NEWSROOM CATEGORY:
*Announcements

The US Department of Justice issued an interim final rule on April 20 extending the compliance dates for web content and mobile app accessibility as required by the updated Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Title II regulations. The compliance date for state and local government entities with a total population of 50,000 or more is extended from…

On Friday, April 25, the President reportedly fired the entire National Science Board (NSB). The NSB plays a major role in overseeing the National Science Foundation (NSF) and advising Congress and the President, and its 24 members generally serve 6-year terms. The Board’s last scheduled meeting, on April 16, was canceled and never rescheduled. NSF is also…

NIH recently updated its Grants Policy Statement and announced a revised implementation timeline for new Common Form requirements. Of particular note, the new requirements (as of March 25) include a requirement that NIH-funded authors add a percentage and dollar amount of the program costs associated with US federal money to their acknowledgements of funding, and to add a…

On April 7, USDA released a new regulation implementing the Nelson memo public access policy, which came into effect immediately. Notably, it includes a helpful provision expressly stating that publishers may decide whether a journal permits authors to meet the immediate access/deposit requirements, and that researchers can apply for a waiver if they wish to publish in…

The study led by Visionary Analytics on the economic impact of potential legislative interventions regarding an EU-wide Secondary Publication Right and a modified research exception has now concluded. Findings will be presented in a webinar on 13 May. Programme and registration are available here.

On 24 March 2026, the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled against the state of Baden-Württemberg and the University of Konstanz, rejecting their attempt to establish a secondary publication obligation through state and institutional statutes under Section 38(4) of the German Copyright Act (UrhG). The Court found the obligation void on competence grounds: copyright legislation is a matter…

STM has today published STM Trends 2030: A Voyage Into The Unknown: Navigating Shifts, Propelling Discovery — its annual horizon-scan of the forces shaping scholarly communications. Developed each year by senior members of STM’s STEC Committee (link) and Future Lab — a discussion forum drawing on innovation, technology, and strategy expertise from across the membership…

STM is pleased to welcome two new colleagues who joined the team in spring 2026. Georgiana Svensmark-Baciu joins as Senior Manager, Public Affairs EU, based in Brussels. She brings a strong background in publishing, open science, and strategic communications, most recently at Elsevier where she led the global launch of AI products for researchers and coordinated…

On 3 April, China’s state-owned Central Television reported on CAS’s new policy ceasing funding for approximately 30 fully open access journals with article publishing charges (APCs) above US$5,000. Limitations would apply to use of academic and national funding and would not preclude authors from self-funding to publish in these journals. It is important to note…

A district Court in the Netherlands sided with the national tax authority and stated that Open Access publication costs must be charged at the higher VAT rate of 21% (rather than the lower rate of 9%, which applies to purchasing material to read). The prevalent view of national tax authorities is that the VAT regime on electronic publications…