Press release
19 January 2024
United2Act, an international collaboration committed to addressing the challenge of paper mills in scholarly publishing, has today released their Consensus Statement. This statement outlines five key areas of action against the impact of paper mills on the integrity of academic research and publishing.
International stakeholders supporting the Consensus Statement are actively working to develop and execute the plans supporting the five key areas of action in the statement.
Deborah Kahn, Co-chair of United2Act adds “United2Act has mobilised an impressive group of international stakeholders to solve the problem of paper mills. The launch of the Consensus Statement marks the start of concerted efforts by five Working Groups to act on the identified areas. We are all committed to delivering real progress over the next 12 months and will be reporting on these actions regularly.”
There are five key areas for working groups to plan action and execute: education and awareness, improve post-publication corrections, research paper mills, enable the development of trust markers, and continue to bring together the many voices in this area through joint projects and initiatives.
Find out more about the mission of United2Act and the Consensus Statement
About United2Act
United2Act is a group of international stakeholders committed to addressing the collective challenge of paper mills in scholarly publishing. United2Act is supported by COPE and STM
About COPE
COPE is committed to educate and support editors, publishers, universities, research institutes, and others involved in publication ethics, with the aim of moving the culture of publishing towards one where ethical practices become the norm. Our approach is firmly in the direction of influencing through education, guidance and support of our members alongside the fostering of professional debate in the wider community. COPE has over 14,000 members worldwide from all academic fields. COPE is a global organisation with Trustees and Council Members representing editors, publishers, universities, and research institutes, from various academic disciplines.
COPE position statement against paper mills
About STM
STM is the leading trade association for academic and professional publishers worldwide. At STM we support our members in their mission to advance global research. We have over 140 members based in over 20 countries around the world who collectively publish 66% of all journal articles and tens of thousands of monographs and reference works. As academic and professional publishers, learned societies, university presses, start-ups and established players we work together to serve society by developing standards and technology to ensure research is of high quality, trustworthy and easy to access.
Further information
Please contact:
Sarah Gillmore, Engagement and Outreach Officer
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