- Case
Institutional review board approval needed?
…sponsored the thesis but had not gone through an IRB. Question(s) for the COPE Forum 1. Is there ever a time when IRB approval should not be required before review and publication of research? 2. How strictly should the editor adhere to these requirements? With this submission, it would be an automatic reject without IRB approval. … - News
COPE Trustee
…Vacancies on the COPE Trustee Board We are seeking applications for two vacancies on the COPE Trustee Board as we look to enhance the support we provide. We are specifically seeking: candidates from outside the UK and the US, with a particular preference for those based in Africa, Asia or Latin… - Event
COPE Forum: September 2023
…COPE activities Update on COPE activities by the Chair. 2. Forum discussion topic: Peer review models We begin the COPE Forum with a discussion on the topic of "Peer review models". Questions for the Forum discussion Is… FORUM DISCUSSION TOPIC: Sharing of information among editors-in-chief regarding possible misconduct
…following: Editors-in-Chief and journals have a duty towards authors to treat their work in confidence, except where sharing it is a necessary part of the review/publication process; However, Editors-in-Chief should be able to inform other Editors-in-Chief of current enquiries relating to possible data fabrication, lack of ethical approval, serious plagiarism or duplicate…FORUM DISCUSSION TOPIC: comments please
…discussion What current guidance do journal editors use to determine if Research Ethics Committee review is mandatory for publication? Can we develop a shared process (using current decision tools) that doesn’t unfairly disadvantage “researchers” (and hinder research based care)? Recognising that in inevitable grey areas, judgement is needed and will vary, can we develop…- News
Vacancies on COPE Trustee Board
…our current complement of representation from this region. We are specifically seeking: candidates with a high level of business strategy experience (for example, via a senior finance, business development, or strategic planning role). candidates with a background in the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences In accordance with… - Case
Possible suppression of data
This is a summary of a problematical research interaction between a pharmaceutical company and academic collaborators at a University involving a widely used drug. A pharmaceutical company appears to have exerted undue influence in an attempt to control the scientific literature. The research involved an important retrospective secondary endpoint in the three… - Case
Ethics approval and consent
…ethics codes and approval, which all seemed to be in order. Nevertheless, there is some scepticism due to the political context and the nature of the authors’ affiliations, some of which are governmental. Next step being considered are: asking the authors for more information about the conditions under which the consent was provided although it will be difficult to judge any… - Case
Secondary analysis of medical records and ethics committee approval
…before deciding on how to proceed: How large is the data set—if it is small, is there a greater chance of identifying individuals? Where were the data collected and for what purpose—if the location is very identifiable or the data were collected for a unique drug trial for example, would that increase the chance of patient identification? Why was the study not approved… Membership: universities and research institutes
…universities and research institutes who: conduct and publish original research, and where the results are disseminated through standard scholarly channels encourage training in research ethics and research publication ethics This membership category does not include university presses. University presses that publish peer reviewed journals should apply for- News
Reducing the inadvertent spread of retracted science
…citation of retracted citation. The top level recommendations are: Prevent retractions from polluting the literature through the public availability of high quality, consistent information about retractions. Make retraction information easy to find and use by using clear and consistent display standards. Recommend a taxonomy of retraction… FORUM DISCUSSION TOPIC: comments please
…following questions: Should researchers be required now to make their data available as a condition of publishing? Who should disseminate guidelines and/or monitor data sharing practices? What issues surround the re-use of published data? Should data deposited by authors be subject to peer review? Prior to publication? To settle disputing claims about results? For…- Case
Plagiarism case
…in only two of the three articles. The announced letter to the editor was indeed submitted but rejected on the grounds that informing the readership and issues of sanctions are the prerogative of the editor, not of scientists external to the journal. The following actions were taken: The editors of the two other journals involved were contacted… - Forum discussion topics
Editorial conflicts of interest
…COIs are far from being settled and urgently need more attention and remedial action. Questions for discussion How should policies on editorial COIs be formulated (eg, definitions of COI types and disclosure method)? Should journal editors and editorial board members publicly declare COIs and/or CVs? If so, how often? Should editors and editorial board members… Membership application FAQ
…membership) from journals that meet one of the following criteria: Journals based in Research4Life/HINARI countries. Journals in low and lower-middle-income countries (as defined by the World Bank) with both zero…FORUM DISCUSSION TOPIC: comments please
…and editorial board members.” The intention of the policy is in line with increasing moves across all of scholarly publishing to increase transparency for all aspects of reporting. In addition, it has a specific aim in the context of publication ethics as competing interests can threaten the integrity of the work being reported. Practical issues for handling competing interestsFORUM DISCUSSION TOPIC: Issues related to papers submitted to “discussion” journals
…from the OA movement is the European Geosciences Union (EGU) and Copernicus model of open peer review and Discussion journals, examples of which are: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences: Discussions and Hydrology and Earth System Sciences Earth Surface Dynamics: Discussions and Earth Surface Dynamics How does this model work? The author submits their paper to the…- Case
Request to remove an author post-publication
…safety. Author B also requested that, should removal of author A’s name not be possible, author A’s name could be replaced with a pseudonym or with ‘anonymous’. Several options are being considered by the journal: Remove author A from the published article, but do not retract the published article. The journal would publish a correction notice explaining author A’s removal… - Case
Coauthor fails to respond to request to confirm coauthorship
…coauthorship, so we did not have to carry through our threat. However, we want to be prepared in case a similar situation arises again, and so we are considering updating our information for authors to include a policy of forfeiting coauthorship after a 6 week period has elapsed without response. Question(s) for the COPE Forum What is COPE's view of our proposed policy of… - News
Complaints and appeals
…upcoming COPE Forum and more. Read April 2018 Digest: Complaints and Appeals…