STM Frankfurt Conference 2026 – a more optimistic outlook for scholarly communication through cooperation and trust 

The STM Frankfurt Conference took place this week, bringing together over 300 delegates from across the scholarly communications ecosystem to consider a rapidly changing system, where trust in research can no longer be assumed, AI agents are becoming key consumers of scholarly content, and publishers face growing pressure from rising submission volumes, geopolitical uncertainty, and evolving research policies.  

Despite these complex challenges, the overriding mood was optimistic. Across discussions on AI, research integrity, international cooperation, and publishing strategy, speakers emphasised that scholarly publishers have an opportunity not simply to respond to change, but to shape it. 

Key themes 

International collaboration remains essential to scientific progress: A keynote from Daan du Toit, Deputy Director General, South African Department of Science and Innovation, offered a strongly optimistic view on the future of international research collaboration at a time of growing geopolitical tension and debate around scientific sovereignty. Highlighting the African concept of Ubuntu as a framework for research collaboration based on shared ownership, mutual trust, and collective progress, he argued that international cooperation remains essential to scientific progress and sustainable development, warning that “decoupling is dangerous for everyone”. Instead, he urged the community to stay curious and focus on common ground to address global challenges. 

Publishers must help shape the standards, policies, and infrastructure that will govern trusted research in the AI age: As Generative AI creates a new layer between researchers and the scholarly record, publishers face urgent questions around attribution, accountability, licensing, and discoverability. A panel discussion chaired by Violeta Ribarska (IOP Publishing) with Rose L’Huillier (Elsevier), and Claudia Russo (STM) emphasised the community’s long history of solving shared challenges together – from the development of COUNTER, persistent identifiers, and the STM Integrity Hub. Panellists warned that publishers cannot afford to be absent from conversations about regulation, technical standards, and infrastructure, particularly as decisions made today will shape how trusted research is accessed and used in the future.  

Collaboration across the community is essential to preserve trust: A dedicated session introduced TRACE, a new cross-community initiative designed to ensure that trusted research remains identifiable, attributable, and measurable as AI increasingly mediates access to information. Chaired by Priya Madina (Springer Nature), Todd Toler (Ithaka S+R), Todd Carpenter (NISO), and Tasha Mellins-Cohen (COUNTER) stressed that the scholarly community must work collectively to ensure researchers can verify sources, publishers and authors receive appropriate credit, and libraries retain visibility into how content is being used.  

China focuses on quality, integrity and global research leadership: Major shifts in China’s research evaluation and publishing policies underscore the country’s ambition to strengthen both the quality and global influence of its research system. A Panel chaired by Nandita Quaderi (Clarivate) with Bob Howard (SAGE Publishing), Yu Sun (Tsinghua University Press), and Ting Yue (National Science Library, Chinese Academy of Sciences) explored the transition from quantity-driven assessment towards greater emphasis on research quality, integrity, societal impact and journal excellence. Speakers highlighted investment in research infrastructure, publishing capacity, and journal development, alongside a growing focus on research integrity and stronger domestic publishing platforms.  

Accountability must remain in human hands: AI is accelerating research workflows while simultaneously creating new challenges for quality assurance and research integrity. A panel chaired by Rob Johnson (Research Consulting) with Kim Eggleton (IOP Publishing), Maria Kowalczuk (Frontiers), Witold Kozakiewicz (Medical University of Lodz), Indira Sen (University of Mannheim), and Jonathan Woahn (Cashmere) explored how the community can harness AI while preserving accountability and quality. 

“The danger is that we get so fast we compromise integrity”, noted Kim Eggleton, emphasising that reliable peer review should remain a priority even as AI increases scale and efficiency. Panellists agreed that while AI can support decision-making and reduce administrative burdens, responsibility for publishing decisions must remain with people. At the same time, the pace of change demands action, with Jonathan Woahn (Cashmere) describing the current environment as a “wartime moment”, requiring organisations to move quickly while maintaining appropriate oversight. 

Publishers can take action: Drawing the conference to a close, a leaders panel chaired by Caroline Sutton (STM), with Atul Goel (KnowledgeWorks Global), Laura Hassink (Elsevier/RELX), Steven Heffner (IEEE), Barbara Kline Pope (Johns Hopkins University Press) and Jessica Kowalski (Wiley), argued that trust can no longer be assumed merely because content carries the logo of a familiar publisher or journal.  

Rather than framing AI solely as a threat, panellists saw its potential to redesign workflows and free up human expertise for higher-value activities. The challenge is not whether AI should eliminate peer review, but how it can reduce administrative effort while keeping humans responsible for judgement and decision-making. Steven Heffner observed that the greatest risk is not simply allowing low-quality content through systems, but failing to identify genuinely novel and valuable research. Human judgement remains critical for recognising originality, significance and scientific contribution.

The discussion also focused on organisational readiness and workforce transformation. Speakers agreed that technological change is moving faster than anything many organisations have experienced before and that leadership now has a responsibility to create conditions where experimentation, skills development, and collaboration can happen safely.  

Closing the conference, STM Board Chair Steven Heffner commented, “I feel a sense of optimism coming out of this conference. Publishers, librarians, researchers and technology partners are working together to create the future of scholarly communication, rather than simply reacting to it. Through initiatives like TRACE and collaboration across the research community, we have an opportunity to help create the future we want to see.”