top of page

Proofig AI for Ethics Committees

The benefits of automated image integrity detection software for scientific publishing

A captivating set of four microscopy images showcasing the discovery of manipulated images through cropping and scaling. Each image presents microscopic specimens that have undergone deliberate alterations, involving both cropping and scaling operations. These image manipulations raise questions about the motivations and potential implications behind such modifications. These visual findings highlight the significance of meticulous analysis and accurate representation in microscopy studies, ensuring the integrity and reliability of scientific data. Understanding the reasons and consequences of image cropping and scaling in microscopy can contribute to advancements in imaging techniques and enhance our understanding of biological structures.

How does Proofig benefit academic integrity position holders?

As one Journal of Clinical Investigation editorial clearly states; “Data accuracy forms the foundation of the scientific enterprise, and without it, the enterprise risks crumbling” (1) .

According to leading image data integrity analyst Jana Christopher, despite the importance of image integrity,  the percentage of manuscripts flagged for image-related problems ranges from 20 to 35 percent (2).

As senior officials entrusted with managing the integrity of your university, you are concerned with maintaining the highest level of accuracy and professionalism in all your faculty members’ scientific publications. We share that concern.

Proofig’s solution offers integrity officials:

  • Assistance in conducting investigations efficiently

  • Accurate analysis of manuscripts, reducing human error 

  • Automatic analysis of many images and manuscripts, providing reports in minutes

  • Automate the review process to streamline image integrity checks in scientific papers

  • Significant saving in time & cost

  • Fully confidential results

A fascinating collection of four microscopy images unveiling manipulated images through cropping and flipping. Each image showcases microscopic specimens that have undergone intentional alterations, involving both cropping and horizontal flipping. These image manipulations raise intriguing questions about the motives behind such modifications and their potential implications. These visual findings underscore the importance of meticulous analysis and accurate representation in microscopy studies, ensuring the integrity and reliability of scientific data. Understanding the reasons and consequences of image cropping and flipping in microscopy can deepen our understanding of biological structures and contribute to advancements in microscopic imaging techniques.

How does it work?

Proofig AI leverages advanced machine learning techniques and an extensive database to ensure the integrity of scientific images by identifying various forms of image issues.

Integrity officials can check each manuscript, confidentially and automatically, in four simple steps:
 

1. Upload Your Manuscript
 

  • Officials begin by uploading their PDF manuscript to the Proofig platform. The system extracts all images and sub-images from the manuscript for analysis.
     

2. Analyze for Integrity Issues
 

Proofig AI analyzes the manuscript for multiple types of image issues:
 

  • Detection of Reuse from Published Manuscripts: By accessing PubMed’s Source database, which contains tens of millions of images, Proofig can identify reused sub-images, commonly known as plagiarism.
     

  • Duplication and Reuse Within a Manuscript: Proofig identifies duplication or reuse of sub-images within the same manuscript. This includes detecting instances of scaling, rotation, flipping, full and partial overlap, ensuring each image is unique.
     

  • Alteration and Manipulation: The system detects alterations or manipulations within a single sub-image, such as cloning, editing, deletion, and splicing, ensuring the authenticity of each sub-image.
     

  • Detection of AI-Generated Images: Proofig AI identifies images created by the most widely used AI model. Proofig is committed to continually evolving and expanding its feature set to include new models, ensuring we stay ahead in the race to protect scientific integrity. Take Our Quiz To Test Yourself
     

3. Validate and Review Results
 

  • Officials can check the detected sub-images and validate the results. They can then review any suspected issues flagged by Proofig AI.
     

  • The system highlights suspected integrity issues, allowing officials to add only relevant findings to the final report. Proofig also provides advanced further investigation tools to help users make well-informed decisions.
     

4. Generate a Comprehensive Report
 

  • Proofig AI processes the selections and produces a comprehensive report in minutes. The report includes both a page view of the suspected issue and a detailed view of each confirmed issue.
     

  • The report helps in ensuring the integrity of the scientific images before publication.

Data Privacy and Security

At Proofig, we prioritize the privacy and security of our users' data. We want to make it unequivocally clear that:
 

  • Training Data: Our system is trained exclusively using material we have developed and open-source content designated for commercial use, ensuring compliance with legal and ethical standards.                                                                    

  • User Data: We do not use any data from user-uploaded manuscripts to train our models or algorithms. User-uploaded data is analyzed solely to detect image integrity issues within the submitted manuscript and generate the corresponding report.
     

  • Confidentiality: All analyses are conducted on private, secure servers. Your manuscripts and reports remain fully confidential and are not used for any other purposes.
     

By adhering to these strict data privacy and security protocols, Proofig ensures that your data is protected while maintaining the highest standards of image integrity analysis.

Proofig AI is trusted by leading publishers, research institutes, and researchers

logo Elsevier
logo Springer Nature
logo Science
logo AACR
logo ASCI
logo RSC
logo the company of biologists
logo compuscript
logo mary ann ...
logo SAGE
logo FSG
logo Taylor & Francis
Photo of Jana Christopher

“Image integrity issues in the scientific literature are more prevalent than many readers would expect, and notably so in the life sciences. In recent years, an increasing number of scientific journals have adopted pre-publication image screening. Expertise in this area has developed, whilst the need for reliable and user-friendly automated tools to screen large volumes of image data at scale has grown accordingly.  

I have found Proofig to be impressively strong in detecting duplications and part-duplications in Western blots and microscopy images. It works fairly quickly and reliably across several figures, whilst being robust to rotation, flipping, resizing, and colour changes. The makers recently also added Flow Cytometry plots to their catalogue of screen-able image types.

 

The system automatically generates a report summarizing individual, selectable findings in a clear manner, and users can also re-visit previously screened items in their own database. Whilst it remains essential for an experienced user to verify and interpret individual findings, I believe Proofig is a very valuable tool for duplication detection, and suited to effectively assist journals’ image integrity screening routines”.

Jana Christopher

Image Data Integrity Analyst

Home.Contact

Hear what renowned editors and scientists are saying about Proofig:

bottom of page