“We find Author Check incredibly helpful. It gives us new angles to investigate and supports the work we do to maintain ethical publishing standards.”
Adya Misra, Associate Director of Research Integrity at Sage
Challenge
As a leading academic publisher, Sage is committed to upholding the highest standards of research integrity. Adya Misra, Associate Director of Research Integrity, leads a team that investigates potential ethical issues and ensures best practices across the publishing process. However, ensuring accurate, efficient, and comprehensive author verification – especially at the point of submission – was becoming increasingly complex and time-consuming.
“We were looking for a way to help us verify authors at submission more comprehensively, seamlessly, and in a more efficient way. But we also wanted something that could identify individuals who may be operating in networks and provide deep insights into author groups,” Adya explains.
Solution
Sage began participating in the beta program for Dimensions Author Check in August 2024. The tool quickly proved valuable – not just for author verification, but to support broader research integrity investigations. As early testers, Adya’s team worked closely with the Digital Science product team, providing feedback that helped shape the platform.
“We really appreciated being able to provide early feedback on Author Check. There were small improvements that we had regular interactions with Digital Science about. It’s rare for us to be involved in opportunities like that,” she notes.
Results
Following the beta program, Sage officially adopted Author Check as a daily-use tool. The integrity team now uses it to help uncover patterns that may indicate manipulation or misconduct – insights that would be difficult or time-intensive to identify manually.
Importantly, Author Check supports investigations beyond just authors. Adya’s team uses the dashboard to assess editors and reviewers as well, following patterns of concern rather than roles.
“Author Check is an open tab in my browser,” says Adya. “My team uses it multiple times a day. The insights are deep and immediate, which helps both in day-to-day tasks and larger audits.”
One of the most valuable features is the tool’s seamless integration with Dimensions data, which allows users to explore linked publications and affiliations quickly. The breadth of data pulled into Author Check also significantly reduces the need to consult multiple sources.
“The thing we appreciate most is the link to Dimensions, because then we can start looking at publications linked to different individuals that we’re investigating. The fact that Author Check pulls from different data sources so that we don’t have to is also really helpful.”
Future Plans
Looking ahead, Sage plans to expand its use of Author Check to wider editorial teams, supporting earlier and more informed decisions.
As their use of the platform evolves, Adya is interested in exploring how Author Check handles first-time or low-publication authors, especially those from less visible institutions.
“Not being able to find someone in the system is, in itself, an insight. But we want to better understand what that absence actually means, and how we can distinguish a data gap from a red flag,” she says.
Conclusion
Originally introduced to support author verification at submission, Author Check has become a trusted, day-to-day resource across Sage’s integrity workflow. It plays an important role in identifying patterns of concern, supporting deeper investigations, and reinforcing Sage’s commitment to ethical, transparent publishing at every stage of the process.
Find out what Dimensions Author Check can do for you
Curious to learn how Dimensions Author Check can support research integrity within your organization? Get in touch to speak to one of our team.