Proofig – FAQs
By more effectively analysing microscopy images, western blots and other scientific images, the scientific community can improve image integrity and proactively detect and resolve issues before publication.
Want to know how you can benefit from Proofig?
About Proofig
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What drove you to establish Proofig?
As an experienced scientific researcher for over two decades, Dr. Dror-Kolodkin-Gal have witnessed the impact of inadvertent image errors in publications – errors that have a toll upon researchers, their research institutes and the publishers themselves. Looking for a solution, Dror and his Co-founders have founded Proofig to prevent these events.
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Why is it essential to pre-check the figures in an article?
Journals only publish a fraction of the articles submitted by researchers. Ensuring image integrity could increase your chances of publication.
An honest mistake can lead to image duplication — in fact, some indicated that 25% of all life science articles published may contain inappropriately duplication (most of them unintentionally) or manipulated images, (1).
The estimations are that over 35,000 articles published between 2009 to 2016 might be prone to post-publication retraction due to faulty figures (2). Don’t let it be yours.
(1) Morten P. Oksvold, Incidence of Data Duplications in a Randomly Selected Pool of Life Science Publications, Science and Engineering Ethics volume 22, pages487–496, 2016.
(2) Bik EM, et all., Analysis and correction of inappropriate image duplication: the Molecular and Cellular Biology Experience. Mol Cell Bio. 38 (20), 2018.
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Where does Proofig stand in the field of image verification?
At Proofig, we're delighted that the world's top scientific publishers are discussing the pressing need to address the problem of image duplication and manipulations.
We're very proud to be named among the pioneers of image-proofing technology
Image analysis software
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Who can use Proofig’s services?
Proofig supports publishers, editors, universities, and principal investigators.
Our system is intended for publishers – whether it’s used for pre-or post-publication integrity analysis. Proofig can also serve universities and principal investigators users who are about to publish their article or submit for a grant or a patent.
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What kind of manipulations can Proofig detect?
Proofig recognizes a wide range of "paper mill", image duplications and manipulations within the images and between images.
It can detect full duplications (include scaling or rotating), partial duplication or overlapping, alongside flipped images, figure manipulations, copy and paste, cloning – and any of these issues combined. Each image is compared with itself (for internal duplications) and with all others (for image issues as described), as well as comparing each flipped image with the other images within the uploaded files.
Click here to see some examples of the image errors Proofig detects.
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What type of scientific images is Proofig intended for?
Proofig is using an advanced AI system and image processing, capable of analyzing a wide variety of images, including all types of microscopies (confocal, light or electron), Western blot, in-vivo and in-vitro images, plants, plates, and more.
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How much does it cost?
Our pricing is based on the number of sub-images. We also offer a volume discount.
You can also buy a yearly package that fit your needs. For more information, please visit our Pricing Page, or contact us with detailed information about your role, your needs and the estimated number of subimages required.
Using Proofig
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What is a sub-image?
A sub-image is related to any single image, for example one microscopy picture or one line of western blot bands, as seen below.
(each sub-image is marked with a red rectangle).
Proofig is capable of analyzing a wide variety of images,including western blot bands, all types of microscopy slides (confocal, light or electron), plates, plants, mice, in-vitro and in-vivo images, and more.
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How is each image marked?
Proofig’s AI system is based on analyzing sub-images – these are any:
(a) microscopy pictures
(b) a line of western blot bands or elements that are compared to one another by itself.
(a)
(b)
Our system extracts the sub-images automatically in up to 10 minutes. After the initial AI extraction, you can add or remove the detected sub-images as you wish. You can also mark an area you would like to ignore, such as a text in the image.
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How much time does the entire process take?
A few minutes. Proofig’s automated system allows you to receive an entire analysis of your article’s figures in less than 10 minutes and automatic generate analysis report.
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How can I use the Proofig system?
After receiving your own Proofig user, you will be able to log in to the platform and start uploading your PDF files. Our platform includes help to assist you get started with submitting the files and following the analysis process.
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Do I need to submit all files manually?
Proofig supports both manual and automated uploads.
You can also upload your manuscripts individually or by automated system using REST API, allowing an automized connection.
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Technical & Privacy
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What type of files does Proofig support?
We analyze your entire article via a single PDF file, up to 30M, with less than 100 pages.
Just upload your manuscript – and Proofig will do all the hard work for you.
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What are the system requirements?
Proofig supports Chrome browser. Firefox, Safari and IE are currently not supported.
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Do I need high-quality sub-images?
There is no need for high resolution images. The PDF quality is checked on an 300DPI resolution.
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Who sees my images and my results?
Proofig’s system uses a private server for you to log in and upload your file. You receive your results confidentiality and privately.
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What do I need to download to work with Proofig?
Nothing – the Proofig system is available to use online. You can log in from any computer to upload your images or view your report. You can also print your final report or save it as a PDF.
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Can I upload images to Proofig?
Yes, you can upload images. Proofig automatically converts them into a PDF for analysis. Ensure the total size is under 50MB and within 100 pages.