New tool helps journal editors detect and assess potential citation manipulation in academic papers

London, United Kingdom--(June 16, 2026) - Digital Science, a leading technology company serving stakeholders across the research ecosystem, today announced Dimensions Citation Check (https://www.dimensions.ai/products/all-products/dimensions-citation-check) - offering journal editors a practical, scalable tool to help safeguard research integrity.

Citation Check is an API-based editorial tool that automatically detects self-citation in manuscript submissions, evaluates each instance in context, and returns a clear risk rating to support editors' decision-making before papers reach peer review.

The tool is the latest addition to Digital Science's world-leading research integrity portfolio, alongside Dimensions Author Check (https://www.dimensions.ai/products/all-products/author-check) - designed to help the research community uphold integrity and trust in the scholarly record.

Addressing a major editorial challenge

Self-citation is a recognized integrity risk in academic publishing. While a degree of self-citation is entirely appropriate, excessive or gratuitous use inflates citation metrics, obscures a paper's originality, and can place a journal's indexing standing in jeopardy.

Identifying that risk has traditionally relied on manual reference review - an approach that is time-consuming, inconsistent across editorial teams, and difficult to sustain at scale.

Dimensions Citation Check API changes this, bringing consistent, objective integrity screening to every submission. Editors upload manuscript PDFs as received, and the tool does the rest:

•Resolves author identities against the Dimensions (https://www.dimensions.ai) database - the world's largest interconnected global research database

•Pinpoints self-citations at the sentence level

•Applies scoring to assess whether each citation is justified in context or appears gratuitous - surfacing the reasoning behind every risk flag

•Returns a structured report with a clear risk rating

Supporting editorial judgment at scale

Citation Check connects to existing submission management systems via API and supports batch processing of manuscripts - making it well-suited to publishers managing high submission volumes.

The tool is designed to support editorial judgment, flagging risks and explaining its reasoning while leaving final decisions - and the journal's integrity - in the hands of the editors.

Giving editors the tools to act with confidence

Dr Leslie McIntosh, VP of Research Integrity & Security, Digital Science, said: "Editorial teams need easier ways to reach more confident decisions - and citations are a core component of trusted research. Context determines whether a citation is legitimate or problematic, and that judgment needs to be delivered quickly and consistently, at scale. Dimensions Citation Check gives editorial teams an objective, evidence-based signal - with integrity screening becoming part of the normal workflow."

Dr Bob Schijvenaars, VP of Data Science & Infrastructure, Digital Science, said: "Dimensions has always been about turning connected research data into something actionable and meaningful. Citation Check draws on the depth and accuracy of the Dimensions database to resolve references and author identities reliably, and provide editors with context they can act on with confidence. That combination - scale, accuracy, and contextual assessment - is what distinguishes this from simpler reference-counting approaches."

Discover more about Dimensions Citation Check (https://www.dimensions.ai/products/all-products/dimensions-citation-check).

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 (https://bsky.app/profile/dimensions.ai), X (https://x.com/?logout=1781602142707) and LinkedIn.

About Digital Science

Digital Science is a technology company providing innovative solutions to complex challenges faced by researchers, universities, governments, 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, 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 (https://bsky.app/profile/digital-science.com), on X (https://x.com/digitalsci) or on LinkedIn.

Media contact

David Ellis, Manager, Media & PR, Digital Science: d.ellis@digital-science.com

Logo

Tags

More Like This

Digital Science to strengthen research integrity in publishing with new Dimensions Author Check API

Digital Science and Silverchair Partner to Bring Researcher Identity and Integrity Screening into Editorial Workflows

Emerald Publishing to safeguard research integrity with Dimensions Author Check

Digital Science Upgrades Dimensions Research Security to a Complete, Audit-Ready Solution

Digital Science Upgrades Dimensions Research Security to a Complete, Audit-Ready Solution

Digital Science introduces Dimensions Research Security API

Digital Science boosts support for research institutions with upgrade to Dimensions Research Security

New AI-based natural language feature makes complex searches in Dimensions faster and easier