This week, we explore the impact of article extenders on the readership of PLSPs and CTPs, and we review a critique of Nature’s decision to only publish peer review reports for accepted papers. We also read about how open access repositories can ensure accurate and up-to-date article information, along with Frontiers’ insights shared at ALA 2025. We highlight the UK Royal Society’s transition to the S2O publishing model, explore the challenges and potential solutions for integrating LLMs into scientific publishing, and examine the ethical responsibilities of open access publishing. Finally, we signpost the upcoming NISO Plus Global/Online conference.
To read:
Extenders boost readership of PLSPs and CTPs via Taylor & Francis | 3-minute read
Article extenders – such as infographics, graphical and video abstracts, supplementary podcasts and translations – can highlight research implications and improve accessibility for non-specialist audiences. The editorial staff at Taylor & Francis assessed whether readership of plain language summaries of publications (PLSPs) and clinical trial protocols (CTPs) varied with or without extenders in nine Expert Medicine journals between 2023 and 2025. PLSPs and CTPs with extenders attracted 144% more readers than those without. A poster summarizing the research was presented at the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals 2025 annual meeting.
Partial openness fails true transparency via LSE Blogs | 4-minute read
“Transparency filtered through the lens of editorial acceptance is not true transparency; it is selective disclosure”, states Bodo Stern (Chief of Strategic Initiatives at Howard Hughes Medical Institute) in this dissection of Nature’s recent decision to publish peer review reports for all accepted papers across its journals. While this is a step forward for transparency, withholding critical reviews of rejected papers – especially those later published elsewhere – can lower scientific standards and potentially impact editorial decision-making. Peer review of publicly available preprints may be an alternative for journals seeking to achieve full transparency and support scientific progress.
A call-to-action for open repositories to fight for research integrity via The Publication Plan | 2-minute read
Open access repositories are vital for preserving access to and disseminating scientific research. However, research by Frédérique Bordignon (Bibliometrician and Research Integrity Officer at École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées) has highlighted limitations of open repositories. Corrections and retractions reported in journal publications are often missing from corresponding open repository articles; in the HAL repository, 91% of corrections and retractions were not shown. Bordignon shares recommendations and calls on open repositories to champion research integrity and safeguard public trust in science by ensuring that article information is accurate and up to date.
Insights from the ALA Annual Conference via Frontiers | 4-minute read
The 2025 American Library Association (ALA) Annual Conference & Exhibition, which took place in Philadelphia from 26 to 30 June, brought together representatives from Frontiers, alongside thousands of professionals from the library community. These insights and takeaways summarized by Frontiers focus on concerns around the complexity of open access agreements and other publishing models; library consortia management and consortia interactions with publishers; and the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in publishing and library workflows. Frontiers invites institutional representatives who are interested in re-assessing publishing agreements and new open access models to contact them to continue the conversation.
The UK Royal Society shifts to the S2O publishing model via Nature | 4-minute read
The UK Royal Society has announced that, starting next year, eight of its journals will adopt the ‘subscribe to open’ (S2O) publishing model. This publishing model allows journals to make articles freely available to publish and access each year, provided the journal receives enough annual subscription fees from libraries to cover publication costs. The S2O model is cost-effective and helps journals transition to open access. However, if publication costs aren’t fully covered owing to insufficient subscriptions, article processing charges will be levied, and the Royal Society will try to adopt the S2O model in 2027 instead.
Licensing research articles for AI via The Scholarly Kitchen | 6-minute read
Currently, large language models (LLMs) can only engage with open access research articles and abstracts. This inaccessibility risks valuable research being ignored as LLMs are increasingly used for information discovery. While some publishers are hesitant to interact with AI companies, others have formed partnerships and licensing deals. In this article, Josh Nicholson (Chief Strategy Officer at Research Solutions) discusses the challenges of integrating AI in scientific publishing and how Smart Citations, which provide an “enhanced snippet” of citations and indicate if cited claims are supported, could help bridge the gap responsibly.
Ethical responsibilities in open access scientific publishing via MDPI | 8-minute read
Ethics are a vital consideration in making sure open access publishing is fair and effective, especially in a time when issues such as AI-generated content and misinformation increasingly threaten research integrity and public trust in science. In this article, Jack McKenna (Senior Content Specialist at MDPI) describes the ethical responsibilities of authors, researchers, reviewers, editorial board members and publishers, and he highlights resources to help ensure that open access publishing maintains ethical standards.
To engage with:
Registration open for NISO Plus 2025 via NISO Plus
The annual National Information Standards Organization (NISO) Plus Global/Online conference is taking place from 16 to 17 September, bringing together publishers, scholarly societies, libraries, technology and scholarly infrastructure providers, and many more. The programme includes speakers discussing accessibility, research integrity, cybersecurity, AI and ethics. There will also be networking opportunities and information on NISO standards updates, including the Accessibility Remediation Metadata project and the Open Access Business Processes Working Group. Register now to attend the virtual conference (registration fees apply).
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