Denouncing LPI's Censorship of LPSC Abstracts

We, the signed authors and fellow signatories, present this open letter to raise awareness regarding the recent troubling behavior of the Lunar and Planetary Institute (LPI) in running the Lunar and Planetary Science Conference (LPSC), and to encourage fellow planetary scientists to boycott LPSC until such time as LPI reverses course.

In April 2025, planetary scientists began to notice that abstracts were missing from the archive posted by the LPI. By May, it was clear that all abstracts related to EDIA (Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, and Accessibility) had been removed from the archive, including those from the LPSC held only weeks previously. Many of us were appalled at this move (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-01438-9). LPI recently posted a call for abstracts for the 2026 LPSC conference and their abstract submission criteria (at the time of this letter) explicitly exclude abstracts with DEI content and require all abstracts to comply with nebulous executive orders.

Historically, the only criteria for an abstract to be accepted by a science conference is that it be of reasonable scientific rigor and align with the topic(s) of the meeting. LPSC, in particular, used to accept most abstracts submitted. It is unprecedented for a scientific conference to ask that submissions are compliant with vague orders of any government, especially those that would infringe upon free speech. Science has historically (except in extreme cases) been allowed to operate with academic freedom. Science is also an international pursuit and thrives best when collaboration exists across cultural, national, and geographic boundaries. Dictated thoughts stymy scientific progress, increase costs, and often result in preventable harm. Notably, conversations with the USRA and LPI leadership have confirmed that they were not directed or asked to take these actions; rather they elected to “comply in advance” (phrasing by authors) based on an unspecified concern over retaliatory funding loss.

The LPSC abstract submission page has changed several times in the fervor. On November 17th, the 1st bullet under “Abstract Submission Criteria” stated

All submitted abstracts must comply with Administration Executive Orders. Any non-compliant abstracts will be removed from consideration for the conference program.

On November 20th, this first bullet was removed and a paragraph was placed at the end of the criteria, below the bullets, stating

All submitted abstracts must comply with Administration Executive Orders. We will not be able to consider abstracts with DEI content for the conference program. Authors are encouraged to start the submission process early so the LPI staff will have time to provide assistance (emphasis added).

While DEI is clearly the target, “current Executive Orders” would mean that any abstract referring to the Gulf of Mexico would be rejected, as would those referring to Denali. Abstracts using the European spelling of magma intrusion – dyke – would also be flagged if every current Executive Order were used as a litmus test for abstract acceptance or rejection.

We encourage our planetary science colleagues to consider alternative spring conferences that do not advertise censorship of abstracts, such as the upcoming AbSciCon and the Geological Society of America (GSA) section meetings. Fall meetings such as those of the Division for Planetary Sciences (AAS-DPS), GSA Connects, and the American Geophysical Union (AGU) are other excellent alternatives. For more identity-specific events, we suggest learning more about Black Space Week as hosted by BlackInAstro; the Out in STEM (oSTEM) for LGBTQ+ people and allies in STEM; and conferences hosted by the National Society of Black Physicists (NSBP), the National Society of Hispanic Physicists (NSHP), and the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). Finally, we suggest the 2026 Planetary Science Community Workshop (PSCW), which will be held in April. All of these meetings present opportunities for planetary scientists to meet and network with colleagues and to share our work freely, which should be the purpose of any scientific conference.

The Steering Committee of the Planetary Workforce Integration, Development, and Empowerment (PWIDE) Community Alliance

Kas Knicely