The APE Award

The Award

The APE Award for Innovation in Scholarly Communication was born to celebrate the 18th birthday of the APE Conference in 2023. This prestigious accolade celebrates the pioneers who shape the future of academic publishing.

This award, supported by Digital Science, will be given to an individual who has brought innovation in scholarly communication to the community, whether through infrastructure, technology, or business models. This innovation may be through topic, theory, or practice.

The APE Award continues to champion innovation, bringing together visionaries from diverse backgrounds to redefine scholarly communication.

The APE Prize for Innovation in Scholarly Communication is awarded to an individual who has demonstrated a significant contribution to innovation in scholarly communication.  The award is not for a product or a project, although one or more of these might be part of the case for an individual.  The contribution is measured based on three major axes:

 

  1. Scale of impact in context
    We recognise that some areas are harder to make progress in than others.  We recognise that colleagues working in some geographies and in some disciplines are less able to make progress than others. Hence, in considering candidates their broad context is taken into account to understand the extent of the impact that they have had.
  2. Timescale of impact
    We recognise that some people innovate and make a big splash while others work incrementally to make change over a lifetime.  Both styles should have equal weighting in the judges’ considerations.
  3. Nature of impact
    We recognise that not everyone innovates by creating products.  Some innovate by creating social change, others by contributing to the scholarly record on key issues, yet others are amazing communicators or help to make and influence policy.

Application

Please nominate an individual (not a company, product, project or service).
Self nominations are encouraged. Prior entrants are warmly encouraged to participate again.

Nominations take the form of:

  • Up to 500-word nomination statement
    • Suggested structure: 150-200 words on history, background and context; 300-350 words on the innovative contributions of the individual, with explanation of the different aspects of the impact. 
  • Up to 2-minute “pitch” video
    • The video may be recorded in any language
    • If not in English, it is the responsibility of the nominator to provide a good quality transcript in English as part of the nomination (a machine translation is fine).
    • Videos should be prepared in a compressed, widely used format such as MP4.
  • Up to 2 letters of support 
    • A signed letter acknowledging support for the individual, not exceeding 150 words.
    • The writers of any letter should be cc’d on the nomination email, to be sent to info@berlinstitute.org

Closing date: 27th November 2026.

The Jury

Our 2027 Judging Panel

On this journey to honor innovation in scholarly publishing, our 2025 judging panel consists of:

  • Liz Allen, Annual Reviews
  • Prof. Mariette DiChristina, Dean of the College of Communication, Boston University
  • Sara Grimme, Digital Science
  • Dr Niamh O’Connor, PLOS
  • Ingo Rother, Berlin Institute for Scholarly Publishing
Our past Winners
  • Vsevolod Solovyov (2023) for his work on an online platform that recommends grant reviewers to the European Research Council
  • Laura Feetham-Walker (2024) for advancing academic peer review, through training and certification
  • Dr Raym Crow (2025) for pioneering mission-driven, sustainable open publishing models
  • Dr Anita Bandrowski (2026) for her work on RRIDs and SciScore, improving research rigor and transparency across more than 2,000 journals worldwide

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

  1. Who can apply for the APE Award?

    Nominees may include individuals from diverse backgrounds, such as established publishers, start-ups, infrastructure organizations, academic institutions, funders, or independent innovators.


  2. What are the criteria for the award?

    The APE Award seeks to recognize innovation in scholarly communication, encompassing diverse areas such as business models, technology, infrastructure, and contributions to theory and practice.


  3. What does the winner receive?

    The recipient of the APE Award will be granted a prestigious prize package, including 1.000 Euros, a complementary ticket to the APE conference, 500 Euros towards hotel costs, and 1.500 Euros towards travel expenses.