Cite as:

Geoffrey Bilder (2025, March 28). Tomorrow's ScholComm Headlines: Predictions from 2023. Retrieved from https://doi.org/10.59347/shh81-rbh77

I recently ran across a screenshot from November 2023.

Screenshot of Slack message that reads- Only five surviving research universities in the US after President Trump and Congress cut all non-military research funding. CNRI forced by a court order to block all DOl resolutions 'woke science' and publications by non-US authors. We visited the US's last public library in Barrington, Vermont.

Background

One of our product managers was a representative on the STM Future Lab group. They had been asked to predict the ScholComm headlines in a few years time— and so they checked if their colleagues had any ideas. There were a few safe (albeit depressing) predictions based on clear trends (e.g. an AI-generated paper gets accepted to a prestigious journal, more “paper mills" appear, more bulk retractions are issued).

The above was my take. As I recall, most people thought it was pretty unrealistic. I don’t think it was ever presented to STM.

At least by posting it here, it gets a DOI via Rogue Scholar— and we can wait to see if/when it gets blocked.

I’ve been concerned about the concentration of critical open scholarly infrastructure in the US for over a decade. I have ideas. And more. If you’re also concerned and are in a position to help people do something about it, get in touch.