Category: Research Integrity

Another day, another case of high-profile research fraud.  An internal review at MIT has concluded that a paper submitted by a PhD student should be withdrawn from both arXiv and The Quarterly Journal of Economics, where it was submitted for publication. This is no normal first-year PhD paper. The article attracted coverage from The Wall…

In late February we gave a presentation on the Future of Research Integrity at the Researcher to Reader Conference in London. In preparation we sought opinions and insights from leading research integrity sleuths, many of whom were generous with their time and expertise. Among these was Wu Guangheng, Ph.D, founder president of the 5GH Foundation,…

At Signals, we evaluate the credibility of any article or manuscript using the Signals Data Graph, which stores and analyzes the world’s publication data and combines it with expert knowledge. Because we can evaluate every article, we can also aggregate these evaluations to provide insights across journals or institutions. This helps publishers quickly identify, understand,…

Last week, Nicko and I attended the Researcher to Reader conference in London. The event brings together researchers, publishers, and institutions, creating opportunities for interesting conversations and learning. We’re already looking forward to next year’s event.  During the conference, we gave a talk on ‘The Future of Research Integrity’. We highlighted historic cases of research…

Specialized research communities hold knowledge that, if shared more widely, could transform how we identify trustworthy and valuable research. So we’re excited to introduce Expert Contributions, a new Signals’ initiative designed to amplify the insights of researchers, sleuths, and subject-matter experts. These contributions add critical as well as positive insights on individual articles, helping the…

We’re excited to share that Signals has been selected as a finalist for this year’s Vesalius Innovation Award! The Vesalius Innovation Award offers a unique opportunity to promote innovation, so it’s great to see research integrity highlighted as a key focus for this year’s award. Upholding trust and credibility in science communication is more critical…

Institution integrity We’re excited to release a set of new signals related to authors’ institutions.  To help protect the reputation of journals and speed up author checks, Signals now highlights when authors are affiliated with institutions with high rates of ‘problematic retractions’ (retractions due to fraud, including papermills).  These signals help editors to make informed decisions…

We are thrilled to announce that Signals is a finalist for The ALPSP Award for Innovation in Publishing 2024. This recognition highlights the importance of the work we are doing to restore trust in research. We are grateful for this acknowledgement of our efforts so far. With three out of the four finalists addressing research…

Signals from the community Publication fraud is harming trust in research. To help protect the integrity of the scholarly record and restore trust in research many researchers and sleuths comb the literature to identify patterns and markers of fraud in research articles, and some build tools to enhance these efforts. The Problematic Paper Screener, an…