- News
In the news: February Digest
…target="_blank">http://www.panafrican-med-journal.com/content/article/30/217/full/ The co-founders of Retraction Watch, Adam Marcus and Ivan Oransky, put the rise of retractions from 2000 to just a few years ago, when they seemed to plateau into some context. About half of retractions involved misconduct or fraud. Those willing to cheat the scientific system have more tools to manipulate images, statistics but so do those trying to avert printing fraudulent work. They… - News
In the news: March Digest
…suspicious patterns of self-citation requests by a biophysicist/bioinformatician either acting as a peer reviewer or handling manuscripts as an Editorial Board member. The individual, who was previously named as a highly cited researcher by Clarivate Analytics, is accused of systematically manipulating the peer review process to boost his own citations – allegations he denies. - Case
Problem with figures
…the proposed strategy achieved unanticipated therapeutic success in a preclinical model of XXX. I am writing because I’ve noticed a major problem in Figure X. It appears that two of the panels (X and X), which are supposed to be representative of two different XX specimens from two different experimental groups, belong to the same tissue section (or quasi-identical serial… - Case
Lack of ethical approval and not reporting experimental evidence
…a letter to the editor from the three authors from the other institution. This would be accompanied by an expression of concern or an editorial by the editor, highlighting the necessity of proper ethics approval and reporting all experimental data. An additional question to COPE: should other editors be informed of this? In a sister journal, an article was submitted mentioning the same very… - News
Authorship, a blunt tool: "20 Jahre Research Integrity in Deutschland Was hat sich verändert? Wie geht es weiter?"
…assessment. Let’s see what we can do together to change that. Perhaps by implementing contributorship models at journals (softer, like The Lancet, or more rigid, like CRediT). Perhaps by contributing to discussions about how performance is assessed by university reward committees. Perhaps by doing what we can to encourage positive change in how research funders assess research and award funds. All this… - News
Research Integrity, Sixth Report of Session 2017-19 from the House of Commons
…specific questions about the number of retractions of published articles from the UK, stating that approximately 400 had been retracted since 1977. According to Dr. Oransky, the overall increase in retractions likely reflects “a greater willingness of journals to withdraw problematic papers; a growing reliance on software tools to detect plagiarism; and more attention to manipulated or otherwise… - Webform
COPE integrity workshop 2021
…If oversubscribed, a waiting list will be set up. We ask that you let us know if your plans change and you cannot attend so that we can allocate your place to someone else. Registration is limited to 2 people per journal or company. Additional people may be accommodated if there are spaces available. Please contact the COPE Administrator to check availability. Your privacy… - Case
Arm twisting an editor
_ If junior authors could not publish without the consent of their superiors, this raises the matter of authorship, whereby some of the authors are not acknowledged for their work, whether for credit or accountability to the readers. _ The work itself might be regarded differently because the source of the information would not be clear. In some ways this was analogous to pharmaceutical trials… - Case
Ethical approval and fabrication of results
…patients? Could it be applied to the later retrospective study or do researchers normally have to re-apply for approval? Should we further investigate the suggestion that the author may have fabricated the results? What do we do if we can’t actually locate the people from whom they allegedly obtained ethics approval? … - Case
Article sent to reviewer by mistake
…that the exclusions were only suggestions, the editor could use these people as reviewers if they liked. The journal should have told the reviewer that the paper was sent in error (which it was). Nonetheless if there are legitimate concerns with the paper, the editor should seek further advice, and put the concerns to another reviewer or the other original reviewers. It was also thought the… - Case
Duplicate publication in a non-English language journal
…had previously been published in a non-English language journal. Moreover, in that version of the case report, but not in the more recent version, the head of department had been listed as an author. The head of department had not been asked or informed about the submission to the British journal. The head of department gave the reference of the previous publication. The editor obtained the paper:… - Case
Consent to publication for case details, and potential for journal violation of patient anonymity
…having access to (and our ability to keep confidential) the patients’ names. We also wondered whether under HIPAA law it would even be legal for the authors to give us the patient’s identity. Therefore, the editors proposed that we would ask the author to have the patient (or patient’s parents) sign our consent-to-publication form, and then include in the paper a statement that they had done so,… - Case
HIV homeopathy
The Forum questioned whether in fact there was a local ethics committee, which may be a reason why the authors obtained approval in their own country. However, the Forum was unanimous in their view that the authors had behaved unethically. All agreed that the editor had done all he could and there is little more action that he can take, although some advised contacting the ethics committee or… - Case
The ethics of using privileged information
…they adopted the best ethical course. Questions for COPE • What is COPE’s view? • How should editors and reviewers proceed when they have access to privileged information which suggests that their own work should be modified or corrected? • Is there an ethical responsibility to avoid letting known errors into the scientific literature which was transgressed in this case?… - Case
Inadequate reporting of a trial, despite earlier rejection from a different journal
…statement and trial registration details. Seeing the paper now published in journal 2 (April 2010), he still has the same concerns about the conduct of the trial and validity of the data presented—for example, the study was not really randomised (subjects were allocated alternately to treatment or control and participants’ trial numbers were known to the outcome assessors)—and reporting of the outcomes… - Case
Retractions of primary literature papers: how should a review journal react?
…already been associated with misconduct. Some suggested contacting the author and asking him if he would like to retract the paper, or contacting the institution for a ruling. Another suggestion was that the editor could write an editorial discussing the issue and whether removal of the six references alters the conclusions of the paper. All agreed that the main issue was to alert the… - Case
Extensive publication errors. Should we 're-publish'?
…suggestion was to retract the article, naming the publisher as the reason for retraction, and publishing the correct version in the retraction notice. Or the editor could publish an erratum, effectively reprinting the article in the erratum notice.… - Case
Two reviewer reports contain a significant amount of verbatim textual overlap
…other reviewers. In the end, it has to be a judgement call by the editor. Whether or not the editor decides to invite these researchers to review other submissions depends on whether he accepts their explanations. One suggestion was to use plagiarism detection software on the reviewer reports and the special issue as a background check. This may give some indication of the overlap. Another… - Case
Inability to contact an author to obtain permission to publish
Author A was an overseas PhD student who successfully completed the PhD, and then returned home to a country with considerable political and civil unrest. It had been intended to submit a paper before author A left but time ran out. Subsequently, authors B, C, D and E, who were all involved in the work in one form or another (experimental design, performing preliminary experiments, data… - Event
Publication Integrity Week 2023
Taking place over a week, Publication Integrity Week included a variety of sessions, with speakers invited to share their experiences. Videos or written summaries of the sessions are available now. Links to each session are below. #C0PE2023 Webinar recordings and…