The Playground Path
Our AI Playground methodology has proven its worth through real market wins. Working closely with Oxford University Press, we developed two pioneering AI applications that have now evolved into broader product offerings. The initial AI Discovery Assistant combines advanced retrieval-augmented generation (RAG) with trust-centered design to deliver nuanced search results that researchers rely on daily. Building on this foundation, OUP’s LawPro emerged as a specialized solution for the legal market, layering heavy customizations and enhanced UI experiences on top of the core research assistant technology.The Playground made these successes possible. Rather than building AI solutions in isolation, we created hands-on sandbox environments where publishing teams could test multiple models, tune parameters, and simulate real-world workflows before committing to production. Publishers maintained complete control while we provided the technical infrastructure and expertise. They stress-tested features in controlled environments without risking disruption to existing workflows.
These pioneering implementations with OUP were developed alongside our Dynamic Discovery platform—our own comprehensive solution that leverages the same proven RAG-powered search technology. Publishers across the Silverchair platform ecosystem are now actively exploring how Dynamic Discovery can transform their content hosting and discovery experiences. The success of these collaborative projects—custom client solutions alongside our platform product—validates our Playground-to-production methodology.
Smart Pivots Drive Better Outcomes
Not every Playground experiment reaches production, and that's by design. Our willingness to pivot based on client feedback has sharpened our focus on solutions that deliver genuine value. While we initially launched AI-Generated Summaries alongside our other tools, client conversations in the Playground revealed that publishers preferred to invest their AI exploration time in more strategic applications—learning, strategizing, and collaborating on discovery and search enhancements rather than automated content generation.This feedback loop is central to our methodology. Each prototype iteration incorporates insights from editors and publishers, ensuring our AI development addresses real scholarly challenges rather than pursuing capabilities for their own sake. The result is a more focused innovation pipeline that consistently produces tools publishers are enthusiastic about.
Our transparency about this process builds trust with partners and clients, demonstrating our commitment to responsible development that serves the scholarly community's core mission.
ScholarOne: New Frontiers
The success of our Silverchair Platform approach created an exciting opportunity when we acquired ScholarOne in late 2024. Now we support both sides of the research lifecycle—ScholarOne handles manuscript submissions and peer review workflows, while our Silverchair Platform hosts and delivers the published research. This gives us unprecedented insight into the complete scholarly publishing process.We're implementing the same proven Playground methodology that drove our Silverchair Platform successes on the ScholarOne side. The ScholarOne AI Playground has become a testing ground for breakthrough applications in editorial workflows—including submission triage, metadata enrichment and review-integrity tools. AI prototypes can be easily incorporated into ScholarOne Gateway, the new single-view experience portal announced earlier this year. Leveraging this functionality, editorial teams can now run targeted experiments without risking disruption to their critical peer review and editor processes.
This expansion means our Playground approach now spans the entire research lifecycle, from initial submission through final publication and discovery. Publishers working with both platforms can coordinate AI initiatives across their complete workflows, creating unprecedented opportunities for intelligent automation and enhanced decision-making.
Looking Ahead
The AI Lab continues to evolve across both the Silverchair and ScholarOne platforms. Our Playground environments host expanding beta experiences, each one open for client experimentation and feedback. On the Silverchair side, we're continuing to develop our search and discovery capabilities while exploring new applications in content hosting and researcher engagement. The ScholarOne Playground is revealing interesting opportunities in editorial workflows, where AI can support human decision-making while preserving editorial judgment.This dual-platform approach creates valuable learning opportunities: insights from hosting published research inform better submission tools, while editorial workflow improvements can enhance the research discovery experience. Client feedback continues to guide prototype development, helping successful experiments transition into production-ready solutions while informing our broader innovation roadmap.
As AI continues to evolve in scholarly publishing, we're focused on helping our clients navigate these changes thoughtfully. The next phase of the AI Lab will bring deeper integrations, expanded Playground capabilities, and new applications that we'll develop in partnership with the publishers who understand their challenges best. We believe the future of AI in scholarly publishing is built on collaboration—combining technology capabilities with the deep domain expertise that publishers bring to every stage of the research journey.