Home Blog Page 5

ASTM International Selects Silverchair to Host ASTM Digital Library

Silverchair announced today a new partnership with ASTM International, an internationally recognized leader in engineering standards and technical publications, to migrate the ASTM Digital Library to the Silverchair Platform.

The ASTM Digital Library houses a variety of engineering content, including ASTM journals, proceedings (STP’s) and manuals, monographs, data series and technical reports. Silverchair will now host ASTM’s comprehensive collection of more than 35,000 chapters and papers, including 17,000 journal articles spanning multiple engineering disciplines.  

According to Stuart Radcliffe, ASTM International’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing, the ASTM Digital Library will benefit from not only cutting-edge technological capabilities, but also access to a vibrant community of scholarly publishers who drive the future of the platform.

“Our partnership with Silverchair represents a significant leap forward in how we deliver critical technical information to our global readership of engineers, researchers, and industry professionals,” said Radcliffe. “We’re not just implementing a technology solution; we’re joining a collaborative community that ensures our digital strategy remains flexible, innovative, and aligned with our organizational goals.”

“Silverchair is delighted to support ASTM’s objectives of creating a scalable, modern digital library that delivers intuitive access to ASTM’s extensive library of technical publications,” said Will Schweitzer, Silverchair CEO. “Silverchair clients continue to benefit from the addition of new partners like ASTM, and we look forward to welcoming them to our community.”

ASCE Integrates with Charlesworth Gateway for Enhanced Author Communication

Charlesworth, a leading provider of author engagement and workflow solutions, is pleased to announce the integration of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) with the Charlesworth Gateway using the Aries Editorial Manager WeChat Paper Status Notification plug-in service. This enhances ASCE’s engagement with its Chinese author community by directly delivering real-time paper status notifications to their mobile devices through the WeChat app. 

ASCE, the oldest national civil engineering society in the United States, represents over 160,000 civil engineering professionals in 177 countries. By integrating with the Charlesworth Gateway, ASCE will streamline communication with authors through their preferred messaging app, WeChat.

Charlesworth’s Gateway, an award-winning platform, allows publishers to connect with their APAC region authors via global messaging apps like WeChat, LINE, KaKaoTalk and WhatsApp, reducing reliance on email and streamlining communication.

“We are excited to partner with Charlesworth to elevate our commitment to the author community in China. Using Gateway, ASCE can now communicate directly with our authors in Chinese via WeChat, streamlining the publication process and ensuring a seamless author experience.” – Leslie Connelly, Director, Publications Marketing, ASCE

We are delighted to support ASCE in enhancing engagement with their Chinese author community through the Charlesworth Gateway. By integrating with our WeChat Paper Status Notification service, ASCE can provide real-time updates, improving communication and streamlining the author experience.” – Andrew Smith, Product & Marketing Director, Charlesworth

Hum Launches Alchemist Review, an AI-Driven Peer Review Solution

Hum is excited to announce the launch of Alchemist Review, an advanced AI-powered tool designed to enhance the efficiency, consistency, and quality of the peer review process. Developed in collaboration with GroundedAI, Alchemist Review assists editors and reviewers by extracting and analysing text, images and citations within manuscripts.

Building upon initial collaborative efforts with early society partners and university press customers, Alchemist Review combines Hum’s expertise in manuscript content analysis and GroundedAI’s advanced citation evaluation, offering editors and reviewers a powerful set of AI-driven capabilities:

  • Deep Manuscript Analysis: Extracts core claims, assesses methodologies, evaluates statistical rigor, and identifies research novelty.
  • Comprehensive Citation Validation: Ensures citations are contextually accurate, authoritative, and relevant.
  • Interactive AI Chatbot: Provides real-time, context-aware assistance directly within the manuscript review environment.
  • Enhanced Productivity: Offloads routine tasks, enabling peer reviewers and editors to focus on critical analysis and high-value editorial tasks.

“Reviewer fatigue, long turnaround times, and growing manuscript volumes are huge issues. We’ve worked closely with publishers to shape Alchemist Review and focus on creating tools to help editors solve these problems,” said Dustin Smith, Co-founder and President of Hum.

“AI has incredible potential in scholarly publishing, but the real challenge is figuring out how to apply it in a way that is both practical and responsible,” said Ann Michael, Chief Transformation Officer of AIP Publishing.

“By working with frontier AI companies like Hum and GroundedAI, we’ve been able to combine deep publishing expertise with cutting-edge AI development—allowing us to test real-world applications faster and more effectively than we could on our own. This kind of collaboration is essential for developing tools that actually serve the research community”

“We are thrilled to be working with such powerful and effective partners in our shared mission to increase the quality and efficiency of the peer review process,” said Nick Morley, Co-founder and Chief Product Officer of GroundedAI.

Hum and GroundedAI continue to evolve Alchemist Review, conducting live pilots with select journals and inviting feedback from the community to further refine the platform.

Reviewer Credits and Kriyadocs launch new partnership

Reviewer Credits, the Berlin-based network for peer reviewers and publishing integrity hub, is pleased to announce a new partnership with Kriyadocs, integrating the Reviewer Credits recognition capabilities into the Kriyadocs Unified Publishing Ecosystem (UPE) workflow.

“The collaboration between Kriyadocs and Reviewer Credits marks a significant step forward in enhancing the peer review process,” says Emre Danisan, Tech Lead at Reviewer Credits. “By integrating reviewer recognition and verification into an efficient publishing workflow, we are ensuring that reviewers receive the credit they deserve while strengthening the integrity and transparency of academic publishing. This partnership not only streamlines operations for publishers but also fosters a more engaged and motivated global reviewer community.”

“We are delighted to partner with Reviewer Credits to enhance the scholarly publishing experience,” says Ravi Venkataramani, CEO at Kriyadocs. “This collaboration streamlines the peer review process, promotes transparency, and ensures that peer reviewers receive the recognition they deserve for their invaluable contributions to academic publishing.”

Aries Systems and Cactus Communications Expand Partnership to Improve Research Quality with Automated Checks

Aries Systems Corporation, a leading technology workflow solutions provider to the scholarly publishing community, announces a partnership with Cactus Communications (CACTUS), a leading science communication and technology company, to offer publishers an AI-powered automated solution for detecting compromised manuscripts.

As scholarly journals continue to experience a high-volume of incoming submissions, ensuring only the most suitable articles proceed to peer review is critical. Research integrity, language quality, scope, and formatting concerns can result in costly bottlenecks at the initial triage stage, further delayed by highly manual technical checks by editorial staff. To automate this process and enhance content quality, Aries Systems and CACTUS have collaborated to integrate Paperpal Preflight for Editorial Desk (PPE),  a research integrity assessment and publication readiness tool, with Editorial Manager® (EM), the leading manuscript submission and peer review tracking system.

Leveraging the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI), PPE’s suite of checks evaluates manuscripts against three key pillars – research integrity, language quality, and technical compliance. Post-submission, PPE automatically analyzes the manuscript and generates a detailed report which is returned to EM for editorial review. Enabling editors to quickly identify problematic articles at an early stage, PPE streamlines the screening process without disrupting their current workflow, while also allowing for faster decisions on desk rejections or advancement to peer review. If the AI integrity check returns inconclusive, the editor can request an IntegrityGUARD human check by PPE’s PhD technical reviewers. This cutting-edge integration safeguards against bad actors and expensive retractions – promoting trust in the journal and published research.

Nikesh Gosalia, President, Global Academic & Publisher Relations at Cactus Communications said, “Ensuring the integrity of research remains paramount for the entire scholarly publishing ecosystem. We are happy to deepen our partnership with Aries and work closely with them to support publishers to help optimize their time and resources by providing them comprehensive checks through Paperpal Preflight for Editorial Desk.”

“We are thrilled to expand our existing partnership with CACTUS and the Paperpal Preflight product line by extending AI-based quality checks to the Editorial Desk,” said Pierre Montagano, Aries Director of Sales and Business Development. “This collaboration empowers Editors to quickly identify and address unpolished, fraudulent, and unsuitable articles within their existing workflow – saving time and supporting quality research output.” The Editorial Manager and Paperpal Preflight for Editorial Desk integration is now available. For more information, please visit https://paperpal.com/preflight-for-editorial-desk#get-in-touch

Arab States Research and Education Network (ASREN), Training Centre in Communication (TCC Africa), and PLOS launch open science initiative for North Africa

On February 26th, 2025, the Arab States Research and Education Network (ASREN), Training Centre in Communication (TCC Africa), and Public Library of Science (PLOS) hosted a dynamic virtual webinar to officially launch their strategic partnership aimed at promoting and strengthening open science principles and practices across North Africa.  This collaboration brings together ASREN’s regional network infrastructure, TCC Africa’s expertise in research capacity building, and PLOS’ global leadership in open access and open science to enhance research visibility, accessibility, and scientific collaboration in the region. The webinar, attended by over 100 participants, served as a platform for meaningful discussions on advancing open science initiatives and fostering a more inclusive and globally connected research ecosystem. A highlight of the event was an interactive session where participants shared challenges, explored opportunities, and proposed potential areas for collaboration to strengthen open science efforts in the region. The partnership was officially launched by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the three organizations, formalizing their commitment to driving change and promoting open science among researchers, policymakers, and institutions.

The initiative will focus on developing comprehensive, locally driven open science frameworks through capacity building, policy advocacy, and stakeholder engagement. A key element of the partnership is the national open science dialogues, bringing together institutional leaders, policymakers, and representatives from universities and research institutions. These dialogues will be instrumental in shaping the future of open science in their respective countries across North Africa.

“We are here not only to promote and educate but also to implement Open Science mechanisms, ensuring that Open Science is accessible, and that the community can fully embrace an Open Science culture. Our partnership is a key part of this commitment. We are proud of this engagement as it allows us to work together not only to bring North Africa into the conversation but to unite the entire African continent, said Prof Yousef Torman, Managing Director, ASREN.

“PLOS has been collaborating with TCC Africa since 2021 to support and advance Open Science in Africa. Our partnerships with local stakeholders are core to this programme of work, ensuring a regional and national focus that reflects and addresses local challenges and barriers to Open Science adoption. Our latest partnership with ASREN continues this approach, fostering strategic collaborations and sustained engagement with key local actors. We are delighted to work with ASREN to progress our engagement with North African Open Science stakeholders and communities,” said Roheena Anand, Executive Director, Global Publishing & Sales, PLOS.

This is such a great milestone for us as partners, we are targeting a region that has been advancing efforts in Open Access and has been keen on increasing their advocacy on Open Science more broadly,” said Joy Owango, Executive Director, Training Centre in Communication.

The collaboration will address critical areas in North Africa:

– Increased awareness and adoption of open science policies

– Strengthened collaboration and stakeholder engagement

– Promoting open science policies at institutional and national levels

– Enhancing capacity for open access publishing

– Improved understanding of local knowledge and networks

The initiative builds on existing momentum in the region, where countries like Egypt, Tunisia, and Libya have already begun implementing open science initiatives. The partnership will work closely with key regional bodies, including the Association of Arab Universities and the Federation of Arab Scientific Research Councils (FASRC).

Please access the event recording here: https://tccafrica.pubpub.org/pub/8rg6mvve/release/1

University of Kansas and Frontiers renew flat fee open access agreement for 2025

The University of Kansas (KU) and award-winning open science platform Frontiers are pleased to announce the renewal of their open-access publishing partnership for an additional year. Initially established in 2024, this agreement maintains its terms to provide KU researchers with seamless, cost-free access to publish in all Frontiers journals. 

Starting January 1, 2025, corresponding authors affiliated with KU’s Lawrence and Edwards campuses will continue to enjoy unlimited publishing across Frontiers’ portfolio of 229 open access journals, with article publishing charges (APCs) fully covered by the partnership. 

Scott Hanrath, KU Libraries associate dean of research engagement emphasized the ongoing benefits for KU scholars: “KU Libraries remains committed to creating opportunities that enhance the visibility and accessibility of our researchers’ work. Renewing this agreement with Frontiers reinforces our goal of advancing an open, equitable, and sustainable publishing future.”   

By continuing with the flat fee model, the University of Kansas reaffirms its commitment to providing:  

  • Unlimited publishing opportunities for affiliated researchers, driving impact of KU research. 
  • Predictable and transparent fixed annual cost that delivers simplified budgeting. 
  • Reduced administrative responsibilities for library and research staff.  
  • Full support for open-access principles, including immediate access under CC-BY licensing and author-retained copyrights.  

“Frontiers’ flat-fee model is designed to remove financial obstacles for researchers, facilitating broader adoption of open-access publishing,” added Dr Franck Vazquez, Frontiers’ Director of Open Science, Europe & Asia-Pacific. “This model is a key step toward shifting the scholarly publishing paradigm, improving transparency, reducing costs and administrative complexities.” 

Julia Kostova, Frontiers’ Director of Open Science US, added, “Our partnership with KU enables researchers to easily publish their impactful research open access at no cost to them, while also ensuring financial sustainability for our library partner in the fast-evolving landscape of scholarly communications today. This is a win for open science.” 

To be eligible under the partnership, researchers need to ensure that the corresponding author is affiliated with KU and that they use their institutional email address when submitting the manuscript.  

This renewed partnership highlights the shared commitment to advancing open science and empowering researchers to focus on discovering and disseminating knowledge. By eliminating financial and administrative barriers, this agreement enhances the global visibility and impact of KU’s research and strengthens the foundation for a more transparent and equitable scholarly publishing landscape.  

ResearchGate and American Meteorological Society announce new Journal Home partnership covering complete journals portfolio

ResearchGate, the professional network for researchers, and the American Meteorological Society (AMS), a global community committed to advancing weather, water, and climate science and service, have today announced a new Journal Home partnership covering the complete AMS journal portfolio.

The agreement includes all 12 AMS journals, including three fully open access journals in addition to all hybrid and subscription titles. AMS aims to further encourage high-quality submissions and drive readership of AMS journals through ResearchGate’s state-of-the-art Journal Home offering. With Journal Home’s integrated features, the AMS community will now benefit from:

  • Seamless syndication of all version-of-record content to the ResearchGate platform, including subscription access for entitled users, enhancing the visibility of AMS journals and usage of its content through ResearchGate’s highly engaged community of 25m+ researcher members.
  • Amplified brand awareness with dedicated journal profiles displaying key information, plus prominent branding on all associated article pages and other relevant touchpoints with researchers – driving global readership and authorship.
  • Intuitive data that provides AMS with an advanced understanding of their journals’ communities and their demographics, impact and connections.
  • Automated updates to journal article authors profiles on ResearchGate – enabling them to better track usage, connect with their readers, and understand the wider impact of their work.

“With our mission to advance the atmospheric and related sciences, the unparalleled discoverability and ease of access that Journal Home provides is vitally important, facilitating a seamless publishing and reading experience for researchers in our space,” said Brian Papa, Acting Executive Director, American Meteorological Society. “Onboarding all AMS journals from the start of our partnership ensures we can take full advantage of these benefits as soon as possible to expedite knowledge exchange and drive high quality publications across the portfolio.”

“AMS and ResearchGate are committed to supporting the scientific community by enhancing access to research worldwide. This partnership will elevate visibility and promote deeper engagement with AMS’ essential climate research, reaching new readers and enhancing AMS’s understanding of their community. This will be especially important in driving uptake of their growing open access journals,” said Sören Hofmayer, co-founder and Chief Strategy Officer at ResearchGate.

For more information about Journal Home, please visit www.researchgate.net/journal-home

For more information about ResearchGate, please visit www.researchgate.net

For more information about AMS Journals, please visit https://www.ametsoc.org/index.cfm/ams/publications/  

Integra Launches Dedicated Microsite for AuthorPilot, Its AI-Powered Manuscript Screening Solution

Integra, a global leader in content and technology solutions with over 30 years of operational excellence, has unveiled a dedicated microsite for AuthorPilot, offering journal publishers deeper insights into the platform’s capabilities.

Developed and refined over several years, AuthorPilot is an AI-driven manuscript screening solution designed to help editorial teams manage increasing submission volumes while maintaining rigorous quality and research integrity standards. Built on Integra’s extensive experience in enhancing publishing workflows through automation, AuthorPilot seamlessly integrates into editorial processes, providing tailored checks at various pre-production stages to meet journal-specific requirements.

Empowering Publishers to Scale Without Compromising Quality

As submission volumes rise and peer review delays become more prevalent, maintaining editorial efficiency without sacrificing quality is a critical challenge. AuthorPilot addresses this by enabling publishers to screen and language-polish manuscripts before peer review, allowing reviewers to focus solely on scientific merit rather than language and formatting issues.

With three decades of expertise serving scholarly, educational, trade, and professional publishers, Integra continues to drive innovation in publishing workflows through automation, cutting-edge products, and specialized human expertise.

“At Integra, we collaborate closely with our customers to understand their evolving needs,” said Sriram Subramanya, Founder, CEO, and MD at Integra. “With AuthorPilot, we provide the scholarly publishing community with the tools to manage scale effectively while upholding the high-quality standards that define our industry.”

Key Features of AuthorPilot:

AuthorPilot offers a comprehensive suite of features designed to enhance editorial workflows and improve efficiency. The platform includes over 40 customizable checks that cover language quality, technical parameters, and research integrity, ensuring that each manuscript meets the required standards before advancing to the next stage.

To accommodate high submission volumes, AuthorPilot supports batch processing, enabling the efficient handling of multiple manuscripts at once. Its fast and intuitive interface ensures high accuracy while remaining user-friendly for editorial teams.

One of the platform’s standout features is its automated, non-intrusive language editing, which refines manuscripts while preserving the author’s original voice. Additionally, seamless workflow integration allows editorial teams to incorporate AuthorPilot at various stages, including pre-submission, pre-peer review, and pre-production.

AuthorPilot is designed for effortless integration with manuscript management systems, making adoption smooth for publishers. Moreover, it stands out as a cost-effective solution, offering the most competitive pricing in the market while delivering exceptional value.

“AuthorPilot is more than just an AI tool—it’s a solution shaped by years of collaboration with publishers to streamline editorial workflows while safeguarding research integrity,” said Ashutosh Ghildiyal, VP of Growth and Strategy at Integra. “AI’s true value lies in empowering human experts, enabling them to focus on what truly matters: ensuring the excellence of published research.”

The newly launched AuthorPilot microsite provides comprehensive details on its features, use cases, and integration capabilities, helping publishers and editorial teams optimize their workflows. Explore the platform at https://authorpilot.integranxt.com.

Cactus Communications partners with EDP Sciences to enhance research integrity using Paperpal Preflight for Editorial Desk

Cactus Communications (CACTUS), a leading science communication and technology company, announces partnership with EDP Sciences, an international academic publisher founded in 1920. This collaboration will implement CACTUS’ cutting-edge technology Paperpal Preflight for Editorial Desk (PPE) into EDP Sciences’ editorial workflow, to strengthen the integrity of research by ensuring rigorous checks for all incoming conference proceedings.

With the growing volume of research submissions, maintaining high standards of integrity is more critical than ever. PPE will conduct AI-powered checks for potential research integrity concerns, along with language quality and technical compliance checks to enhance the quality and reliability of research. In addition to the AI-led screening, human experts will audit findings and provide insights on trends and patterns, ensuring a comprehensive evaluation process.

Nikesh Gosalia, President, Global Academic and Publisher Relations, Cactus Communications, said, “With the proliferation of papermill activity and increase in retractions, ensuring the integrity of research is paramount. Our Paperpal Preflight technology equips publishers with advanced AI-driven solutions to enhance editorial workflows while upholding the highest standards of scholarly publishing. The partnership with EDP Sciences marks a pivotal step in this direction, leveraging the robust screening capabilities of Paperpal Preflight for Editorial Desk along with PhD level proficiency to support rigorous quality control of conference proceedings published in Web of Conferences.”

Solange Guéhot, Editor for Web of Conferences, EDP Sciences, commented, “At EDP Sciences, we are committed to advancing research by ensuring that all published work meets top-notch quality and integrity. The integration of CACTUS’ AI-powered Paperpal Preflight tool into our editorial process will allow us to efficiently screen WOC conference proceedings for potential integrity issues, thereby safeguarding the credibility of scholarly publishing.” 

This collaboration is in-line with the ongoing efforts to enhance integrity of research within scholarly publishing. By leveraging cutting-edge technology, CACTUS and EDP Sciences aim to build a new standard for quality assurance.

For more information, please visit:

Cactus Communications: https://cactusglobal.com/

EDP Sciences: https://www.edpsciences.org/en

KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd. (KGL), a CJK Group Company, Acquires Origin Editorial

KnowledgeWorks Global Ltd. (KGL), the leading provider of transformative content solutions and part of CJK Group, Inc., has recently acquired peer review and associated scholarly publishing services provider, Origin Editorial. 

Based in Arvada, CO, and employing a wide network of experienced editorial professionals, Origin offers a full complement of peer review management, copyediting/proofreading, and production services, as well as consultancies, for a wide range of journal and other publishing needs. The company facilitates the entire journal publishing process, from editorial assistant to publication director services. In addition to peer review management, consulting, and production services, Origin also offers reporting and analytics and workflow and technology optimization.

KGL will retain Origin’s management and team of associates and integrate them with its existing peer review and editorial group. With decades of experience supporting over 500 journals, KGL Editorial’s 200+ managing editors, credentialed subject editors, and editorial associates based in the US, Europe, and India provide comprehensive editorial office, peer review and production management, research integrity, developmental editing, and specialized services to publishers, editors, authors, and reviewers.

“The acquisition of Origin Editorial represents a strategic alignment of our commitment to providing comprehensive, high-quality peer review solutions,” said Atul Goel, President of KGL. “Integrating Origin’s considerable editorial experience and shared excellence with KGL’s global scale and technologies will enable us to deliver even greater value to our combined clients and partners in the academic community. We are thrilled to welcome Origin’s talented team to the KGL family as we continue to advance the future of journal publishing.”

“Joining KGL is an exciting next chapter for Origin Editorial,” said Kristen Overstreet, Senior Partner at Origin. “For years, we have built our reputation on efficiency, proactive management, and a personal touch that ensures our clients feel supported at every stage of the publishing process.” Jason Roberts, PhD, Senior Partner at Origin, added, “Uniting with KGL allows us to extend that same level of service to a broader audience while making the most of KGL’s innovative peer review technology and global infrastructure. Together, we are poised to redefine excellence in scholarly communications.”

Emerald Publishing launches responsible publishing report

Emerald’s 2024 Responsible Publishing Report provides an in-depth look at our initiatives and achievements in operating as a responsible publisher, supporting the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and fostering a fairer, more inclusive research environment.

Some of the key milestones included in the report are:

  • Recognised as Times Top 50 Employer for Gender Equality and one of the Top 50 Inspiring Workplaces in the UK and Ireland.
  • Raised more than £25,000 for BookTrust, a UK charity dedicated to getting children reading.
  • Released 95% of our books’ frontlist titles straight to print on demand in both the US and the UK.
  • Switched to 100% renewable energy at our headquarters in Leeds, UK.

The report details Emerald’s distinctive approach to responsible publishing and the “Emerald Goals” initiative, which tackles real-world societal challenges through interdisciplinary solutions. 

This SDGs-based strategy enhances our dedication to promoting impactful research and aligns with our role as a founding signatory of the UN SDG Publisher Compact. This strategy communicates our purpose-driven brand and supports the education, publication, and impact of research aligned with the SDGs.

Through our Real Impact manifesto, we collaborate with partners to redefine “research impact,” challenging outdated metrics. We acknowledge the barriers that exist and strive to foster a more equitable environment where research can thrive. Our focus includes advocating for innovative dissemination formats, robust support systems, and greater recognition of impactful work.

The report also highlights our commitments to making a positive impact on our people, our communities, and the world.  We call these commitments our 3Ps – Planet, People, and Prosperity – and have established teams comprising colleagues from around the business to focus on each of these areas. These initiatives are the building blocks of our plan to empower individuals from all walks of life. While we acknowledge there’s still much to achieve, this report highlights the progress we’re making toward our goals.

Vicky Williams, CEO, Emerald Publishing said: “Since we were founded in 1967, Emerald’s belief has always been that the research we publish on behalf of our authors should have application outside of academia and should make an impact in the real world.

“As a global publishing business, we publish over 400 journals, more than 4,180 books, and over 3,100 business cases. Through this output and working closely with our editorial communities, our mission is to see this research reach relevant audiences and make an impact on society. We recognise that this impact takes time to come to fruition, and we work in an industry where impact is often measured in numbers, but we’re nevertheless committed to taking a more progressive stance on how research should be valued.

“At Emerald, we work hard to ensure that our organisational actions reflect the ambitions we have for the research our authors publish with us. This report highlights the results of that work which we will continue to undertake to ensure that we make a real difference.”

Read the report in full