New Paradigms in Research Communication – Continuing the Discussion
Highlights of ICOR Public Meeting #8, 27 February 2025
Please see the video recording and chat record for rich details from speakers and meeting attendees.
Introduction
This ICOR meeting shared the findings from an in-person workshop, which aimed to lay the groundwork for a new vision of research communication. That initial gathering of open science experts, though limited in size, was intentionally designed to spark a much larger, inclusive conversation. This meeting was the first step in that process, presenting the workshop’s key findings and opening the floor for more participation and to consider broader, global perspectives on how to imagine and implement a truly open and collaborative research ecosystem.
Setting the Scene
David Stern and Jakob Voigts, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Janelia Research Campus [streaming video 3-14 min]
David began by explaining that research journals misalign incentives by prioritising publication venue over scientific quality. He then showed how impactful science exists outside of journal publication, by highlighting a preprint that is not published in a journal but vital to the genomics field. Jakob then detailed peer review’s pain points: inefficiency, lack of robustness, and the conflation of correctness and impact assessment. He emphasised that peer review occurs throughout the research process, not just at journals, via lab meetings and by peers who provide constructive feedback as the research is being developed. He then spoke about how journals act as a flawed “gold star” for hiring committees through the simple and globally applicable ranking that impact factors provide. Both David and Jakob concluded that any viable alternative must offer a new form of recognition to incentivize researchers away from traditional journals and that needs to be a key consideration in any new future system.
Preliminary Workshop
Michele Avissar-Whiting, Howard Hughes Medical Institute [slides; streaming video 15-35 mins]
Michele began by highlighting how doing research and communicating research have been largely disconnected, and advocated for leveraging technology to bring them closer together. She spoke about how as a community it is possible to move beyond abstract ideas and one-off experiments towards a holistic, incentivized research communication model. She then introduced the workshop’s purpose of defining core principles for a new research communication model. On day one, participants described the essential elements needed for a “research container” (the research content itself) and a “consumption ecosystem” (what happens when the content is released). This was followed by the group exploring and visualizing different stakeholder points of view. Day two, was focused on sketching out a flexible workflow for the public sharing of research and the creation of a theory of change model that will enable going from today’s system to the envisioned workflow being proposed.
Michele’s major call to action was sharing the workshop summary for wider community input to help shape future workshops and progress the ideas that were formed. Please do provide your thoughts and leave comments on the document.
Workshop Perspectives
Katie Corker, ASAPbio [streaming video 35-41 mins]
Katie highlighted that the foundational infrastructure (preprint servers, data repositories etc.) for change is largely established, and so the challenge will be encouraging adoption and normalising a new system, particularly for the next generation of researchers. While grassroots uptake is valuable, Katie stressed that systemic change requires institutional and funder incentives to empower researchers, especially early career scientists, to embrace any new approach. Recognizing the scalability limitations of traditional peer review, Katie concluded by advocating for creative approaches to evaluation and trustworthiness, especially if more parts of the research needs to be validated.
Veronique Kiermer, PLoS [slides, streaming video 41-48 mins]
Veronique presented PLOS’s exploratory Redefining Publishing project, a publisher-driven initiative aligned with the workshop’s vision. She addressed the difficulty of scaling open science globally, especially against the existing incentives infrastructure. Similar to the “research container”, PLOS is developing a researcher-collaborative “knowledge stack” to expand beyond traditional articles and exploring alternative funding models beyond the APC. Veronique explained that by engaging with incentive-setting stakeholders, PLOS seeks to contribute to systemic change, acknowledging their important role in driving a larger, collaborative effort.
International Perspective
Geoffrey Boulton, International Science Council [slides, streaming video 50-67 mins]
Geoffrey began by emphasising the critical need for inclusivity, considering diverse geographic and disciplinary contexts to ensure no one is excluded, and this message resonated throughout. He introduced the International Science Council (ISC), highlighting its potential role in amplifying the new communication system through engagement with the global science community and its affiliated bodies. The ISC, having established key principles for scientific publishing reform, is now transitioning from a phase of study to action. They aim to address inequities, process flaws, and systemic pathologies that negatively impact the global research community. Geoffrey then advocated for any solutions to publication reform recognise science as a public good, promote equitable funding structures with minimum standards, and implement progressive, inclusive processes that enables everyone to come along on the same journey.
Summary
This meeting sparked a lively discussion (detailed in the chat record) and served as a forum to socialise ideas for a new research communication ecosystem. However, this is just the beginning of a crucial conversation. In the coming weeks and months, we will widely share the workshop summary and engage with global stakeholders to collaboratively define the next steps for future workshops and action to help drive the realisation of this new paradigm. Watch this space.
Please see the video recording for access to the full meeting.
ICOR Community members: please suggest topics or volunteer to host future public meetings on this Google Form.