In early 2026 DataSeer will join Proofig AI as a partner on their PubShield program, enabling researchers at dozens of leading institutions to automatically check their manuscripts for compliance with institutional, funder, or publisher Open Science policies. DataSeer’s checks for open data and open code will be delivered alongside Proofig AI’s image integrity screening and Turnitin’s iThenticate text similarity checking.
Together these checks help researchers – and their institutions – avoid research integrity issues and achieve publication success, while also making manuscript screening faster and more sustainable for journals and institutions.
Researchers at participating institutions can screen for text similarity, image integrity (including duplication, manipulation, plagiarism, and likely AI-generated images), and open data and open code policy compliance in one simple step. Just upload a manuscript, and receive a comprehensive integrity report covering text similarity, images, and data policy compliance, helping researchers identify what may require attention.
Assessing manuscripts with PubShield prior to submission can reduce the likelihood of policy-based desk rejection, and help to streamline preliminary editorial office review and reduce the risk of post-publication errata or retractions related to preventable integrity issues. For researchers, that means a smoother path to publication, high research integrity, and maximum impact for published research articles.
“Our goal is to improve the quality of published research and keep scholarly publishing sustainable. We’ve found that automating complex but routine screening tasks is key to creating consistency while saving administrative time,” said DataSeer founder and CEO Tim Vines. “Collaborating with like-minded and complementary organizations like Proofig AI compounds our impact, and creates an even better experience for our users.”
“Open science and integrity requirements are increasingly complex to manage at scale,” said Dr. Dror Kolodkin-Gal, co-founder and CEO of Proofig AI. “With DataSeer joining PubShield, institutions can offer researchers a more unified way to run key checks in one simple step within their existing workflows. Adding open data and open code policy screening alongside image integrity and text similarity checks strengthens confidence in submissions and helps teams focus review effort where it matters most. This partnership is an important step in PubShield’s evolution toward broader manuscript quality assurance.”
Through their partnership, Proofig AI and DataSeer are making research integrity best practices accessible and achievable for more researchers, improving the quality of the published scientific record, and enabling institutions to do more with less.
