Category Archives: Resource Highlights

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Publication Integrity Checking – Is it necessary?

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A topic being discussed with increasing regularity in the scientific literature is whether scholarly authors need to start personally assessing the publication integrity of the papers that they cite in their research, similarly to how they currently take steps to assess the risk of bias of individual studies being considered for inclusion in their research syntheses.

A team from New Zealand and the United Kingdom have been researching this issue for a while now, with their latest commentary piece appearing in the August 2024 issue of Nature:

  • Grey A, Avenell A, Klein AA, Byrne JA, Wilmshurst P, Bolland MJ. Stop just paying lip service on publication integrity. Nature. 2024 Aug;632(8023):26-28. doi: 10.1038/d41586-024-02449-8. PMID: 39075213.
  • Bolland, M. J., Avenell, A., & Grey, A. (2024). Publication integrity: what is it, why does it matter, how it is safeguarded and how could we do better? Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/03036758.2024.2325004
  • Avenell, A., Bolland, M. J., Gamble, G. D., & Grey, A. (2022). A randomized trial alerting authors, with or without coauthors or editors, that research they cited in systematic reviews and guidelines has been retracted. Accountability in Research, 31(1), 14–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/08989621.2022.2082290
  • Bolland MJ, Grey A, Avenell A, Klein AA. Correcting the scientific record – A broken system? Account Res. 2021 Jul;28(5):265-279. doi: 10.1080/08989621.2020.1852938. Epub 2020 Dec 8. PMID: 33205666.

This group clearly thinks publication integrity checking is necessary, even introducing “The ‘REAPPRAISED’ checklist for evaluation of publication integrity” in an earlier Nature comment, see:

  • Grey A, Bolland MJ, Avenell A, Klein AA, Gunsalus CK. Check for publication integrity before misconduct. Nature. 2020 Jan;577(7789):167-169. doi: 10.1038/d41586-019-03959-6. PMID: 31911697.

    Tip: A PDF version of THE ‘REAPPRAISED’ CHECKLIST FOR EVALUATION OF PUBLICATION INTEGRITY is available for download.

As there is of yet no consensus on which checklist tool is best, other groups have made similar attempts to create a research publication integrity assessment tool, for example:

See details of their RIA tool in:

  •  Figure 1 – PMC (nih.gov) – Hierarchical work flow and decision tree of the Research Integrity Assessment (RIA) tool.
  • Table 1 – PMC (nih.gov) – Critical and important criteria for a Research Integrity Assessment (RIA) of RCTs investigating IMPs for evidence syntheses.

Questions? Be sure to Ask Us at the MSK Library!

Understanding Image Manipulation and Duplication

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Image manipulation/alteration and image duplication have been getting a lot of attention in the news media and in journals lately – for example:

It is in the best interest of all involved in the research process to ensure they have a good understanding of best practices for image processing and for detecting any misconduct.

The following resources are good options to have a look at:

1) From the MSK Library’s e-book collection:


2) From ORI – The Office of Research Integrity:


3) From STM Integrity Hub – STM (stm-assoc.org):

Questions? Be sure to Ask Us at the MSK Library!

ORCiD – SciENcv Integration: Another Reason to Register for an ORCiD iD

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Did you know that you can use the profile data that you have stored in your ORCiD profile to auto-populate your SciENcv?

Yes – the two tools have been integrated, meaning that you no longer must duplicate your effort to create a profile in each of these tools separately – you can save the information in your ORCiD profile and draw from it each time you need to create a new NIH biosketch. 

And this may soon matter more to NIH-funded researchers as using SciENcv to create NIH biosketches is likely to become mandatory for NIH grant submissions in about a year or so.

Here’s why:

Effective October 23, 2023, researchers are required to use the new SciENcv forms for submission to the NSF for grant applications: 
https://ncbiinsights.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2023/07/20/new-sciencv-biographical-sketch-coming/

NIH also has some related changes coming in 2025:
https://grants.nih.gov/policy/changes-coming-jan-2025/common-forms-for-bio-sketch.htm

“NIH is adopting the Biographical Sketch Common Form and the Current and Pending (Other) Support Common Form in 2025 as per the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) memorandum on Policy Regarding Use of Common Disclosure Forms for applications and Research Performance Progress Reports (RPPRs) submitted on or after May 2025.

The Common Forms represent a collaborative effort between Federal research agencies to ensure standard disclosure requirements as outlined in the National Security Presidential Memorandum – 33.”

What is SciENcv?

“Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (SciENcv) is an electronic system that helps you assemble professional information needed to apply for federal grant support.  

SciENcv helps you gather and compile information on expertise, employment, education, and professional accomplishments. You can use SciENcv to create and maintain financial documents and biographical sketches that are submitted as part of grant application packages.” 

What is ORCiD?

“ORCID provides a persistent digital identifier (an ORCID iD) that you own and control, and that distinguishes you from every other researcher. You can connect your iD with your professional information — affiliations, grants, publications, peer review, and more. You can use your iD to share your information with other systems, ensuring you get recognition for all your contributions, saving you time and hassle, and reducing the risk of errors.”

Learn more with these resources:

My NCBI Help [Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Center for Biotechnology Information (US); 2005-. SciENcv. 2013 Aug 12 [Updated 2024 May 21]. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK154494/ 

Create your NIH or NSF Biosketch and other documents with SciENcv:
https://www.nlm.nih.gov/ncbi/workshops/2023-10_SciENcv/workshop-details.html 

SciENcv: Science Experts Network Curriculum Vitae (3:33 min)

SciENcv: Integrating with ORCID (3:43 min)

A Quick Tour of the ORCID Record (3:02 min)

Questions? Be sure to Ask Us at the MSK Library!