Tech trends which will change academic publishing in 2019
2018 brought the news of publishers adopting cloud technologies and experimenting with Artificial Intelligence (AI), and it seems that 2019 will be big for innovation in the sector.
Here are some of the technologies and new ways of working I think will change the academic publishing landscape in 2019.
User centred design impact on the research experience
User centricity is gaining momentum with publishing shifting the publishers’ focus from producing content to how the content is surfaced and used. How content is delivered and accessed will be more important than ever with users comparing their experience navigating scholarly content with Netflix, Spotify and Google.
Capturing user feedback
Rating content and capturing user feedback outside the traditional peer-review process has not been a priority for publishers. However, users’ behaviour is strongly influenced by recommendations and reviews, which has an opportunity to change how we do academic research.
F1000Prime helps users discover content by enlisting the help of subject experts around the world who rate the most recent research papers based on their impact on the field of study.
Research powered by Artificial Intelligence (AI)
We can already see some publishers experimenting with AI introducing automation and efficiencies across the scholarly publishing cycle. Innovation coming from publishers like Elsevier and a raft of small startups are disrupting the industry, offering better more efficient ways to research.
Scite combines natural language processing with a network of experts to evaluate the veracity of scientific work. The platform now calls for beta testers to take part in the early design process.
Scholarcy uses artificial intelligence to read research papers, reports and book chapters in seconds and breaks them down into summary cards. Focused on summarizing scholarly content the application prioritizes open access over content behind paywalls.
Elsevier uses AI to improve the way doctors use the vast clinical knowledge databases available to them. Medical practitioners can report the results for applying the newest research. The work Elsevier does aims to improve the prevention of disease in society.
Voice assistant and smart speakers
It is not yet clear what the impact will be on academic publishing but voice searches are on the rise. According to Location World, more than 40 percent of adults used voice-based search on a daily basis in 2016. And predictions by ComScore estimate that more than 50 percent of searches will be voice-based by 2020.
Bloomberg publishing has already introduced voice content features on its platform. Julia Beizer, global chief product officer says that “adoption of content for voice started off slow, particularly on mobile, and shortly after launch, people were listening to two and a half stories on average per app session. Now, this has increased to six stories and has become the second-most popular media type on the app (behind live TV)”.
DIGIDAY UK found that publishers exploring the voice opportunities along with Bloomberg Media are the New York Times, Al Jazeera, Washington Post. Their focus is on adapting and creating new content for voice assistants and smart speakers in response to the fast adoption of this technology in the last couple of years.
Identity and access management
When we talk about access to scholarly content the argument for Open access is never too far. And the reality is that researchers have access to information from a variety of sources legal or not, and they use them. And as the debate to access or not continues, there are more and more tools aiming to address the issues in researchers’ journey to content.
Google CASA (Campus-Activated Subscriber Access) has been rolled out by the likes of SpringerNature, Gale, ProQuest, and JSTOR. UKSG explains that under CASA, when on-campus a cookie will be placed on their device which records their institutional identifier. When that user returns to Google Scholar off campus at a later date, Google Scholar will pass over an encrypted CASA token to the journal website, which the journal website will then decrypt in order to passively authenticate and authorize the user.
The library plugin Lean library was recently been acquired by SAGE publishing. The plugin makes library services available right in the users’ workflow. It highlights to researchers which content is available from their library and looks for open access alternatives where needed.
MasterCard and Microsoft have recently announced a collaboration to create a universally-recognized digital identity. The single digital identity could unlock new and enhanced experiences for people as they interact with businesses, service providers and their community online, including:
- Financial Services: Improve and speed the applicant identification process for establishing a new bank account, loan or payment service account
- Commerce: Enable a more personalized and efficient shopping experience online and in stores, regardless of the payment type, device or service provider
- Government Services: Simplify interactions with government agencies and services — such as filing taxes, applying for passports or securing support payments (e.g., Social Security)
- Digital Services: Streamline and provide easier use of email, social media, movie/music streaming services, and rideshare platforms
The idea behind digital identity has the potential to change the way users exchange personal information with academic institutions and solve issues with multiple academic associations. This may dramatically change the way users authenticate to gain access to online content and resources.
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