This event is free and open to BELS members.

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Description: The BELS Board of Directors recently reviewed and updated its Code of Ethics to reflect changes in editorial practice, including emerging considerations related to artificial intelligence. In this webinar, members involved in the review process will present the key updates and discuss their implications for editors. The program will also include a short presentation on the ethical use of AI, including issues such as transparency and disclosure. The session will conclude with an open discussion, giving BELS members an opportunity to share their questions, experiences, and perspectives on ethical issues in editorial practice.

Presenters:

Erica Goodoff, ELS(D)
Senior Scientific Editor, Research Medical Library, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Erica Goodoff, ELS(D), is the current president of BELS. She earned her ELS certification in 2010 and Distinguished status in 2020. She is a Senior Scientific Editor in the Research Medical Library at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, where she has worked for 15 years. She is primarily an author’s editor, providing substantive editing for research papers and grant proposals, as well as periodically presenting workshops on how to write and publish these documents. She also has a mentoring role within her department, reviewing papers edited by junior colleagues and supervising and reviewing the work of interns. She has been active in the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) for many years, presenting workshops, open sessions, and roundtable discussions on editing and professional development topics.

 
Elizabeth Parker, ELS
Editor, Parker Editorial

Elizabeth Parker is a board-certified Editor in the Life Sciences with 20 years of experience in scholarly publishing. As a production editor at Annual Reviews, she managed peer review, copyedited STEM journals, and developed publication ethics policies adopted by 50 peer-reviewed journals. She specializes in editing manuscripts in immunology, microbiology, and psychiatry. Elizabeth also serves on the BELS Exam Development Committee and has completed the Council of Science Editors’ short courses on publication ethics and DEI. She is especially interested in conscious language and helping editors navigate ethical challenges with clarity and confidence.

R. Michelle Sauer Gehring, PhD, ELS
Principal Writer/Editor, RnA Editing, LLC; Fellow, American Medical Writers Association

R. Michelle Sauer Gehring, PhD, ELS, completed her Ph.D. in microbiology/genetics and a postdoctoral fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine before becoming an Assistant Professor at UTHealth. She transitioned from the academic faculty career path to medical communication and attained her certification as an Editor in the Life Sciences from BELS in 2011. She has taught ethics workshops for the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA) and is the author of the AMWA Ethics Essential Skills module. She has taught Ethics for Medical Writers for the University of California-San Diego Extension since 2016. She has served in multiple leadership roles at the chapter and national level for AMWA, and is the current Secretary for BELS. Dr. Sauer Gehring has worked in the grants, publication, and regulatory sectors of medical communication, and currently works as a freelance consultant.