- Flowcharts
Legal and regulatory restrictions of unpublished data: dealing with concerns
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7896759 Concerns are raised about datasets before publication such as intellectual property, research, or handling regulations. The flowchart offers data publishers, such as a journal or a data repository, a step by step guide on how to handle these concerns. - Seminars and webinars
Publication ethics, research integrity and climbing mountains
…difficulties: from growing numbers of submissions (and retractions), fake papers, artificial intelligence, paper mills, and sustainable development goals. However, Chris is optimistic about the possibilities when the community works together, as demonstrated by the 2023 United2Act summit on paper mills and its forthcoming action plan, and… - Flowcharts
Scientific rigour of unpublished data: dealing with concerns
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7896759 Concerns are raised about the scientific rigour of a dataset, before publication. The flowchart offers data publishers, such as a journal or a data repository, a step by step guide on how to handle this process. - Flowcharts
Legal and regulatory restrictions of published data: dealing with concerns
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7896759 Concerns are raised about datasets after publication such as intellectual property, research, or handling regulations. The flowchart offers data publishers, such as a journal or a data repository, a step by step guide on how to handle these concerns. - Case
A falling out
…that in the collaboration “the idea for this research was therefore entirely generated by us”. Furthermore, he said, B and C “saw and agreed to all the changes in the short manuscript and the final version that was submitted to the journal with all our signatures.” He went on: “I had to review the proofs within 24 hours and fax them back. There was no time to send this to the other authors for their… - Event
COPE Lightning Talk: Text recycling in research writing
…we open the main part of the event to questions from the audience. Itamar is a practising physician and clinical researcher in emergency surgery and cancer surgery at the Rambam Health Care Campus and the Technion-Israel Institute of Technology’s medical school, Haifa, Israel. His interest in academic integrity is based on his work with institutional research ethics committees, and as… - Case
Stolen ownership of a rare case
A case report was published in our journal after being approved by a peer reviewer and subjected to a technical review. The first author was a post-graduate trainee attached to the department of pathology of a prestigious national institute. A month later we received an email from a resident working at a specialist department of another institute claiming that the patient belonged to them and a… Outcomes of editors' attempts to investigate research misconduct
…had taken on this task. This study includes all 79 cases that been closed. It excluded all cases of disputed authorship, but included all those of suspected author misconduct. Type Total Exonerated Impasse Contact institute…Code of conduct for COPE meetings and events
…immediately notify a COPE staff member, COPE Trustee, or Council Member. Notification should be done by contacting a COPE staff person, COPE Trustee, or Council Member on site or by emailing your concern to [email protected] Any questions or comments regarding this code should be directed to COPE’s Executive Officer- News
Research Data: Institutions are key to management and post-publication concerns
…with regard to the collection, use, maintenance and storage of research data. Institutional research data policies have developed based on federal policy, which dictates standards for the administration of grants and agreements with institutions of higher education, hospitals, and other non-profit organizations. These polices clarify the ownership and stewardship of research data generated at… - Webform
COPE peer review workshop 2020
…ideas, experience, and suggest next steps for each case. The workshop will be online on the Zoom platform and will follow this format: we begin the sessions together then break out into smaller groups, each facilitated by a Chair in the small groups everyone has a chance to discuss the cases, express their views, and how to resolve the issues arising from the… - Case
HIV testing without offering treatment to affected individuals
…different one did, but not the one they actually carried out). On this basis, the paper was rejected and the authors’ supervisory bodies are being informed (the WHO said it wasn’t them, and the editor has yet to obtain the addresses of the supervisory bodies in the USA (where the researchers are based) and in Africa (where they had the approval of the governmental authorities)).… - Case
Possible case of fraud
…1”. We have now rejected the paper in question. We would like COPE’s advice on what to do further—we are open to persuasion, but are not sure that there is sufficient evidence of wrongdoing to ask for an institutional investigation. We have not yet responded to the reviewer who raised the initial allegation of fraud.… - Case
Incorrect allegations from the head of an institute?
…been concluded. We are studying this at the moment and are considering taking further steps. The editor told the Forum that the journal has now issued a retraction of the paper and published an accompanying editorial on co-authors’ responsibilities. The corresponding author still denies any wrong doing and the co-authors are claiming it has “nothing to do with them”. The Dean of the institute… - Case
Repeated alleged plagiarism in case reports
The advice from the Forum was for the editor to follow the COPE flowchart on what to do if you suspect plagiarism in a submitted manuscript. The editor should contact the author’s institution or employer and ask them to carry out an investigation. In doing so the editor might need to contact the insititution concerned to find out who is responsible for research integrity as this can vary from… - Case
Withdrawal of accepted manuscript from predatory journal
The Forum agreed with the advice of the former editor-in-chief. As there was no copyright transfer, the paper could be published in the legitimate journal, ideally with an editorial note on the paper explaining what has happened. Otherwise, the author may have to write off this paper to experience and lessons learned. The Forum noted that this case highlights the importance of the - Case
Suspicious responses to authorship change requests
…the publisher did not think they could presume to have author D’s consent to make the changes requested by author A. Author A insisted on the changes but eventually said that to avoid further delays, the publisher could proceed with publication using the current author list. The article was published. After publication, however, author A contacted the publisher again, claiming there had been… - Discussion documents
Guest edited collections best practice
…projects. Guest editors should be provided with clear terms and guidance on their role in organising, commissioning, and editing content for collections in the journal. Standard ethics, principles, and policies of the journal apply. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the content published in their journal, including in guest edited collections. Some types of broad and complex… - Seminars and webinars
Introduction to publication ethics and the COPE ethics toolkit
…top Publication ethics workshop This workshop introduces listeners to some of COPE’s basic principles on publication ethics. Siri and Trevor review the Ethics Toolkit and Core Practices, and highlights common issues encountered by journal editors. Publication ethics cases Using real cases brought to COPE by members, Trevor and Siri ask participants how they would… - Discussion documents
Dealing with concerns about the integrity of published research
…regardless of the method of communication. Good practice is to have a policy which sets a timeline for a response. Responses should be neutral and based on facts, indicating the intended action. If the investigation finds that the concern is valid, follow the appropriate COPE guidance for dealing with the issue. It is important to respect the correspondent’s right to…