Annual Reviews has announced the acquisition of Underline Science, expanding its ability to support scholarly societies and conference organizers worldwide. Against the Grain sat down with Underline CEO Jernej Masnec to discuss what brought the two organizations together, why this partnership made sense, and what it means for the future of conferences, scholarly communication, and the research communities they serve. In this conversation, Masnec shares his perspective on Underline's next chapter within Annual Reviews, the opportunities he sees for innovation, and how the partnership can help extend the reach and impact of scholarly exchange well beyond the conference itself.

Against the Grain: Let's start at the beginning. What first attracted you to the idea of joining forces with Annual Reviews, and what made this feel like the right home for Underline?

Jernej Masnec: When we founded Underline in 2019, our goal was to help scholarly organizations deliver outstanding event experiences and extend their reach beyond the walls of a conference venue. Annual Reviews shares that instinct at its core—it has spent decades synthesizing knowledge and bringing research communities together, whether through its journals or through meetings like the Charleston Conference. What made this feel like the right home was the alignment of purpose: a nonprofit with deep, long-established ties to scholarly communities, where our capabilities can have greater impact than we could achieve alone.

ATG: Underline has built a strong reputation for capturing, preserving, and enhancing scholarly conference content. How does becoming part of Annual Reviews accelerate that mission?

JM: Capturing, preserving, and enhancing conference content only matters if it reaches the people who can use it. Annual Reviews brings audiences and relationships built over decades of service to research communities. By combining our event platform with that reach, the content we help organizers create can travel further and last longer, extending the impact of a meeting well beyond the days it takes place.

ATG: Many people know Annual Reviews for authoritative review journals and nonprofit stewardship of scholarly knowledge. Where do you see the biggest opportunities for bringing Underline's technology and expertise into that ecosystem?

JM: Annual Reviews already brings people together through its meetings and reaches broad audiences through Knowable Magazine, Katina Magazine, and Knowledge Unlatched. Our technology adds a new dimension to that work: supporting virtual, hybrid, and in-person events, preserving conference video, and handling the practical machinery of ticketing, speaker and attendee management, and onsite audiovisual services. The opportunity is to help organizations strengthen engagement with their stakeholders and reach new audiences—connecting the moment of a conference to the durable knowledge base AR is known for.

ATG: Whenever an acquisition is announced, customers immediately wonder, "What changes for me?" What would you most like conference organizers, scholarly societies, libraries, and researchers to know about what changes, what stays the same, and what gets even better?

JM: The most important thing for organizers, societies, libraries, and researchers to know is that the Underline team and operations remain in place, ensuring continuity for clients. What stays the same is the service you rely on. What gets better is what sits behind it: the backing of an organization with long-established ties to scholarly communities, and the ability to draw on AR's audiences and expertise. Organizers can continue to use these capabilities in ways that reflect their own goals, values, and communities.

ATG: You've spent years working at the intersection of conferences, multimedia, and research dissemination as you've led Underline from its early growth into this new chapter. How do you think scholars' expectations for discovering and consuming conference content are evolving over the next five years?

JM: Increasingly, scholars expect conference content to be as discoverable and durable as a published article—not a fleeting experience confined to a venue and a date. The line between attending an event and accessing its knowledge afterward is blurring. Over the next five years, I expect growing demand for content that is preserved, searchable, and connected to the wider body of research, so that a talk given once can continue informing the field long after. That is precisely the gap Underline was built to close, and being part of Annual Reviews positions us to close it at a greater scale.

ATG: Annual Reviews has always been about helping researchers, librarians, informed citizens, and more make sense of the ever-growing body of knowledge, and now Underline is becoming part of that story. As you look ahead, what excites you most about Underline's future within Annual Reviews, and what new possibilities do you think this partnership opens up for the scholarly community?

JM: What excites me most is the possibility of connecting live scholarly conversation with the enduring knowledge of Annual Reviews stewards. Publishing review articles advances knowledge one way; fostering the conversations that move ideas forward is another—and now those two can reinforce each other. For the scholarly community, that opens up events that build relationships, extend reach, and contribute lasting value back to the fields they serve.

ATG: Looking ahead a few years, what would success look like? When people look back on this acquisition, what do you hope they'll say it made possible that wasn't possible before?

JM: I would hope people look back and say this made it possible for a conference to be more than a moment—that the ideas shared in a room became part of the lasting record of a field, accessible to researchers, librarians, and curious readers everywhere. Success would be scholarly organizations telling us their meetings reached further, built stronger relationships, and had greater impact because these two capabilities came together.

ATG: The Charleston Conference has long been a place where the scholarly communication community comes together to exchange ideas, while Underline has focused on extending the reach and lifespan of those conversations through technology. As both organizations are now part of Annual Reviews, how do you envision those strengths coming together?

JM: They fit together naturally. Charleston has built something you can't manufacture—a trusted gathering where librarians, publishers, and vendors come together each year to work through the questions facing scholarly communication. That's the community. What we bring is the means to capture it: preserving conference video, giving it DOIs so it becomes citable, and extending the conversation to people who weren't in the room.

Together, that means a conference no longer ends when everyone flies home. The ideas that surface over a few days can become part of the lasting scholarly record and reach a far wider audience than any venue could hold. Charleston shows us what great convening looks like; we help it travel further and last longer.

ATG: Is there anything else you’d like to share with our audience?

JM: Just to say that on behalf of myself and my team, that we are delighted to be part of the nonprofit Annual Reviews organization. 

Editor's Note: In the interest of transparency, readers should know that Against the Grain is published by Annual Reviews, the new parent organization of Underline Science. This interview explores the strategic vision behind the acquisition and its potential impact on scholarly communication. 

Jernej Masnec is an entrepreneur and business leader with extensive experience in academic events, digital publishing, and technology-enabled research communication. As the founder of Underline Science, he has worked with scientific societies and conference organizers worldwide to expand access to research through hybrid events, video content, and digital platforms.