stmassoc, Author at STM Association

The STM Conference Frankfurt 2024: Advancing Trusted Research in the era of AI

August 12, 2024October 15, 2024 by stmassoc

We’re thrilled to invite you to join us this October for the STM Annual Conference in Frankfurt: a night of connection over dinner, followed by a full day of ideation, collaboration and connection—right before the Frankfurt Book Fair. This year, we’ve tailored a program that delves into the theme: Advancing Trusted Research in the AI Era.

Let our program committee set the stage, below. Read on to see what’s in store, and register to join us while you can (this event sold out last year).

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Many STM members remember the shift from print publishing to digital. We embraced the changes by offering new features, creating shared infrastructure such as CrossRef, and allowing readers to access content as soon as possible, wherever possible. We launched new journals before Google launched its first search engine. We introduced new business models to accommodate the needs of funders, governments, corporations and the academy. We confronted new challenges as the cost and efficiency of making copies—lawfully and unlawfully—declined and as our users embraced preprints, mobile, social media, and demanded ever faster, ever more robust, tools.

With the growth of artificial intelligence and generative AI, our industry faces a new moment of inflection, opportunity, threat and innovation. Our content may not always be perfect, but it is the best available in terms of validation, quality markers, use of PIDs, consistency of formats, and other attributes. In contrast to materials found randomly on the web, this quality makes our books, journals and databases, especially as versions of record, highly sought after and indeed crucial for the high-stakes application of AI.

AI introduces noise into the system. It offers new paths to revenue and new ways to improve workflows and research outcomes, while challenging key assumptions underpinning subscription, rights-based, and open access business models. Here, at the STM Frankfurt Conference, we will explore what is at stake as AI becomes a norm. We will investigate the importance of quality to AI. We will discuss what it means to be “AI ready” from the perspective of our users and our members. We will debate the policy implications of broader and narrower copyright protection in a market where everyone agrees the content is valuable, but not everyone wants to pay to support its ongoing viability.

This—and more—awaits you in Frankfurt. Won’t you join us?

Explore the full program — and register to join us

Announcing Donna Okubo’s Arrival to the STM Team

July 22, 2024October 15, 2024 by stmassoc

We are pleased to announce that Donna Okubo has joined the STM team serving in a newly-established role of STM Community Engagement Manager. Donna will be working closely with a diverse range of stakeholder groups across the STM universe, including STM members, funders, allied organizations, and partners. Her charge is to enhance our community by listening, learning, and discovering new ways to collaborate and advance trusted research together.

Donna brings with her over 20 years of experience in science and data publishing. Her expertise spans community and member engagement, membership program development, strategic partnerships, and fundraising. Before joining STM, Donna was instrumental at Dryad, a research data publisher, where she laid the groundwork for their institutional membership program and collaborated with funders and researchers on their strategic initiatives.

Her career also includes over 14 years at the Public Library of Science (PLOS), where she served in various roles from Institutional Relations Manager to Senior Strategic Partnership Manager working closely with institutional members, funders, and policymakers.

Donna’s background in non-profit fundraising and her consulting work with hospitals, museums, and women’s and civil rights organizations further informs her multifaceted approach to community building and strategic development.

“I am delighted to have Donna join the STM team in this role,” said STM CEO Caroline Sutton. “We are looking to deepen our engagement with members and the wider community. With her combination of knowledge and experience Donna is uniquely positioned to help us realize our aims in this area.”

The STM Integrity Hub: 2.5 years in

May 23, 2024October 15, 2024 by stmassoc

It’s been 2.5 years since the launch of the STM Integrity Hub, and the progress made has been remarkable, thanks to a truly collaborative effort. With over 35 supporting organizations and more than 100 participants from various working groups and task forces, the STM Integrity Hub stands as a testament to the power of community in advancing research integrity. Get up to speed with the latest developments in this recent The Scholarly Kitchen article by STM’s own Joris Van Rossum, Program Director of STM Solutions.

STM comments on the report on “access and re-use of scientific publications and data”

May 21, 2024October 25, 2024 by stmassoc

Brussels, Belgium – The International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers (STM) acknowledges the recent release of the report, “Improving access to and reuse of R&I results”, authorized by the European Commission. While STM fully agrees with the intent of the PPMi-led effort, the trade organisation has multiple concerns with the final report and its characterization of access and re-use in Europe, as well as with the preparation phase and process. Contrary to the documented assertions, data show that funded Open Access to the Version of Record has been growing at a sustained pace and authors increasingly choose Gold OA when funding is in place.

“STM firmly stands for advancing open and trusted research, where researchers and the rest of society can rely on information that is credible, accessible, linked and searchable in perpetuity,” said STM CEO, Caroline Sutton. “It is part of our mission to strive for improved access to, and re-use of R&I results, publications, and data for scientific purposes.”

“However, we believe there are better approaches to achieve these goals than those outlined in the report.”

Considering that the Commission intends to use it to guide and inform priority action 2 of the European Research Area Policy Agenda—“Propose an EU copyright and data legislative and regulatory framework fit for research”—STM urges the Commission to undertake additional consultations and engagement.

While STM appreciates the efforts of the consortium responsible for the study to gather feedback from various stakeholders, including STM, and acknowledges the minor adjustments made to the preliminary findings, the organisation remains concerned about several aspects of the study itself:

The survey underpinning the report’s findings, intended to identify potential barriers to access and reuse of scientific publications, was flawed. It gathered feedback from stakeholders through leading and biased questions focused on a few pre-selected measures rather than offering a broad array of questions or open-ended responses, suggesting a pre-determined agenda.
Considering the complexity and gravity of the issue, the timeframe allotted to conduct the study was far too brief and possibly compromised the quality and number of meaningful engagements. Publishing houses were never directly heard by the consortium, despite having been led to believe they would be.

Before considering any new measures, STM recommends a thorough analysis of the impact of the recently adopted digital and data legislation, which was only recently implemented by EU Member States. STM is prepared to assist the EU Commission and EU Member States in successfully implementing this existing legislation so that the current framework can reach its full potential.

STM is committed to constructive engagement and is open to collaborating with stakeholders and policy-makers on policies that genuinely support the advancement of trusted research. It is essential that any examination of the industry is conducted fairly and considers all options, and STM recommends further consultation and engagement.

You can now find the detailed comments here.

STM Trends 2028 is now live

April 24, 2024October 15, 2024 by stmassoc

[Excerpted from the Scholarly Kitchen, April 24, 2024 by Todd Carpenter]

Flourishing in a Machine-intermediated World: The STM Trends Report

When some of the leading technology minds in scholarly publishing gather each fall to polish their crystal orbs, the outcome has always been an invigorating and enlightening experience. This year, it has proved no different. At the STM Conference in Washington, DC today, the new STM Trends 2028 was released. Rather than focusing strictly on technology and its implications, the group took a slightly broader view, and included a more diverse pool of participants. Members not only of the STM Standards and Technology Committee, but also representatives from the Open Research, Research Integrity, and Social Responsibility committees, as well as a number of journal editors engaged in the process. The output is a vision of a world where humans and machines are integrated and engaged to support researchers as they navigate an increasingly complex world that is both analog and digital.

Prior to the start of the meeting in London in December, participants began with an exercise focused on envisioning headlines from the year 2028. In the meeting, the group dug deeper into the trends and issues that might face our community toward the end of the 2020s. As we think about where we are, how things will change and what might be of interest to those in the future, the resultant perspective adds value to the output, which is now available on the STM website.

Read the full article

Access Trends 2028

IJJ Aalbersberg to step down as STM committee chair

March 15, 2024October 15, 2024 by stmassoc

Following more than a decade of leadership within STM, most recently as chair of the Standards and Technology Committee (STeC), IJsbrand Jan Aalbersberg will step down from the position, in connection with his departure from Elsevier.

IJsbrand Jan has been one of the driving forces behind STM’s work on standards and technology, and STM would like to acknowledge his leadership, dedication, and many contributions. During his tenure as chair, he was closely involved with the birth of several highly successful STM initiatives, including Research Data sharing solutions and guidelines, the Article Sharing Framework, the STM Integrity Hub, and STM Solutions—among other initiatives that have realized significant collective benefits. Most recently, IJsbrand Jan initiated and led the CUSAP Task-and-Finish Group that explores innovative methods for notifying content hosting platforms about retractions, errata, and other critical updates to maintain the integrity of the scholarly record.

A visionary, IJsbrand Jan has been a consistent source of inspiration for the popular STM Tech Trends series. Two examples of his influence and foresight: Tech Trends 2017’s focus on trust and integrity; and 2018’s theme of Artificial Intelligence and its looming impact

And IJsbrand Jan has often been the first to recognize how collective efforts among STM members can offer the greatest added value to our entire community, with a primary focus on advancing research and benefiting researchers.

Aside from his contributions as a deep and creative thinker, IJsbrand Jan introduced very useful and practical ways of working to STeC that accelerated the pace of innovation while at the same time improving transparency and accountability. Many of these processes have inspired practices in the recently-established STM committees, leaving as a stamp on STM his measured and deliberate approach.

Perhaps most significant is the way that he has championed collaboration, challenging and inspiring colleagues across the sector to seek opportunities to work together. He is a firm believer that collaboration can strengthen us all and create real and meaningful value for the research communities we serve.

STM welcomes landmark EU AI Act vote | Joint statement

March 13, 2024October 15, 2024 by stmassoc

Today, the European Parliament made a significant stride in the governance of artificial intelligence with the final approval of the Artificial Intelligence Act, a world-first legislation intended to regulate the development and use of AI and sets an example for responsible AI governance.

STM welcomes the vote and endorses the Act’s positioning on the necessity to develop responsible and sustainable AI use, protecting the interests of rightsholders and creators alike.

Together with European rightsholders and creators, we have prepared a formal statement detailing this support, available here.

A strategic deep dive into our shared scholarly infrastructure | Paper launch

January 30, 2024October 15, 2024 by stmassoc

A new, independently researched report by Ithaka S+R, funded by STM Solutions and six of our members, offers an overview of the essential standards and technology, including products and services, that comprise the underlying infrastructure supporting scholarly communications. Importantly, it also identifies gaps and areas where future investments are needed. The report is freely available for download on Ithaka S+R’s website.

“Publishers have invested heavily in shared infrastructure — at the same time, we’re continuing to witness rapid change, new opportunities, and new challenges to the system,” said Hylke Koers, Chief Information Officer, STM Solutions. “In commissioning this report, we sought an independent, comprehensive study of the current landscape to provide recommendations where collective action and further investments are needed to develop and sustain a scholarly communications system that is open and trusted at scale.”

While the report is detailed and offers many insights, among the report’s recommendations for areas to target for further development and investment, the following key themes emerged:

How to design a system that delivers both ‘open’ and ‘trusted’ at scale.
The increasing presence and role of AI in scholarly communications.
The importance of PIDs, metadata, and common standards in enabling a seamless user journey across different publishing platforms and discovery services on the scholarly web.
Research Integrity.

STM is already driving multiple initiatives addressing these themes, from our recent white paper on AI in Scholarly Communications to the STM Solutions Integrity Hub and UNITED2ACT, and to our involvement in GetFTR and SeamlessAccess.

What’s Next?

In the coming months, STM will convene its members and stakeholders to collectively explore ways we can act on findings from the report. “The intent of this work is to spur thought, conversation — and ultimately, action,” said Koers.

Manuscript Manager joins STM Integrity Hub

January 8, 2024October 15, 2024 by stmassoc

Jan 8, 2024 – THE HAGUE, Netherlands: STM Solutions today announced the integration of Manuscript Manager, a peer review system for academic journals, into the STM Integrity Hub. This integration enables publishers to establish automated feeds of their submitted content to the Hub. Here, the content is screened for various integrity issues, such as submissions to multiple journals simultaneously, references to retracted works, and manuscripts generated by paper mills. This latest integration, closely following the integration of Editorial Manager and ScholarOne into the Integrity Hub, represents an important milestone. It allows for more journals to safely and confidentially share data, thereby improving the capabilities to look for patterns that are indicative of research integrity concerns across journals and publishers, which is crucial to safeguarding the integrity of the scholarly record.

Joris van Rossum, Product Director of the Integrity Hub, comments: “Since the STM Integrity Hub was launched two years ago, we have seen 35 organizations join — publishers as well as other infrastructure and service providers such as editorial systems. Manuscript Manager allows us many other publishers to join the STM Integrity Hub, forming an even wider ecosystem of organizations sharing data to collectively combat research fraud.”

Andy Beare, CEO of Manuscript Manager, is delighted to be a collaborator in the STM Integrity Hub projects. “These initiatives are important in ensuring high standards and confidence in scholarly publications for the academic community. Our customers will also benefit from having access to real-time reports and alerts as part of an automated and efficient process.”

The STM Integrity Hub, founded by STM members and developed by STM Solutions, helps publishers to safeguard research integrity. It allows publishers of all sizes to share data and experiences and offers a variety of tools to identify and respond to materials that violate established standards of quality, ethics, and integrity. In April 2023, the Integrity Hub released the MVP of a paper mill detection tool designed to flag indicators suggesting a manuscript originated from a paper mill, followed by the October launch of a pilot program for detecting duplicate submissions. These tools will be further developed in 2024 and made available to publishers as widely as possible.

About STM
The International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers (STM) is a nonprofit foundation dedicated to advancing trusted research worldwide. STM consists of over 140 members in the academic publishing industry. The STM Integrity Hub is a collaboration between STM member publishers to support research integrity through data, intelligence and technology.

About Manuscript Manager
Manuscript Manager is a modern peer review platform for publishers in search of a budget-and-user-friendly manuscript submission and peer review software solution. Based in Copenhagen, the company currently supports 450+ academic journals and book projects in over 40 countries.