Methodology
Signals are evidence records, not automatic verdicts.
The project uses separate models for formal work-level events and contextual venue-level evidence. This avoids treating a corrected article, a retracted article, a journal identity warning, and a mixed-record publisher as the same kind of problem.
Work-level events
Planned normalized categories include retraction, expression of concern, correction, reinstatement, withdrawal or removal, and duplicate-publication findings. The event timeline is preserved. A reinstatement changes the current state without deleting the earlier retraction.
Venue context
Journal and publisher assessments are source-native context. A database classification, community assessment, indexing claim, or historical concern is displayed with its scope and provenance. No single source becomes a universal definition of “predatory.”
Identity resolution
Matching should prioritize DOI, ISSN or ISSN-L, canonical domain, and exact publisher identity. Title-only matches are too ambiguous for high-confidence warnings. Historical transfers, title changes, hijacked journals, and explicit false-positive exclusions must be supported.
Coverage
The interface must distinguish checked, unresolved, failed, and deferred identifiers. “No known signal” means only that the checked sources returned no matching record. It does not prove that a work or venue is reliable.
Planned evidence sources
| Source | Intended use | Constraint |
|---|---|---|
| Crossref and Crossmark | Publisher-deposited update relationships and notices | Relationship direction and duplicate notices must be reconciled |
| Retraction Watch | Detailed work-level events and reasons | Attribution, freshness, and historical changes must be retained |
| Wikipedia CiteWatch | Community-curated venue context and discovery leads | Exact revision provenance, notes, exclusions, and CC BY-SA attribution required |
| DOAJ | Journal identity and open-access metadata | Absence is not negative evidence |
| Norwegian Register and JUFO | Source-native publication-channel classifications | Do not translate into universal reliability verdicts |
Corrections and appeals
Every venue-level warning must be traceable to evidence and open to correction. Conflicting sources should remain visible rather than silently resolved. A future governance process will document review dates, changes, exceptions, and appeals.