Welcome to the latest edition of the Open Pharma monthly update! Each month, our team curates the most important news, milestones and insights from the Open Pharma community and beyond, delivering them straight to your inbox.
In this issue, we’re excited to highlight insights from the May 2026 AI discussion forum on open science and research integrity and the Barcelona Declaration’s call to improve the quality of funding metadata.
Open Pharma updates
AI discussion forum about open science and research integrity
- We were delighted to be joined by Adam Day (CEO at Clear Skies) and Tim Vines (Founder of DataSeer) for an AI (artificial intelligence) discussion forum titled How are open science and research integrity linked? Adam and Tim explored the relationship between research integrity and open science practices, highlighting how transparency is often associated with more robust and trustworthy research outputs. The meeting notes and recording are available for Open Pharma Members and Supporters who were unable to join the live discussion.
Encore abstracts submitted to ISMPP Academy and ISMPP APAC
- Following the success of our presentations at the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP) European and Annual Meetings earlier this year, we have now submitted multiple encore abstracts to the upcoming ISMPP Academy and APAC Meetings. If accepted, these submissions will enable us to share our findings about the impact of content reuse restrictions and fees on research dissemination with a wider audience, further advancing our mission to educate global stakeholders about the importance of transparent research communication.
Research integrity: building a culture of transparency and accountability
- In December 2025, Vicky Sanders (Communications Team Leader at Oxford PharmaGenesis) and Sophie Nobes (Communications Consultant at Oxford PharmaGenesis) represented Open Pharma at the International Association of Scientific, Technical, and Medical Publishers (STM) Research Integrity Day in London; a gathering of publishers, funders and research integrity experts to tackle the most pressing issues in research and publishing. In this article for the Open Pharma blog, Sophie reflects on the key themes from the meeting and outlines how “everyone can take action to support and safeguard research integrity”.
Insight of the month
Improving the quality of open funding metadata: a call to action via Barcelona Declaration | 5-minute read
The Barcelona Declaration on Open Research Information is a global initiative launched in 2024 that advocates greater openness and transparency in research information systems by promoting the open availability and interoperability of data on research outputs, funding and institutions. A recent call to action from the Working Group on Funding Metadata highlights the need to improve the quality and standardization of funding metadata. Although essential for tracking research funding and outputs, funding metadata and associated infrastructures remain inconsistent and underdeveloped, limiting their value. The call to action and accompanying background document outline practical steps for funders, publishers and other stakeholders to help “strengthen the capture, sharing and interoperability of funding information”. By promoting the expanded use of digital object identifiers and cross-sector collaboration, the call to action aligns with the Open Pharma Vision to advance the consistent use of author and institutional metadata across all company-sponsored research publications.
Recommended reads
Introducing COSIG: the collection of open science integrity guides via PLOS Biology | 5-minute read
Equity in open research via STM Association | 4-minute read
Theme for open access week 2026 is “the cost of knowledge” via SPARC | 3-minute read
Plain language summaries for veterinary professionals via LinkedIn | 1-minute read
News & views: beyond APC tracking – helping libraries measure publishing cost and impact via Delta Think | 3-minute read
Upcoming dates and deadlines
These meetings are for Open Pharma Members and Supporters only. Please contact us for more information about how to join Open Pharma.
- Members’ meeting – 09:00–10:00 EDT / 14:00–15:00 BST / 15:00–16:00 CEST on 27 August (no meeting in July)
- Patient involvement working group | Publishing patient insights: navigating format and policy barriers – 10:00–11:30 EDT / 15:00–16:30 BST / 16:00–17:30 CEST on 16 July
- PLS and discoverability working group | Project updates – 10:00–11:00 EDT / 15:00–16:00 BST / 16:00–17:00 CEST on 10 August
- Topic meeting | Discussion with OpenEvidence – 12:00 –13:00 EDT / 17:00–18:00 BST / 18:00–19:00 CEST on 15 July
- OA working group | OA objection handler – 09:00–10:00 EDT / 14:00–15:00 BST / 15:00–16:00 CEST on 17 July
We hope you enjoyed, and found inspiration in, this month’s highlights. As always, we welcome your feedback and contributions – if you have an idea for a future monthly update, let us know! To keep up to date with what we’re doing between updates, make sure to follow us on Bluesky and LinkedIn.
