By: Fazlin Shamsudin (Librarian, User Literacy Section, Education and User Services Division), Nida Hidayati Ghazali (Librarian, Research Services Section, Research Enhancement Division), Mohd Badrul Hisham Basro (Assistant Librarian, Research Data Analysis Section, Research Enhancement Division)

SERDANG, 3 July 2026 – The Sultan Abdul Samad Library (PSAS), in collaboration with the Research Excellence Unit, Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM), organised the Townhall@UPM: Research in the Age of AI programme on 3 July 2026 at the Termasa Room, Sultan Abdul Samad Library, UPM.

The programme, held from 10.00 a.m. to 12.00 noon, successfully brought together 55 participants comprising 15 academic staff members, 34 non-academic staff members, and 6 postgraduate students. The programme aimed to enhance the UPM community’s understanding of the role of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in research, scholarly publishing, and the development of an ethical and responsible research ecosystem.

The programme commenced with an opening speech by Associate Professor Dr. Nur Fariesha Md Hashim, Coordinator of the Research Excellence Unit, Office of the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research and Innovation), who emphasised the importance of researchers understanding AI developments to ensure its responsible application in producing high-quality research.

The programme continued with the first session entitled "Academic Publishing in the Age of AI: Trends and Challenges", delivered by Dr. Benny Ang, Platform Consultant – Southeast Asia, Elsevier ScienceDirect. In this session, he discussed current developments in the use of AI in academic publishing, as well as key challenges that require attention, particularly in relation to research integrity, academic ethics, and transparency in the use of AI technology.

Among the key messages highlighted by Dr. Benny was that the production of scholarly works remains the responsibility of humans. Robots, machines, or AI technologies cannot be recognised as co-authors because they do not possess intellectual responsibility and accountability for a publication. He explained that AI serves as a supporting tool to enhance the research and writing processes; however, the accuracy of facts, validity of information, and integrity of content remain the full responsibility of researchers.

The second session continued with a presentation entitled "Accelerating Research Discovery in UPM in the Age of AI" by Gillian Ho, Senior Account Manager, Elsevier ScienceDirect. She introduced various AI-powered research platform capabilities that can accelerate literature searches, identify international research collaboration opportunities, and assist researchers in enhancing their competitiveness when preparing research grant proposals.

Throughout the programme, the Sultan Abdul Samad Library (PSAS) also organised an exhibition booth to introduce various research support services available to the UPM community. The services highlighted included publication verification services for UPM officers, intellectual property verification, journal verification, the UPM Research Data Repository (PutraRDRepo), self-archiving through the UPM Institutional Repository (UPM IR), Article Processing Charge (APC) waiver facilities through Transformative Agreements, and information search services. The booth also provided participants with opportunities to receive direct consultation on scholarly publishing, research data management, and strategies to enhance the visibility of research outputs.

The organisation of this programme reflects the commitment of the Sultan Abdul Samad Library and UPM in strengthening a high-impact research culture through the utilisation of digital technology and artificial intelligence. Programmes of this nature are expected to enhance researchers’ competencies in adopting AI technology ethically, while supporting UPM’s aspiration as a world-class research university.

A photo session with the speakers and programme participants.
Official poster for the Townhall@UPM: Research in the Age of AI programme.
The presentation of souvenirs was presented by Ms. Haslina Abu Seman@Talib, Chief Librarian of UPM, to the speakers, Gillian Ho and Dr. Benny Ang.

Date of Input: 13/07/2026 | Updated: 13/07/2026 | amiruliqhmal