The STM Integrity Hub is a cloud-based environment, developed by STM Solutions, in which publishers screen submitted manuscripts for signs of paper mills and other research integrity concerns. It passes submission data from journals and editorial systems to screening tools, gives members a space to build tools together, and connects third-party tools that publishers choose to enable. Its Paper Mill Checker combines internal tools with external ones including Clear Skies’ Papermill Alarm and the PubPeer database, and its Duplicate Submission Checker, piloted from October 2023, checks for duplicates across journals, publishers and submission systems. Participants sign a legal agreement and pay fees based on the number of manuscripts they receive.
Benefits & outcomes
- STM reported in September 2025 that more than 35 publishers screen over 125,000 papers a month through the Hub.
- STM reports that the Hub catches around 1,000 suspected paper mill submissions a month.
- Kim Eggleton of IOP Publishing says investigations that once took hours of manual review are done “in moments.”
Notes & quotes
- “Publishers need to work collaboratively to act on a strategy of prevention and identification.” Liz Ferguson, Wiley.
Publisher / company: Clear SkiesSTM
Date of case study: 2025
Status: Live
Built by: Research, non-profit or individual
Sources: