The Future of Scientific Publishing

Presentation at the Royal Society of Canada Celebration of Excellence & Engagement 2025 panel "The Future of Scientific organized by Érudit Panel discussion with Chad Gaffield, Arash Abizadeh and Stefanie Haustein, 15 November 2025, Montréal Researchers find themselves trapped in a publishing system under strain: libraries can no longer afford rising subscription costs, journals have gone digital but retained outdated print-era conventions, and the pressure to publish in prestigious venues continues to shape careers and research priorities. Today, the system faces a deeper crisis of credibility: paper mills and AI tools fabricate fake articles, while editors struggle to find reviewers as submissions soar. As commercial publishers profit from open access policies through fees that are based on prestige not production costs, pressure on editors to publish more, faster, and on marketable topics continues to grow. However, the call for reform has never been louder, with the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the U.S. considering caps on article processing charges (APCs) and the Royal Society in the U.K. adopting a collectively funded diamond open access model. With an updated Tri-Agency open access policy about to be released, the panel will discuss what role Canada, and foremost Royal Society members, can play in reclaiming scholarly publishing as a trustworthy, sustainable, and community-driven public good.