Member News & Announcements, July IO 2024
Industry Leadership
Kara Whatley appointed MU vice provost and university librarian
University of Missouri Libraries, L.S.A. Consortia Member (Amigos), Press Release, June 10, 2024
The University of Missouri Libraries are pleased to share the appointment of Kara Whatley as vice provost for libraries and university librarian, effective Oct. 1, 2024. Whatley is currently the university librarian at California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and serves as the chief executive of the Caltech Library system.
Whatley’s previous roles include positions of increasing leadership at Texas Tech University Libraries and New York University Libraries. Throughout her career, she has shown a consistent strategic focus on catalyzing information discovery, preservation and sharing to support the university mission.
Wolters Kluwer nursing leader named to American Nurses Credentialing Center Leadership Committee
Wolters Kluwer, Voting Member, News Announcement, June 10, 2024
As an organization that prides itself on helping build the next generation of nursing leaders, Wolters Kluwer Health today announced that Karen Innocent, DNP, RN, CRNP, ANP-BC, CMSRN, has been named to the American Nurses Credentialing Center (ANCC) Commission on Accreditation in Nursing Continuing Professional Development (COA-NCPD). Dr. Innocent is Executive Director of Continuing Education at Wolters Kluwer Health, where she leads the Lippincott Continuing Medical Education Institute and Lippincott Professional Development.
“This prestigious appointment is an acknowledgment of all the meaningful work and contributions Karen has made to nursing continuing professional development,” said Rafael Sidi, Senior Vice President & General Manager of Health Research, Wolters Kluwer Health. “Wolters Kluwer is proud to support Karen on this leadership journey as she brings best practices and sound judgment to support nursing continuing education across healthcare institutions and professional organizations.”
Product Innovation
Springer Nature launches AskAdis: An AI-powered conversational interface for Pharma sector
Springer Nature, Voting Member, Press Release, June 17, 2024
AskAdis is a new cutting-edge conversational chat interface developed by Springer Nature for the pharmaceutical drug development market using its AdisInsight , a market-leading drug development intelligence database with over half a million users annually.
Off-the-shelf LLMs (large language models) are often inaccurate, incomplete or unreliable as they draw on all the content on which they have been trained to generate answers. Using Generative AI, AskAdis has been trained on only relevant already validated content, information and data making results more accurate and reliable.
Emerging Technologies
EBSCO Information Services Introduces Artificial Intelligence Beta Program
EBSCO, Voting Member, Press Release, June 18, 2024
EBSCO Information Services (EBSCO) is launching artificial intelligence (AI) beta programs to partner with customers and receive user input on the company’s AI efforts. The first beta test concluded in May 2024, and a second beta will begin in July 2024. The betas are intended to create efficiencies for researchers working within EBSCO Discovery Service™ (EDS) and EBSCOhost®. Beta testers are exploring two features — AI Insights, which will generate a short list of insights from full-text articles, and Natural Language Search, which allows researchers to conduct search in their natural language, with user queries honored as questions in search.
EBSCO’s AI Insights feature generates on-demand, high-level summary statements, or “insights” from full-text articles so researchers can quickly assess the relevancy of an article for their research topic. The insights are generated using a Retrieval Augmented Generation (RAG) method, where the AI is grounded on the full text to reduce hallucinations. Extensive variations of responses were verified by EBSCO librarians, customers, and end users via human-in-the-loop processes. During the beta testing period, customers were asked if the AI Insight was useful, and 90 percent of participants confirmed it was beneficial. EBSCO will be sharing results of this beta in July 2024.
ProQuest puts AI deeper in the researcher’s journey for enriched insights and discovery
ProQuest, Voting Member, Blog Post, June 13, 2024
In February, ProQuest™, part of Clarivate™, launched a beta version of the AI-powered ProQuest Research Assistant in ProQuest One Literature, setting a new standard for the responsible use of AI as a research partner for students.
Now, ProQuest is expanding ProQuest Research Assistant with new AI-driven capabilities that power more effective and insightful interactions with full-text documents. Plus, it enriches search capabilities, so that even novice researchers can craft effective queries. The robust new features will become available beginning in September within the ProQuest One suite of products.
Springer Nature unveils two new AI tools to protect research integrity
Springer Nature, Voting Member, Press Release, June 12, 2024
Increased instances of fraudulent research are affecting the academic publishing community. Following successful pilots, Springer Nature is rolling out two new bespoke AI tools to support the identification of papers that contain AI-generated fake content and / or problematic images - two indicators of research integrity issues.
Developed with Slimmer AI Science division, which Springer Nature acquired in 2023, one tool, Geppetto, detects AI-generated content, a classic indication of paper mill activity.
Geppetto works by dividing the paper up into sections and uses its own algorithms to check the consistency of the text in each section. The sections are then given a score based on the probability that the text in them has been AI generated. The higher the score, the greater the probability of there being problems, initiating a human check by Springer Nature staff. Geppetto is already responsible for identifying hundreds of fake papers soon after submission, preventing them from being published – and from taking up editors’ and peer reviewers’ valuable time.
Taylor & Francis Issues Expanded Guidance on AI Application for Authors, Editors and Reviewers
Taylor & Francis Group, Voting Member, News Announcement, June 12, 2024
As the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in research and writing continues to evolve, Taylor & Francis has issued the latest iteration of its policy on the application of AI tools. The policy aims to promote ethical and transparent use of AI, while addressing the risks and challenges it can pose for research publishing.
Generative AI tools are increasingly providing positive support to researchers in areas such as idea generation, coding, language improvement, and research dissemination. However, their use can also pose serious risks for scholarly works, including the introduction of inaccuracy, bias or lack of attribution, as well as compromising confidentiality and intellectual property rights.
DEIA Efforts
Latest Elsevier Gender Equality Study Reveals 20 Years Of Progress, But Challenges Remain For Women in Research And Innovation
Elsevier, Voting Member, Press Release, June 10, 2024
Elsevier, a global leader in scientific information and analytics with a long-standing commitment to advancing inclusion in research and health, has released its latest report analyzing gender equality in research. Progress Towards Gender Equality in Research & Innovation – 2024 Review examines inclusion and diversity in career cohorts across intersecting disciplines and geographies, tracking multiple indicators over 20 years. It reveals progress, with women now representing 41% of researchers globally, but also that serious challenges persist in gender equality in research and innovation.
Notably, at the current pace of change, equality remains unacceptably far away; for example, although women’s representation in mathematics, engineering and computer science is increasing, it is not projected to reach parity with men’s until 2052. And, while grant funding for women is rising (from 29% in 2009 to 37% in 2022), translation of research into innovation through patent applications – which serve as a proxy for understanding involvement in the full value chain of research - is much lower for women researchers. This is despite women’s strong performance in disciplines that relate to solving some of the biggest challenges the world faces, as expressed in the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Research Initiatives
Research Integrity training should be mandatory for all postgraduate students say 62% of Indian researchers in first national survey
Springer Nature, Voting Member, Press Release, June 13, 2024
The results of the first national survey to investigate research integrity in India, a collaboration between National Academy of Sciences, Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) – National Physical Laboratory and publisher Springer Nature, indicate broad support for mandatory in-person research integrity training across researcher demographics. The survey found that whilst 53% of respondents stated that their institution offered research integrity related training, 87% felt that research integrity training provided by their institution is effective, and 62% support mandatory training on research integrity for postgraduate students and early career researchers.
Dr. Ed Gerstner, Director, Research Environment Alliances at Springer Nature, commented: “I'm really encouraged by the fact that over half of the respondents in our survey of Indian researchers told us that their institutions provided training in research integrity. Although there is room for institutions to do more, this is no small feat for a country that is the third largest producer of scientific research globally today, behind only China and the US. As a publisher, Springer Nature is committed to accelerating solutions to the world’s urgent challenges by supporting our communities. Research integrity is a prime importance to us and a crucial component to foster a healthier research environment. Our survey findings across Australia, US, UK, India and Japan indicate that researchers everywhere feel that formal training on research integrity will not only help them create a transparent and ethical environment, but will also ensure publishing of more accurate, trustworthy and unbiased work. And it is clear from the results that the Indian research community understands the importance of integrity training and feels that while a lot is being done, much more can and should be done to enhance research output from the country.”
Partnerships & Collaborations
Big Ten Academic Alliance libraries are now live with OCLC Resource Sharing for Groups
OCLC Online Computer Library Center, Voting Member, Press Release, June 10, 2024
Big Ten Academic Alliance (BTAA) libraries are now live using the new OCLC Resource Sharing for Groups, the state-of-the-art solution that reimagines resource sharing for library groups and consortia.
OCLC Resource Sharing for Groups is a modern consortial borrowing solution that expedites delivery of digital and print items to library users. Participating libraries have all the tools needed to easily lend and borrow resources from group members. If a request can't be filled within the group, it seamlessly scales out to regional partners and to OCLC's global resource sharing network of more than 10,000 libraries, without any staff intervention. The solution also builds on smart fulfillment functionality for fast, predictable delivery based on local policies, group profiles, available resources, library relationships, and user needs—with first-supplier fill rates at 90-95 percent.