Weekly digest: Taylor & Francis joins Open Pharma, ChatGPT and paper mills

Mark Elms

This week, we are excited to announce Taylor & Francis as Open Pharma’s newest Supporter! We read an article about what the advent of ChatGPT means for science, a preprint on common red flags for identifying paper mill activities, and an interview with a leading figure in the publishing world. We also read about Learned Publishing’s issue dedicated to diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility, and also MIT Press’s new diamond open access initiative shift+OPEN. We listen to a podcast discussing a publisher’s perspective on open access, as well as another podcast on the future of enhanced publication content in research publishing. Finally, we highlight an upcoming fortnight of events for OxFOS 2023!

To read:

Taylor & Francis becomes Open Pharma’s newest Supporter via Open Pharma | 4-minute read

We are thrilled to announce that publisher Taylor & Francis has officially become Open Pharma’s newest Supporter this week! Taylor & Francis is one of the world’s leading scholarly publishers and has a strong commitment to open research principles. This week’s announcement reflects the shared commitment of Taylor & Francis and Open Pharma to connecting pharma with innovations in publishing with the aim of increasing transparency and access to research outputs.

Write a title for ChatGPT use in science: “Exploring the potential and challenges of ChatGPT in scientific applications” via Nature | 15-minute read

ChatGPT has the potential to streamline and simplify scientific writing and publishing by generating human-like text. However, it also raises concerns about the reliability and accuracy of artificial intelligence (AI)-generated information, highlighting the need for responsible AI development and deployment in the field of scientific publishing.

In fact, that piece of text you have just read was written entirely by ChatGPT with an input of “Write a summary on the impacts of using ChatGPT in scientific publishing in less than 50 words”. This Nature news article discusses what the advent of impressive AI chatbots like ChatGPT means for science, especially for the writing and publishing of manuscripts.

A view from the top: insights from leaders in the publishing world via The Scholarly Kitchen | 10-minute read

In the third post of a new series exploring the perspectives of leaders in the publishing world, The Scholarly Kitchen talks to Jay Flynn, who is the Execute Vice Director and General Manager of Research at Wiley. In the interview, Jay discusses how he got into publishing, what excites him most about publishing right now, the evolving open access movement, and what the future holds for Wiley and the publishing industry as a whole. You can also read the first two interviews with Mandy Hill (Managing Director of Academic Publishing at Cambridge University Press) and Steven Inchcoombe (Chief Publishing Officer at Springer Nature).

The red flags that indicate paper mill activities via PsyArXiv | 30-minute read

After a slow start, publishers are beginning to effectively tackle paper mill articles. But what happens when editors are complicit in paper mill activities? This preprint hosted on PsyArXiv reports a systematic analysis looking at some of the most prevalent red flags that indicate that a journal may have been taken over by a complicit editor. Evaluating special issues in 10 journals from the Wiley–Hindawi open access publishing partnership, the authors of the analysis concluded that the occurrence of paper mill red flags – such as a high number of processed articles or a very quick editorial process – should be investigated to ensure that these editors are not involved in a paper mill.

Learned Publishing’s DEIA issue via The Scholarly Kitchen | 4-minute read

The latest issue of the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers journal Learned Publishing has now been released in full. Focusing on articles about increasing diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility (DEIA), the issue discusses a range of topics from plain language summaries to gender bias to contributor roles. This short summary written by Lettie Y Conrad distils the issue’s discussion points into three actions that, if implemented, could improve the publication workplace. These actions are: listen more, reflect on your behaviours, and make the necessary changes.

Diamonds are MIT Press’s best friend via STM Publishing News | 2-minute read

MIT Press has announced the launch of its diamond open access initiative shift+OPEN. Supported by the Arcadia Fund, the initiative aims to help journals transition from subscription-based models to diamond open access. It will achieve this by covering the transition expenses of a journal for three years, providing the journal with full use of MIT Press’s publishing services, and helping journals develop a sustainable funding model for the future. MIT Press is now accepting submissions for English-language journals in any field and any country, with an application deadline of 31 March 2023.

To listen to:

A publisher’s perspective on open access via MAPS | 20-minute listen

Join Jennifer Riggins (President of Medical Affairs and Digital at JSR Medical Affairs Consulting) in this episode of The Digital Transformation of Medical Journal Publishing podcast by the Medical Affairs Professional Society (MAPS). This time, Jennifer is joined by Stephen Casey (Founder and Managing Partner of Omni Healthcare Communications) and Leila Moore (Director of Open Access Policy at Wiley) to discuss the world of open access from a publisher’s perspective.

The future of enhanced publication content via ISMPP | 15-minute listen

In the second InformED podcast episode of 2023 from the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP), Neil Adams (Manager of Industry Solutions in North America for Karger Publishers) returns to discuss what the future of enhanced publication content (EPC) holds. This includes a discussion on the changes Neil expects to see in EPC use in the future, as well as which EPC may soon become essential alongside publication. You can also learn more about EPC from Neil in InformED’s previous episode here!

To engage with:

OxFOS 2023 via Open Access Oxford

Returning for 2023, the Oxford Festival of Open Scholarship (OxFOS) will take place over 2 weeks between 6 and 17 March 2023. With hybrid, virtual and in-person events happening throughout the fortnight, OxFOS will ask the question “What in the world is going on with open access and open research? You can help them answer this question by attending their activities, including talks, roundtables, workshops and even an escape room! Make sure to book your place for these events before it’s too late. Note that some events require a University of Oxford single sign-on in order to attend, but several are also open to the public.

Have you read the December 2022 issue of Medical Writing about Open Science and Open Pharma? Read the full issue here!