My Database Self-Plagiarism Prevention
Why Self-Plagiarism Matters
Self-plagiarism often happens unintentionally, but the consequences are serious. Even if a reused image comes from your own prior work, it can still lead to desk rejection, formal retraction, reputational damage, or funding risks.
Rejection or Retraction
Journals may reject or retract manuscripts flagged for self-plagiarism.
Reputational Damage
All co-authors, labs, and institutions share accountability.
Loss of Funding or Positions
Self-plagiarism can trigger institutional or grant penalties.
Erosion of Trust
Undermines the originality and credibility of published science.
Self-Plagiarism Scenarios We Detect
Proofig AI compares every new manuscript against your personalized repository, catching accidental reuse before submission.
Published Work
Detects reuse of images from your prior publications.
Posters & Proposals
Flags reuse of visuals from posters, grant submissions, or presentations.
Restricted Sources
Screens materials not covered by public databases.
Unpublished Images
Detects reuse of raw or internal lab visuals stored in your repository.
How It Works
Build Your Repository Upload past papers, posters, grant submissions, and lab images.
Submit a New ManuscriptDrag and drop your PDF or DOCX file—no formatting changes needed.
Automated Integrity CheckProofig AI compares new figures against your repository in real time.
Review Results & ReportConfirm flagged items, resolve overlaps, and download a final PDF report.
How My Database Complements PubMed
| Feature | My Database | PubMed Source Database |
|---|---|---|
| Primary Purpose | Prevents accidental self-plagiarism | Detects external plagiarism |
| Data Source | User-uploaded personal repository | Publicly accessible open-access articles (PubMed Source) |
| Coverage | Includes published, paywalled, and confidential materials | Limited to publicly available sources |
| Type of Issue | Usually unintentional reuse of own work | Usually intentional reuse of others' work |
| Accessibility | Completely personalized and private | Restricted to permissively licensed content |
| Database Limitations | Coverage determined by user's uploaded content | Limited to open-access images due to copyright and licensing restrictions, leaving inherent gaps |
Why Researchers Trust My Database
Unmatched Protection
Dramatically reduces risk of reusing your own prior images
Comprehensive Coverage
Includes published, restricted, and unpublished visuals
Seamless Workflow
Fully integrated with Proofig AI, automatic checks with every submission.
Enhanced Integrity
Protects originality and credibility of your scientific output.
Trusted by Leading Institutions and Publishers
Proofig helped us catch issues we would’ve missed entirely.
High-Impact Journal
My Database: frequently asked questions
What is My Database in Proofig AI?
My Database is a private image repository in Proofig AI that catches accidental self-plagiarism by comparing every new manuscript with your own earlier work. You upload past papers, posters, grant submissions and lab images, and reuse is flagged before submission. Available on the Enterprise plan, it extends the plagiarism checks of Proofig AI, the image integrity platform trusted by the Science family of journals, to material that public databases cannot include.
What counts as image self-plagiarism, and how can it be caught before submission?
Image self-plagiarism is reusing your own earlier images in a new manuscript without disclosure, and Proofig AI flags it before submission. The image may come from a past paper, poster or grant, and reuse can happen by accident, when a figure prepared for one project resurfaces in another. Honest errors still carry consequences for the principal investigator. Proofig AI compares each new manuscript with more than 155 million PubMed Open Source Database images and, on the Enterprise plan, with your private My Database.
Does Proofig AI only compare my figures with published papers, or also with my unpublished work?
On the Enterprise plan, also with your unpublished work: My Database checks each new manuscript against your private archive, including paywalled material. That adds a third layer to Proofig AI’s standard checks: duplication and reuse within the manuscript, and image plagiarism against the industry’s largest image-plagiarism database, with more than 155 million PubMed Open Source Database images. Results arrive in minutes, and every finding is flagged for your review.
Which Proofig AI plans include My Database?
My Database is part of Proofig AI’s Enterprise plan, built for publishers and institutions screening at volume. Enterprise also includes single sign-on, the REST API, editorial system integration, and a dedicated success manager with priority support. Individual submission packages and Multi-User plans do not include it. For current plan details, see Proofig AI’s pricing page.
Is the content I upload to My Database kept private?
Yes, My Database is completely personalized and private to your account or organization, and Proofig AI uses it solely to check your new manuscripts. Like every upload, it is analyzed on private, secure servers, kept fully confidential and never used to train Proofig AI’s models. Proofig AI has also completed a SOC 2 examination, and the report is shared with customers on request.
Further Resources
Journals can screen references at submission with a desk check of each manuscript's reference list before peer review. The desk check covers four problems: citations...
Proofig AI checks far more than images. Its image checks detect duplication, manipulation, plagiarism, self-plagiarism and AI-generated figures. RefGuard, Proofig AI's reference integrity product, flags...
To check that a citation supports its claim, read the claim, open the cited paper and ask whether the source says the same thing, something...
To detect hallucinated references before you submit, check each entry against the published record: open its DOI and confirm it leads to the same paper,...
To check whether a paper you cite has been retracted, open each reference at its DOI or journal page, look for a retraction notice, and...
AI-generated scientific images are entering the published literature, and visual inspection alone cannot reliably catch them. Proofig AI's AI-Generated Image Identification capability is built specifically...