Duplicate Review Checker

At IOP Publishing, we have developed the Duplicate Review Checker (DRC), a machine-learning-powered tool that helps detect duplicate peer review reports.

Duplicate reviews, where the same review is submitted for multiple manuscripts, are problematic because they do not provide a unique and critical assessment of each manuscript. This can undermine the reliability of the peer review process.

The DRC automatically identifies potential duplicate review activity and alerts editorial teams, enabling early intervention to help safeguard the integrity of peer review.

The tool is integrated into IOPP’s publication workflow and is used across all IOPP’s proprietary journals and selected partner journals. All reviewer data and review content remain confidential.

To ensure the peer review process remains fair for both authors and reviewers, any suspected duplicate review is referred to IOPP’s Research Integrity team for investigation. If duplicate review activity is confirmed, the review is discarded and new reviewers are appointed to provide an independent assessment of the manuscript.