News: Academic Publishing Weekly

Springer Nature donates AI tool Geppetto, Taylor & Francis meets OA funding target, and tips for library/publisher partnerships on accessibility

Posted on May 2, 2025 in News

Springer Nature Donates AI Tool to STM, Wiley Publishes Statement on AI, and AI Tips for Publishers

Springer Nature has donated its “AI-spotting tool” Geppetto to the International Association of Scientific, Technical & Medical Publishers (STM) for inclusion in the STM Integrity Hub. Springer Nature hopes that the tool will help address “growth in fraudulent submissions” and underscored Geppetto’s positive impact at the publisher thus far. Next up, Wiley published a statement on AI, stressing “the value of intellectual property and the creators behind it.” The statement emphasizes collaboration between the scholarly community and AI companies and the need for proper author attribution and compensation. APW readers will remember that Wiley was one of the first publishers to hop on the AI-licensing bandwagon last year—interesting! Lastly, Wiley’s Pascal Hetzscholdt and Hong Zhou offered several tips for publishers gleaned from the recent Generative AI Summit in London.

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Edinburgh University Press Partners with Paradigm and the Industry Offers Condolences for Georgetown University Press Director

Edinburgh University Press (EUP) has entered a new partnership with Paradigm Publishing Services. Paradigm Publishing Services will “begin digitally archiving scholarly texts” for EUP, with an aim to digitize 1,600 books in total. The digitized titles cover a range of subjects and date back to the launch of the press in 1949. Turning to Georgetown University Press, director Al Bertrand has sadly passed away. Bertrand was with Georgetown for seven years, previously working as the associate publishing director for Princeton University Press (PUP). Publishers Weekly highlighted several of Bertrand’s accomplishments at Georgetown including bolstering the press’s portfolio and creating a faculty editorial board. PUP’s director Christie Henry shared, “The ecosystem of publishing, especially university press publishing, evolved with his leadership, and the planet has lost a force of humanity and good far too early, at just the time when we need this more than ever.” 

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Taylor & Francis Reaches OA Collective Funding Target and ACLS Issues a New Strategic Framework

After meeting its Subscribe to Open funding goals in early April, Taylor & Francis revealed that its Collective Pathway to Open Publishing (CPOP) pilot has also achieved its targets. As a result, articles in this year’s volumes of Nordic Psychology and Nordic Social Work Research will be made open access (OA). Taylor & Francis noted that the pilot covers “all specialist and professional content, a key feature of HSS journals that is not usually included in OA agreements.” In other news, the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS) released its latest strategic framework, Bold Action for Strength and Growth. Announced at the 2025 Annual Meeting during ACLS President Joy Connolly’s Report to the Council, the framework will “provide direction and goals for ACLS through 2030,” with an emphasis on adaptability and highlighting the value of the humanities and social sciences.

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Libraries and Publishers Collaborating for Accessible Publishing

In a recent piece for The Scholarly Kitchen, Katherine Klosek, Simon Holt, Katherine McColgan, and Judy Russell provide several recommendations to facilitate library/publisher collaborations on accessibility. In particular, they point to initiatives such as the European Accessibility Act and Americans with Disabilities Act and stress the importance of working directly with people with disabilities. The writers also address current issues with the accessibility of metadata, stating that, “Working together, libraries and publishers can identify gaps in metadata infrastructure, including metadata for scholarly journals — and opportunities to refine standards.” Other tips include libraries partnering with university presses and to “Engage with one another on priorities and pain points.” [The Scholarly Kitchen]

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Independent Publishing Awards Winners and SSP EPIC Awards Finalists

The UK-based Independent Publishers Guild (IPG) has named the recipients of the 2025 Independent Publishing Awards. The Awards span 16 categories, such as the CPI Independent Publisher of the Year, ProQuest Academic and Professional Publisher of the Year, and PLS AI Award. University presses were represented in two areas, with Cambridge University Press winning the Alison Morrison Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Award and Edinburgh University Press’s Helena Heald taking home the Ola Gotkowska Young Independent Publisher Award. Next, the Society for Scholarly Publishing (SSP) revealed this year’s Excellence in Publishing, Information Technology, & Communications (EPIC) Awards finalists. The five categories include: Tools and Products, Publications, Marketing, Media, and Initiatives. Winners will be awarded on May 29 during SSP’s Annual Meeting.

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