Penelope.ai is an online tool designed for academic authors and journal editors to automate the quality control of manuscripts. Rather than checking everything manually, you upload a Word document (or integrate via a supported submission platform), and Penelope runs more than 30 checks for common issues: structure, ethics statements, references, word counts, declarations, and more. The results are transparent: for each check, Penelope links feedback to the exact section in the manuscript so you can see exactly what it flagged and why. This helps authors fix problems before submission and helps editors streamline decision-making. Pricing is simple and scalable: for organizations (e.g., journals), there are tiered plans depending on volume.

• Comprehensive, configurable checks: Penelope supports 30+ automated checks (e.g., structure, ethics statements, word count, referencing, title page) that journals can turn on or off to match their guidelines.
• Transparent feedback: When a check fails or passes, Penelope links results directly to the relevant section of the manuscript, making it clear why something was flagged.
• Customisable for journals: Journals can tailor which checks run, decide which are critical, and adjust the wording of feedback to align with their author guidelines.
• Integration with publishing workflows: Penelope can be integrated into journal submission systems, allowing authors to run checks before formal submission.
• Meta‐data extraction: It extracts metadata (e.g., title, authors, word count) from the manuscript automatically.
• Wide range of checks: Specific checks include ethics statements, conflicts of interest, data-sharing statements, author contributions, abstract structure, number of references, figure/table legends, and more.
• Simple, affordable pricing: Pricing is tiered based on annual manuscript volume.
• Dashboard for usage and feedback: Journal editors can monitor how many authors use the tool, view submission stats, and see user feedback.

• Saves time for authors: Authors can catch structure, ethics, referencing, and formatting issues before submission, reducing the risk of desk rejection.
• Reduces editor workload: Editors and journal staff can rely on Penelope to run the first-pass checks, freeing them to focus on scientific quality.
• Customisable feedback: Journals can choose which checks to run and how feedback is phrased, aligning Penelope with their specific author guidelines.
• Transparent reporting: Each automated check links to the specific part of the manuscript it flagged, so users see exactly where problems lie.
• Scalable pricing: Pricing is tiered based on the number of annual submissions, making it affordable for both small and large journals.
• Dashboard insights: Journals get a dashboard for usage metrics, author feedback, and can even monitor how many authors actually use the tool.
• Improves manuscript quality: By flagging missing sections (e.g., author contributions, ethics, data sharing), Penelope helps authors make their manuscripts more complete.

• Setup overhead for journals: Journals must configure which checks to run and how feedback is phrased, which takes editorial effort.
• Format dependency: The tool expects a well-formatted Word document; if headings or structure are non-standard, some checks might not work properly.
• Cost for low-volume journals: For journals with very few submissions, the cost per submission (or monthly fixed plan) may feel high.

• Journal editors managing submissions: Use Penelope to automate structural and compliance checks during manuscript intake, helping speed up editorial decisions.
• Academic authors preparing manuscripts: Authors upload their draft to run a pre‑submission check, catch missing declarations, formatting problems, or guideline mismatches.
• Publishing houses: Use Penelope across multiple journals to standardise pre-submission checks and improve consistency in author feedback.
• Research institutions: Provide Penelope as a resource for researchers to strengthen manuscript quality before journal submission.
• Innovative journals or pilot projects: Journals like BMJ Open use Penelope in a “pilot author workflow” to encourage early checks and improve submission quality.