manuscript checking

Penelope.ai

Automate academic manuscript screening by instantly checking ethics statements, formatting, and references against specific journal requirements to speed up publishing.

Starting at

£750/yr

Penelope.ai screenshot

About Penelope.ai

Penelope.ai is an automated screening tool designed to streamline the academic publishing workflow by ensuring manuscripts adhere to complex journal guidelines. By integrating directly into manuscript handling software, the platform scans documents for essential components like ethical approvals, author declarations, and specific structural formatting. Its primary goal is to reduce the administrative burden on editors and provide authors with immediate, actionable feedback before their work undergoes formal peer review, effectively reducing technical rejection rates. The tool offers over 30 configurable checks that cover a wide range of academic standards. It verifies that ethical statements are present, checks for conflict of interest declarations, and ensures that data sharing and funding sections are properly formatted. Beyond compliance, Penelope.ai analyzes technical details such as word counts, reference consistency, and figure/table alignment. The system is designed with transparency in mind; rather than being a "black box," it generates reports that link every result back to specific marked-up sections in the original text, allowing users to verify the findings easily. This platform is primarily built for academic journals and publishing houses that utilize manuscript management systems. It currently offers full integration for journals using Manuscript Manager, with support for Editorial Manager and ScholarOne in development. For editors, it serves as a first-line filter to catch non-compliant submissions, while authors benefit from a guided submission process that identifies errors in real-time. It also supports specialized guidelines like PRISMA and CONSORT for systematic reviews and clinical trials. What distinguishes Penelope.ai from general grammar or plagiarism checkers is its deep focus on journal-specific structural and ethical requirements. The pricing model is flexible, based on the volume of annual submissions, making it accessible for both niche journals and large-scale publishing operations. By automating the tedious process of checking citations and declarations, it significantly accelerates the decision-making process, allowing editors to focus on the quality of research rather than adherence to house style.

Penelope.ai pros & cons

Pros

  • Includes over 30 customizable checks covering ethics, declarations, and formatting.
  • Integrates directly into Manuscript Manager for a seamless editorial workflow.
  • Provides interactive reports that link results directly to specific text in the manuscript.
  • Supports specific reporting standards like PRISMA and CONSORT for clinical research.
  • Offers a transparent pricing model that scales based on the volume of annual submissions.

Cons

  • Native integration is currently limited to journals using Manuscript Manager.
  • Support for Editorial Manager and ScholarOne systems is still on a waiting list basis.
  • The pricing is primarily quoted in GBP, which may fluctuate for international publishers.
  • The tool is highly specialized for academic journals and not for general creative writing.

Penelope.ai use cases

  • Journal editors can use the tool to automatically filter out submissions that fail basic ethical or formatting requirements.
  • Academic authors can utilize the interactive reports to correct citation mismatches and missing sections before final submission.
  • Publishing houses can implement configurable checks across multiple journals to maintain consistent institutional standards.
  • Clinical researchers can verify that their systematic review abstracts follow PRISMA guidelines using specialized subheading checks.
  • Editorial staff can reduce administrative time spent checking word counts and reference formatting by automating technical screening.

Penelope.ai features

  • automated metadata extraction
  • manuscript manager integration
  • word count limit enforcement
  • structural heading analysis
  • figure and table numbering validation
  • reference and citation cross-matching
  • conflict of interest screening
  • ethical approval verification

Penelope.ai pricing

Is Penelope.ai free? No, Penelope.ai doesn't offer a free plan; pricing starts at £750 / year.

Small (< 500 Submissions)

£750 / year

  • Full suite of checks
  • Metadata extraction
  • Up to 500 annual submissions
  • Configurable feedback
  • Transparent report links

Medium (501 - 1000 Submissions)

£1,350 / year

  • Full suite of checks
  • Metadata extraction
  • Up to 1000 annual submissions
  • Configurable feedback
  • Transparent report links

Large (1001 - 2500 Submissions)

£2,850 / year

  • Full suite of checks
  • Metadata extraction
  • Up to 2500 annual submissions
  • Configurable feedback
  • Transparent report links

Enterprise (2501 - 5000 Submissions)

£4,850 / year

  • Full suite of checks
  • Metadata extraction
  • Up to 5000 annual submissions
  • Configurable feedback
  • Transparent report links

Penelope.ai FAQs

What specific ethics checks does Penelope.ai perform?

The tool verifies the presence of ethical approval sections, board names, and informed consent statements. It also checks if the position and title of these sections match the specific requirements of the target journal.

Can the tool check reference styles and citations?

Yes, it ensures that authors have used the correct numerical or named citation style. It also cross-checks every citation in the text against the reference list to ensure they match and are in the correct numerical or alphabetical order.

Which manuscript management systems are currently supported?

The tool currently integrates directly with Manuscript Manager. For journals using Editorial Manager or ScholarOne, there is a waiting list available for future integration updates.

How does the "no black box" policy work for users?

All automated checks are linked to relevant marked-up sections of the manuscript text. This allows both editors and authors to see exactly how the tool reached a pass or fail result for each specific criterion.

Does it support specific reporting guidelines like PRISMA?

Yes, for systematic reviews and clinical trials, the tool can check if the abstract structure and subheadings match PRISMA or CONSORT guidelines as per the journal's requirements.

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