"Science Communication: A Crucial Link to Society"

This week I had the privilege of attending the GW Ethics in Publishing Conference 2025, hosted by the Graduate Program in Publishing at George Washington University. It was a deeply inspiring and thought-provoking gathering of editors, publishers, librarians, scholars, and change-makers. Here are a few of my takeaways: Ethics as foundation, not ornament: From “Ethics Over Optics” in peer review to rethinking editorial board policies, many sessions emphasized embedding ethics deeply in workflows—not as a bolt-on. Equity, accessibility & inclusion matter: Sessions on inclusive internships, neurodivergent collaboration strategies, accessible publishing workflows, and equitable contracts underscored how much work is needed to democratize who gets published—and how. AI: tool or trap? In “Publishing Ethics in the Age of AI,” the discussion centered on how AI might be integrated responsibly in editing, review, and production—if we retain human judgment, fairness, and transparency. Gatekeeping, censorship & power: Conversations about soft censorship, book bans, and the ethical role of translation and editing across languages highlighted the ongoing tensions in who gets to speak, and under what terms. As someone developing the Peer Review Lab, I found the conference a powerful reminder that the future of publishing depends on how we nurture ethical awareness at every stage — from research design to review, editing, and dissemination. Grateful to the organizers and speakers for creating a space that challenges and inspires us to make publishing more fair, accessible, and human-centered. #ethicsinpublishing #scholarlycommunication #peerreview #equity #accessibility #researchintegrity #diversityinpublishing #openscience GW Journal of Ethics in Publishing John W. Warren

🌐 SEGMENT 4 – LANGUAGE IN SOCIETY AND ETHICS RSA: “Grammar and rhetoric shape collective cognition. Cultural patterns, ethical judgments, and societal cohesion are encoded in the ways communities speak and listen.” Dr. Priya Waller: “The absence of precision or misalignment in linguistic patterns is the seed of chaos — it’s a measurable entropy in collective consciousness.” ⸻ 🔬 SEGMENT 5 – SCIENCE PANEL INSIGHTS Dr. Peter Barr: “Behavioral experiments show that simple changes in phrasing alter moral choices. Decision-making is a linguistic interface.” Prof. K. Raghavendar Rao B.A.: “In education, structured linguistic patterns improve comprehension, empathy, and ethical reasoning. Grammar is not syntax alone — it is the architecture of moral thought.” Dr. Susan Wood: “Even tonal modulation in speech can adjust neural oscillations — a literal entrainment of consciousness through sound.” ⸻ 🌍 SEGMENT 6 – GOVERNANCE, MEDIA, AND RESPONSIBILITY John Campbell: “Christopher, what role does public communication play in societal stability?” Christopher Luxon: “Responsible speech is the bedrock of governance. Media dissemination amplifies both good and bad — it is a force multiplier. Grammar and clarity are political and moral imperatives.” Bax Anderson: “In international communication, misphrasing can escalate tensions. Precision is not pedantry; it’s preservation of peace.” ⸻ 🌱 SEGMENT 7 – CULTURAL IMPACT AND LITERATURE Simon Mercep: “From historical texts to contemporary media, linguistic alignment guides cultural evolution. Poetry, literature, and journalism codify social ethics.” RSA: “And literature serves as a laboratory for consequences — each narrative explores action, result, and moral resonance.” ⸻ 🌠 SEGMENT 8 – ETHICS OF INFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY Dr. Priya Waller: “In digital spaces, algorithmic amplification requires precise grammar to prevent misinformation. Sound, syntax, and semantics have scientific consequences online.” Dr. Peter Barr: “The interface between human cognition and machine interpretation is linguistic physics in practice.”

#DigiMeet2025 | 3 Questions for… Nina Hahne 🎤 On November 6, 2025, DigiMeet brings together doctoral and postdoctoral researchers for an online exchange on current issues in digital research. This year’s focus, Platform Governance & Power, addresses how control, ethics, and digital dynamics shape our societies. Nina Hahne, part of the organizing team, shares three insights into DigiMeet 2025: 1️⃣ If you could describe DigiMeet 2025 in three words, which would you choose? Young, international, supportive 2️⃣ Why should early-career researchers not miss DigiMeet 2025? The reality of digital platforms has drastically changed over the last years. At DigiMeet, experts from four renowned German digitalisation research institutes come together to critically examine these changes in the tension field between between power, ethics and societal dynamics. Doctoral and postdoctoral researchers present their project ideas and findings in platform governance and discuss most recent developments. As an online event, DigiMeet facilitates networking and participation. In the final debate, you can join a discussion about the ideal platform of the future. 3️⃣ Why is platform governance such a timely topic – and what makes it especially exciting for early-career researchers? Digital platforms have become an indispensable infrastructure of everyday life. They facilitate processes and enable connections that were previously unimaginable. At the same time, they face challenges on a wide variety of levels: a political and ideological radicalisation of communication, technological and economic monopolies, and the rapid development of artificial intelligence which is increasingly blurring the line between fact and fiction. As these developments affect us all in our everyday life, research into platform governance is a highly topical issue. At DigiMeet, we will cover two relevant areas: Platform regulation and community building, and platforms as shapers and instruments of governance. 🔗 Register now: https://lnkd.in/e76g8YfN 👥 Organized by Bayerisches Forschungsinstitut für Digitale Transformation | CAIS | Leibniz-Institut für Medienforschung | Hans-Bredow-Institut | Weizenbaum-Institut #PlatformGovernance #DigitalTransformation #DigitalResearch #EarlyCareerResearchers

When children agree to participate in research, can we feel confident their consent is truly informed? How can we honour the learning they gain about participation as the research progresses? How can we keep conversations about consent open and on-going? At ERIC, we're always on the look-out for creative, but meaningful, ways to engage children and young people in informed consent processes both at the outset and throughout research process. In the most recent addition to the ERIC library, Lucy Robinson addresses the discomfort many of us have felt between 'procedural ethics' and 'ethics in practice.' She shares 'The Research Ethics Tree,' a tool she created to meaningfully engage children and young people in on-going, interactive conversations about research participation. The tree is decorated with tokens covering key (but often abstract) informed consent concepts (such as confidentiality and anonymity) and permission relating to photography and recording. The children could engage with and handle the tokens as they discussed, asked questions and revisited the different concepts. Full article published as: Robinson, L. (2025). The Research Ethics Tree: Engaging children and young people with research ethics using an interactive tool. Journal of Creative Research Methods, 1(1), 158-166. Read the full article in the ERIC library: https://lnkd.in/e6dnufVk Explore the ERIC Guidance on informed consent: https://lnkd.in/e8EWufkM Photo of The Research Ethics Tree reproduced with permission from the author.

We are pleased to introduce our keynote speaker Diletta Huyskes, researcher in the programme “Towards a Decolonized Artificial Intelligence” at the Centre for Philosophy and Technology (PHILTECH) at the Department of Philosophy, University of Milan, Italy. She is also an Affiliated Researcher at the Data School, Utrecht University (NL). Since 2023, she has been co-founder and co-CEO of Immanence, the Italian company that assesses the impacts and risks of digital technologies and AI and offers solutions to ensure ethics, non-discrimination, and accountability. Her interests range from the ethics of technologies to the relationship between social exclusion and processes of datafication or algorithmization, the governance of artificial intelligence and how different cultures can shape different artifacts. With a theoretical background rooted in hermeneutics, gender and technology studies, and social constructivism (STS), her doctoral research at the Department of Social and Political Sciences at the University of Milan, included empirical and ethnographic work between Italy and the Netherlands to investigate how automated decision-making processes (ADMs) are shaped by contingent and contextualized human behaviors, decisions and negotiations which can lead to negative impacts on society and social groups, such as amplified discrimination. Previously, she worked as an Assistant Researcher in Data Ethicist at Fondazione Bruno Kessler (FBK) in Trento, Italy, where she followed a number of digital projects proposed by the local public administration with ethics by design recommendations. Stay tuned for the next keynotes of the 20th Anniversary Design Principles and Practices Research Network conference (part of Common Ground Research Networks), focused on the theme Design across Time! Conference info at: https://lnkd.in/dV3MhDCv Regular Proposal Deadline is set to 23 November 2025. Call for papers: https://lnkd.in/gYqejJJw

Research Ethics and Responsibilities Research serves as a systematic quest for understanding reality. It involves designing experiments, collecting data, and interpreting results to uncover facts about the world. Valuing every outcome is crucial; negative or “failed” experiments are just as informative as successful ones. They reveal limitations in hypotheses or methods, guide improvements, and open new directions. Such results should be documented and shared, not discarded. It is important to dispel the myth surrounding PhDs. Holding a doctorate does not mean knowing everything. A PhD equips individuals with skills for independent inquiry rather than omniscience. Practical experience often reveals insights that formal training cannot provide. Collaboration between degree holders and practitioners enhances research quality. Stewardship of public funds is another key responsibility. Most research is funded by public resources, so researchers must allocate budgets transparently and responsibly, avoid using grant money for personal prestige projects, and deliver honest progress reports while being accountable to funders. Seeking expertise when needed is essential, as no researcher has all the answers. Ethical practice requires consulting more experienced colleagues, engaging in peer review and mentorship, and prioritizing the integrity of findings over personal pride. Upholding integrity and transparency is vital for a researcher’s credibility. To maintain trust, researchers should predefine methods and register protocols, when possible, share raw data and negative results openly, and correct the record promptly if errors are discovered. Embracing open science practices, such as preregistration, open data repositories, and collaborative networks, further strengthens research integrity and accelerates collective progress.

🌍 We are at a point where AI governance must become a core component of every curriculum worldwide. 🎓 Public service, law, economics, management — no field will remain untouched by AI.

We reviewed 200 public affairs masters degrees and found that only 1(!) has a core course on AI governance. This means that most future public servants will graduate without knowledge about one of the most important policy issues in the world. 😱😱 Our research covered the top 100 US and top 100 European masters programmes on public policy and public administration. What we found: ✅ Only one, at Linköping University, has a core course that covers AI or digital governance and ethics. ✅ In the US, 13 programmes offer an elective course that covers AI/digital governance or ethics. ✅ In Europe, 14 programmes offer an elective course that covers AI/digital governance or ethics. ✅ In the US, 12 programmes offer a core course on IT or digital technologies. ✅ In Europe, 17 programmes offer a coure course on IT or digital technologies. ✅ In the US, 40 programmes offer an elective course on IT or digital technologies. ✅ In Europe, 30 programmes offer an elective course on IT or digital technologies. This is really a problem - it means the vast majority of public policy students are graduating without knowledge about one of the world's most important policy issues. What should be done to address this? How can Teaching Public Service in the Digital Age help? Would love to hear your thoughts. Link to full article in the comments.

This is such a great insight!! I’ve been recently reflecting on whether architecture and planning schools are integrating AI into their curriculum and I believe this question extends far beyond public policy. If we want to shape the next generation of professionals capable of designing livable, efficient, and equitable cities, AI literacy can no longer remain optional. It’s not just about learning new tools, it’s about cultivating a mindset that understands how technology reshapes decision-making, governance, and design itself. Proptech and design-tech innovation often arise when domain experts are exposed to emerging technologies early on. Without that exposure, the field risks falling behind and many of the AI tools that could transform the built environment still don’t exist today. If anyone has come across research on how AI is being embedded in architecture, planning, or design education, I’d love to explore it. #AI #UrbanPlanning #Architecture #Education #Innovation #DigitalTransformation

Academe needs to keep up! This is why micro-credentials have been the workaround for other countries such as the Philippines.