NEWSROOM CATEGORY:
*Policy & Advocacy
Global reporting standard for AI disclosure in research: first consultation is open
Transparency about the use of generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) in research articles and other scholarly outputs is an important aspect of research integrity. At present, practices for how to disclose AI use vary widely across disciplines, regions, and publication cultures. To address this issue, STM has released a report “Recommendations for a Classification of AI…
Making scholarly images more accessible: STM’s draft taxonomy now open for feedback
The STM Alt Text Task & Finish Group (TFG) has released a draft image-type taxonomy for scholarly images — and we’re inviting your feedback. This draft is the result of a collaborative effort by STM members to support accessible publishing, with a focus on helping authors and publishers write better image descriptions (alt text). Not only does…
Congress rejects cuts to science funding
To kick off the new year, Congress agreed to a “minibus” spending package that rejects the Administration’s draconian cuts to federal science funding. The package includes several key science agencies, with only slight reductions for NSF, NASA, USGS, and NOAA, and modest increases for the DOE Office of Science and NIST. While these numbers might ordinarily disappoint the…
NIH approves hundreds of previously rejected grants
Last year, NIH abruptly cancelled or rejected thousands of grants based on their alleged non-alignment with Administration priorities. This included the unilateral rejection of projects addressing disfavored topics such as diversity, equity, and inclusion. In response to legal challenges — though without admitting wrongdoing — NIH has agreed to reconsider more than 5,000 grants. According…
STM comments on DOE’s plan for scientific AI
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) last year issued a Request for Information (RFI) on “how DOE should best structure and enable partnerships to curate DOE scientific data across the National Laboratory complex for use in artificial intelligence (AI) models.” In response, STM highlighted the importance of clear licensing frameworks, the value of high-quality and validated information,…
EU Commission publishes study on remote access to scientific content
The European Commission has released a report examining how copyright law affects the ability of institutions — such as libraries, educational establishments, research organisations, and museums — to provide remote access to digital materials for education and research. The report highlights legal and practical challenges and explores potential avenues to improve the framework for conducting research remotely…
NSF releases Strategic Plan; requests comment
On January 13, NSF released a draft of its 2026–2030 Strategic Plan and invited public comment by January 26, 2026. The draft is shorter and more high-level than previous versions, outlining nine objectives along with broad strategies and success measures for each. For example, to measure progress on the first objective — “Uphold tenets of Gold…
French report on the applicability of EU copyright rules to non-EU AI models
The French CSPLA has published the findings of a much-anticipated inquiry into a key legal question: Do European copyright laws apply to large AI models developed outside the EU? The report concludes that once AI models are marketed within the EU, European copyright law applies—regardless of where the servers are located or where training occurred. An…
In the media | Times Higher Education — “Unseen efforts to catch paper mill outputs bear fruit”
In an article on growing threats to research integrity, Times Higher Education covers STM’s report Safeguarding Scholarly Communication: Publisher Practices to Uphold Research Integrity. The article describes how publishers are increasingly focused on identifying integrity issues before publication—responding to paper mills, AI-enabled fabrication, and coordinated fraud networks—while scaling up research integrity teams and collaborating on…
New report documents publisher investment in research integrity infrastructure
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (January 13, 2026) – A new report, released today, offers the first collective look at the range of approaches scholarly publishers are deploying to tackle threats to research integrity, threats that have evolved in nature and scaled dramatically in recent years. The STM-commissioned report was researched and compiled by research firm Research…