A Platform Comes Apart: Part 1
Today’s post explores what happens to the scholarly content platform when AI agents become the users.
Academic Freedom for the Win; Open Access Mandate in Germany Declared Unconstitutional
A German court ruled against a mandatory article deposit requirement under Germany’s “secondary publication right” (SPR). Whatever the intentions, SPR is mainly going to contribute to the degradation of the record of science.
Guest Post — The US Government’s New Guidance for Federal Grants and The Case for Scholarly Societies
Today’s guest post is an urgent call for the SSP community to push back on the US government (OMB), which is poised to overhaul the concept of federal research grants.
Ask the Community: Takeaways from SSP 2026
We asked some of the attendees of the recent SSP Annual Meeting in Chula Vista, CA, to answer the question: “What are some takeaways from your experience at SSP 2026?”
Guest Post — Advancing Federated Identity in the Library Ecosystem
Federated identity should be a natural fit for library access. So why isn’t it?
Guest Post — Proposed Uniform Guidance Revisions Would Eliminate Journal Subscriptions and APCs as Allowable Federal Grant Costs
New guidance from the US government on research funding makes publishing and journal subscription costs unallowable.
Guest Post — Scholarly AI Search Shortcomings and the Need for Better Metadata
AI scholarly search tools often miss important literature due to incomplete metadata. Better full-text-derived metadata could significantly improve discovery.
Beyond the Article, Beyond the APC: What We Learned from 18 Months of R&D
Today’s post shares the results of an initiative designed to answer the question: what would it actually take to build a publishing model fit for the research ecosystem we have now, rather than the one we inherited?
Seven Questions about CC Signals
With CC Signals, Creative Commons wants to help authors put rules on use of their licensed content for AI training. The problem is, one of the licenses already permits free and unlimited reuse of that content, for any and all purposes. And the licenses are irrevocable.
Why Every Publisher Needs a Library Relations Strategy
Publishers that lack a deliberate library relations strategy are making consequential decisions without important and useful community perspectives.
Filter, Not Funnel: What Zero-click Means for Brand and Engagement
The threat of zero-click search makes organizational brand more important than ever and presents a huge opportunity.
APC Caps and Bans — Why Funder Policies Aimed at Curbing the Publishing Industry Don’t Work
A new report suggests the NIH’s promised APC caps will reduce global OA spending. But so far, funder efforts to control publisher and author behavior have largely been ineffective. Here’s why.
Guest Post — Love, Death & Robots: Scholarly Edition
Today’s guest post proposes a method for identifying, measuring, and managing robotic usage of scholarly content.
Stronger Together: BioOne and Johns Hopkins University Press Join Forces
Today BioOne and Johns Hopkins University Press announced that they’re joining forces. Learn more in this interview with Lauren Kane, Barbara Kline Pope, and Wendy Queen
Guest Post — Moving from Identifier to Identity for Researchers
Today’s post calls for collective action to address the researcher identity verification gap in scholarly communications and champions STM’s Researcher identity group.