Prevention of Systematic Manipulation at Scale: Setting a Proactive Strategy

Threats to research and publishing integrity have become increasingly complex over the last two decades. Bad actors are more sophisticated at circumventing established integrity checks, online networks now easily facilitate authorship and citation for sale schemes. Researchers face the challenges of a “publish or perish” system, and generative AI makes content generation easier than ever. This session aims to explore a comprehensive set of strategies from a diverse set of speakers dedicated to ensuring quality of research and trust in the integrity of the scholarly record. Building on a related 2023 session, this panel would turn its focus to how research integrity breaches are prevented at scale, rather than how they are addressed post-publication. Importantly, the elements of such a preventative strategy need to work together and cannot rely on one single approach. They include community thought leadership efforts, such as the United2Act initiative; technology that aides in early identification of broad scale integrity concerns ahead of publication; the development of new policies tailored to scale; and supporting editorial leadership in adopting standardized workflows. Maintaining the trust of readers and preventing reputational damage has never been more imperative for journal publishers, editors, and academic institutions. The audience will gain a deeper understanding of the challenges posed by systematic manipulation and the proactive and collaborative strategies underway to address them effectively.