This year, the judges have selected four finalists for the ALPSP Award for Innovation in Publishing.

The finalists will be showcased in a lightning presentation session at the ALPSP Conference on 10 September, with the winners announced at the ALPSP Conference Awards Dinner.

In this series, we learn more about each of the finalists and their entries.

In an age where information overload threatens to overwhelm even the most dedicated researchers, innovative solutions are needed to help professionals stay current with critical developments in their fields. This challenge is particularly acute in medical specialties like orthopaedics, where keeping up with the latest research can directly impact patient outcomes. Enter 'AI Talks with Bone & Joint' – a groundbreaking collaboration between Bone & Joint and 67 Bricks that's transforming how medical professionals consume scholarly content. 

Tell us about your organization. 

This award is a joint entry from Bone & Joint and 67 Bricks. 

The British Editorial Society of Bone & Joint Surgery is a not-for-profit charity which was formed in 1953 for “the advancement and improvement of education in orthopaedic surgery and allied branches of surgery”. Under the imprint Bone & Joint, the Society owns and publishes The Bone & Joint Journal, Bone & Joint Research, Bone & Joint Open and Bone & Joint 360. Alongside our family of journals, the Society has expanded its offering for the orthopaedic community in recent years, developing and launching OrthoSearch, an online content discovery tool; OrthoMedia, a global orthopaedic video sharing platform; and OrthoPublish, a unique journal search and formatting tool. 

67 Bricks is a technology consultancy that specialises in information publishing of all kinds. We’ve worked with some of the most innovative names in publishing - The Economist Intelligence Unit, De Gruyter, The Royal Society of Chemistry and many others. Our team of talented technology and market experts partner with companies to build information products for the data-driven world. 

What is the project/product that you submitted for the Awards? 

Our award submission is ‘AI Talks with Bone & Joint’, an innovative AI-powered podcast series that launched in November 2024. 

As a trusted publisher in the orthopaedic community, and with a human-hosted podcast already well established, at Bone & Joint we were in a unique position to deliver journal articles in a new format. We have a readership of time-poor orthopaedic surgeons who want to find easier ways to keep on top of the latest research papers. This need goes beyond mere professional curiosity – it impacts patient lives every day. Our users had asked for audio versions of published papers, something which had previously been far too resource-intensive for us to deliver as a small team. However, with the launch of new GenAI tools and a partnership with 67 Bricks, it was suddenly within reach.  

Since its launch, the podcast has published 25 episodes, each generating approximately ~150 downloads – impressive numbers considering the specialised nature of the content. The audience spans surgeons from every continent, with the highest concentration of listeners in the UK and USA, demonstrating the global appeal of this innovative approach. 

 
Tell us a little about how it works and the team behind it 

At 67 Bricks we built a custom tool that enabled us to turn complex research papers into short podcasts (around 4-5 minutes long) where two ‘hosts’ discuss the paper and its findings. Accuracy is key for this audience, so we developed an approach that integrated directly into existing Bone & Joint content workflows and kept a ‘human-in-the-loop’ at two stages in the podcast generation for quality control. Editors-in-Chief handpick the papers to be made into talks, ensuring that they are always of the greatest interest to the orthopaedic community.

Each episode is also sent to the original article's corresponding author for consultation on accuracy and pronunciation, maintaining the rigorous standards expected in medical publishing. 

Together we have created a streamlined four-step process that maintains the highest standards of accuracy while dramatically reducing production time. It takes the team approximately 30 minutes to generate each episode, which offers an excellent return on the time invested. 

In what ways do you think it demonstrates innovation? 

In scholarly publishing, maintaining relevance and adapting to disruption is critical, and these new podcasts offer a way to engage a new generation of users who are moving away from traditional modes of information engagement, without overburdening already-stretched editorial teams. The project responds directly to current podcast consumption trends – research shows that podcast listening in the USA has reached an all-time high, while 83% of UK podcast listeners appreciate the convenience of listening whenever it suits them.  

The ‘discussion’ between the AI hosts feels like just that: a cordial conversation that reframes complex results and analyses with clear and accessible language, which appeals to native and non-native English speakers alike. As one author noted: "I was thinking this summarizes our papers better than I often do when creating a presentation". 

What’s more, this sort of experimentation opens the door for repurposing all kinds of written content into new user experiences, a radical new direct-to-consumer proposition. In this case, the positive feedback from authors – ranging from "Amazing. Really enjoyed it", to "The podcast sounds very natural and professional" – demonstrates that AI-generated content can maintain the quality and accuracy standards essential in scientific publishing. 

What are your plans for the future? 

For us at Bone & Joint, the central mission is increasing engagement with research content and disseminating it more widely. The podcasts will remain freely available as a service to the orthopaedic community, aligning with our charitable mission. Our commitment to open access ensures that valuable research insights reach as many practitioners as possible, regardless of economic barriers. 

Looking ahead, the technology offers exciting possibilities for expansion, including developing podcasts that can summarise entire journal issues, providing comprehensive overviews of the latest research developments and creating thematic series that weave together multiple episodes on specific topics.  

The existing episodes already include transcripts, which present additional opportunities for adaptation. They can be easily modified for different audiences – from expert practitioners to medical students or even patients seeking to understand treatment options. This flexibility means a single research paper could spawn multiple content formats, each tailored to the audience’s needs and comprehension level. 

The success of 'AI Talks with Bone & Joint' has also attracted attention from across the scholarly publishing community, with several other publishers already approaching us at 67 Bricks to explore how the tool can help them. 

 

About the authors

Emma Vodden is the Director of Publishing & Innovation for Bone & Joint, the imprint of The British Editorial Society of Bone & Joint Surgery (Registered Charity no. 209299). She oversees all aspects of the publishing programme and is responsible for the development of new products. Emma has been in STM publishing for over 25 years and has overseen the transition to digital workflows at the Society. Emma brings a wealth of experience as well as a creative and innovative approach to the development of the Society’s products. Emma has led the development and implementation of several key strategic initiatives including OrthoSearch (www.orthosearch.org.uk) and OrthoMedia (www.orthomedia.org.uk), OrthoPublish (www.orthopublish.org.uk) and BJJ LIFE, which is coming soon!

 

Emma Watkins has worked in scholarly publishing for over 15 years. She is currently Head of Marketing and Communications at 67 Bricks, working with information publishers to make the most out of their content and data.