JOINSTM Trends 2030: A Voyage Into The Unknown
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 — Trends captures the shifts most likely to define the publishing landscape in the years ahead. This year’s report identifies four interconnected drivers:
- geopolitical shifts and their impact on international research collaboration;
- growing challenges to scientific authority;
- changing patterns in research funding and power; and
- the accelerating influence of AI across every aspect of how research is produced and shared.
Visualised through the metaphor of space exploration, the report captures both the turbulence ahead and the potential of the journey. A flotilla of spacecraft — from independent operators to collaborative stations — navigates solar flares of disruption, asteroid belts of immediate threat, and the gravitational pull of a black hole representing the risks of losing core values: quality, ethics, transparency, and integrity. The destination is Sagittarius — the constellation representing knowledge, truth, and the spirit of discovery that has always driven science forward.
“Every year, Trends forces us to look up from the day-to-day and ask: where is this all heading? This year’s answer is both humbling and energising. The forces shaping scholarly communications by 2030 are profound — but so is the opportunity to navigate them well, together.”
— Hylke Koers, Chief Information Officer, STM Solutions