Designing Systems for Accessible and Scalable Research Publishing
Overview
As Digital Publishing Specialist at Canada's Drug Agency, I played a key role in supporting the Canadian Journal of Health Technologies, a publication responsible for delivering complex healthcare research and evidence-based analysis to a diverse audience of healthcare professionals, policymakers, and researchers.
My work focused on creating and maintaining publishing systems that transformed content into reliable, accessible, and discoverable digital experiences.
The Challenge
Publishing health technology assessments requires managing complex content, multiple publication formats, metadata requirements, accessibility standards, and strict quality controls.
The organization needed workflows that could support efficient production while maintaining consistency across HTML, PDF, XML, and web-based delivery channels.
My Approach
I served as the organization's subject matter expert for publishing technologies, structured content workflows, and production systems.
Key responsibilities included:
- Managing publication workflows from manuscript intake through final publication.
- Supporting XML-first and structured-content production processes.
- Developing and refining templates, workflows, and automation strategies.
- Maintaining journal platform content and functionality.
- Supporting English and French publication environments.
- Providing articles and metadata to PubMed and NLM.
- Coordinating metadata distribution to indexing and discovery services.
- Documenting workflows and providing training to internal teams.
Leadership & Collaboration
The success of the journal relied on close collaboration across editorial, production, technical, and organizational teams.
I regularly worked with stakeholders to identify opportunities for process improvement, solve technical challenges, and ensure that publishing systems supported both organizational goals and user needs.
Outcomes
The result was a more efficient and scalable publishing environment capable of delivering high-quality content across multiple formats and channels while maintaining consistency and accessibility standards.
Areas of Expertise Demonstrated
Information Architecture • Structured Content • Accessibility • Localization • Metadata Strategy • HTML & CSS • Workflow Design • Publishing Technology • Documentation • Cross-Functional Collaboration