On November 19th, 2025, members of the Executive Boards from the Society for Open, Reliable, and Transparent Ecology and Evolutionary Biology (SORTEE) and the Society for the Improvement of Psychological Science (SIPS) came together for a joint meeting between the two societies. Thirteen board members from both societies gathered online for 2 hours to explore how the two societies, which work in different disciplines but are driven by similar values, can learn from one another and identify opportunities for collaboration.

The meeting was co-organised by Alfredo Sánchez-Tójar (SORTEE) and Priya Silverstein (SIPS), and included presentations from both societies, an open Q&A, breakout sessions, and a discussion of next steps. What emerged was a clear sense of a shared purpose, differing and complementary strengths, and exciting possibilities for the future.

Common ground and shared challenges

• Funding is a challenge, but both societies are actively pursuing multiple strategies to support their initiatives (such as paid society membership, grants, and institutional partnerships).
• Member engagement varies as SORTEE benefits from a particularly active volunteer base, while SIPS sees its strongest engagement around its in-person conference and resulting project-based collaborations.
• Conferences, whether in person or online, play a pivotal role in maintaining momentum.

What can we learn from each other?

Participants discussed many ways in which the two societies can learn from each other. For example, SIPS hosts a successful yearly in-person conference, and can provide support and advice if SORTEE wishes to trial this conference format. SORTEE generates numerous events (e.g., code clubs, webinars, workshops) through the Education and Outreach Committee. SIPS could consider creating a similar committee to improve its educational offering outside of conferences. Cross-pollination in educational resources and activities is currently being discussed. Stay tuned!

Key Takeaways

SORTEE and SIPS face many of the same challenges, yet bring unique strengths. This first meeting confirmed that both communities have much to gain from continued collaboration and that cross-disciplinary partnerships can strengthen open and rigorous science across fields.

Watch this space!

Participants (alphabetically by last name): Michael Bertram, Julia Bottesini, Katie Corker, William Krenzer, Malgorzata (Losia) Lagisz, Kailey Lawson, Ndirangu Ngunjiri, Matthieu Paquet, Patrice Pottier, Marija Purgar, Alfredo Sánchez-Tójar, Priya Silverstein, and Yu-Fang Yang.