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Pubpeer Foundation

EIN 47-4729597 · San Francisco, CA

Public records show a registered, tax-exempt organization in good standing.

LegitimacyPassesRegistration and standingFinancial healthStrong93 out of 100GovernanceGood84 out of 100Impact evidenceDescribes programsHow well its results are evidenced

What it says it does

The Foundation is dedicated to enhancing the quality of scientific research by fostering innovative platforms for community engagement and interaction. At the heart of our mission is PubPeer, our flagship initiative, aimed at centralizing and disseminating high-quality, valuable commentary on published research. By facilitating a unique convergence of direct user feedback and expert analyses, we strive to create a comprehensive ecosystem that elevates the standards of scientific discourse and contributes to the advancement of knowledge. Our commitment is to empower the scientific community to share, scrutinize, and build upon research findings, ensuring integrity, transparency, and excellence in the pursuit of scientific truth.

Income
$373,105
Spending
$140,448
Spent on programs
59%
Reserves
46.7 months of spending
Largest source of income
fees for its services, 72%
Employees
0
Volunteers
1
Highest pay
$45,765, president

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Financial health

Strong: 93 out of 100. Higher than 68% of charities in its peer group (medical research, $250k to $1m).

  • Reserves

    35 of 35

    Spendable reserves would cover 46.7 months of spending.

  • Debt

    20 of 20

    It owes 0% of what it owns.

  • Living within its means

    15 of 15

    Income exceeded spending by 62% of income.

  • Income trend

    15 of 15

    Income rose 21% on the year before.

  • Spending floor

    8 of 15

    59% of spending went to programs and raising each dollar of donations cost 5 cents.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Governance

Good: 84 out of 100. Higher than 67% of charities in its peer group (medical research, $250k to $1m).

  • Independent board

    18 of 25

    3 of 3 voting board members are independent.

  • Conflict of interest policy

    15 of 15

    Has a written conflict of interest policy.

  • Whistleblower policy

    8 of 8

    Has a written whistleblower policy.

  • Record keeping policy

    7 of 7

    Has a written policy on keeping and destroying records.

  • Board minutes

    5 of 5

    Keeps minutes of board meetings.

  • Board sees the tax return

    10 of 10

    Gave the board a copy of this return before filing it.

  • Pay set independently

    5 of 5

    Sets its chief executive's pay through independent review and comparison.

  • Independent check of accounts

    6 of 15

    Its accounts were not audited or reviewed by an independent accountant.

  • No reported misuse

    10 of 10

    Reports no diversion of assets, excess benefits or loans to insiders.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Impact evidence

Describes programs. Its tax return describes what it does but we have found no measurable results in it.

Programs described in its return (1)
  1. $82,754 spent. In FY2025, we advanced our mission by expanding and rebuilding our dashboard service, improving user satisfaction, and increasing adoption by key stakeholders in scientific publishing. We also continued to grow the PubPeer platform, contributed to international policy conversations on academic integrity, and invested in the technical capacity needed to support the platforms future.PubPeer.com continued to grow as a central platform for post-publication peer review, with total comment volume reaching 80,360, up from 70,611 in FY2024 and more than tripling since 2020. We completed a full rewrite of our dashboard alerting service, addressing long-standing feature requests and usability concerns. This upgrade led to renewed subscriptions from publishers who had previously left the service due to limitations in the earlier version. We also signed new contracts with international publishers, an international association of publishers, and academic institutions. In parallel, we participated in high-level policy discussions on the future of academic publishing.Our primary focus in 2025 was the complete overhaul of the dashboard alerting service. The new version offers improved functionality, stability, and scalability, directly responding to feedback from existing and former users. These improvements resulted in both new and returning institutional and publisher subscribers. We also began recruiting full-time developers and invested in modernizing our infrastructure to support long-term growth.

Source: Form 990 for the year ending December 31, 2025, filed with the Internal Revenue Service. Rating method 2026.2. How we rate

Legitimacy checks

  1. Is it registered with the IRS? Passed.

    Listed in the IRS master file of tax-exempt organizations as a 501(c)(3) charitable organization.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  2. Has the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status? Passed.

    Not on the IRS automatic revocation list.

    Source: Automatic revocation of exemption list, Internal Revenue Service, file dated November 6, 2026.

  3. Are donations tax-deductible? Passed.

    On the IRS list of organizations eligible to receive tax-deductible contributions.

    Source: Publication 78 data: organizations eligible for tax-deductible contributions, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  4. Is it keeping up with its IRS filings? Passed.

    Most recent return on file covers the year ending December 2025.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  5. How long has it been tax-exempt? Passed.

    Recognized by the IRS since December 2015.

    Source: Exempt Organizations Business Master File, Internal Revenue Service, file dated October 13, 2026.

  6. Is it in good standing with state regulators? Passed.

    Not on California's list of charities barred from soliciting. Other states are not yet checked.

    Source: May Not Operate or Solicit for Charitable Purposes list, California Attorney General, Registry of Charities and Fundraisers, file dated November 4, 2026.

Ratings and checks are our reading of public records, using the published method. They are not a statement about anyone's honesty. If you work for this organization, you can send corrections or results, confirm you want gifts through Veridonate, or ask to be removed from giving.