Though authorship fraud is largely a bi-product of the funding and recognition structure within institutions where “publish-or-perish” is very much alive and kicking, publishers are forced to act to detect these issues and shield their publications from potential integrity threats.

For those who believe that a simple plagiarism check is still sufficient to detect any and all problems with integrity, you may wish to review that opinion. Paper mills are becoming more sophisticated and plagiarism isn’t necessarily always an indicator of a paper mill perpetrator. We can check whether a manuscript has similar traits to those of a typical paper mill template, but this doesn’t always go far enough. 

In today’s landscape, we need information on the bad actors themselves, their history, and their institution, to reconcile suspicions with evidence of fraud. Verification of an author’s identity is a collaborative process. While ensuring the legitimacy of an organization is an important step in the submission assessment, we know that there have been cases of bad actors stemming from even the very best and historic institutions. So what more can be done to check whether a “good” author isn't a bad actor?

Morressier’s Integrity Manager tool provides a comprehensive solution for verifying author credentials through multiple verification points. Beyond standard plagiarism and manuscript quality checks, it places a significant emphasis on authorship information, which is vital not only for validating authors, but also for ensuring the credibility of peer reviewers. This holistic approach enhances the integrity of the entire publication process. Request a demo to learn more about how we’ve integrated authorship checks into Morressier’s Integrity Manager platform.