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By Mithu Lucraft – Senior Consultant
The “Invisible Bridge” was the theme of STM’s Frankfurt conference this year, a fitting metaphor for the role science diplomacy has often played as a quiet, steady connector of nations. Across decades, shared research and communication has helped to accelerate solutions to global challenges, even when formal diplomacy between nations has faltered.
Today, that bridge feels fragile. We’re living through an era of geopolitical unrest, where funding for science and scholarship is under attack. Meanwhile, technological disruption, continued uncertainties around AI, misinformation, and a lack of trust in science all threaten the research ecosystem. That quiet bridge that science has offered is at risk. Read more about this in a recent report from the Royal Society and AAAS.
In such a fragmented world, the erosion of trust stands out as a critical challenge that we within scholarly publishing can and must tackle head-on. As Jean-Christophe Mauduit noted in his keynote, we have perhaps taken globalisation for granted in publishing. Yet the international research ecosystem is under significant strain. Every session at STM promoted the need to strengthen coordination and collaboration across all actors in the system. Publishers, libraries, institutions, funders, and the wider interpreters of science – including NGOs and policymakers – must work together to reinforce openness and accountability.
So, what does this look like in practice? The conference, for me, stopped short of exploring beyond the surface of these topics, but scientific openness, transparency, the defence of academic freedom, and the continued pursuit of rigorous science are all essential pathways.
- Transparency: As one speaker put it, let’s ‘show the kitchen’: all communities need to hear a consistent message about what publishers do to defend research integrity, promote inclusion, and deliver progress towards global challenges. We’ve seen this drive for greater transparency on the agenda for many of our clients this year, from clearer communication about investments in peer review to visible commitments around inclusive publishing. These initiatives demonstrate how showing the process can strengthen confidence in the system.
- Rigour: Many of the publishers I spoke to at Frankfurt this year emphasised a continued surge in manuscript submissions, putting pressure on teams and processes. Putting peer review, quality assurance and research integrity centre stage is critical to sustain trust.
- Openness: Going beyond open access as a business model towards showing how opening up research delivers real-world impact is where we can build the next layer of trust. This is not simply about access but instead about accelerating solutions that matter.
- Impact: Publishing’s contribution to the Sustainable Development Goals provides a powerful example of how transparency and openness combine to deliver impact. I have been fortunate to partner with Springer Nature and Overton this year on analysis of how research is informing progress towards the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Strengthening the connections between research and policymaking, widening participation, and improving accessibility are all vital to ensuring that science meaningfully contributes to sustainable development. The full report publishes in November; watch out for it!
At TBI, we’re proud to help publishers and partners communicate their value clearly and authentically. Get in touch if you’d like to discuss how strategic communication can help your publishing programs engage partners, build trust, and demonstrate impact.
