A call to action to address escalating global threats to academic research

This article is a call to action to address escalating threats to scientific progress that affect academic researchers across the globe. These threats include public mistrust of science, challenges in translating academic research to end-user applications, a disconnect between academics and policymakers, emerging barriers to international collaboration, and a reliance on conventional metrics to evaluate academic performance. This article presents various calls to action informed by exemplary approaches across the globe that serve as frameworks to drive beneficial transformation for researchers, academic institutions, and society.

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The World Laureates Forum is a global scientific meeting for prize-winners, including Nobel Prize laureates. The 2023 World Laureates Forum also brought together emerging leaders from across the world to discuss escalating threats to the progress and impact of academic research. This article outlines such intensifying threats with the purpose of providing collective calls for action to researchers, academic institutes, supportive organizations, and governments.