Overview

This forum, moderated by Scott Delman, Director of Publications, Association for Computing Machinery, was held on 29 October 2026 explored how evolving research policies, geopolitical tensions, and the rapid development of artificial intelligence (AI) are reshaping scholarly communication. The panelists: Jeremy Koster, Program Director at National Science Foundation (NSF); Meagan Phelan, Communications Director at Science Journals & Publishing; and David Weinreich at Weinreich Strategic Group focused on examining the challenges of balancing public access, research security, international collaboration, and trust in the scholarly record.

Three Key Themes Surfaced 

U.S. Research Policy and Public Access

The discussion highlighted NSF’s expectations for immediate public access to research outputs, including the prompt deposit of manuscripts using author-accepted manuscripts (AAM) or versions of record (VOR) where permitted. Panelists emphasized the importance of clear implementation guidance and recognized that sensitive research data may require case-by-case consideration under data management and sharing plans.

Also addressed were concerns among public accountability, research funding, national security, scientific leadership, and researcher autonomy. The panelists stressed that policy implementation should account for the resources required to sustain peer review, research integrity, and the scholarly record.

International Collaboration and Research Security

Panelists underscored the continuing importance of international research collaboration while recognizing growing complexity from differing national policies and security requirements. Inconsistent rules governing funding, disclosure, public access, and AI can create additional administrative burdens for researchers and institutions.

Publishers and scholarly societies can help address these challenges by clarifying requirements, promoting shared standards, and strengthening the infrastructure that supports cross-border research collaboration. Participants favored case-by-case approaches to research security rather than overly broad restrictions.

Artificial Intelligence, Research Integrity, and Trust

AI presents opportunities to improve scholarly workflows through scalable integrity checks, data and code review, research discovery, and public engagement. However, panelists also raised concerns about AI-generated summaries that omit important research context, fabricated references, increasing submission volumes, and reduced transparency into how research is conducted and communicated.

Publishers are exploring responsible AI tools and pilot initiatives, while maintaining the importance of human judgment and oversight. A central challenge is ensuring that technological advances strengthen, rather than undermine, the reliability and transparency of scholarly communication.

Key Takeaways

• Policy coordination is essential. Researchers, Funders, Publishers, and Institutions need clear and consistent guidance to navigate evolving requirements.
• Public access must be implemented thoughtfully. Policies should support timely access while accounting for sensitive data, practical implementation challenges, and the sustainability of scholarly publishing.
• International collaboration remains valuable. Shared standards and infrastructure can help reduce the burden of fragmented national policies.
• AI requires responsible governance. Its benefits for research integrity and discovery must be balanced against risks to transparency, accuracy, and trust.
• Cross-sector collaboration is critical. Sustaining reliable research systems requires continued cooperation among the organizations responsible for funding, producing, publishing, and disseminating research.

Conclusion

This forum highlighted a rapidly changing scholarly communication environment in which policy, geopolitics, and AI are increasingly interconnected. While these shifts create new opportunities to expand access and improve research workflows, they also raise important questions about security, sustainability, and public trust.

The discussion reinforced the need for coordinated policy development, responsible AI adoption, and sustained investment in shared research infrastructure. Collaboration among funders, publishers, scholarly societies, and research institutions will be essential to maintaining an open, reliable, and trusted scholarly record.

Additional follow up / guidance is needed from industry leaders on the implications of the Super Intelligence policy to continue evaluating its potential impact on publishing policy.

CHORUS would like to thank our sponsors for their continued support of CHORUS Events. The recording can be found on the event page.