A&A community survey on the future of scientific publishing: Credibility over speed, fairness over profit, human judgment over automation

2026-06-25

AI Summary

Scientific publishing faces mounting challenges, including intensified peer review burdens, the dominance of metric-driven evaluation, and ambiguous boundaries in the use of artificial intelligence. This study addresses these issues through a large-scale online survey encompassing 2,944 researchers in astronomy and astrophysics across 69 countries, combining quantitative and qualitative analyses to systematically uncover core disciplinary consensus on scholarly communication. The findings reveal that credibility is prioritized over speed, fairness over profit, and human judgment over automation. Journal reputation and review quality emerge as the primary considerations in manuscript submission, with strong support for publicly or institutionally funded open access models. The study further delineates that AI should be confined to administrative and linguistic assistance rather than autonomous decision-making, thereby providing an empirical foundation and policy guidance for fostering a responsible, transparent, and sustainable scholarly publishing ecosystem.

Abstract

(Abridged) Scientific publishing is undergoing major change, driven by a shift toward open access (OA), the rise of artificial intelligence (AI), and growing demands for transparency, reproducibility, and equity. At the same time, rapid growth in article output strains editors and reviewers and means that metrics and speed can eclipse quality and rigor. To better understand how the community is responding, Astronomy \& Astrophysics (A\&A) commissioned the {A\&A Survey on Trends and Challenges in Scientific Publishing}, which documents community opinion on journal choice, peer review, OA, research evaluation, and the role of AI, with the goal of informing future editorial policies and the wider conversation on sustainable, ethical, and equitable scientific communication. Distributed online in May 2025 to \SI{28787} A\&A authors and co-authors, the survey drew \SI{2944} responses from 69 countries by its closing date. The responses were clear. Journal quality and reputation are the most decisive factors in deciding where to publish, followed by cost. The principal worry about peer review is reviewer expertise and fairness rather than speed. Citation counts are still an important consideration, but many respondents want broader, more qualitative measures of impact. The majority prefers public or institutional funding for OA, and views on AI are polarized, with widespread acceptance of administrative and language assistance but firm opposition to autonomous decision-making or content generation. Integrity, credibility, and fairness are common themes in every section of the responses. Overall, the survey portrays an engaged community that values quality over speed, fairness over profit, and human oversight over automation, providing A\&A with clear insight into community preference and a solid framework for shaping future policies on OA, peer review, and the responsible integration of AI.

Problem

• scientific publishing
• peer review
• open access
• artificial intelligence
• research evaluation

Innovation

• scientific publishing
• community survey
• peer review
• open access
• AI ethics