Jisc is a United Kingdom not-for-profit company that provides network and IT services and digital resources in support of higher education institutions and research.
The recent partial acquisition of a university press by Taylor and Francis provoked strong reaction from some quarters and walkouts by academic editors at the press. This case, however, fits into a much broader set of interrelated questions about the role, the marketable 'brand', and the very identity of the university press in the 21st Century. In this article, we situate the case of this acquisition in these wider debates around university governance, the usefulness of the 'commercial' vs 'non-profit' dichotomy, the flow of revenue from libraries to publishers, and the lack of awareness by many researchers around their rights as authors. We also elucidate the case for good, participatory governance and more transparency around governance as safeguards for the longevity, efficacy, and reputation of institutional publishing.
The High-Energy Physics (HEP) and Worldwide LHC Computing Grid (WLCG) communities have faced significant challenges in understanding their global network flows across the world’s research and education (R&E) networks. This article describes an update on the status of the work carried out to tackle this challenge by the Scientific Network Tags (Scitags) initiative, including the evolving framework and tools, as well as our plans to improve network visibility before the next WLCG Network Data Challenge in 2026. The Scitags initiative is a long-term effort to improve the visibility and management of network traffic for data-intensive sciences. It has created a set of tools, standards, and proof-of-concept demonstrators that show the feasibility of identifying the owner (community) and purpose (activity) of network traffic anywhere in the network.
This paper introduces the ORCID Advocacy Toolkit, a community-driven resource designed to support institutions in the successful adoption of ORCID iDs. Recognizing that effective advocacy requires both clear messaging and practical materials, the Advocacy Toolkit was developed through a collaborative, co-creation process involving librarians, research managers, and consortium members. Early stages focused on gathering existing advocacy content—such as templates, policy documents, and communication strategies—and identifying gaps in coverage. By hosting writing sprints and inviting broad participation, the project drew on diverse expertise to build a dynamic Wikibook suitable for institutions with varying needs and levels of ORCID experience. The establishment of an Editorial Board ensures ongoing updates, structured contributions, and alignment with emerging community requirements. In addition to highlighting common barriers to ORCID uptake—like low awareness or fragmented communication—the paper examines how flexible frameworks and peer-driven content can help overcome these challenges. Ultimately, the ORCID Advocacy Toolkit champions the principle of “from the community, for the community,” providing a sustainable, evolving resource that strengthens the open research ecosystem by supporting researcher recognition, knowledge sharing, and global collaboration.
This is a short report summarising the workshop " Building sustainable Digital, Data & Technology routes for resilient DRI" run by the Jisc at the 2025 UKRI DRI Congress. It provides an overview of the sessions aims and structure, as well as the information and recommendations collected from participants about their prioritisation of different risks to software used by DRI. Finally, the report draws together some of the common themes and recommendations, which include.
