The use of A.I: the key to making scholarly publishing more effective?

Conducting research is a time-consuming task, and getting it published can be as long if not longer. Indeed, peer-reviewing can take as little as a few weeks or as much as a couple of years (Leonard, 2019). This can be a problem if several people conduct a similar research, as some will most likely get published long before others, reducing the chances of these others to have their work read. As a result, A.I could be used to make the process of peer-reviewing easier and quicker.

Indeed, last month marked the launching of an A.I based platform called PubSURE, which serves both as a ‘proxy for manuscript reporting hygiene in terms of readability, compliance and completeness [and] builds semantic fingerprints for journals’ (scitecheuropa, 2019). In simpler terms, it checks the language and reference quality of the manuscript, as well as the tables and graphs possibly included. It also checks that there is no plagiarism, to avoid legal issues (PubSURE, 2019). This is generally done using the process of machine learning, which is the process of making a system recognize a pattern, improve performance on a task, by using data (Norris, 2018). Machine learning is a useful tool in the publishing industry, because it is adaptable and can easily react to the disruptions the industry can face (Saddul, 2018).

This can help authors, as the A.I checks their entire work to see if it has all the necessary components/is submission-ready and then forwards it to editors who may be interested. As a result, it also helps editors discover articles that are relevant to the journal they are working for (PubSURE, 2019). As such, the whole process of peer-reviewing is quicker because the author does not have to look for editors/publishers themselves (and vice-versa), and the work has already been checked when it arrives in the hand of the editors. This does not mean that A.I can replace the editor, but it does make the whole process easier.

Steming from this, and because A.I is a rather new, complex and innovative technology, people in the publishing industry have different views and opinions about it. Some people are favorable to the use of A.I in scholarly publishing, as it can ‘help immensely with the flood of incorrect citations’ (Leetaru, 2018). Tim Vines, an author for The Scholarly Kitchen, said that ‘we need lots of A.I tools to help researchers do better research: tools to help run the lab, tools to improve data sharing, tools to make peer review more efficient.’ (Michael, 2019). David Smith (another author for Scholarly Kitchen), on the other hand, said it would be challenging, as ‘one of the keys to a successful machine is really good quality, accurate, well described data’ (Michael, 2019). Other people are also alarmed by the increasing use of A.I, like Alice Meadows, another author for Scholarly Kitchen. In her opinion, A.I is great in theory, but it has the flaw of being riven with bias (Michael, 2019).

So it can be said that A.I is a way for scholarly publishing to be more effective, even though it is challenging to manoeuvre.

Introducing the first AI powered publisher Available at: https://www.scitecheuropa.eu/introducing-the-first-ai-powered-publisher/97088/ (Accessed 15/10/19)

Leetaru, K. (2018) ‘Could AI Help Reform Academic Publishing?’, Forbes, 14 June. Available at: https://www.forbes.com/sites/kalevleetaru/2018/06/14/could-ai-help-reform-academic-publishing/#615a59b8223f (Accessed 16/10/19)

Leonard, C. (2019) ‘Peer review made easier: PubSURE at a glance’, Editage Insights, 19 September. Available at: https://www.editage.com/insights/pubsure-connect-a-platform-that-makes-peer-review-easier-for-authors-and-journals (Accessed 15/10/19)

Michael, A. (2019) ‘Ask The Chefs: AI and Scholarly Communications’, The Scholarly Kitchen, 25 April. Available at: https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2019/04/25/ask-chefs-ai-scholarly-communications/ (Accessed 16/10/19)

Norris, A. (2018) ‘Artificial intelligence — an opportunity for publishers?’, Fipp, 25 April. Available at: https://www.fipp.com/news/features/artificial-intelligence-opportunity-publishers (Accessed 25/10/19)

PubSURE’s website, available at: https://www.pub-sure.com/ (Accessed 15/10/19)

Saddul, A. (2018) ‘What AI can do for publishers: Cutting through the hype’, Whats’s New in Publishing. Available at: https://whatsnewinpublishing.com/what-ai-can-do-for-publishers-cutting-through-the-hype (Accessed 25/10/19)