The leaders from funding agencies and publishing houses will engage in an open dialogue about their synergistic relationship. These sectors not only depend on each other but continuously exchange data, initiatives, and human resources to further advance science. As both navigate the challenges of finding qualified reviewers, ensuring unbiased evaluation processes, and maintaining diversity in academic assessment, what can they ask from each other to enhance efficiency across both domains? The discussion will explore how emerging technologies and shared data resources could bridge operational gaps while maintaining the integrity of both grant and peer review processes. Attendees will gain valuable insights into potential synergies between funders and publishers that could streamline the advancement of research.

Science continues to dominate headline news, yet one of the hottest topics of debate alongside that is misinformation and fake news—because there's just so much information out there and a strong need to be able to use evidence to drive action. The world's global challenges provide the ripest ground for this—for example, the COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the clearest modern examples of how conspiracy theories, lies, and disinformation can be deadly. How do we know what we can trust? And how do we combat misinformation to ensure research can and continues to have a positive impact on bridging the gap between science and action in tackling global, social, and economic issues? Panelists will share their thoughts and experience on the roles of research and publishing integrity in combatting misinformation and advocating for evidence-based interventions to address the challenges that the SDGs set out to tackle.