- News
COPE Forum 24 April 2017
…and materials Download the agenda and materials for the COPE Forum meeting Friday 3 February 2017. All of the cases will be discussed at both meetings. Forum agenda and materials… - Event
ISMPP European Meeting: COPE member discount
…information about specific policies and possible varying interpretations. ISMPP is offering a 10% discount for COPE members. For the early bird fee register by 14 December 2016. Register online and enter the code EU17COPE10 for your 10% off. The discount will expire after 4 January 2017. - Case
Submission without knowledge of the corresponding author
A case report was received and the corresponding author was duly notified. The corresponding (and senior author) immediately faxed back, asking who had submitted the case report as he had not been consulted and had not seen the manuscript.The submission letter contained the names of all four authors; three of the signatures had been made using the same pen and probably the same hand.The signatu… - Event
COPE Webinar, Understanding Text Recycling, August 2020
COPE is hosting a webinar on Text Recycling on Friday 7 August 2020, 16:00-17:15pm (BST) when we hear the latest findings from the members of the Text Recycling Research Project since they presented at last year's COPE European Seminar. Text recycling, also known as self-plagiarism is a common practice in research writing—especially in the sciences. It’s also complicated, both ethically… - Event
COPE Forum: Friday 4 September 2020
Our September Forum, held by webinar (16:00-17:30 British Summer Time) will follow the usual format where we discuss a topic, followed by COPE members' cases presented for discussion and advice from all those participating in the Forum. Members can register to attend the Forum The… - Case
An appropriate response to concerns of research validity
A paper describing a novel technique was submitted. Three out of four external reviewers felt that the results could not be true. The manufacturers of the tool used in the technique provided evidence to support the reviewers’ claims that the results were not feasible. The editor wrote to the authors asking them to explain their results. The authors replied saying that they were unable to… - News
COPE authorship workshop February 2021
…Online cases workshop for COPE members only Wednesday 10 February 2021 15:00-16:30pm (GMT); 10.00-11.30am (EST) Wednesday 24 February 2021 09:00-10:30am (GMT); 17.00-18.30pm (AWST); 20.00-21.30pm (AEDT) Following on from the success of our virtual workshops last year, COPE is delighted to announce an online workshop on… - News
COPE at Wiley research seminar, Japan
…members and non-members. Themed “Shaping the Future of Research and Discovery”, the one-day continuing education event consisted of 17 presentations by Japanese and international speakers in plenary and breakout sessions covering multiple angles of the evolving research publishing landscape. Throughout the day, there was a special focus on sharing insights in developing and implementing standards… - Case
Obtaining consent for a study of people with severe learning disabilities
A paper was submitted which reported a study of observing people with severe learning disabilities and their interactions with staff on a locked hospital ward. The journal was keen to consider the paper further, but had concerns about ethical approval. The authors stated in their cover letter that ‘Ethical approval was sought from the Research Ethics Committee, but the Committee deemed that the… - News
In the news: August
…describes the process and lessons learned when SLACK journals switched from one journal management program to another. https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2019/07/17/guest… - Case
Undeclared conflict of interest
A published study reviewed the use of particular devices for performing a clinical manoeuvre. One of the authors worked for a consultancy, but declared that he had no conflict of interest. Subsequently, the journal received a letter pointing out that the consultancy had been set up explicitly to persuade governments and their regulatory organisations of the virtues of new drugs and technologies… - Event
COPE Forum: September 2023
…COPE Forum Do you have a publication ethics case you'd like to bring to the COPE Forum for discussion and advice? Submit a case The deadline to submit a case for this Forum is: Thursday 24 August 2023. Forum agenda On Thursday 7 September 2023 the COPE Forum will be held at 16:00-17:30 (BST / UTC+1) 1. Update on… - Event
ALPSP Webinar: Developing Ethical Commercial Revenues in a Changing Publishing Landscape
…tabindex="0">15:00 - 16:30 BST (London) / 16:00-17:30 CEST (Europe)* Chair: Gavin Sharrock, Business Development Director, Wiley This webinar, held by the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers (ALPSP), will… - Event
COPE Forum: Monday 5 November 2018
…18-11 Increased number of casual submissions 18-12 A pre-submission inquiry with a bribe 18-13 Self-plagiarism and suspected salami publishing 18-14 Authorship conflict 18-15 Peer reviewer contacted by author 18-16 Data fabrication in a rejected manuscript 18-17 Possible plagiarism 18-18 Victim of article theft wants correction to list… - Event
COPE Forum: Monday 11 February 2019
…by author 18-17 Victim of article theft wants correction to list their name, not retraction Read the cases and questions for the Forum #C0PEForum… - Webform
COPE integrity workshop 2021
…Facilitation and Integrity at COPE: prevention, education and best practices in publication ethics 21 April 2021, online workshop, COPE members only 16:00-17:30 British Summer Time (UTC + 1) Find out what time this is in your country - Event
COPE Forum: 3 February 2017 4pm (GMT)
…of the cases will be discussed at both meetings. Forum agenda & materials… - Case
Submission of an already published case report
A case report was received at the journal. A covering letter was supplied by the two authors stating “Our work has not been published elsewhere and we have been actively involved in the preparation of the paper. No conflict of interest. Not published elsewhere. Patient consent obtained for case report and images to be published”. Originality is very highly graded in the referee’s marking… - Case
Would the loss of a clinical licence in one country impact on the ability to do clinical work in another?
The associate editor of journal X identified author Y on a submission paper as someone who had lost their license to practice due to malpractice. As part of the settlement, author Y had agreed to refrain from providing services to patients. Author Y now resides on a different continent, and the study presented in the submission was apparently carried out in in this continent. There is no mentio… - Case
Possible plagiarism and fabrication
…sentences and wording as the first. This concerns all parts of the paper. The only significant “new” sentences, mainly in the discussion, are on the role of drug C. 2. The second paper cites 27 references, 17 of which are identical to the references in the first paper. Of the 10 “new” references, six are on drug C, and two on issues related to the surgery. 3. Demographic and surgical data, reported as…