A brief history of scalability
Before the 15th century, the scholarly publishing industry stood at a similar juncture to where we are today, at which it became clear that the tools available were too slow to match the speed of scientific progress. Johannes Gutenberg identified these limitations and sought to fill the gap through the invention of the printing press, allowing books to be mass-produced in a faster and more cost-effective manner. This invention transformed scholarly communications, accelerating the flow of information and democratizing access to knowledge and ideas.
Beyond this groundbreaking invention, scalable innovations have been used throughout history to push boundaries and ease constraints, from the creation of the Internet to digital journals and more. Stepping into uncharted territory can be scary, but implementing the best elements of these new technologies rather than fearing them can create a wealth of opportunities for our industry.
Integrity at scale
Scientific fraud and other rogue practices that lead to article retractions are not going away on their own. If our industry doesn’t make a change soon, research integrity issues will keep on hitting the headlines and trust in science will continue to see a steep decline. Just last year, 29% of U.S. adults said that they have a great deal of confidence in medical scientists to act in the best interests of the public, down from 40% who said this in November 2020.
What’s more, the peer review system has been under a great deal of strain in recent years, with a shortage of academics willing and able to serve as peer reviewers and a large number of low-quality documents being overlooked, resulting in costly consequences.
When we take advantage of the power of scalable solutions and the wonders these tools can do for the peer review process, we’ll start to see positive change across the academic community. AI-driven tools can accelerate peer review and boost the ability to evaluate research at scale, detecting issues such as over-citation, plagiarism, and even AI-generated text in no time at all and pulling from a range of digital content to inform decisions. This frees up more time and resources, while also reducing harmful biases that pervade our industry.
We believe that there’s a future for peer review, and it will be marked by scalable improvements every step of the way.
Access at scale
Since the early days of the internet, the Open Access (OA) movement has been accelerating the pace of scientific discovery and innovation. Now, the only way to ensure that it continues to gain momentum is by providing the scalable workflows needed to carry it forward.
In the past, digital OA journals revolutionized the way science was shared by helping publishers disseminate content in a way that boosted efficiency and accessibility. Moving forward, how can OA platforms and repositories have similar effects on scholarly communications?
OA research libraries can host a wealth of scholarly content, from videos to abstracts to presentations and more, for higher engagement and optimized learning. With scalable discovery and search tools, these platforms increase the visibility and accessibility of findings across the research lifecycle. Even further, scalable data and analytics tools can be used to measure the impact of research and discover what ideas matter most to the world, influencing future journal articles and other publishing outputs. Finally, OA research libraries extend the lifespan of early-stage research and conference content, creating a long-term and accessible archive of information and enabling researchers to obtain credit for their work.
Scalability is the key to accessibility. Using innovative workflows that incorporate bold approaches to address the current challenges of the OA movements can help support and fulfill its principles.
Collaboration at scale
The numbers don’t lie. Surveys show that members are joining societies in search of a place to connect, share ideas, and build on one another’s work. But how can we make sure that they have the resources and infrastructure to meet their future research partners that will help them turn their insights into breakthroughs?
Through features like user profiles, platforms like Morressier make it possible for your members to advance their careers by recording their activities across the research lifecycle. This can help them source collaboration opportunities, make themselves visible for funding, and accelerate the possibilities of their career. Even further, through technology streamlining the scholarly publication process, researchers will spend less time completing administrative burdens and will have more time to find the individuals that will help them carry their career forward.
Conclusion
Scalability is the future. Creating and using faster, more flexible, and smarter solutions can help your organization battle the challenges currently facing the global research community, and better prepare you for the storms we may weather in the future.
