In Vancouver this week, the Forensic Scientometrics movement presented their first report, based on information from 17 experts in the field, highlighting the wide, often systemic, threats to scientific research.

By Erin L. Cox, Publisher | @erinlcox

“This is a call to everyone who cares about trust in science to take the threats we describe seriously.”

Earlier this week at the 9th World Conference on Research Integrity (WCRI) in Vancouver, The Forensic Scientometrics (FoSci) movement announced the publication of its first report, FoSci Report 2026: Understanding, Detecting, and Documenting Manipulation in the Research Ecosystem.

FoSci is a data-driven movement that seeks to detect, analyze, and expose research integrity issues, with the aim of improving trust in research.

Presented at WCRI by Dr. Leslie McIntosh, co-editor of the report, FoSci movement co-founder, and VP of Research Integrity & Security at Digital Science, the report is a thorough account of the threats facing research integrity in scientific publishing.

“Since the FoSci Paris Declaration was signed in 2024, this report is the first time we have brought our collective knowledge together in one place. It is a map of where we are, what we know, and what still needs to be built,” said McIntosh. “The integrity of science depends on our willingness to act on that knowledge, not merely document it. This is a call to everyone who cares about trust in science to take the threats we describe seriously.”

The report comes two years after the founding of the movement amid the growing threat over the last several years from “papers, people, organizations, and potentially governments polluting the integrity of research.”

Bringing together contributions from 17 experts in academia, publishing, and independent research integrity investigation, the 56-page report argues that what can appear to be isolated violations are often signals of something far more systemic. Moreover, the report highlights that the self-correcting nature of science cannot compete with the speed at which trust is being eroded.

Structured across three levels of analysis – micro (individual papers and anomalies), meso (coordinated and organized misconduct), and macro (systemic and structural issues) – the report charts both the maturity and gaps in current research integrity practice.

Some of the topics covered in the report include data and image manipulation, paper mills, review mills, citation cartels, hijacked journals, the exploitation of open science, interference by companies and governments, content authenticity and provenance, and the rapidly growing role of artificial intelligence used to perform these violations.

The report is edited by McIntosh; Professor Dorothy Bishop, Emeritus Professor of Developmental Neuropsychology, University of Oxford; and Professor Guillaume Cabanac, Professor of Computer Science, University of Toulouse and Institut universitaire de France.

“What this report shows is that the problems are real, and they are measurable. In many cases the tools to address them already exist. However, the problem is bigger, more coordinated, and more consequential than most people realize,” said Bishop. “To combat this, we need coordination, shared frameworks, and the institutional will to act. The FoSci movement exists to provide the first two – we hope this report will help build the third.”

Click here to read the FoSci Report 2026: Understanding, Detecting, and Documenting Manipulation in the Research Ecosystem.