Siva Vaidhyanathan, Robertson Professor of Modern Studies, University of Virginia    

A thought leader on what happens when Knowledge systems become industrialized, platform-dependent, and algorithmically governed.  His work examines how scale, automation, and corporate logics reshape information ecosystems- insights that map directly into the industrial shift now underway in scholarly publishing. 

Moderated by: Simone Taylor,  Chief, Publishing, American Psychiatric Association

This session will focus more broadly on the theme of the conference (Industrial Shift) and dive into that a bit more deeply to assess what it means for our industry: 

• Disinformation: How do we develop and sustain reliable sources of data and information? 

• Ethics: What standards guide the performance and reporting of research? 

• Technology: How do new technologies improve our processes and products 

• Business models: What will drive growth in our industry? How does the industry serve all its stakeholders? 

We will aim to assess these challenges through the lens of different stakeholders: researchers, librarians, the technology supply chain, and publishers. 

Panelists: 

Alexia Hudson-Ward, Dean of Libraries, Georgetown University  

Jignesh Bhate, CEO, Molecular Connections

Rachel Burley, Publisher, American Physical Society 

New format: The session opens with a short panel featuring three experts, each representing a core area of publisher value. After the opening discussion, we move into a Gallery walk — attendees split into three groups and rotate through facilitated stations where each panellist leads a deeper dive into their topic with a brief presentation and open Q&A. The session closes with a panel wrap-up where panellists share what they heard and key takeaways. 

Session facilitator: Apoorva Shah, Vice President of Product Management and UX, Wiley

• Brief provocation: What if AI companies said, ‘We don’t need publishers anymore, just the content’? What would you say?
• Not a defensive question—an opportunity to articulate our value clearly 

Session description 

As AI reshapes research workflows, this session explores the distinctive expertise publishers contribute in an AI-native environment — not features of content distribution, but the capabilities that sustain rigor, context, and reliability across the scholarly record. 

Rather than focusing on business models or defensive strategies, this session celebrates what publishers do exceptionally well—and explores how to amplify these capabilities in an AI-native ecosystem: 

Station 1 — Subject matter expertise & brand
Presenter and facilitator: Amy Kullas, Director, Ethics, American Society for Microbiology (ASM)

Publishers cultivate editorial communities with deep domain knowledge — the contextual judgment about what matters, what’s novel, and what’s significant that AI cannot replicate. In a world of content noise and AI-generated volume, publisher brands carry real signal value. This station explores how domain expertise and brand trust work together as a counterforce to undifferentiated content — and why researchers, institutions, and AI systems alike are drawn to trusted names. 

Station 2 — Editorial excellence, peer review & research integrity
Presenter and facilitator: Adya Misra, Associate Director, Research Integrity, Sage

The human processes that validate methodology, assess significance, identify conflicts, and maintain rigor — combined with the systems, tools, and cross-publisher collaboration that make trust possible at scale. As AI-generated submissions proliferate and paper mills grow more sophisticated, publisher expertise in quality assurance and integrity infrastructure becomes more critical, not less. This station explores both the editorial craft and the integrity systems that underpin it. 

Station 3 — Beyond the article
Presenter and facilitator: Aaron Wood, Head, Product and Content Management, American Psychological Association

The value publishers create extends well beyond the article — into how content is discovered, reused, and consumed by AI systems and new research workflows. As the scholarly record enters these new contexts, the question shifts from technical implementation to shared principles: what values should guide responsible stewardship of content in an AI-native world? This station explores the considerations publishers bring to the table as more stakeholder groups join the conversation — and what it means to lead with values, not just infrastructure. 

Station walk: Publisher value in action
Three stations, each focused on one value dimension.  

Station Synthesis & Close  

Introduction:  Claudia Russo, Director, Public Affairs EU and Global Deputy Director, Public Affairs, STM 

Dr Florent Bernard, Counsellor for Research and Innovation at the EU Delegation to the US, European Commission 

This session will explore Europe’s emerging flagship initiative in AI‑driven research—the Resource for AI Science in Europe (RAISE)—and examine how it aligns with and diverges from the United States’ strategic efforts in AI for scientific discovery, including the Genesis mission. 

RAISE is conceived as a virtual European institute designed to coordinate and pool AI‑related resources across the continent. Built around key pillars—including compute infrastructure (EuroHPC, AI Factories), high‑quality data ecosystems (EOSC, Common Data Spaces, Data Labs), and excellence networks for talent and research—RAISE aims to strengthen Europe’s scientific competitiveness, reduce fragmentation, and ensure that AI adoption in research remains ethical, transparent, and human‑centric. By offering coordinated access to supercomputing, federated datasets, and AI‑ready research environments, RAISE seeks to accelerate scientific discovery and support researchers across all disciplines. 

Together, RAISE and Genesis underscore an ambition on both sides of the Atlantic to leverage AI as a transformative accelerator for scientific discovery. 

Our two speakers will argue for and against the motion, and we’ll take rebuttal questions from the floor. Attendees of the session will vote for the winner. 

Paul Gee, Vice President, Digital Product Management and Development, The JAMA Network

Navigating uncertainty: Funding volatility, policy shifts, and their impact on scholarly publishing  

Funding volatility, policy uncertainty, and shifting patterns in research output and scholarly engagement are no longer theoretical risks—they are reshaping the global research ecosystem in real time. 

In Spring 2025, Delta Think convened approximately 30 participating organizations and surveyed more than 13,000 researchers across 135 countries to establish a baseline understanding of the impacts of recent U.S. policy and funding changes. The study was repeated in Fall 2025, enabling early comparisons and the identification of emerging trendlines across disciplines and regions. 

This session will present key findings from the research, highlighting where researcher sentiment appears to be stabilizing, where risks remain elevated, and which pressures are proving persistent versus temporary. Speakers will examine how these dynamics are influencing publishing behavior, conference participation, and institutional decision-making. 

Moving from data to action, panelists will discuss how their organizations are using these insights to inform strategic planning, risk management, and community engagement in an increasingly volatile environment. The session will conclude with an interactive discussion, inviting participants to share their own experiences and perspectives on navigating funding uncertainty and policy change.