2024 was a year filled with headline-grabbing AI developments from tech giants.
OpenAI, Google, and Meta pushed the boundaries of artificial intelligence. Development platforms like Claude Artifacts and Replit Agent democratized software creation. Even ChatGPT made strides to become more accessible to the un-tech savvy, adding a 1-800-CHATGPT feature that allows you to chat with AI through a simple phone call.
But while scholarly publishers certainly talked a lot about AI, there was limited buzz about the ways publishers are leveraging it to transform how research content is created, distributed, or monetized.
At the beginning of each year, we partner with Silverchair to take the pulse of thought leaders across the industry on the ways that evolving technology is shifting publisher’s priorities, how publishing leaders are experimenting or adapting, and what the future holds.
From AI-powered engagement analytics to community-driven content models, here are some of the themes that emerged around how technology will reshape scholarly publishing in 2025.
(Want the full roundup? Download your copy of the 2025 Publishing Tech Trends Report)
1. AI-Powered Engagement Analytics: Beyond Basic Metrics
Traditional publishing metrics barely scratch the surface of how readers interact with content.
In 2025, AI-driven analytics will reveal unprecedented insights into reader behavior, content value, and monetization opportunities. Publishers will track not just views and downloads, but detailed engagement patterns: which sections readers focus on, how they navigate between related papers, and what content drives the most meaningful interactions.
This granular understanding will unlock new revenue streams. Publishers can offer authors detailed impact analytics, create targeted reprint packages, and develop sophisticated advertising models based on actual reader behavior rather than broad demographics.
2. The "Whole Person" Experience: Breaking Down Role Silos
The days of treating readers, authors, reviewers, and editors as separate entities are ending.
Expect to see publishers recognize users' multiple roles and streamline their experiences accordingly. A researcher reading a paper might receive suggestions for relevant journals to submit their work to, or be invited to review papers in their area of expertise – all based on their comprehensive interaction history.
3. Hyper-Personalization: Content That Finds Its Audience
Do you actually know what your readers want to read next?
Generic recommendation engines will give way to sophisticated AI systems that understand the nuances of academic disciplines and researcher needs. This will include:
- Personalized research feeds that adapt to a user's current projects
- Smart email digests that highlight relevant discussions and developments
- Custom landing pages that prioritize content based on research interests and reading history
4. Beyond Traditional Search: The Conversation Era
The search box is no longer enough. Users expect to engage with content through natural language queries and receive precise answers.
In 2025, we’ll see publishers begin to implement conversational interfaces that can synthesize findings across multiple papers, generate literature reviews on demand, and answer specific research questions with direct citations.
5. Adaptive Content Factories: Maximizing Content Value
Why create content once when you can adapt it for multiple audiences and formats?
AI-powered content transformation will help publishers:
- Convert complex research into accessible summaries for different expertise levels
- Generate targeted newsletters for specific research communities
- Create interactive learning modules from existing content
- Develop microsites focused on trending research topics
The key distinction in 2025 will be the shift from manual content adaptation to automated, intelligent transformation that maintains the integrity of the original research while maximizing its reach and impact across different audiences and contexts.
6. Optimizing for Answer Engines: The New SEO
Perplexity, OpenAI, and Google have been testing “answer engines,” which mix web results and generative AI models to provide one answer instead of a stack of links.
As these answer engines become primary research entry points, publishers must adapt their content strategy. This means structuring content with AI-readable metadata, creating clear and authoritative summaries, and developing APIs that feed high-quality content directly to answer engines.
7. Community as Content: Fostering Academic Dialogue
Publishers that are focused on meeting their audience's needs will be prioritizing dynamic, community-driven knowledge exchanges. As the digital realm continues to grow cluttered, readers are hungry for experiences that add value and that generative tools can’t replicate.
Publishers can attract top authors and researchers by creating moderated spaces for peer commentary and discussion and facilitating collaborative editing and peer review practices. There’s immense value for readers with offerings like virtual journal clubs, expert panels, and content generated from real community interactions.
8. AI-Enhanced Peer Review: Maintaining Quality at Scale
Expect to see publishers use AI to rebuild standard publishing workflows like peer review in the coming year.
AI-based plagiarism detection tools will improve to better understand paraphrasing and concept reuse, and AI tools will automate initial screenings for basic quality criteria, smart match papers to appropriate reviewers, and assist in citation and methodology verification.
Looking Ahead
The challenge for scholarly publishers in 2025 isn't just adopting these technologies – it's implementing them in ways that enhance the core mission of advancing human knowledge. Success will come to those who balance innovation with academic integrity, using new tools to create more valuable, accessible, and engaging scholarly content.
The intelligence revolution is no longer just about technology – it's about transforming how we create, share, and interact with academic knowledge. Publishers who embrace these trends while staying true to their scholarly mission will thrive in this new era.