The 2026 COPE China Seminar, jointly organized by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and the Society of China University Journals (CUJS), convened in Beijing on June 17, 2026, focusing on academic publishing ecosystem governance amid AI, collaborative prevention of research misconduct, and publication ethics standards. A key session, titled "Ecosystem Panel: Research Integrity Practices in China," featured a case study on 24hreview, positioned as a pre-submission integrity safeguard layer for publishers, drawing significant attention for its role as a public infrastructure asset.
In her opening address, COPE Chair Nancy Chescheir reaffirmed COPE's mission to uphold scholarly record integrity through collaborative discussion and professional leadership. She praised China's innovative explorations in research integrity and expressed confidence that global engagement would refine available tools. The 24hreview initiative emerges as a tangible response to COPE's vision, translating principles into implementable industry infrastructure.
According to a CUJS survey of 1,036 Chinese researchers, only 19.64% were familiar with COPE policies, while 86.7% supported pre-submission checks, and 31.6% expected professional pre-submission screening from publishers. The survey identified three structural gaps in the current publication ethics system: late-stage screening (18.6%), limited capacity of individual journals (18.3%), and a lack of shared mechanisms and self-check tools (16.1%). The case report emphasized, "This is not a failure of individual editors or publishers, but a systemic structural gap that requires coordinated industry-wide solutions."
24hreview is designed as a dedicated integrity layer for publishers, operating at the pre-submission stage to ensure every manuscript passes standardized academic integrity checks before entering the publisher's workflow. Its core features include standardized screening dimensions, integration with existing submission systems, and completion of front-end checks within 24 hours to support publishing efficiency. Launched in 2024 under CUJS, the platform first piloted with Wiley, a leading global publisher. The number of participating journals grew from an initial 8 to about 80, demonstrating smooth integration and reliable verification of manuscript integrity.
Multiple presentations at the seminar converged on the need for coordinated industry governance to address complex research integrity challenges, transcending the capacity of individual journals or publishers. The 24hreview model exemplifies this shift toward shared infrastructure, offering a standardized, front-end integrity layer that strengthens assurance across participating journals. As the seminar highlighted, such collaborative approaches are crucial for maintaining trust in scholarly publishing.
