News: Academic Publishing Weekly

OpenRxiv takes on operation of bioRxiv and medRxiv, the launch of ScienceDirect AI, and researchers Stand Up for Science.

Posted on March 14, 2025 in News

The Launch of OpenRxiv

Ownership of the preprint servers bioRxiv and medRxiv is shifting from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) to a new nonprofit, openRxiv. Funded by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) and an anonymous donor, openRxiv aims to create additional preprint servers, bolster global submissions, and organize more campus outreach. The nonprofit is currently looking for a CEO and has developed several governing boards. For instance, John Inglis, executive director of CSHL Press and a co-founder of bioRxiv and medRxiv, will chair the scientific and medical advisory board. Inglis covered several advantages of moving to independent ownership, noting that, “The benefit of having openRxiv is that it has one goal, one mission to deliver, and it’s very focused on that, rather than it being part of a larger and more complicated academic organization.” [Science]

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AI Galore: ScienceDirect AI, Alchemist Review, and Zendy’s AI Revenue-Sharing Initiative

Elsevier has announced ScienceDirect AI, a tool “designed to transform the way researchers work by enabling them to instantly extract, summarize and compare trusted insights from millions of full-text articles and book chapters on ScienceDirect.” The tool includes a reading assistant and a “Compare Experiments” feature. Elsevier also claims that ScienceDirect AI can “save 50% of time spent on literature research.” Several members of ScienceDirect’s team will discuss the new tool in an upcoming Choice webinar. Next, Hum and GroundedAI released Alchemist Review. The AI tool is designed for editors and peer reviewers and aims to bolster efficiency by “extracting and analysing text, images and citations within manuscripts.” Lastly, Zendy established a “revenue-sharing model for AI-generated references” as part of its AI-powered research assistant, ZAIA. Through the licensing-based model, publishers are compensated for paywalled content “based on the number of references provided in ZAIA’s responses.”

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New AI Tools Detect Research Errors and Wiley Publishes Author Guidelines

Nature’s Elizabeth Gibney profiled two initiatives that use AI for detecting errors in research. First, Gibney highlighted the Black Spatula Project, which has examined roughly 500 academic papers and reaches out to authors personally to address errors. Nature also looked at YesNoError, an initiative funded by cryptocurrency that’s “analysed more than 37,000 papers in two months.” Gibney explained that both projects have received support, but concerns remain over false positives and YesNoError prioritizing work that “garner[s] public interest” from its cryptocurrency holders. All in all, the initiatives aim for “researchers to use their tools before submitting work to a journal, and journals to use them before they publish.” In other AI news, Wiley published guidelines for authors’ utilization of the technology. Specifically, the guidelines cover ways to use AI in “manuscript preparation while preserving the author’s authentic voice and expertise.” The suggestions follow requests for guidance expressed in Wiley’s ExplanAItions study and include FAQs on prompt-engineering and AI tool disclosure.

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Researchers Stand Up for Science—Will the Rest of Academia?

Numerous researchers have taken to the streets to protest actions from the Trump administration including layoffs and grant freezes. Nature reported that five researchers coordinated the Stand Up for Science rallies across the US and were joined by scientists organizing in Europe. The organizers are also seeking policy changes, a grant program, and “training programmes to help scientists develop advocacy skills.” Writing for The Scholarly Kitchen, University of Edinburgh lecturer Dr. Nason Maani pondered if the rest of academia will stand up against research censorship. In particular, Maani called for a March of the Ents, referencing the Lord of the Rings. Maani stated that remaining silent fails to prevent bias in research, also emphasizing that “…all of science loses out if the scope of our enquiry is constrained only to the research that is politically expedient and acceptable, if it becomes neutered, domesticated.”

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Princeton University Press China Distribution Update, JSTOR Access in Prison Program Milestone, and Books for WHM

Beginning in May, W. W. Norton will join the University of Chicago Press as the second publisher receiving Chinese sales and marketing support from Princeton University Press. Princeton University Press will manage “all facets of international English-language sales and marketing for Norton’s trade, academic and select client-publisher lists in mainland China.” Works from W. W. Norton will also be “available for D2C purchase in China.” Next, Goodreads compiled 192 nonfiction titles for Women’s History Month. Several books from university presses—including Shirley Chisholm: Champion of Black Feminist Power Politics by Anastasia C. Curwood from the University of North Carolina Press—dot the Histories and Biographies category. Lastly, the JSTOR Access in Prison program reached a new milestone. JSTOR shared that “more than one million incarcerated learners can now research, download, and read academic journal articles, books, and other scholarly materials via the JSTOR platform.”

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