Author:  M. Alston Affiliation:  Independent Researcher Abstract Artificial intelligence (AI)—especially large language models (LLMs) and automated text, image, and data tools—is rapidly changing how research is produced, evaluated, and published. This article examines AI’s growing role across the academic research lifecycle and peer review systems, focusing on opportunities (speed, access, error detection) and risks (bias amplification, new forms of misconduct, opacity, and

Author:  Aida Karimova Affiliation:  Independent Researcher Summary People often say that Open Access (OA) publishing is a simple answer to an old problem: research is done for the public good, but many readers can't afford to pay for it. By getting rid of price barriers for readers, OA promises to make scholarly knowledge more available, speed up innovation, and make education more fair. But "democratisation" is more than just opening doors. It also has to do with who gets t