October 2025, Meagan Phelan
From Cold War science diplomacy to today's AI arms race, research has always been entangled with political forces. In 2025, however, the impact of political messaging (and other forces) has put a bright spotlight on these questions: Can the public trust science? Do scientific journals have value? This keynote explores how publishers can operate amid such challenges, responding to areas of great public and policymaker interest and concern. With a special focus on tactics, including some that have been recently explored at the Science family of journals, the keynote highlights strategies for leveraging publishers’ strengths and assets in ways that stand to help replace public doubt with public confidence.
From Cold War science diplomacy to today's AI arms race, research has always been entangled with political forces. In 2025, however, the impact of political messaging (and other forces) has put a bright spotlight on these questions: Can the public trust science? Do scientific journals have value? This keynote explores how publishers can operate amid such challenges, responding to areas of great public and policymaker interest and concern. With a special focus on tactics, including some that have been recently explored at the Science family of journals, the keynote highlights strategies for leveraging publishers’ strengths and assets in ways that stand to help replace public doubt with public confidence.
