Case Study | IOP Publishing & the STM Integrity Hub

Scaling Investigations and Safeguards

IOP Publishing is a society-owned scientific publisher advancing physics and related disciplines through a portfolio of 100+ journals. With a long-standing focus on impact, collaboration, and integrity, IOPP is building out its research integrity infrastructure through active collaboration with STM’s Integrity Hub.

Challenge

IOPP’s Research Integrity team has always taken a hands-on approach to investigations. But as submission volumes grew—especially in high-throughput journals—the number and complexity of cases began to stretch resources. Manually spotting issues like retracted references or unusual phrasing was time-intensive. Without scalable support, detecting patterns across large datasets—such as repeated authorship anomalies—became increasingly challenging. 

Solution 

IOPP adopted STM’s On-Demand Screening application (ODS) in September 2023 and began piloting Ambient Screening (AS) and Duplicate Submission detection in selected journals through early 2024. These tools have been used in two primary ways: 

• ODS is used for targeted checks during RI investigations, such as identifying paper mill patterns or scanning for problematic references at scale. 

• AS and the Duplicate Submission tool were piloted in a small number of high-throughput journals and are being expanded across all 67 peer-review managed journals. 

To manage the increased alert volume: 

• A dedicated team of Research Integrity Officers (RIOs) rotates to review alerts and advise editorial teams. 
• Planned improvements include integrating alert visibility into submission systems and providing structured guidance and training for peer review teams as tools scale. 

Impact

• The ODS tool has significantly aided large-scale investigations by helping quickly surface patterns—such as repeated citations of retracted work—that would otherwise require manual effort. 

• Dashboard-based workflows have streamlined RI handling of alerts, reducing miscommunications and helping prioritize high-risk submissions. 

• As the tools expand across all IOPP journals, the organization is implementing SSO access, alert filtering, and best practice guidance to empower peer review staff while maintaining quality and accuracy. 

• The initiative is already reducing inappropriate manuscripts from progressing into peer review and equipping teams with scalable tools to safeguard research quality.