Veridelity User Guide

A clear, step-by-step guide to screening manuscripts, verifying data and citations, and exporting editorial audit reports.

Desktop Edition · Windows & macOS

1 Quick Start: Screen Your First Manuscript in 60 Seconds

Veridelity runs locally on your computer and opens its workspace in your web browser. Your download folder includes Sample_Test_Submission.zip so you can test every feature right away.

💻 Starting on Windows

  1. Unzip Veridelity.zip to any folder on your computer.
  2. Double-click VTL_Reviewer.exe.
  3. First launch tip: If Windows SmartScreen asks to confirm, click More info → Run anyway.

🍎 Starting on macOS

  1. Unzip Veridelity_Mac.zip.
  2. First launch only: Hold Control and click (or Right-Click) Veridelity.app, choose Open, then click Open in the prompt.
  3. If macOS blocks launch: Open System Settings → Privacy & Security, scroll down, and click Open Anyway.

Run Your First Screening in 4 Steps:

  1. Open the Workspace: Once the app starts, open your browser to http://127.0.0.1:8080 (it usually opens automatically).
  2. Activate Your 10 Free Credits: In the left sidebar under VERIDELITY LICENSE, click the yellow Claim 10-Manuscript Free Trial button (or click Update Key to paste a purchased license key).
  3. Upload a File: Click + Upload File at the top of the left sidebar and choose Sample_Test_Submission.zip (or any manuscript PDF / Word .docx).
  4. Start Screening: Click Begin Processing in the top bar. In a few seconds, your similarity score, extracted text, and forensic findings will appear.

2 What Can You Upload?

You can screen either a standalone manuscript document or a complete zipped submission package:

📄 Single Manuscript Files (.pdf, .docx, .txt)

Best for rapid initial screening. Checks for:

  • Text similarity & verbatim passage overlap
  • Retracted or corrected references (DOI / title lookup)
  • Statistical & p-value consistency (GRIM, CI, percentages)
  • Embedded figure duplication & manipulation
  • Tortured phrases & AI-generated boilerplate

📦 Full Submission Packages (.zip)

Include the manuscript alongside raw .csv datasets, figures, study protocols, and an optional evidence_manifest.json. Adds:

  • Cross-checking reported tables against raw CSV datasets
  • Duplicate or overlapping patient IDs across cohorts
  • Patient privacy (PHI/HIPAA) & chronology checks
  • SHA-256 file integrity & archive safety verification

3 Understanding the Reviewer Dashboard

The workspace is organized into three easy-to-read columns:

Panel What You See & Do
Left Sidebar
Queues & Settings		 Switch between Submissions Queue (new uploads), Open Cases (under review), Closed Cases (declined), and Accepted for Review (cleared for peer review). Also houses your License Wallet and optional API keys.
Center Pane
Scorecard & Preview		 Similarity Index Scorecard: Displays overall text overlap (Low, Moderate, or High). Click 🔍 Inspect Matched Passages to view highlighted matches side-by-side.
Safe Manuscript Preview: Read the extracted text safely without opening untrusted files in Word or Adobe Reader.
Right Pane
Evidence Feed		 Lists every automated check by priority:
High Critical issue (e.g., retracted source, tampered hash, data mismatch, exposed patient identifiers, or unsafe archive).
Warning Needs editorial check (e.g., missing figure camera metadata, statistical rounding discrepancy).
Info Helpful context or verified clean checks.

4 Recording Decisions & Exporting the Audit Report

Every finding is a risk indicator for human editorial judgment. To complete a review and generate an official PDF audit trail:

  1. Review Each Alert in the Right-Hand Evidence Feed:
    • Choose an action from the dropdown (e.g., Request Author Clarification, Dismiss / Acceptable, or Desk Reject).
    • Click the Suggested Action button to fill in a clear standard note in one click (or type your own note).
    • Click Log Decision.
  2. Route the Manuscript: Use the Route Submission bar at the top of the center pane to click Accept for Review, Send to Open Cases, or Close / Decline.
  3. Download the PDF Report: Click Export Evaluation Report (top right of the center pane) to save a clean, timestamped PDF receipt containing all automated findings and your recorded editorial decisions.

5 Inviting Authors to Upload Directly (Optional)

If you want an external author to upload their manuscript package directly into your queue over the internet, follow these three steps in the left sidebar:

Important: Always click Make Dashboard Public before clicking + Author Invite. Otherwise, the invite link will use your private local address (127.0.0.1), which external authors cannot open.
  1. Turn On Public Access: In the left sidebar, click More tools & privacy, then click 🌍 Make Dashboard Public. Wait about 10 seconds until the button turns teal and says 🌍 Dashboard is Public!
  2. Create the Author Upload Link: Click + Author Invite (next to + Upload File). A secure, single-use upload link is automatically copied to your clipboard—paste it into your email to the author.
  3. Optional — Share the Author Packager Tool: Under More tools & privacy, click 🔗 Copy Packager URL for Authors (https://veridelity.com/packer). Authors can open that web page to bundle their manuscript, datasets, and figures into a properly structured .zip file before uploading.

6 Privacy Modes & Optional API Keys

Your Data Stays Under Your Control: Document parsing, statistical recalculation, dataset cross-checks, and image forensics run 100% locally on your computer.

7 Quick Troubleshooting & FAQ

Question / Issue Quick Fix
The browser didn't open when I started the app. Keep the Veridelity app running and open any browser (Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox) to http://127.0.0.1:8080.
An author says my invite link won't load (shows 127.0.0.1). Open More tools & privacy → click 🌍 Make Dashboard Public first, wait for it to say Dashboard is Public!, and then click + Author Invite to copy a fresh public link.
Why was a ZIP upload marked "Quarantined / Suspicious Archive Payload"? For your security, Veridelity automatically blocks and refuses to unpack any ZIP archive that exceeds safe compression ratios (e.g., zip bombs) or size limits. Ask the author to repackage clean source files.
How do I assign manuscripts to other editors on my team? Click 👥 Manage Team / Assignees at the bottom of the left sidebar to add your editors' names, then use the Assign To dropdown on any open submission.
How do I add more manuscript credits? In the left sidebar under VERIDELITY LICENSE, click Purchase Credits to buy a credit pack online, then click Update Key and paste your new VTL-CREDITS-... key.