A new, independently researched report by Ithaka S+R, funded by STM Solutions and six of our members, offers an overview of the essential standards and technology, including products and services, that comprise the underlying infrastructure supporting scholarly communications. Importantly, it also identifies gaps and areas where future investments are needed. The report is freely available for download on Ithaka S+R’s website.

“Publishers have invested heavily in shared infrastructure — at the same time, we’re continuing to witness rapid change, new opportunities, and new challenges to the system,” said Hylke Koers, Chief Information Officer, STM Solutions. “In commissioning this report, we sought an independent, comprehensive study of the current landscape to provide recommendations where collective action and further investments are needed to develop and sustain a scholarly communications system that is open and trusted at scale.”

While the report is detailed and offers many insights, among the report’s recommendations for areas to target for further development and investment, the following key themes emerged: 

• How to design a system that delivers both ‘open’ and ‘trusted’ at scale.
• The increasing presence and role of AI in scholarly communications.
• The importance of PIDs, metadata, and common standards in enabling a seamless user journey across different publishing platforms and discovery services on the scholarly web.
• Research Integrity.

STM is already driving multiple initiatives addressing these themes, from our recent white paper on AI in Scholarly Communications to the STM Solutions Integrity Hub and UNITED2ACT, and to our involvement in GetFTR and SeamlessAccess.

What’s Next?

In the coming months, STM  will convene its members and stakeholders to collectively explore ways we can act on findings from the report. “The intent of this work is to spur thought, conversation — and ultimately, action,” said Koers.