- Case
Removal of an author
…final version. If the author did not approve the final version, they should not remain on the author list and should be added as an acknowledgement—author C worked on this paper and is thanked for their contribution. Could efforts to contact author C be directed via the publishers to take independent steps that to try and contact author C (eg, via social media). The editor may wish to consider… - Event
Online webinar series on good reporting of health research studies
…component of good research practice. Via: Blackboard Collaborate. Registration: Deadline: 6 February 2013 To register, please email Shona Kirtley at [email protected] and include your name, institution/organisation, email address and country. An email confirmation… - Forum discussion topics
COPE Forum 10 June 2015: Prior publication and theses
Research higher degree theses have traditionally been seen as part of the scholarly communications chain, and have been made available by university libraries in print and, latterly, online via institutional repositories. The issue we seek to address is whether or not work already publicly available in a thesis (whether in print or online, although the concern is primarily around… - Case
Living unrelated (commercial) organ transplant
…commentary alongside. The editor has the duty of affirmative action to bring the practice to the attention of the international community via an editorial.… - Case
Request by organisation to retract article and publish expression of concern
A group of unspecified members of an organisation have written an expression of concern (letter via email) to the editors wherein they request that an article previously published in the journal be retracted since they believe it is biased and inaccurate about regulation details within the organisation. They are further requesting that their letter be published in the journal. The… - News
Predatory behaviour in publication ethics
…a predatory journal are a rapid turnaround to publication (and consequently little or no peer review), high article processing fees to maximise income (others keep fees low to entice authors), and lack of transparency to authors on policies. Scholars are often targeted via unsolicited direct marketing, lured in by (often bogus) claims of "esteemed editors", proper indexing, and high impact factors, only to… - News
New Website goes live!
…login, making it more convenient for users to access our resources. Some areas will still require you to log-in, these include: submitting a case for COPE Forum, auditing your journal, and the eLearning course (due Q2 of 2011). We do hope that you find the new website both appealing and useful, and we welcome your feedback. Please send us any comments you have via the FORUM DISCUSSION TOPIC: comments please
…Prior publication and theses Research higher degree theses have traditionally been seen as part of the scholarly communications chain, and have been made available by university libraries in print and, latterly, online via institutional repositories. The issue we seek to address is whether or not work already publicly available in a thesis (whether in print or online, although…FORUM DISCUSSION TOPIC: comments please
…this discussion previously via an earlier forum discussion and with respect to peer review. To continue the conversation, COPE has developed a new…- Case
Concerns over the withdrawal of a complaint
…aware of the fact their article was under investigation, as the journal needed to request underlying data for the investigation. They were not given any details regarding the complainants. The authors provided the data via email, and at the same time indicated there was a conflict with a coauthor over a personal issue which they were currently resolving. None of the whistleblowers was listed… - Case
Publication of correspondence relating to a paper currently online
…Letter to the Editor and/or via the journal’s online commenting tool which allows comments to be posted with regards to individual papers. After this, several such communications and longer letters were sent which discussed the alleged flaws in the paper and repeated the calls for a retraction. The authors of the paper were invited to reply to the longer letter of the complainants and they too… - Forum discussion topics
Dealing with complaints about the integrity of published research
…do journals have on responding to complaints that are not made to them directly (for example, on social media, PubPeer)? Do complaints raised via different channels present different challenges? Forum discussion summary is not considered formal COPE policy but may be used to develop other types of COPE guidance. Back to top Comments from the… - News
COPE position statement on inappropriate manipulation of peer review processes
…the submitted manuscripts are aware that the reviewer names and email addresses provided by these agencies are fraudulent. However, given the seriousness and potential scale of the investigation findings, we believe that the scientific integrity of manuscripts submitted via these agencies is significantly undermined. Publishers who already know they are affected will be publishing statements on… Increasing number of fraudulent papers produced by “paper mills”
…href="https://publicationethics.org/publishing-manipulation-paper-mills"> Systematic manipulation of the publishing process via “paper mills” and how to identify and tackle this type of fraudulent behaviour. Paper mills produce and sell fraudulent manuscripts that seem to resemble genuine research. Articles are bought by people who need to publish research in order to get a job or promotion. This type of manipulation is often difficult to spot until…- Discussion documents
Responding to anonymous whistleblowers, January 2013
…via the use of anti-plagiarism software. Other emails have alleged figure manipulation. The pattern of the cases is not clear; they range across many different types of journals and publishers; cases may be very old or more recent. Whistle blowers may copy COPE council or staff on the emails. A link to the readout from software is sometimes provided; often information is only provided for abstracts.… - Research
Exploring publication ethics in the arts, humanities, and social sciences: A COPE study 2019
In early 2019 COPE, with the support of Routledge (part of the Taylor & Francis Group), commissioned primary research with Shift Learning to better understand the publication ethics landscape for editors working on journals within the arts, humanities, and social sciences. The research used a two-stage methodology: first exploring the issues qualitatively via two online focus groups with… - Case
Institutions paying authors to be named on papers
…in the acknowledgment section that the institution gave a partial grant. The terms funding and grant are used to camouflage the purpose. Questions for the Forum How can such malpractices be reduced? Are there any checks that can be adopted via the submission system or by the editorial team to avoid this issue? … - News
In the news: July 2020
…playing out in the court of public opinion on a paper published in PNAS, the journal of the National Academy of Sciences. One of the paper's authors is a member of the Academy and the paper was accepted after review via a special "contributed track" for academy members, by which they can select their own reviewers. Forty scientists have requested in a letter that the paper about face masks for… - Event
COPE Forum: 3 August 2016
…initial; background-attachment: initial; background-size: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial; background-position: initial; background-repeat: initial;">The deadline for submission of cases is 20 July. Cases must be anonymised and should be submitted via the… - Webform
Journal membership application form
…decision on membership, based on the application, the information reviewed and more subtle forms of assessment using the Membership subcommittee's experience. Note: All correspondence to members is sent via email unless otherwise requested COPE reserves the right to withdraw membership if incorrect information is given in this form or comes to light…