Could Google rankings skew an election? New group aims to find out.

A researcher who long has argued that rankings on Google and other search engines can skew elections will announce plans on Tuesday to establish a global monitoring system to detect and counter the political effects of such alleged bias.

Robert Epstein, a former editor in chief of Psychology Today and co-founder of a behavioral research institute in California, has won several converts through a series of experiments since first raising his concerns in 2013. Though Google has challenged his research, Epstein’s latest initiative includes the public support of 12 academics in four countries, from institutions such as Stanford University, the University of Maryland and the University of Amsterdam.