NEWSROOM CATEGORY:
*Policy & Advocacy

Paper mills are a multi-million pound industry profiting from the sale and publication of manuscripts containing low value or fraudulent content. They are destroying the integrity of research and publishing practices. United2Act was established in October 2023, as an international multi-stakeholder project with the aim of tackling the growing problem of paper mills. This report…

The rise of generative AI has created serious copyright concerns, but also opportunities for savvy publishers and creators. Two upcoming webinars, open to European and national publishers’ associations and their members, can help you get up to speed. TollBit has developed an AI monitoring and monetisation platform already trusted by over 2,400 leading publisher websites. In their upcoming…

Following on July’s USDA memo announcing that it will ‘place America First in provisioning all USDA funds’, the NIH released a statement on ‘Maximising and Safeguarding NIH’s Investment in Foreign Collaborations’. While the text encouragingly notes that ‘the agency conducts and supports international research’ to advance its mission, its subtext is that any support going to foreign entities or activities…

The Trump administration released an executive order last month giving political appointees the responsibility for reviewing and approving all grant decisions, a radical change from prior merit review processes. This builds on the politically motivated cancellation of grants at NIH, NSF and other federal agencies earlier this year and the attacks by the administration on American universities. This movement away…

Federal agencies, including DOE, NIH and NSF, have released plans to implement President Trump’s executive order promoting ‘Gold Standard Science’, pursuant to the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) guidance for agencies and request for plans by 22 August. Other agencies may have issued responses by the time this newsletter goes to press, or may subsequently. Additionally, the EO directed…

As noted in last month’s newsletter, NIH has formally proposed a cap on the use of NIH grant funds for publication costs in a blog post and an associated request for information. STM CEO Caroline Sutton met with the NIH Office of Science Policy in August and was told that they are very open to the comments, and want to consider…

Measuring our impact, together. At STM, we believe that advancing research should go hand-in-hand with environmental responsibility. That’s why we’re proud to launch the STM Digital Carbon Calculator — a practical new tool designed to help academic publishers understand and reduce the carbon footprint of their digital journals. Every digital article hosted, accessed, and cited…

Barbara Kalumenos retires from STM on 28 August 2025. Barbara joined STM in 2008 as Director of Public Affairs, at a time when STM was a very different organisation from today. During her time with STM, she built up the organisation’s presence in Europe, while also developing and strengthening relationships in Japan, China, and India….

Shuai Yan, with co-authors Mark Robertson (STM) and Eric Na (IET), has published the third report on developments in scholarly publishing in China. Over the past decade, several Open Access (OA) journal white lists have been developed in China, including the GoOA Fully OA Journal White List (GoOA), the International OA Journal Recommended List (OARL),…

On 16 July, the European Commission presented the first draft of its 2028-34 budget, which includes €175 billion for Horizon Europe — nearly double its current funding. Horizon Europe would remain a standalone programme, although the €175 billion would be part of the €409 billion European Competitiveness Fund (ECF) and the €1.8 trillion Multi-annual Financial Framework (MFF)….