Global Academic Publisher

Sophie Goldsworthy

“Our focus is on publishing the most authoritative, carefully reviewed scholarship we can find in support of our mission, on topics that matter to how people understand and navigate the world.”

Something is shifting how people relate to information. Not just what they believe, but who they trust to tell them anything at all.

The latest makes for sobering reading. Seven in 10 people globally are now unwilling or hesitant to engage with someone who holds different values or draws on different sources of knowledge. We are retreating into our own information worlds 鈥� and the walls are getting higher.

This is a cultural problem that raises a fundamental question for publishers: what is our role when trust itself is under strain?

comes at a moment when the publishing industry has every reason to reflect on what it stands for.

At OUP we think about this a lot. We are not driven by fleeting market trends, nor do we have an agenda. Our focus is on publishing the most authoritative, carefully reviewed scholarship we can find in support of our mission, on topics that matter to how people understand and navigate the world.

This sounds simple. In the current climate, it is anything but.

Expertise still counts, but it needs a champion

The consistently shows that people retain confidence in professions they associate with training, evidence, and public service: scientists, doctors, teachers. There is still a broad cultural appetite for expert-led information. People want to understand complex issues. They want reliable guides through a noisy world.

But that appetite is going unmet. Too much of the information environment rewards speed over substance, heat over light. Algorithms surface what provokes, not what illuminates 鈥� as we know from selecting rage bait as Oxford Word of the Year 2025. And in that environment, evidence-based publishing can struggle to compete for attention, even when it is exactly what people need.

This is where university presses have a distinctive role to play. We are active participants in the information ecosystem, and we have a responsibility to show up in it.

Publishing ideas that challenge and connect

One of the things I believe most strongly is that serious publishing is not just about providing answers. It is about building the intellectual infrastructure that helps people think better.

That means publishing works that deliberately sit across disciplines; content that brings together different fields of knowledge to shed new light on urgent problems. Our 听series does exactly this, commissioning research that bridges the humanities, sciences, and social sciences to take the questions that don’t fit neatly into any single box.

It also means actively seeking out the books that help people make sense of a turbulent moment. Richard Susskind’s听 does not tell readers what to conclude about artificial intelligence. It gives them the tools to think the question through themselves. Tim Lenton’s听 reframes the climate crisis not as an intractable catastrophe but as a system capable of rapid, positive change 鈥� if we understand its dynamics. These are not comfortable reads. They are demanding, rigorous, genuinely useful.

The case for rigour

If there is one thing I would want to say clearly to anyone who cares about the state of public knowledge, it is this: peer review is not a bureaucratic formality. It is a safeguard.

In an age of AI-generated content, where hallucination is an industry term rather than a metaphor, the ability to say “this has been checked, challenged, and verified by leading experts” is more valuable than it has been. The processes that are second nature to academic publishers 鈥� rigorous editorial standards, independent review, careful fact-checking 鈥� are exactly what the information environment is currently short of.听

And it’s part of our commitment to upholding standards that make our publishing trustworthy by design, not just by reputation.

A moment for mission

All publishers are operating within a complex and ever-changing environment. The AI disruption is not abstract. It is reshaping how research is conducted, how content is discovered, and how readers engage with ideas. None of that is going away.

But none of it changes the underlying need that serious publishers exist to meet. People want to understand the world. They want information they can rely on. They want to engage with ideas that reward the effort of sustained attention.

I am proud to work for an organization that is going out of its way to address that need. Because in a world pulling apart into competing information silos, rigorous, mission-led publishing matters more than ever before.听

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If you have a smartphone or use some of the biggest search engines, then you have Oxford Languages’ dictionaries at your fingertips.

While the听Oxford English Dictionary is our flagship title, we don’t just hold English language data. In support of our mission at OUP鈥�to advance the University鈥檚 objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide鈥�we work with cutting-edge technology providers to make Oxford Languages鈥� data available as widely as possible.

One of our aims is to digitize under-resourced languages to support localization. We service over 60 languages, and in 2024/25, we launched 10 new language datasets, ranging from Indonesian, to Sanskrit, to Assamese. For such languages, we might develop the content with out partners, or we may acquire and develop it by working with native linguists, local agencies, authors, institutes, foundations, and our in-house development teams.

Under-resourced languages

Sometimes our customers will request a new language dataset for their digital products, but we also look for gaps in the market. In high demand and under-resourced, in 2024, we successfully added the leading Indonesian Monolingual Dictionary to our language portfolio. Sourcing, developing and investing in under-resourced languages helps to widen access to these languages, while also digitally preserving culture and history.

Alexandra Feeley

Director of Business and Market Development

鈥淚n countries where English is commonly spoken but not the main language, you are forced to use English for technology because the features don鈥檛 tend to support native speakers. When I open my phone or my email nowadays, I expect predictive text, to fill in the blanks, to spell check. But when you look at Indian languages or African languages for example, there isn鈥檛 that same level of native digitalization.听

鈥淭his is why we have created resources to allow technologists to develop the tools for those under-resourced languages. If you can experience something in your native language, it becomes an extension of you and it鈥檚 then a lot easier to relate to products and to expand your usage of things.鈥�听

Some of the under-resourced languages we’re working on include Hebrew and Catalan. When we work on such projects, our teams make sure we’re best representing the language and how it is spoken by reviewing corpora, including inflection coverage and having complete and short definitions.

World Englishes听

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is widely regarded as the accepted authority on the English language. However, English is not the same language that it was when the First Edition was published in 1928.听

Danica Salazar

OED World English Editor

鈥淪ince then, it has become a truly global language, spoken by billions of people of immensely varied origins and backgrounds鈥�and as these people continue to contribute to the richness and diversity of the English lexicon, so will 迟丑别鈥�翱贰顿鈥�continue to adapt its policies and practices in order to ensure that these contributions are represented in the dictionary.”

Collectively, we refer to global varieties of English as 鈥榃orld Englishes鈥�, supporting our goal in the lead up to the centenary of 迟丑别鈥�OED鈥檚 First Edition in 2028 in widening the geographical coverage of the dictionary. Our鈥�鈥痯rogramme recognizes that English is a world language, and so British English is no longer regarded as the dominant form of English but just one of many varieties. Each quarterly update of the OED now includes examples from different World Englishes. You can find out more in the , which features 鈥榰ntranslatable鈥� words.听

As language continues to evolve, we regularly update our datasets to make sure our customers’ dictionary displays, games, mobile applications, and other solutions stay current with modern English. You can find out more about this .

Another ongoing project is the (ODAAE), which will apply the depth and rigour of 迟丑别鈥�OED鈥檚 historical methodology specifically to the study of African American English. A diverse team of lexicographers and researchers are creating a dictionary that will illuminate the history, meaning, and significance of this body of language. More than 1,350 meanings for 1,100 words are now in draft with 300 words finalized.

John McCullough, Lexicographer at the ODAAE, said:

“What is really important about the ODAAE is our opportunity to represent speakers of African American English in a way that is both accurate and respectful to the enduring legacy of the language, and provide high-quality research evidence that highlights its importance to the cultural and linguistic landscape of English throughout history.听

“This is a language variety that has thrived in its expression of Black identity, often despite and in spite of historical marginalization and stigmatization. We are proud of the work we have done to include a wide range of entries that reflect the ways in which AAE is a distinct yet inextricable foundation of American English and continues to linguistically innovate and spearhead cultural change.”

Anansa Benbow, also an ODAAE Lexicographer, said:

“African American English has undeniably influenced global English. I am proud to help document its lexicon through my work on the ODAAE, a project that is about amplifying voices, histories, and identities, as well as honouring and preserving the richness of African American English. It is a project that speaks to the heart of our mission at OUP.”听

New technologies help our data go further

is helping the shape the future of the听Oxford English Dictionary research experience through new technologies.

We have been piloting an on for users to search across the dictionary鈥檚 content quickly, without needing to understand the many different filters that are available. We are also exploring how we support our lexicographers to use AI to research, revise, and publish OED entries more quickly, as well as developing prototypes to investigate how OED data can further empower research.听听

Elinor Hawkes, Senior Product Manager, notes:听

“The OED has a long history of embracing new technologies and we鈥檙e excited to see what the future holds. Our dictionary data not only includes contemporary and historical definitions, but also data how, when, where, and by whom words were used. By coupling this rich dataset with emerging technologies, we are able to support new avenues of research better than ever before.”听

You can find out more about Oxford Languages .

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Head of Product Platforms, Academic

Tanya Laplante

“Our tools have different focuses, but together they demonstrate our commitment to improving research outcomes and upholding our mission: to make high-quality research and educational content as widely available as possible.”

Did you know that 402.7 million terabytes of data are generated each day? As powerful new AI tools promise to scour the web for the exact information users are looking for with only a click, tap, or prompt, the possibilities for the research journey are endless. However, peer-reviewed insights are not always returned by AI chatbots.听

At OUP, we鈥檙e committed to helping researchers harness the power of AI to more easily discover and engage with OUP鈥檚 trusted and vetted content. Our roadmap to develop native AI capabilities is guided by the desire to solve known user problems, such as helping researchers find reliable information at speed.听

So far in 2025, we have developed and rolled out three AI assistants. While each is designed to meet the unique needs of users, they were all built to maximize discoverability of and engagement with OUP鈥檚 trusted content.

The AI Discovery Assistant offers an enhanced search experience, supporting the research journey across our 500+ journals and 50,000+ books. Unlike traditional search鈥�which is based on keyword hits in the text鈥�the Discovery Assistant understands the context of user queries and filters to the most relevant results based on parameters (dates, format, topic) included in the user鈥檚 input/query. Each result is accompanied by an availability icon and a short AI-generated summary, so a user has the information they need before clicking on a result.

The AI Search Assistant on 鈥攖he online home of the Oxford English Dictionary (OED)鈥�enables researchers to dive into the dictionary鈥檚 content quickly and more easily, by asking advanced search questions in natural language and bypassing the different tabs, filters, and taxonomies offered on the traditional search page. The tool cannot hallucinate as it is trained on URLs within the site rather than OED content, meaning its responses will direct you to the most relevant OED results to help you continue your research journey.

Finally, the Oxford Law Pro AI Research Assistant launched just this week as an integral part of , a new innovative product for legal researchers and professionals that combines quality-assured legal research and expert opinion with a conversational AI research assistant. The AI tool can be used to generate analysis, precise summaries of content, and trusted sources for further reading based on our world-leading portfolio of legal content.

Our tools have different focuses, but together they demonstrate our commitment to improving research outcomes and upholding our mission: to make high-quality research and educational content as widely available as possible.听听

In addition to our rollout of our native AI features, we are publishing cutting-edge research on AI: the recent launch of included the publication of a new collection, .听

In both our approach to integrating AI tools across our products and through our publishing, we鈥檙e putting researchers鈥� needs at the heart of our work by helping them harness the power of this evolving technology in a secure and reliable way.听

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Director – Open Access Publishing and Strategy

Rhodri Jackson

“It’s an exciting time for open access publishing. Across the research environment, there is constant innovation, disruption, and evolution鈥攃hanged ideas, transformed business models, radical policies.”

2025 marks 20 years since we, at OUP, launched our open access (OA) publishing by ‘flipping’听Nucleic Acids Research, one of our biggest journals, from subscription to open access. In the same year, we also started converting other journals to ‘hybrid’ open access (where some articles are published open access and some are not).

Since then, our commitment to open access has remained constant, and we have continually expanded our OA offering. The anniversary gives us a good opportunity to reflect on the progress we’ve made, and think about the exciting initiatives we have ahead of us.

In our journals publishing, we have come a long way from the handful of OA journals we published back in the early 2000s. Open access publishing and research has grown significantly around the world over the last twenty years, as research funders, governments, publishers, and academic institutions have pushed for a more open research environment.

OUP has been a part of this change. We now publish more than 150 fully OA journals, based all around the world and covering a wide range of disciplines. In recent years, we’ve launched the听 series, a collection of high-quality journals covering critical areas such as climate change, energy, economics, materials science, and digital health. More recently, we have been working with a selection of our affiliated societies, associations, and journals to launch听Research Connections, a new journal covering all areas of medicine and healthcare.

We’ve also agreed ‘transformative’ or ‘read and publish’ agreements with customers around the world, including new agreements in 2025 in California, Colombia, and Hong Kong. These agreements enable researchers at participating institutions to both read our journals and publish open access. Read and publish agreements have been a huge contributor to the growth of our OA publishing, to the extent that in 2024 we became a majority OA publisher鈥攎ore than half of our articles across our entire journals portfolio were published OA.

While our journals programme has been steadily moving towards OA for decades, the progression has been less rapid for monographs. There are good reasons for this鈥攎onographs are very different to journals articles in all sorts of ways, including content development, sales life, and funding. Having said that, as a major publisher of monographs, we want to make sure we are experimenting with lots of options for OA, and over the last year have launched three new models:

• Commit to Open: customers can . This pilot, which includes a collection of monographs written by Early Career Researchers (ECRs), runs until 31 July 2025, and we’re looking forward to seeing how many books we can make OA via the programme.
• Subscribe to Open: in this model, we commit to making a product open access if enough customers continue to subscribe. Through Subscribe to Open, we have now made the听 open access until at least April 2026. We’ve been able to do this because of , and we hope that will continue to be the case in the years to come.
• Early Career Researcher First Book Prize: where the winning books will be published open access without charge, giving a great opportunity for ECRs to have their first book publish OA, with all the intrinsic benefits that brings in terms of visibility and readership.

Supporting ECRs is a key theme of several of our OA books initiatives. We also offer a 40% discount on our open access charges for books for ECRs, and continue to look for ways to ensure we can unlock opportunity for ECRs to publish OA.

Equity is also critical to our journals publishing, where we offer waivers on open access publishing for authors in over 100 countries, and discretionary waivers for authors outside these countries. All of this is fundamental to our goal to ensure our OA publishing is equitable and available to all.

So, what’s next?

It’s an exciting time for open access publishing. Across the research environment, there is constant innovation, disruption, and evolution鈥攃hanged ideas, transformed business models, radical policies. Over the next few years, we’re looking forward to continuing to expand and adapt鈥攚hether through new journals, new initiatives, new agreements, or other ideas.

We’re relishing the challenge of OA publishing and its ever-changing nature鈥攏o year, month, or day is the same. 20 years on, that continues to be the case.

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