Research integrity champions say Forensic Scientometrics (FoSci) will decontaminate “polluted” science and scholarly literature

Supporters of research integrity have signed a new declaration calling for data-driven forensics – known as Forensic Scientometrics (FoSci) – to lead the charge in detecting, exposing and even preventing fake science.

The Forensic Scientometrics (FoSci) Paris Declaration was drafted during an event in Paris last week organized and run by Digital Science’s VP of Research Integrity, Dr Leslie McIntosh. The event was hosted at Institut Universitaire de France (IUF) by Dr Guillaume Cabanac, research integrity “sleuth” and professor at the University of Toulouse, as part of his research chair titled “Decontamination of the scientific literature.”

The event involved researchers, experts, and professionals from around the world who are committed to upholding research integrity, many well-known sleuths among them. Attendees signed the declaration over the following weekend.

As the Declaration states, “Trustworthy science risks being obscured by a small but growing corpus of papers, people, organizations, and potentially governments polluting the integrity of research.”

And: “We care deeply about science, and we believe firmly in the ability of scientific study to decontaminate the scholarly literature. As a collective, we intend to do whatever we can to promote the consistency and reliability of scientific research output.”

“We want to dispel this pollution by flagging problematic papers, actors, and systems, mitigating the effects and disincentivizing such behavior in the future. Our goals are to prevent these errors from spreading, to promote better policies for scientific endeavours, and to safeguard the positive impact of science on society.”

FoSci is a forensic, data-driven initiative to uphold scientific integrity and public trust in science. It combines forensic investigation and scientometrics, which is the study of how research is shared and built upon. FoSci uncovers patterns that uphold or threaten the integrity of science itself.

The problems currently researched by forensic scientometricians include: author misrepresentation, data manipulation, fake conferences, image duplication, misconduct (including fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism), papermill operations, questionable research practices, sale of authorship and citations, sneaked references, stealth corrections, and tortured phrases.

The Declaration states that these problems have widespread and potentially damaging implications, through the citation of fraudulent research in patents, clinical guidelines, government policy, and more.

Dr McIntosh, one of the co-founders of the FoSci movement, said: “Forensic scientometrics is needed now more than ever. Scientific achievement is critical to our society’s health and wellbeing, to our economic and social prosperity, but we also live in a time when the community’s trust in science is constantly being eroded.

“What FoSci does is shine a light on questionable or deceitful practices in the world of science. Through collective action, we want to motivate those involved in producing and disseminating scientific research to produce consistent, valid, and high-quality work.”

Dr Cabanac said: “Our gathering of institutions, journalists, publishers, sleuths, and a leading scientometric data provider proved highly stimulating and productive. Meeting in person created a synergy that we, as a community, plan to sustain and put at the service of science.

“Unreliable bricks weaken the wall of knowledge that researchers have been building for centuries, one publication at a time. Collective action is required, both curative to prevent humans and AIs from learning from these, and preventive to design methods to stop new forms of misleading contents from entering the scientific record. This declaration is a call for action: join us.”

The FoSci Paris Declaration has made the following key commitments:

• Advocate for transformation
  • Open a dialogue with policymakers to design de-incentivizing strategies to tackle the mass production of problematic papers
  • Advocate for reform of institutions involved in scientific research based on the group’s findings
• Develop expertise and share knowledge
  • Facilitate training for researchers and professionals exploring these questions 
  • Share and provide research and data in the FoSci community
  • Establish a regular cycle of professional meetings
  • Improve the tools and methods of forensic scientometrics
• Improve the group’s ability to communicate its findings
  • Inform editorial boards, publishers, research institutions, governments and all relevant involved parties about the group’s work 
  • Participate in building software and tools to enable the reproducibility of their forensics findings
  • Establish points of contact between FoSci members and concerned organizations

The Paris event and its declaration are the culmination of a year of awareness-raising activities for Dr McIntosh, who has held workshops on FoSci in Athens, Los Angeles, Darwin and Sydney throughout 2024.

The signatories to the Paris Declaration hope that FoSci will become internationally recognized and taught at research institutions, particularly within research administration teams, but also among the academic community.

Springer Nature welcomes the Government of India’s groundbreaking “One Nation One Subscription” (ONOS) initiative. This policy marks a significant milestone in providing easy access to knowledge and fostering research excellence across the country.

The leading scientific publisher has long been a partner to the Indian research community and will now serve 6380 institutions under ONOS, empowering approximately 18 million researchers, students, and educators. As the largest publisher of academic research in India, Springer Nature is committed to supporting Indian authors and institutions, enabling more of them to get published and for their work to reach a global audience.   

Welcoming the ONOS initiative, Venkatesh Sarvasiddhi, Managing Director, Springer Nature India Private Limited, said: “India’s One Nation One Subscription initiative is a game-changer for the Indian research ecosystem. By enabling nationwide access to high-quality research publications, it democratizes knowledge and paves the way for new innovations. Springer Nature is proud to partner with Indian researchers and institutions, contributing to their success by publishing their work, supporting their growth, and amplifying their voice worldwide. We remain committed to advancing research excellence in India and beyond.”

Springer Nature stands out as the leading publisher of research articles by Indian authors, showcasing its significant role in advancing the nation’s academic and scientific progress. With almost 20 per cent of its employees based in India across offices in Pune, Delhi, Noida and Mumbai, the company underscores its strong commitment to India’s research ecosystem.  The increasing adoption of Open Access (OA) publishing in India has helped propel Indian research to the global forefront by enhancing its international visibility and reputation. Springer Nature’s OA offerings ensure Indian researchers can share their groundbreaking work more widely, lifting the profile of Indian science on the world stage.

Vikash Kumar, Director, Institutional and Corporate Sales, Springer Nature India Private Limited added “ONOS further strengthens India’s role as a global leader in research and innovation. We remain steadfast in upholding the highest standards of research integrity, ensuring that the global research community benefits from trustworthy and rigorous scientific contributions. Our collaborations with leading Indian societies through our co-publishing partnerships, amplify the reach of high-quality, impactful research. We look forward to playing an active role in ONOS’ success, maximising access and usage of our extensive range of journals across all 18m researchers.”

The company’s initiatives to support the Indian research community includes its India Research Conclaves and Tours held in association with the Union Ministry of Education. In the past couple years, the Research Tour has visited close to 40 educational institutions and universities across nearly 30 cities and 15 states, providing direct engagement and support to researchers across the country. The company also plays an active role in promoting and celebrating diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) through its publications and activities and has been recognising women researchers in India through its ‘Her research, Our Future’ initiative. Springer Nature has played a critical role in informing, training and supporting research integrity across India through its Research in Science and Education (RISE) campaign that has been extended to tens of thousands of Indian researchers this year.

The large-scale implementation of ONOS is expected to bridge the digital divide, providing equitable access to premier academic content. It aligns perfectly with Springer Nature’s mission to open doors to discovery and innovation, ensuring research benefits society at large.