Practical AI-Era Decisions for
Scholarly Publishers

STEM Knowledge Partners helps publishers and research organizations make practical AI-era decisions.

We assess AI gateways, MCP-style connectors, and other controlled access models, then turn them into structured pilots that are clear, safe, measurable, and strategically useful.

The result is practical guidance on content licensing, product strategy, portfolio development, pricing, workflows, and trusted use of scholarly content.

“Steve brought senior-level clarity to a complex set of AI licensing, workflow, pricing, and MCP questions, turning his analysis into smart, practical options and decision-ready recommendations.”

— Angela Trilli, Director, Institutional Information Products, IEEE

Why Steve?

“Should we pilot an AI gateway, an MCP-style connector, or one of the new publisher-facing AI access models…?”

Scholarly publishers are being asked to make fast, high-stakes decisions about AI gateways and MCP pilots, licensing, platform access, metadata, pricing, workflow, and trust.

“I help teams assess the options and turn these AI gateways and MCP connectors into structured pilots, with clear guardrails, success measures, and strategic recommendations.”
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Steve combines more than 25 years of publishing leadership with hands-on work in AI-era content strategy and portfolio development, helping teams turn ambiguity into clear options, sound judgment, and practical next steps.

"Steve helped us turn a novel API concept into a clearer commercial opportunity. His work mapped the market landscape, clarified the business choices, and gave leadership a practical framework for decision-making.”

— Bill Trippe, Senior Manager, Academic Products, IEEE

AI Access Pilots

A lot of scholarly publishers are now being asked a version of the same question:

Should we pilot an AI gateway, an MCP-style connector, or one of the new publisher-facing AI access models?

That sounds like a technology question. But in practice, it is a strategy question.

What content should be included? What rights and guardrails need to be in place? How will attribution work? What usage data will come back? What does success actually look like? And at the end of the pilot, how will leadership decide whether to expand, pause, renegotiate, or walk away?

The risk is that a pilot becomes a demo: interesting, but not decision-ready.

My work helps publishers turn these pilots into structured experiments. That means clarifying the use case, mapping the trade-offs, defining success measures, and making sure the results lead to practical recommendations.

In the AI era, publishers do not just need to try new tools. They need to learn from them quickly, safely, and strategically.

Recent engagements

Recent work includes AI licensing frameworks, MCP/RAG access models and vendor assessment, content commercialization strategy, pricing analysis, product and pilot planning, workflow transformation, and board-ready decision support for major scholarly publishing organizations.

Current areas of focus include:

AI licensing and content access strategy
For publishers receiving AI, data, API, corpus, or platform-access requests

AI content product and pilot design
For publishers considering RAG, MCP, APIs, connectors, institutional pilots, or controlled access products.

Pricing and business model support
For teams trying to turn AI-era content demand into sustainable commercial models.

Leadership briefings and advisory support
For publishing, product, commercial, society, and board teams who need practical clarity on fast-moving AI-era questions.

Problems I help solve

  1. We are receiving AI/data licensing requests. What should we say yes or no to?
    Decision frameworks, workflows, risk boundaries, usage rights, partner evaluation, internal alignment.

  2. We need to turn content into an AI-era product without giving away the crown jewels.
    APIs, RAG, MCP, metadata, snippets, attribution, links back to platform value.

  3. We need pricing and business model logic for AI access.
    Internal use, institutional pilots, corporate R&D, vendor partnerships, usage tiers, pilot economics.

  4. We need to explain this clearly to leadership, societies, boards, and commercial teams.
    Board memos, leadership decks, workshop facilitation, stakeholder alignment.

  5. We need someone who understands both publishing culture and the technical/commercial vocabulary.
    Many organizations need help translating between publishing culture, product strategy, commercial licensing, researcher trust, rights management, and the technical vocabulary of AI-era access models. S-KP brings those perspectives together in a practical, decision-oriented way.

Services



1. AI Licensing

For publishers receiving AI, data, API, corpus, or platform-access requests.

Outputs could include:

  • AI Licensing Framework

  • Use-case map

  • Rights and risk screen

  • “Say yes / say no / escalate” framework

  • Internal decision memo

  • Partner/vendor question set

  • Recommended next steps

A short, fixed-scope engagement.

2. AI Content Product & Pilot Design

For publishers considering RAG, MCP, APIs, connectors, institutional pilots, or controlled access products.

Outputs:

  • Pilot scope

  • Content boundaries

  • Customer segments

  • Delivery model options

  • Vendor comparison

  • Data/metadata requirements

  • Success measures

  • Leadership-ready recommendation

3. Pricing & Business Model Sanity Check

For teams unsure how to price AI-era access.

Outputs:

  • Pricing logic

  • Scenario model

  • Buyer segmentation

  • Pilot-to-contract pathway

  • Internal and external packaging language

Many publishers will be worried about either underpricing access or blocking experiments by making the commercial model too complex.

4. Leadership Briefings & Workshops

Possible workshop topics:

  • “What Scholarly Publishers Should License, Protect, and Build in the AI Era”

  • “From Access to Answers: Business Models for Trusted Research Content”

  • “AI Licensing Without Losing Platform Value”

  • “RAG, MCP, APIs, and the New Content Access Stack”

Usually a half-day or one-day engagement.

5. Advisory Retainer

For clients who need ongoing judgment rather than one report.

Ongoing advisory support for publishing, product, licensing, and leadership teams navigating AI-era content strategy.

Case Studies

Case study 1: AI licensing decision framework for a major scholarly publisher

Problem: The organization needed to evaluate new AI, data, and content-access opportunities without creating uncontrolled risk.
Work: Use-case mapping, licensing logic, risk boundaries, vendor/pilot evaluation, leadership recommendation.
Outcome: A practical framework for deciding what to license, what to protect, and how to structure future access models.

Case study 2: AI-era content product and pilot strategy

Problem: A publisher needed to assess new access models such as RAG, MCP, APIs, and institutional pilots.
Work: Scenario comparison, vendor analysis, content-scope definition, attribution/linking logic, pricing considerations.
Outcome: A board/leadership-ready pilot framework with clearer operational, commercial, and strategic trade-offs.


Case study 3: Publishing portfolio and community strategy

Problem: A publishing program needed clearer strategic direction, stronger community alignment, and a practical path for growth.
Work: Portfolio analysis, editorial strategy, commissioning priorities, stakeholder engagement, and market positioning.
Outcome: Improved strategic focus, clearer growth opportunities, and stronger alignment between publishing priorities, community needs, and organizational goals.

  • “never anything but supportive, creative, intelligent and empowering"; " a valued mentor, coach, group leader and collaborator"; "possesses powerfully deep analytical abilities"; "well-honed financial and administrative skill sets"; "a smart and excellent manager"; "possesses a highly effective and uncommon combination of traits"; "Steve's greatest strength is his strategic capability"; "a consummate professional ".

    From Reviews

  • I am grateful to Dr. Smith for all his work supporting Psychological Service in both my years as an Associate Editor and now as Incoming Editor. He has been a constant advisor, collaborator in building productive strategic partnerships, and colleague working to deliver results above expectations. His leadership and support across our editorial team and with others at APA have led to positive and sustained outcomes in terms of commissioning, submissions, enhanced quality, support of innovation in publishing and financial outcomes, even in times of ongoing change. I count it an honor and privilege to have worked with Dr. Smith over the years and am grateful for all his expertise in guiding and supporting our journal and division across time!

    Lisa K. Kearney, PhD., ABPP

  • Steve is a strategic thinker who possesses a firm and full grasp of the publishing fundamentals of both books and journals. In addition, he is experienced in open access publishing. He is highly effective and I would recommend him for any position requiring broad experience, effective organization and strong people skills.

    Shawn Morton, VP, Partner Publishing, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

  • Steve is never anything but supportive, creative, intelligent and empowering. He has an excellent track record of building relationships and fostering positive and productive teams infused with a deep sense of mission. Steve has outstanding communication skills, and served as a valued mentor, coach, group leader and collaborator. He promoted a strong community with deeply held values which sustained us in our mission, whether in good times or when we faced uncertainty or times of change. I have no hesitation in strongly recommending Steve.

    Andrew Peart, Founder & CEO at Sequoia Books

Recent Writing and Speaking

  1. Podcast interview: “Scholarly Societies in the Age of AI: A Discussion with Ben Kaube, co-founder of Cassyni and Steve Smith, STEM Knowledge Partners”. June 5, 2026. David Worlock “The Coalition of the Curious” Podcast Series.

  2. Facilitator: “Beyond Borders: Growing Journal Influence and Impact Worldwide”. Joint CSE / EASE webinar panel discussion; EASE Summer Symposium. June 4, 2026

  3. “Restoring Trust in Science”. The Scholarly Kitchen, May 12, 2026.

  4. “Enhancing Scientific Integrity.” The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. Organizing committee and moderator. April 24, 2026.

  5. Moderator: “Restoring Trust in Science.” (With Holden Thorp, Megan Ranney, and Ivan Oransky.) ISMPP U webinar (with over 800 registrants). March 26, 2026.

  6. “Societies 2030: The Community Advantage in an AI-First World”. (With Ben Kaube.) The Scholarly Kitchen, March 10, 2026.

  7. “After the PDF: A New Unit of Knowledge for the AI Era.” Research Information, January 12, 2026

  8. “From Access to Answers: Knowledge-as-a-Service.”Research Information, November 13, 2025.

  9. “Guest Post - AI as Reader, Author and Reviewer: What Remains Human.”The Scholarly Kitchen, November 6, 2025.

  10. Panel discussion moderator: “AI as Reader, Author and Reviewer.” SSP New Directions in Scholarly Publishing. October 2025.

  11. “New Editorial Models for Decentralized Publishing.”Science Editor. August 28, 2025.

  12. “When the Front Door Moves: How AI Threatens Scholarly Communities and What Publishers Can Do.” (With Ben Kaube.) The Scholarly Kitchen, July 7, 2025

  13. “Driving the SDGs Forward: The Soft Power of Publishers.” Science Editor, April 2025.

  14. Organizer and facilitator. “Next Generation Journal Communities.” CSE Webinar, February 2025

  15. Organizer and facilitator. “CSE Goes to Washington: Publishing Policy in the Wake of the US Election.” CSE Webinar, January 2025.

Volunteer & Advisory Roles

  1. National Academies (Science, Engineering and Medicine)

    Workshop on research integrity, Organizing committee and moderator, 2026

  2. Council of Science Editors (CSE)

    Chair, Webinar Committee (2025-2026)

  3. Verify My Writing
    Strategic Advisor / https://verifymywriting.com
    Advocate for the enhancement of writing through AI while emphasizing the importance of human experience.

  4. NISO Information Policy & Analysis Committee

    Committee member; contribute to policy analysis around open-science mandates, metadata standards, and the evolving ecosystem, new standardization initiatives.

  • Steve Smith, DPhil, is an independent consultant helping scholarly publishers, societies, and research organizations make practical decisions about AI gateway and MCP connector options, content licensing, product strategy, pricing, workflows, and trusted use of scholarly content.

    He brings more than 25 years of experience across books, journals, open access, digital products, society publishing, and commercial and non-profit publishing environments, including senior roles at Blackwell Publishers, John Wiley & Sons, Frontiers, the American Psychological Association, and AIP Publishing. His recent work focuses on AI licensing frameworks, MCP/RAG access models, platform and vendor assessment, content commercialization, metadata strategy, and leadership-ready decision support.

    Steve is known for bringing calm, clarity, and practical judgment to complex publishing questions, helping teams move from uncertainty to workable decisions.

    “Please get in touch! I’m always happy to explore ideas and discuss potential projects, or just grab a coffee for a chat.” - Steve