NISO Plus 2024 Global/Online

The proliferation of paper mills and unethical practices within the scientific community poses a significant threat to research integrity. The journal Nature recently stated, “The retraction rate for European biomedical-science papers increased fourfold between 2000 and 2021, a study of thousands of retractions has found.” The extent of this problem across the entire industry is both recognized and yet ambiguous, making it imperative for publishers to implement scalable solutions. Metadata and XML tagging offer a structured approach to scrutinizing journal articles on a large scale, empowering publishers to identify potential integrity issues proactively.

This presentation delves into effective integrity checks for publishing operations. Methods such as author verification through third-party databases like CCC and ORCID and cross-referencing citations with external databases such as CrossRef, Scopus, and Web of Science enhance the validation process, fortifying research integrity. Additionally, analyzing content for inconsistencies or manipulated language provides publishers with crucial red flags to address before publication or peer review.