The working group has determined that the objective of drafting definitions of trust markers in the context of paper mills would be most beneficial to the publishing community (this includes authors, reviewers, and editors) to enable cross-sector communications and strategy development.

This includes defining trust markers as they relate to trust in people, organisations, processes and products. When the definitions have been agreed upon, the group will work to coordinate external initiatives and other tools for either identifying paper mills or signalling trust to the submission, editorial, and peer review process.