Editor’s Note: Today’s post is by Ashutosh Ghildiyal, Ashutosh is a strategic leader in scholarly publishing with over 18 years of experience driving sustainable growth and global market expansion. He currently serves as Vice President of Growth and Strategy at Integra.

Scholarly publishing has long been central to academic discourse, continuously evolving through shifting financial models, technological advancements, and changing stakeholder expectations. While once primarily focused on distribution and access, today’s publishing landscape grapples with deeper existential questions: What fundamental value do publishers provide? And how should they define their role in an era of growing scrutiny, open access mandates, and AI-driven content generation?

The most vital and enduring contribution of scholarly publishers is their role as gatekeepers — not as obstacles to knowledge but as stewards of quality, integrity, and trust. Rather than acting as passive intermediaries between researchers and the public, publishers have a responsibility to curate and safeguard reliable information. Crucially, this responsibility must shift in focus: from primarily serving authors and institutions to prioritizing the ultimate stakeholder — the reader.

The trustworthiness of published research directly impacts policymakers, healthcare professionals, educators, and the broader public. When publication integrity is compromised — whether by paper mills, predatory journals, or lax editorial oversight — the entire scholarly ecosystem suffers. Readers rely on publishers not only to disseminate information, but to ensure its credibility, clarity, and relevance. Yet, in recent years, market-driven pressures have diverted attention from this core purpose, often prioritizing publication volume and profitability over editorial rigor.

By reaffirming gatekeeping as the defining function of scholarly publishing, there is an argument to be made for a renewed focus on serving the reader. This means upholding rigorous editorial and peer review standards, leveraging AI-driven tools to enhance quality control, and resisting the dilution of integrity in pursuit of scale. In an era of information overload, the true value of publishers lies not just in making research accessible, but in ensuring that what is published is worthy of trust.

The Growing Scrutiny of Publishers’ Roles

Academic publishing has been under an unprecedented microscope in recent years, with stakeholders increasingly questioning the fundamental value and practices of publishers. What began as debates about subscription costs have evolved into more complex conversations about the entire economic and ethical framework of scholarly communication.

The financial model of academic publishing has become a source of significant tension. While earlier critiques focused on the high prices of journal subscriptions, current discussions have shifted to scrutinizing article processing charges (APCs) and the broader economic ecosystem of academic publishing. Publishers now face pointed questions about compensation practices, profit margins, and the potential double-dipping of research funds.

More critically, the digital transformation of research dissemination has challenged traditional publishing paradigms. New technologies have dramatically altered how research is shared and consumed, spurring calls for innovative publishing models. Academics and researchers are increasingly asking what unique value publishers actually provide beyond basic production and distribution.

The traditional view of publishers as mere conduits of scientific information is rapidly becoming obsolete. As the scholarly communication landscape becomes more complex, publishers must reimagine their role. No longer can they be passive intermediaries; instead, they must become active stewards of knowledge, serving not just scientists and researchers, but a broader societal audience.

At the heart of this transformation is the concept of gatekeeping. Far from being an arbitrary administrative function, gatekeeping should be the defining identity of scholarly publishers in the modern era. This means moving beyond technical distribution to actively curating, validating, and contextualizing research for a diverse and increasingly sophisticated readership.

The fundamental question remains: In an age of instant digital communication and AI-driven content generation, what distinctive value can scholarly publishers offer? The answer lies not in clinging to outdated models, but in embracing a more dynamic, reader-focused approach that prioritizes integrity, accessibility, and meaningful knowledge transfer.

Publishing as a Service to Humanity

Publishing is far more than a transactional process of distributing information — it is a profound service to human civilization. At its most elevated purpose, scholarly publishing represents a collective endeavor to advance human understanding, enhance our relationship with the world, and ultimately help us find deeper meaning in our existence.

The scope of this mission is breathtaking. Through the dissemination of knowledge, publishers contribute to technological progress, material welfare, and a more enlightened comprehension of our complex universe. Each published research paper is potentially a building block in humanity’s collective quest for understanding, connecting us to broader insights about our world and ourselves.

Central to this mission is the concept of publication integrity. This goes far beyond a simple administrative function — it is a fundamental ethical responsibility. Publishers must recognize that their primary allegiance is not to authors, institutions, or funders, but to readers. True integrity means prioritizing the ultimate stakeholders: those who consume and act upon scholarly research.

Consider the diverse motivations of different stakeholders. An author might seek publication to share groundbreaking findings or advance their academic career. But for readers — patients awaiting medical breakthroughs, policymakers crafting critical legislation, journalists investigating complex issues — the stakes are immeasurably higher. Research is not an abstract intellectual exercise, but a potential catalyst for real-world transformation.

The publishing industry’s most valuable currency is trust. While prestige and academic reputation matter, they are secondary to the fundamental reliability of the knowledge being shared. When that trust begins to erode — through compromised peer review, predatory journals, or dubious publication practices — the entire scholarly ecosystem is threatened. Such erosion can trigger systemic shifts, prompting fundamental reconsiderations of how research is funded, validated, and disseminated.

In essence, scholarly publishing is a sacred trust. It is a mechanism through which human knowledge is preserved, validated, and shared — a critical infrastructure for our collective intellectual and material progress. Publishers are not mere intermediaries, but guardians of our most powerful resource: reliable, transformative knowledge.

Gatekeeping as a Core Function

Many academics argue against this very purpose and the categorization of publishers as gatekeepers. They contend that a publisher’s job is simply to distribute content, not to decide what should or should not be published. However, gatekeeping should not be equated with arbitrariness or prejudice in decision-making regarding manuscripts or authors. Rather, it carries the supreme responsibility of being neutral and objective, with no personal preference or bias — except ensuring that the language is clear, the paper meets the journal’s aims and scope, and that it prioritizes and helps bring to light the best research for its readers.

Beyond neutrality and checking for language and scope alignment, gatekeeping involves meaningful engagement with the manuscript. An editor can objectively evaluate and provide feedback on aspects the author may not have considered. This is an invaluable role they play, as many authors who have worked with great editors can attest. Authors trust their neutrality and appreciate their constructive approach, knowing that the feedback will not be biased. They recognize the value of true editorial expertise, and receiving helpful feedback aimed at improving their manuscript is often a delight. It provides both clarity and confidence, guiding them toward improvement and success. Gaining an author’s trust and delighting them at the editorial stage is crucial and highly beneficial for publishers.

To engage meaningfully with manuscripts, editors must be able to review them thoughtfully. However, the increasing scale of publishing makes this increasingly challenging, as thoughtful engagement requires time and attention. This is where AI tools can help by acting as filters, screening out manuscripts that do not meet essential language quality and technical requirements. However, the accuracy and reliability of such tools must be carefully assessed.

The Role of Peer Review and Editorial Oversight

The gatekeeping process is also supported by peer reviewers, who add an extra layer of subject matter expertise to the manuscript, further helping to improve it. Both the editorial and peer review processes serve as gatekeepers in scholarly publishing, and the responsibility for the integrity of the manuscript ultimately lies with them. To effectively fulfill this responsibility, they can and should leverage available tools to assist with manuscript screening, filtering out and preventing compromised manuscripts from reaching peer review.

While peer reviewers may contribute to further quality control and integrity checks during their examination, it should not be their primary responsibility to identify signs of integrity breaches. They may not always be able to detect such issues, and placing this burden on them would add undue stress, making the peer review process even more daunting. Instead, editors can manage research integrity checks by utilizing technology and tools designed to identify known characteristics of compromised manuscripts. Additionally, they can seek assistance from trained experts in research integrity to ensure a thorough and effective screening process.

Balancing Technology with Human Judgment

Scholarly publishing reveals a critical truth: while production and dissemination can be automated, the essence of publishing — gatekeeping—remains fundamentally human. Technology should augment, not replace, the nuanced expertise of human editors and reviewers.

Editorial oversight is more than a mechanical process. It requires:

• Critical thinking
• Creative interpretation
• Nuanced understanding
• Scholarly intuition

Artificial intelligence can efficiently manage routine tasks like initial manuscript screening, but it cannot replicate the depth of human judgment. The most effective publishing model integrates technological efficiency with human expertise, ensuring:

• Rigorous quality control
• Preservation of scholarly creativity
• Meaningful manuscript assessment
• Intelligent, context-aware evaluation

The Future of Publishing

The optimal approach is not choosing between technology and human judgment, but creating a symbiotic system where:

• AI handles administrative and screening tasks
• Human experts provide depth, context, and critical analysis
• Technological tools free scholars to focus on substantive review
• Editorial creativity remains at the core of knowledge dissemination

In this balanced ecosystem, technology serves human intellect, not the reverse.

Reaffirming the Publisher’s Role

Scholarly publishers do far more than simply disseminate content. Their fundamental responsibility as gatekeepers is crucial to maintaining academic publishing’s integrity and value. When executed with objectivity, the gatekeeping function serves three critical purposes:

• Ensuring research quality
• Building trust with authors through constructive feedback
• Providing readers with reliable, trustworthy knowledge

The most effective approach balances editorial oversight and peer review expertise, strategically supported by emerging AI tools. This hybrid system maintains research integrity by preserving human judgment while avoiding arbitrary or biased decision-making.

The Strategic Challenge

In today’s complex publishing landscape, preserving gatekeeping requires a nuanced approach:

• Use AI to manage administrative scale
• Enable meaningful human engagement with manuscripts
• Prioritize routine checks through automation
• Free human experts to focus on qualitative, nuanced manuscript assessment

Although businesses often struggle to identify AI’s precise value, scholarly publishing is emerging as a field where technological integration is becoming increasingly clear. Publishers must continue to embrace their gatekeeping role while adapting to evolving technological landscape that can help support and enhance this core function.

Looking Forward

Success in scholarly publishing will depend on publishers’ ability to uphold their gatekeeping role in service of the reader. This requires:

• Maintaining rigorous quality control standards
• Addressing the diverse needs of authors and readers
• Providing constructive and transparent feedback
• Ensuring the trustworthiness and lasting value of published content

By fulfilling this dual responsibility, publishers not only reinforce their role as gatekeepers but also make a vital contribution to the advancement of knowledge across all academic disciplines.