News: Academic Publishing Weekly

Impelsys acquires Delta Think, AI skepticism increases in research and publishing, and a victory for IMLS

Posted on December 5, 2025 in News

The IMLS Reinstates All Previously Terminated Grants and What We Stand to Lose When Libraries Are Devalued

In a major victory for libraries and museums across the country, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) this week announced that it is reinstating all of its grants as a result of the November 21^st court ruling in Rhode Island v. Trump. According to reports, in his summary judgement in that ruling, Judge John J. McConnell Jr. declared that Trump’s executive order to dismantle the IMLS was unlawful. A December 3^rd statement from the IMLS says, “Upon further review, the Institute of Museum and Library Services has reinstated all federal grants. This action supersedes any prior notices which may have been received related to grant termination.” In response, ALA President Sam Helmick said, “ALA welcomes the good news that IMLS is restoring all federal grants that had previously been terminated. This means that libraries across the country will be able to resume vital services for learning, imagination, and economic opportunity.” The fight is not over, however. ALA’s own lawsuit against the Administration remains ongoing, and Congress still needs to vote on IMLS funding in the next fiscal year.

Relatedly, a post on the Scholarly Kitchen by UCNJ Director of Libraries Jane Jiang, warns of consequences to the scholarly endeavor if academic libraries are ignored, or worse, lost. Sitting square in the I-can’t-believe-this-needs-to-be-said category, Jiang notes, “When the library is treated as background infrastructure rather than as an active learning environment, the entire academic mission is weakened.” Sadly, this remains a struggle for many libraries as campus departments are tasked with “proving their value” to ROI-oriented administrators.  

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Deals and Collabs

Following the news in October that Baker & Taylor was set to cease operations after a failed acquisition attempt by ReaderLink Distribution Services, Lakeside Book Company has swooped in to pick up B&T’s retail subsidiary, Baker & Taylor Publisher Services (BTPS). The deal gives Lakeside distribution and “order-to-cash” capabilities as well as print-on-demand solutions. In more M&A news, Impelsys, a digital content services company that caters to the education and publishing markets, among others, has added a strategic component to its tech-oriented solutions by acquiring consultancy Delta Think. In a less acquisitive deal, another scholarly publisher has developed an AI technology partnership. This week, Bloomsbury’s academic division announced it is collaborating with Google Cloud to leverage the platform’s AI products, such as NotebookLM, Vertex AI, and Gemini Enterprise. Not just a learning- and research-based collaboration, the project will also activate new infrastructure capabilities for Bloomsbury’s digital division, Bloomsbury Digital Resources, including better trend analysis to drive more book sales and new print prediction models for better inventory management.

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More AI Skepticism and Trends in AI Product Tracking

A new report is out from the University of Bristol that qualitatively measures attitudes around implementing AI for research preparation and assessment in higher education. The UK has a standardized system in place for assessing research quality called The Research Excellence Framework (REF), which influences public funding of university research. The study comes out just ahead a planned announcement of new guidance to the next iteration of the REF in 2029, according to a report in Research Information. The study reveals that some institutions are exploring ways to utilize GenAI in research assessment, with some already at a proof-of-concept stage. Also, some argue that using AI will ease labor and regulatory costs associated with the REF and that AI implementation is a foregone conclusion, though a majority of academic respondents to the report’s survey (54% to 75%) oppose using AI for various segments of the REF. On the AI product front, Ithaka S+R continues to track new releases aimed at the higher education market. After two years of tracking, the list has doubled, and some interesting trends are emerging. In a post announcing a new, more user-friendly version of the tracker, Senior Analyst Claire Baytas observes that AI product capabilities are becoming multi-faceted and agentic features are increasingly common.

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APS Creates Open Journal, JMIR Joins STM, and Springer Nature and Research4Life Continue Collab

The American Physical Society announced APS Open Science—an open access journal “designed to meet the moment.” Serving as a “community-driven platform” around the globe, the journal will offer article publication charge (APC) waivers to scholars in “low- and lower-middle-income countries, along with introductory discounts for all authors.” Submissions will open toward the end of February 2026. Next, open access digital health research publisher JMIR Publications has joined the International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers (STM). The publisher will also incorporate STM Integrity Hub “into routine operations to further support the integrity and high quality of scholarly publishing and the published scientific record.” Last, Springer Nature and Research4Life’s collaboration will continue, a partnership that gives researchers from low- and middle-income countries free or discounted access to protocols.io, “the publisher’s digital solution for creating, managing, and sharing research methods and protocols.”

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Research Collaboration Report, Integrity Toolkit, and AI Skepticism in Publishing

Clarivate released a new report on the evolution of global research collaboration, “Research collaboration in a changing world.” From Clarivate’s Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), the report covers major trends, such as Mainland China’s increase in international collaborations and research output and the US’s challenges of reduced funding and policy impacts. Speaking of research, Taylor & Francis and Sense about Science—a UK-based charitable organization that promotes a public understanding of science and evidence—published a research integrity toolkit aimed at early career researchers. Informed by the UK Research Integrity Office (UKRIO) and feedback from early career researchers themselves, the guide walks through the publication process to “[meet] the real needs of researchers.” Finally, Publishers Weekly shared its annual PW Salary & Jobs Report. Based on more than 700 responses from publishing professionals, the report reveals that the workforce is becoming more diverse and more wary of AI—”72% [of respondents] said they believe AI will be bad for publishing, up from 56% in 2024.”

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So! Many! Book Lists!

We have a lot of book lists to get through so let’s jump in headfirst, fearless. Academic books first: the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) gathered 2025 releases from ACLS fellows, spotlighting a whole bunch of university press titles. Next, Choice released its list of Outstanding Academic Titles, available to Choice magazine or Choice Reviews subscribers. If you’re not subscribed (what gives?), Choice will release snippets of the list via newsletter and on its website, starting with this list of Fine Arts titles. If you’re looking for more nonfiction, The Guardian put together a recap of the best history and politics books of the year. Now, let’s move on to the BIG lists. Literary Hub highlighted its “43 Favorite Books of 2025,” including novels, nonfiction, and poetry—hiiiiii University of Arkansas Press! If you’re committed to giving books for all your gifts this holiday season, NPR has you covered with its annual Books We Love guide. Tagging books with general and niche categories (“The Dark Side,” anyone?), the guide is comprehensive, useful, and great to look at. Plus, it has retroactive lists going back to 2013! Last, but not least, the New York Times published “The 10 Best Books of 2025” made up of five fiction and nonfiction titles. No Sunrise on the Reaping?! Simply no taste.

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