- News
In the News: July Digest
…research.https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-network/2018/jun/15/is-competition-driving-innovation-or-damaging-scientific-research Seven researchers have been found responsible for scientific misconduct by Karolinska Insitute,… - News
Letter from the COPE co-Chairs: March 2019
Early in my academic career I was sent a publication in which my name appeared as a 5th author. The research was legitimate, conducted by a senior colleague, and I had participated in a small part of the research. I had not been involved in the writing of the paper, its final approval, or in signing the copyright agreement. I went to the faculty member who had written and submitted the… - News
In the news: July & August 2022
…for sentinel papers in the study of Alzheimer's disease. "Everyone involved in research has a role to play in research integrity and no single stakeholder can maintain or raise standards alone" is introduction to discussion paper of panel presentation at World Congress on Research Integrity, 2022 which discusses roles of different… - Case
Possible plagiarism and fabrication
…means ± SD, numbers, or medians (range) of drug A, drug B, and placebo groups are identical in the two papers. The only differences between the two papers concern type of surgery, and the method of postoperative analgesia (two different analgesics are used). Also, the first paper reported on the estimated drug costs; the second did not. 4. Reported postoperative VAS pain scores (median and ranges) of… - Case
An author thinks that a journal’s decision not to publish is ethically incorrect
…the names and locale of the companies. The legal proceedings had been concluded with an out of court settlement; the lead author had no involvement in this. The terms of the settlement are subject to a confidentiality clause and it is not known whether liability was admitted or not. Company A does not wish the paper to be published on the grounds that this would violate the confidentiality agreement… - Case
Personal remarks within a post-publication literature forum
…class="List1"> · Should we have been more open with Member A as to why we were asking to edit his words? · Should we have a policy on the “tone” of dissents and follow-ups, or is this just common sense (ie, keep it civil and constructive)? Was there anything… - Case
Journal refuses to correct the record
…more at this point, but would be interested to hear what the Forum might say as far as whether this case should be considered closed or, if not, what more we could do.… - Case
Online posting of confidential draft by peer reviewer
…reviewing her papers in the future. I have declined to do this on the grounds that it would be a further breach of confidentiality. Question for the COPE ForumIs there any more that can be done to obtain an explanation from reviewer A, or to satisfy the authors that we have investigated the matter to the limits of the journal's powers?… - Case
Dual submission and editor’s failure to take action
It seems the authors did not follow the preferred journal policy, but the behaviour is not necessarily unethical. The editor told the Forum that copyright is transferred to the journal on submission. The Forum noted that although copyright does formally belong to journal A, the journal does not have the article or the revisions, and hence they are holding copyright on an article that they do… New UK Panel for Research Integrity
…expert advisors. These will be people who can respond and advise on specific queries, in relation to the guidelines or other areas. They should be available to join a local enquiry panel, but only at the employer's request. The nomination of the advisors will be open, so that people are not appointed on the basis of established networks, but for their practical…COPE webinar: Allegations of misconduct
…Subcommittee. After our invited speakers present, there will be an opportunity for questions from attendees. You can email your question in advance or ask questions during the webinar. Speakers: Susan Garfinkel, Assistant…- News
Letter from the COPE Chair: September 2020
…comments, and aligns with concepts of trust in peer review, “not only to the peer reviewers who typically volunteer the time and knowledge but also to the authors, who reasonably should expect non-conflicted, thoughtful, unbiased, thorough reviews of the work in question and to not be subjected to hostile or personal attacks.' A welcoming, supportive, collaborative environment, free from… - News
Text Recycling Research Project: update March 2021
…Author guidelines: This short document lays out fundamental principles and best practices for text recycling, with links to a more extensive document for those wanting a deeper understanding. Educational documents: These will present relevant definitions, discuss why text recycling can be valuable in some situations but problematic or illegal in others, and explain why some commonly suggested… - Case
Late reinterpretation and a new author
…ensure that s/he was not being pressured into accepting the revised paper or suffering any detriment. Author A met with the institution’s vice-chancellor, who encouraged publication of the manuscript in its original form. The vice-chancellor felt that there was no need to bring in author D. The editor is now waiting for author A to send in a final version of the paper and the questionnaire used. All… - Case
Conflict of interest
…there have been allegations made about the paper but that it is not possible to establish the truth as yet. Hence the advice was to issue a statement of concern in the journal or possibly write an editorial highlighting all sides of the issue.… - Case
Question of paper retraction due to proven fabricated data
…reported use of the drug before developing vision loss turned out, from original trial forms, not to have started drug A or B until after diagnosis of vision loss. The ‘history of MI’ in some of the men turned out to be a family history of MI. Author also claimed to have re-contacted patients during the trial but court found no evidence of that. Court concluded that these undermined the credibility of… - Case
Authorship dispute and possible unreported protocol amendment
Our journal accepted a randomised controlled trial for publication which has not yet been published online. In the submitted paper, the randomised controlled trial is described as commencing in 2004 with completion in 2011. We have received an email and telephone call from an individual not listed as an author or reviewer of the paper with the following alleged disputes:• He was an… - Case
Author alleges discrimination by institutional report
…allegations had occurred, affecting multiple publications, including in this journal's article: (1) data fabrication affecting one of nine figures and (2) that incorrect institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) protocol numbers were listed in the published article, and some animal research methods described in the article lacked either IACUC approval or the experiments were conducted before the… - Seminars and webinars
Artificial intelligence and peer review
…not upload information back into training datasets, or self-built models, have much reduced risks in this respect. The most popular models, such as ChatGPT, should be treated with more caution and may leave users more vulnerable to having their data shared. Users need to be educated in the way that different models work, and the ways that they should use outputs responsibly. Attention is drawn to… - News
Guest editorial: Tackling paper mills
This is a guest editorial and opinions may not reflect official COPE guidance or policies. A society publisher's perspective Zara Manwaring, Managing Editor (Biochemical Society/Portland Press) The initial storm In June 2020, an anonymous reader flagged via PubPeer over 50 papers in our journal, Bioscience Reports, that had been through peer review and…