In this blog post, we offer a deep dive into the biggest challenges for digital content publications this year. Main challenges identified included revenue retention, diversification & innovation, research integrity and fraud, adapting to content discovery changes and automation, accessibility and compliance, misinformation and the public trust
What do you see as the #1 challenge for digital content publications in 2025?
- Retaining revenues. – Mike Di Natale, Director, Digital Publishing, American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)
- Lack of practical revenue focus for innovations. – Paul Gee, VP, Product Management & Development American Medical Association
- "Digital Content Publications" covers a lot. For scholarly publishers' journal content, I think the challenge will continue to be around research integrity issues. While this is not a new problem, the fact that it's hit mainstream media coverage heightens our industry's response to it. How will the industry respond to peer review challenges, integrity issues, mis & disinformation? We know that fraudsters continue to keep apprised of ways we combat these issues so I do think flipping the conversation from identifying research integrity and dealing with it to promoting honest signaling in the publication workflow is an avenue that will gain momentum. – Marianne Calilhanna, VP of Marketing, Data Conversion Laboratory
- Changing search and content discovery landscape including LLMs. – Colleen Scollans, Partner, Clarke & Esposito
- Research integrity and OS usage production – Andrew Pitts, CEO, PSI
- Accessibility: When we fail to make our content accessible, we not only limit the people wanting to access it and the reach of valuable information but also undermine our purpose. The challenge of accessibility is not merely a hurdle to overcome but an opportunity to redefine the role as publishers. By committing to accessibility, we can ensure that our content is not just available but also truly enriching for all users. This is about sustaining our mission over time and building a legacy of inclusivity. – Lou Peck, CEO, The International Bunch
- Being ready for the European Accessibility Act in a time - especially for content aggregators where it is not clear whether we or the publisher are liable for content that doesn't meet EAA standards - whatever they end up being. – Alistair Reece, Product Manager, Platform & Implementations, GeoScienceWorld
- Adding automation and seeking to control costs while still ensuring research integrity will continue to be a major challenge for publishers in the foreseeable future. – Lauren Kane, CEO, BioOne
- Misinformation and fraudulent publications. Bad actors are trying to flood the zone. – Heather Staines, Senior Consultant, Delta Think
- Publishing costs are rising due to efforts to combat paper mills and ensure research integrity. Avoiding retractions requires thorough manuscript reviews, increasing production costs. Current technologies are not yet mature enough to handle this alone, so multi-layered integrity checks still need human oversight. To catch the "one percent" of problematic papers, all "99 percent" must be rigorously reviewed. – Christian Grubak, Founder & CEO, ChronosHub
- For STM publishing, research integrity, winning the arms race with paper mills, authorship for hire and unscrupulous researchers will continue to be the biggest challenge. – Richard Bennett, Chief Growth Officer, Hum
- One challenge at the top of this list at least is Research Integrity. As fast we can develop tools to combat the activities of bad actors is as fast as they will find ways around them. It's an area that has far reaching implications, not just within our industry, but it exacerbates the believe that science is suspect or cannot be believed in the public eye, that is a problem our industry has a duty to address. – Lori Carlin, Chief Commercial Officer, Delta Think
- One of the biggest challenges is addressing the concerns about quality of published research. Publishers are grappling with ensuring the integrity and reliability of their content amid rapidly growing volume of submissions. This challenge is compounded by the increasing sophistication of fraudulent practices, such as paper mills and manipulated data, which threaten the credibility of scholarly publications. To tackle these issues, the industry must invest in advanced data-driven tools for fraud detection, data verification, and peer review support. Additionally, fostering a culture of transparency and ethical research practices among authors and reviewers will be crucial. Ensuring high-quality publications will require a multifaceted approach, combining technological innovation with rigorous editorial standards and community engagement. - Josh Dahl, SVP, Product, & General Manager, ScholarOne, Silverchair