“Research Integrity: Creating and supporting trust in research” is the theme of this year’s Peer Review Week.

At Allen Press, our editorial clients around the globe rely on PeerTrack to securely guide manuscripts through the review process.

PeerTrack contains multiple tools to aid editors and reviewers alike in maintaining integrity of journal articles from submission through the review process.

Here are our top five favorite tools and key highlights about each one.

1.    ORCID Integration

ORCID integration securely starts the submission process by verifying author identity.

Authors who have already authenticated an ORCID with a PeerTrack user account will be able to login with their ORCID credentials immediately. First-time users will have to authenticate their ORCID record before successfully logging into PeerTrack.

Users may not only retrieve their ORCID, but also their name and contact details from their ORCID record. Users who select this option will experience the standard ORCID authorization interaction, giving PeerTrack permission to read information from their profile.

Editors have the option to require a Corresponding Author to have an authenticated ORCID record before submitting a manuscript.

2.    IThenticate Integration

IThenticate helps identify potential instances of plagiarism. Using a system like PeerTrack with IThenticate integration means having reports at your fingertips to provide insights and statistics about each manuscript.

PeerTrack’s IThenticate integration allows editorial teams to compare submitted manuscripts automatically against the Similarity Check anti-plagiarism database. Use of this feature requires CrossRef membership.

Information about Similarity Check can be found online at https://www.crossref.org/services/similarity-check/ and Information on iThenticate can be found at http://www.ithenticate.com.

Similarity Check use requires journal content is available online for Similarity Check indexing (powered by iParadigms). If your journal site is hosted by a third party, contact your provider to enable Similarity Check indexing for your site. If you are an Allen Press Meridian customer, the platform is already enabled for Similarity Check indexing. Similarity Check will not provide iThenticate account logins and passwords until content is indexed.  

If you are launching a new journal, you can still use the CrossRef Similarity Check service even though you do not have content on an online journal site yet. You will need to join CrossRef first and then you can add the Similarity Check service. Information about joining CrossRef may be found at http://www.crossref.org.

3.    Duplicate submission check

Two PeerTrack system features help editorial teams identify manuscripts that may have been accidentally or intentionally resubmitted to the publication.

First, is the indicator for potential duplicate submission. When an author has submitted another manuscript within a publication-defined number of days, an icon () appears next to the Author’s name, indicating potential for a duplicate submission.

Second, is the duplicate submission check tool itself. This tool compares new and revised submissions to previously submitted work, using author names, article titles, and abstracts.

The result is a level of comparison, expressed as a percentage, which editors may then use to determine if a manuscript is a duplicate.

4.    Alternate Reviewers

The ability to select alternate reviewers at the start of the review process allows editors and associate editors to maintain constant contact with potential reviewers, while avoiding reviewer burnout.

If the first reviewers invited decline or are uninvited, the system automatically invites the first alternate reviewer who is pre-selected by the editor.

Use of this function allows editors to keep manuscripts moving smoothly through the review process and may help retain a larger pool of reviewers for a longer period.

5.    Reporting Capabilities

PeerTrack gives offers a robust set of standard and custom reports that editors can use to help maintain journal accountability and aid in decision making.

Our favorite standard reports to help editors monitor journal processes and reviewers are:

• Journal Accountability Report
• Reviewer Performance Report
• Editor Performance Report

If you have any questions about these tools, or would like to learn more about PeerTrack, powered by Editorial Manager, please contact peertracksupport@allenpress.com.