful risks.

We’re taking a pragmatic approach that balances innovation with responsibility. On the positive side, AI is helping us improve workflow efficiency, enhance author services, and potentially accelerate peer review. We’re exploring AI tools for better manuscript matching, language assistance for non-native English speakers, and improved data extraction and formatting.

However, we’re equally focused on the challenges AI presents for research integrity. We’ve strengthened our detection capabilities for AI-generated content and are continuously updating our policies to address evolving concerns. The key is working collaboratively with our community — authors, reviewers, and editors — to establish clear guidelines that protect the integrity of the scientific record while allowing for beneficial AI applications.

Research integrity remains our top priority, and we’re investing heavily in training, tools, and partnerships to ensure we stay ahead of potential misuse while harnessing AI’s potential to advance scientific communication and discovery. Like all current technological developments, AI brings both promise and challenges, but I see these disruptions as opportunities to better serve our authors and readers, streamline processes, and expand access to critical microbiology research globally.

How is ASM positioned to serve the next generation of students, researchers, and professionals?

Supporting early career researchers (ECRs) has been a priority for ASM. The society itself has always had programs to support ECRs, and our annual meeting is certainly geared toward supporting them.

Beyond these existing programs, we’re constantly evolving our approach to meet changing expectations. Today’s early career researchers are digital natives who expect seamless, mobile-optimized experiences and immediate access to resources. We’re investing in modernizing our platforms and creating more interactive, multimedia educational content.

Our modernized marketing strategy has been crucial in reaching this next generation where they are — on social media, through targeted digital campaigns, and with content that speaks to their values around open science and global collaboration. We’ve fundamentally changed how we communicate our value proposition to attract the best emerging talent in microbiology.

Our global reach is particularly valuable for the next generation. We’re also leveraging technology to break down geographic and economic barriers, ensuring that promising researchers from developing nations can access and contribute to the global scientific conversation.

Most importantly, we’re listening to our young members and adapting our services based on their feedback, ensuring ASM remains relevant and valuable as their careers evolve.

What do you anticipate the major challenges will be for ASM, and indeed the publishing industry, over the next five years?

Sustainability is top of mind, especially given the current political landscape and increased scrutiny of scientific funding. Throughout my career, I’ve seen how crucial it is to build financially resilient models that can weather political storms and funding uncertainties.

I find technological disruptions exciting and we’ve built a fairly nimble foundation to evolve. The explosion of new journals and competition is precisely why we’re investing in modernizing our marketing capabilities — we can no longer rely on traditional society publishing approaches when competing against well-funded commercial publishers with sophisticated marketing machines. We’ve restructured and embedded an editorial development team internally to conduct more sophisticated business intelligence, identify gaps we’re missing, and position ourselves to grow strategically. Based on this analysis, we are launching new journals and planning targeted growth to better compete.

Additional challenges include managing the transition to new business models while maintaining revenue sustainability, and addressing the changing expectations of both authors and institutions. The acceleration of everything — from submission to publication timelines to the pace of scientific discovery itself — requires us to be more agile than ever while maintaining our commitment to quality and rigor.

As Open Access/Public Access mandates evolve across all forms of content, what does this mean for your business? What are the benefits and risks with Subscribe-to-Open (S2O)?

ASM launched open access titles as early experiments, positioning mBio not as a “bucket journal” but as a broad-based, top-tier journal with exceptional service. These initiatives taught us valuable lessons about balancing quality with accessibility. We now have a mixed portfolio of several gold open access and S2O titles.

We’ve seen overwhelmingly positive sentiments from the community regarding our S2O implementation. The market research was crucial — it helped us refine our messaging and make important adjustments along the way. The data integrations and workflows have been the most challenging aspects, but they are forcing us into a comprehensive data strategy that strengthens our overall operations.

S2O is central to our sustainability strategy as part of a mixed-model approach. With so much industry uncertainty, this feels more prudent than putting all our eggs in one basket. Like many societies, our institutional sales were historically almost automatic, but with the rapidly shifting landscape and increasing competition for submissions, we had to infuse our operations with better business acumen.

The benefits include promoting equity and inclusivity by removing financial barriers for authors, ensuring global access to research, and maintaining existing institutional procurement processes. It allows us to achieve open access goals while distributing costs more fairly across stakeholders.

The risks include threshold achievement uncertainty and implementation complexity. However, we’ve designed our S2O program to be sustainable regardless of participation levels.

Most importantly, S2O represents our commitment to equitable access to scientific knowledge while maintaining the exceptional customer service, professional peer review, and wide dissemination that our community expects from ASM journals.

What publishing innovations are you most proud of?

Whether it was transitioning peer review systems, platform migrations or launching new journals, all brought innovation, better technology, and better service to our communities. I am particularly proud of transforming our marketing approach from a traditional society model to a competitive, author-focused strategy. For many years, like other societies, marketing our journals wasn’t a priority since institutional sales were almost automatic. But with the shifting landscape and increasing competition for submissions, we strategically focused on authors and author services, establishing ASM journals as a progressive, open, and author-centric publisher. This modernization of our marketing support continues to evolve — from digital campaigns to targeted outreach to sophisticated author journey mapping — and I feel that is essential to our ability to compete effectively for the best research.

In a climate of distrust in academic structures and science, how do you see ASM helping your scholarly communities navigate fear and complexity?

In today’s polarized political environment, ASM’s century-long foundation of trust becomes critical to our expanded advocacy mission. We’re operating at full capacity to defend scientific integrity, evidence-based policymaking, and research funding against increasing political challenges.

As microbiology’s trusted voice, ASM leverages our scientific rigor to combat misinformation and facilitate clear communication between researchers and the public. We translate complex findings into accessible information that counters false narratives and informs critical decisions affecting public health.

Our advocacy efforts include engaging policymakers at all levels, providing expert testimony, and mobilizing our community on issues affecting microbiology research and public health. We defend peer review integrity, support international scientific collaboration despite geopolitical tensions, and ensure evidence-based public health measures aren’t undermined by political considerations.

We help members develop science communication skills to engage diverse audiences effectively. Most importantly, we demonstrate microbiology’s real-world impact — from new infectious disease treatments to climate change solutions — showing why rigorous, independent science matters for everyone’s well-being. Through broad content dissemination and open access initiatives, we ensure critical scientific knowledge reaches those who need it most.

What do the next generation of academic publishing jobs look like to you? How will publishing jobs evolve in an AI ecosystem?

On some level, we’ve all had to become technologists, and even more so as we move into a more AI-driven world. We will always need humans to read and vet content, but AI will free up time for additional science and discoveries.

The future of publishing careers will require a blend of traditional editorial skills with technological fluency. While AI will handle many routine tasks — from initial manuscript formatting to basic quality checks — human expertise becomes even more valuable for complex editorial decisions, relationship building, and strategic thinking.

I see emerging roles in AI oversight and training, data analysis and interpretation, and specialized author services. Traditional roles like editors and production staff will evolve to focus more on high-level decision-making, community engagement, and ensuring AI tools align with scientific and ethical standards.

The most successful publishing professionals will be those who can bridge the gap between technology and human needs — understanding both the capabilities of AI systems and the nuanced requirements of scientific communication, while also being sophisticated in modern marketing and audience engagement strategies. They’ll need skills in data literacy, project management, cross-functional collaboration, and digital marketing fluency.

Ultimately, while AI will transform how we work, the core mission remains human-centered: facilitating the communication of scientific knowledge to advance human understanding and improve lives. The professionals who thrive will be those who can leverage technology to enhance rather than replace the human elements that make scientific publishing valuable to our communities.

If you were to pick one part of your daily job as your favorite, what would it be?

What energizes me most is when I can help remove obstacles that allow our team and our community to do their best work. Whether it’s strategizing solutions to complex workflow challenges, facilitating collaboration between different departments, or working with our editorial teams to improve author experiences, I find the most satisfaction in being a catalyst for others’ success.

I’m genuinely inspired by the caliber of people I work with daily — both our internal staff and the researchers in our community. Every day, I interact with people who are passionate about advancing science and improving lives through their work. Being able to support and amplify their efforts, whether through better technology, more efficient processes, or strategic initiatives that expand our impact, gives me a tremendous sense of purpose.

The collaborative problem-solving aspect of my role is what I find most rewarding. No challenge we face has a simple solution, and the best outcomes always come from bringing together diverse perspectives and expertise. Creating an environment where everyone can contribute their best thinking and work together toward common goals—that’s what gets me excited to come to work every day. This approach has served me well throughout my career progression, from production assistant to executive publisher, and continues to drive my passion for this industry.