Tuesday 30 September 2025

Research institutions and government agencies can now fully integrate research security checks and compliance into their workflows, with the launch of Digital Science’s new Dimensions Research Security API.

Built on Digital Science’s Dimensions – the world’s largest interconnected global research database – the Dimensions Research Security API offers universities and government agencies a powerful way to integrate research security oversight into their internal systems.

A new era of embedded research security

The Dimensions Research Security API helps compliance teams quickly identify potential areas of concern – such as undisclosed affiliations, sensitive funding sources, or collaborations that may require further investigation.

By embedding this trusted data directly into compliance, HR, and grants workflows, institutions and agencies can streamline reviews, strengthen oversight, and safeguard both funding and reputations – while ensuring that final compliance decisions remain with in-house experts.

Strengthen research security oversight at scale

Digital Science’s VP of Research Integrity and Security, Dr Leslie McIntosh, said: “Institutions globally are under increasing pressure to enforce safeguards around research security, protect intellectual property, manage conflicts of interest, and comply with evolving government regulation.

“Since we launched the initial version of Dimensions Research Security just two years ago, it’s proven to be of immense value to universities and government agencies alike, including agencies protecting U.S. research. Our new API will strengthen research security oversight at scale, enabling the review of researchers and collaborators, with structured data that supports efficient workflows.

“More than ever it’s important to be able to surface hidden risks early. The Dimensions Research Security API will enable compliance teams to incorporate research security data points, such as dual affiliations, with internally held data, so they can more effectively conduct holistic reviews at scale,” Dr McIntosh said.

Digital Science’s VP of Research Security & Intelligence, Mark Franco, added: “Dimensions Research Security (DRS) has significantly improved how funding agencies and universities identify and address potential research security risks in line with current regulations.

“By increasing transparency, DRS fosters strong collaboration between funders and institutions, helping them not only mitigate risks but also engage and educate researchers when discrepancies arise in self-disclosure forms.

“For investigative and oversight agencies, DRS enables proactive detection of risks, such as undisclosed collaborations or dual affiliations with prohibited entities, that may require further review.

“The new DRS API further enhances these capabilities by enabling large-scale, repeatable queries, streamlining workflows, and integrating DRS insights with other key data sources.”

Features of Dimensions Research Security API

• Embeds directly into an institution’s workflows and secure systems – strengthen oversight without adding extra steps
• Makes reviews defensible – every flagged record comes with structured outputs, metadata, and clear, actionable reasons for flags being raised
• Works at scale with speed – supporting thousands of reviews under tight timelines with structured, continuously updated data
• Supports flexible risk parameters – configure risk parameters according to need

About Dimensions

Part of Digital Science, Dimensions hosts the largest collection of interconnected global research data, re-imagining research discovery with access to grants, publications, clinical trials, patents and policy documents all in one place. Follow Dimensions on Bluesky, X and LinkedIn.

About Digital Science

Digital Science is an AI-focused technology company providing innovative solutions to complex challenges faced by researchers, universities, funders, industry, and publishers. We work in partnership to advance global research for the benefit of society. Through our brands – Altmetric, Dimensions, Figshare, IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, metaphacts, OntoChem, Overleaf, ReadCube, Symplectic, and Writefull – we believe when we solve problems together, we drive progress for all. Visit digital-science.com and follow Digital Science on Bluesky, on X or on LinkedIn.

Media contact

David Ellis, Press, PR & Social Manager, Digital Science: Mobile +61 447 783 023, d.ellis@digital-science.com

The post Digital Science introduces Dimensions Research Security API appeared first on Digital Science.

Researchers associated with a fictitious research network and funding source have collectively netted millions of dollars of taxpayers’ money for current studies from the United States, Japan, Ireland, and other nations. That’s according to investigations led by Digital Science’s VP of Research Integrity, Dr Leslie McIntosh.

The results of her investigations raise serious concerns about the lack of accountability for those involved in questionable research publications.

“This example illustrates how weaknesses in research and publishing systems can be systematically exploited, so that researchers can game the system for their own benefit,” Dr McIntosh says.

Dr McIntosh – one of the co-founders of the Forensic Scientometrics (FoSci) movement – has presented her analysis at this week’s 10th International Congress on Peer Review and Scientific Publication in Chicago, in a talk entitled: Manufactured Impact: How a Non-existent Research Network Manipulated Scholarly Publishing.

While not naming the individual researchers involved, Dr McIntosh’s presentation was centered on a group known as the Pharmakon Neuroscience Network, a non-existent body listed on more than 120 research publications from 2019–2022 until being exposed as fictitious. These publications involved 331 unique authors and were associated with 232 organizations and institutions across 40 countries.

Research network raised multiple red flags

The Pharmakon Neuroscience Network functioned as a loosely organized collaboration of predominantly early-career researchers, such as postdoctoral and PhD students, whose publications included:

• Funding acknowledgments with unverifiable organizations
• Use of questionable or unverifiable institutional affiliations
• Suspiciously large citations in a short timeframe
• Globally connected despite a young publication age

“Despite clear concerns about the legitimacy of their work, only three papers have been formally retracted to date,” Dr McIntosh says.

Using Digital Science’s research solutions Dimensions and Altmetric, Dr McIntosh and colleagues have tracked the progress of the authors connected with this network.

“Once the Pharmakon Neuroscience Network was exposed as being fake in 2022, it no longer appeared on publications, but many of the researchers associated with it have continued to publish and attract significant funding for their work,” she says.

Millions in funding for current research

Of the initial 331 researchers associated with the Pharmakon Neuroscience Network’s publications, Dr McIntosh has established that more than 20 currently have funding either as a Principal Investigator or a Co-Principal Investigator from sources where the grant commenced in 2022 or later. During this time, those researchers have collectively been awarded the equivalent of at least US$6.5 million from seven countries: US, Japan, Ireland, France, Portugal, and Croatia, and an undisclosed sum from Russia.

One researcher with more than US$50 million in funding has authorship on one of the Pharmakon papers. It is not clear if he knowingly participated in the network or was part of a former student activity. 

“Many of the researchers had grants before and after Pharmakon. This is legitimate, taxpayer money in most instances that are funding very unethical practices,” Dr McIntosh says.

“One aspect we need more time to vet is the possibility that a few of these researchers do not know they were authors on papers within this network. We are still completing this work.”

Of the funded researchers, five had never previously received funding for their research, but following their involvement with the Pharmakon Neuroscience Network they have since been awarded grants from the following sources ($US equivalent):

• Science Foundation Ireland – $649,891
• Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (Portugal) – $538,904 total
• Croatian Science Foundation – $206,681
• Russian Science Foundation – undisclosed sum

“Here we have evidence that some authors have secured legitimate funding, including large sums of taxpayers’ money, following their participation in questionable research and publication activity,” Dr McIntosh says.

“We can presume that their publication portfolio, no matter how it was obtained, helped in securing this funding from legitimate sources.”

Dr McIntosh says this case has implications across the research system and emphasizes the need for stronger verification, monitoring, and cooperation.

“Although most of these publications remain in circulation and have been cited widely, corrective actions have been limited. This highlights the challenge of addressing such networks once their work is embedded in the scholarly record,” she says.

Recommendations

Dr McIntosh recommends the following:

• Oversight to be reinforced by requiring the use of verified institutional identifiers, such as GRID or ROR, in all publications to ensure affiliations are legitimate and traceable.
• Transparency to be mandated through clearer author contribution statements and verified funding acknowledgments, creating a more reliable and accountable record of how research is conducted and supported.
• Monitoring mechanisms should be improved by supporting the adoption of forensic scientometrics, which can detect unusual collaboration patterns or questionable authorship practices before they become systemic.

“By addressing these gaps, governments, publishers and research institutions alike can help protect the integrity of the research system and ensure that trust in science is maintained,” Dr McIntosh says.

See further detail about this investigation in Dr McIntosh’s blog post: From Nefarious Networks to Legitimate Funding.

About Digital Science

Digital Science is an AI-focused technology company providing innovative solutions to complex challenges faced by researchers, universities, funders, industry and publishers. We work in partnership to advance global research for the benefit of society. Through our brands – Altmetric, Dimensions, Figshare, IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, metaphacts, OntoChem, Overleaf, ReadCube, Symplectic, and Writefull – we believe when we solve problems together, we drive progress for all. Visit digital-science.com and follow Digital Science on Bluesky, on X or on LinkedIn.

Media contact

David Ellis, Press, PR & Social Manager, Digital Science: Mobile +61 447 783 023, d.ellis@digital-science.com

The post Digital Science investigation shows millions of taxpayers’ money has been awarded to researchers associated with fictitious network appeared first on Digital Science.

Tuesday 26 November 2024

Digital Science, a technology company serving stakeholders across the research ecosystem, is pleased to announce Huron (NASDAQ: HURN), a global professional services firm, will integrate Dimensions Research Security into its suite of services to support clients in the research and higher education sectors. The collaboration is aimed at enhancing research security and compliance, while providing institutions with the tools they need to safeguard their data and intellectual property.

Research security has become a critical issue for governments and funding bodies, which increasingly have developed mandates, policies and guidelines in this field. Universities are recognizing that they must secure research IP, scrutinize the integrity of research collaborations and protect against foreign influence.

Leveraging Dimensions – the world’s most complete database of linked research information – Dimensions Research Security enables organizations to identify potential risks to research security, verify disclosures and review research networks – quickly, efficiently and thoroughly.

“As the research landscape grows increasingly complex, it is critical for institutions to maintain rigorous security standards,” said Anne Pifer, managing director at Huron. “This relationship will provide clients with a more complete picture of their security risks and enable them to streamline and enhance their research security programs and protect their institutions’ reputations. By strengthening the management of research disclosures, we can help clients integrate compliance into every aspect of the research lifecycle and reduce administrative time doing so.”

Digital Science’s new Executive Vice President of Academic, Jonathan Breeze, said: “Dimensions Research Security is already helping institutions around the globe, and we’re especially pleased Huron will now be able to leverage our technology to support its capabilities in this important field.

“Our dashboard app, which has recently added more features to streamline compliance reviews and reporting, is designed to support the practical needs of research security and compliance professionals. We’re equipping them to meet today’s complex security demands.”

About Dimensions

Part of Digital Science, Dimensions hosts the largest collection of interconnected global research data, re-imagining research discovery with access to grants, publications, clinical trials, patents and policy documents all in one place. dimensions.ai. Follow @DSDimensions on X and LinkedIn.

About Digital Science

Digital Science is an AI-focused technology company providing innovative solutions to complex challenges faced by researchers, universities, funders, industry and publishers. We work in partnership to advance global research for the benefit of society. Through our brands – Altmetric, Dimensions, Figshare, IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, metaphacts, OntoChem, Overleaf, ReadCube, Scismic, Symplectic, and Writefull – we believe when we solve problems together, we drive progress for all. Visit www.digital-science.com and follow @digitalsci on X or on LinkedIn.

Media contacts

Allie Bovis, Senior Communications Manager, Huron: abovis@hcg.com

David Ellis, Press, PR & Social Manager, Digital Science: Mobile +61 447 783 023, d.ellis@digital-science.com

The post Digital Science teams up with Huron to strengthen research security and compliance for education and research clients appeared first on Digital Science.

Digital Science today announces improved support for research security with an important upgrade to its Dimensions Research Security dashboard app.

The upgrade comes at a time of growing awareness among research institutions, governments and funding bodies of the need to secure research IP, scrutinize the integrity of research collaborations, and protect against foreign influence.

Worldwide, there has been an increasing number of mandates from funding bodies and government agencies – including the National Science Foundation’s Research Security guidelines, directives from the National Counterintelligence and Security Center, and the EU Member States’ recommendations on research security – requiring institutions to safeguard their research.

Dimensions Research Security – what’s new

The update is designed to better support research security and compliance, helping to make compliance reviews faster, more transparent, and easily documented, and assisting collaborations within institutions.

Features include:

•  Streamlined dashboard: Access all compliance data in one place, making reviews more efficient and less time-consuming

•  Shareable, comprehensive reports: Print reports to PDF or export as .csv with full context—time-stamped and complete with parameters applied

•  Document reviews: Retain point-in-time documentation of reviews with custom parameters

•  Audit-ready recordkeeping: Each researcher query now includes applied filters and a timestamp, creating a clear, traceable audit trail to support institutional compliance reviews.

Partnering with the research community

Heidi Becker, Product Manager for Dimensions Research Security, said: “Throughout the development of Dimensions Research Security, we have been partnering with research institutions to ensure it serves their needs, helping them to identify risks and guiding action with their research communities. Feedback has been strongly positive and has helped to inform this latest upgrade.

“Our dashboard app is tailored to the practical needs of research security and compliance professionals, equipping them with actionable insights and effective documentation tools to meet today’s complex security demands.”

About Dimensions

Part of Digital Science, Dimensions is among the world’s largest linked research database and data infrastructure providers, re-imagining research discovery with access to grants, publications, clinical trials, patents and policy documents all in one place. dimensions.ai. Follow @DSDimensions on X and LinkedIn.

About Digital Science

Digital Science is an AI-focused technology company providing innovative solutions to complex challenges faced by researchers, universities, funders, industry and publishers. We work in partnership to advance global research for the benefit of society. Through our brands – Altmetric, Dimensions, Figshare, IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, metaphacts, OntoChem, Overleaf, ReadCube, Scismic, Symplectic, and Writefull – we believe when we solve problems together, we drive progress for all. Visit www.digital-science.com and follow @digitalsci on X or on LinkedIn.

Media contacts

David Ellis, Press, PR & Social Manager, Digital Science: Mobile +61 447 783 023, d.ellis@digital-science.com

The post Digital Science boosts support for research institutions with upgrade to Dimensions Research Security appeared first on Digital Science.

Innovation meets integrity: Digital Science’s call for tools that build trust in research

Maintaining integrity and security is paramount in the ever-evolving landscape of research. While science, technology and medicine (STM) publishers have made significant strides in this area, the importance of innovative solutions in this space extends beyond publishing.

It is within this environment that Digital Science is now seeking technology-driven ideas to safeguard research integrity and support trust in science. This is the focus of our Catalyst Grant round for 2024.

Digital Science is also one of the prime organizations behind the push for a new field of research integrity forensics, known as Forensic Scientometrics (FoSci).

Ensuring research integrity is a collective responsibility that benefits all segments of the research ecosystem, from individual researchers to governments to industrial organizations. Here are the key stakeholders and the opportunities for each to bolster research integrity and security.

Researchers

Innovative frameworks and tools help researchers maintain high ethical standards by preventing misconduct such as fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism. However, much more innovation is needed to uphold integrity in the research ecosystem, including solutions for academic institutions, governments, funders, and more. These innovations ensure the authenticity and reliability of research findings. Additionally, advanced training programs on research ethics and security protocols can equip researchers with the necessary knowledge and skills to conduct their work responsibly, fostering a culture of integrity from the outset.

Academic institutions

Strengthened policies and procedures are essential for ensuring compliance with ethical standards and security protocols, significantly reducing the risk of breaches and misconduct, safeguarding the institution’s integrity, and supporting research and researchers. A strong commitment to high standards of integrity and security enhances an institution’s reputation, attracting top talent and funding, and solidifying its standing in the academic community.

Investing in infrastructure and resources to support research integrity and security such as secure data storage systems and comprehensive training programs is crucial for fostering a culture of integrity. Additionally, improved frameworks for safe and ethical collaboration with external partners facilitate partnerships with other academic institutions and industry, ensuring that these collaborative efforts adhere to high standards of integrity and security.

Publishing

Adopting advanced technologies to enhance the peer review process is crucial for ensuring the integrity and quality of published research. These technologies help to maintain rigorous review standards, upholding the credibility of scientific literature. Additionally, sophisticated detection tools are vital for preventing the publication of unoriginal or unethical work, and safeguarding the originality and integrity of research publications.

Improved mechanisms and processes for transparently handling retractions and corrections are necessary to maintain the credibility of scientific literature, grants and patents, ensuring that errors are addressed promptly and openly. Ensuring the security of submitted manuscripts and associated data is also a top priority, as well as protecting intellectual property and sensitive information, maintaining the trust of authors and readers alike.

Governments and funders

Creating and enforcing robust policies and regulations is essential for promoting research integrity and security, ensuring public trust in funded research, and providing a clear framework for ethical conduct. Prioritising funding for projects and institutions that demonstrate firm commitments to integrity and security ensures that resources are allocated to trustworthy and responsible research endeavors.

Enhanced mechanisms for monitoring and auditing funded research are crucial for ensuring accountability and transparency in public funds and building public confidence in the research process. Furthermore, establishing international standards and agreements promotes global research integrity and security, facilitating cross-border collaborations and driving scientific progress on a global scale.

Corporate industrial research organizations

Advanced methods for protecting intellectual property and proprietary data are crucial for maintaining a competitive advantage and ensuring compliance with legal requirements, safeguarding valuable research assets. Secure and ethical frameworks for collaborating with academic researchers ensure mutual benefits and adherence to integrity standards, driving innovation while upholding high ethical standards.

Balancing innovation with compliance is essential to ensure that cutting-edge research aligns with ethical and security standards, fostering a responsible and forward-thinking research environment. Developing comprehensive risk management strategies is also vital for mitigating potential breaches in research integrity and security, protecting the organization’s reputation and research investment.

Impact on the research community as a whole

Trust and credibility

Improved trust and credibility of research outputs benefit the entire research ecosystem. Enhanced public confidence in scientific findings drives support for further research and innovation.

Efficiency and productivity

Streamlined processes and tools for ensuring research integrity and security lead to more efficient and productive research environments. This efficiency accelerates scientific discovery and application, the impact of which can be felt by everyone.

Global collaboration

Harmonized standards and practices facilitate international research collaborations. These collaborations drive global scientific progress, and address pressing challenges that transcend borders.

Innovative solutions in research integrity are crucial for all segments of the research ecosystem. While STM publishers have pioneered efforts in this domain, the broader research community must continue to build on these foundations. By fostering a culture of integrity, we can ensure that research remains a trusted and vital force for advancing knowledge and improving lives worldwide.

• See Digital Science’s Research Integrity page.
• Discover more about the Digital Science Catalyst Grant and its focus on research integrity for 2024.
• Read about FoSci – The emerging field of Forensic Scientometrics.

The post Innovation and integrity across all research segments to safeguard the future of research appeared first on Digital Science.

Digital Science, a technology company serving stakeholders across the research ecosystem, is pleased to announce that Louisiana State University Health Shreveport (LSUHS) has chosen Dimensions Analytics and Dimensions Research Security from Digital Science’s flagship products to advance its world-class research programs.

LSUHS is one of the first customers to subscribe to the new Dimensions Research Security app. The institution – one of the leading health science research programs in the U.S. – has signed a three-year deal to utilize the two products from Dimensions’ suite of products.

These Digital Science solutions will offer LSUHS the twin capabilities of Dimensions Analytics’ search applications, with powerful visual views to support the user in getting answers to any possible specific research or research strategy question, as well as Dimensions Research Security’s visual application, which helps to ensure regulatory compliance.

LSUHS’ mission is to teach, heal, and discover, in order to advance the well-being of the region and beyond. Its research program aims to achieve distinction and international recognition for both basic science and clinical research programs. Together, they contribute to the body of knowledge and practice of science and medicine, alongside utilizing research and knowledge to support economic growth and prosperity.

“We are very enthusiastic about implementing Dimensions Analytics and Dimensions Research Security at LSU Health Shreveport. These will be valuable resources for our team to support research data and analysis needs, as well as improve efficiency regarding research integrity and compliance, which is a top priority for our institution,” said Jarrod Sawyer, Research Data and Applications Project Manager for LSU Health Shreveport’s Office for Research.

Heidi Becker, Lead Product Operations Manager, said: “We’re excited that LSU Health Shreveport has taken this important step, combining the power of our world-leading information with the ability to assess, prioritize and act on potential compliance issues. We’ve seen research security issues become an increasing priority for US institutions, with concern rapidly expanding globally. LSUHS is now among a growing group of proactive research institutions who are ahead of the curve when it comes to addressing these concerns.”

About LSU Health Shreveport

LSU Health Shreveport is one of two health sciences centers of the Louisiana State University (LSU) System and home to the only academic medical center in a 150-mile radius. The primary mission of LSU Health Shreveport is to teach, heal, and discover in order to advance the well-being of the state, region and beyond. LSU Health Shreveport encompasses the School of Medicine, School of Graduate Studies and School of Allied Health Professions, Graduate Medical Education (GME), and a robust research enterprise. For more information, visit www.lsuhs.edu.

About Digital Science

Digital Science is an AI-focused technology company providing innovative solutions to complex challenges faced by researchers, universities, funders, industry and publishers. We work in partnership to advance global research for the benefit of society. Through our brands – Altmetric, Dimensions, Figshare, ReadCube, Symplectic, IFI CLAIMS Patent Services, Overleaf, Writefull, OntoChem, Scismic and metaphacts – we believe when we solve problems together, we drive progress for all. Visit www.digital-science.com and follow @digitalsci on Twitter/X or on LinkedIn.

Media contacts

Megan Strecker, Research Communications Coordinator, LSU Health Shreveport, Phone: 318-675-4166, megan.strecker@lsuhs.edu

David Ellis, Press, PR & Social Manager, Digital Science: Mobile +61 447 783 023, d.ellis@digital-science.com

The post LSU Health Shreveport chooses Digital Science to support research discovery and security appeared first on Digital Science.

Digital Science’s flagship product Dimensions has announced a new solution for research institutions and industry, helping to identify risks associated with government research security requirements. Why is the Dimensions Research Security app the right choice for your research operations?

Quickly identify potential research security risks and protect your institution

Universities and industry involved in research and development are no strangers to the need to protect intellectual property and mitigate against risk. Nevertheless, organizations around the world – from the FBI in the United States to Universities UK – are increasingly calling for these risks to be taken more seriously.

Inevitably, additional government regulations and recommendations have followed, requiring research institutions – and individual researchers who receive government funding – to demonstrate compliance within their local jurisdictions. Failing to do so can result in penalties and loss of reputation, as well as the impact on research, and economies that rely on that research.

The complexity of these issues combined with the vast networks of research globally means that institutions often can’t “go it alone” – they need something to shine a stronger, brighter spotlight on research security compliance, and to provide the right information to assist in making the best decisions.

Dimensions – among the world’s largest linked research databases – is perfectly placed to be a beacon of light on these issues.

The new Dimensions Research Security app

The Dimensions Research Security app includes a visual dashboard that enables research organizations to obtain information quickly and easily.

Reviewing research collaborations for compliance? Dimensions Research Security enables you to thoroughly and efficiently conduct due diligence on potential research collaborations, helping you to save on time and resources.

With Dimensions Research Security, you can:

• Efficiently verify disclosures
• See all research collaborations – via grant funding information or co-authorship on publications, in patents or in clinical trials
• Surface multiple affiliations for individual researchers
• Screen for restricted entities or individuals
• Pinpoint countries of interest
• Uncover direct and indirect funding sources
• Reveal undisclosed collaborations or international funding sources that could put grant applications at risk.

Research organizations are then able to assess and prioritize potential risks, with the power of world-leading information at their fingertips.

Find out more about the new Dimensions Research Security app at the Dimensions blog site, or ask for a demonstration today.

About Dimensions

Part of Digital Science, Dimensions is among the world’s largest linked research database and data infrastructure provider, re-imagining research discovery with access to grants, publications, clinical trials, patents and policy documents all in one place. www.dimensions.ai. Follow @DSDimensions on X (Twitter) and LinkedIn.

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