Signing up to COPE shows that you, your journal, publisher, organisation, university or research institute intends to follow the highest standards of publication ethics and to apply COPE principles of publication ethics outlined in the Core Practices. By joining COPE you will help support our work in promoting publication ethics, and providing advice for editors and publishers.
Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing
COPE is just one of a number of organisations that is seeing a large rise in applications for membership from new journals. Although we very much want to encourage and support legitimate new journals, we are also mindful that many new journals are not currently sufficiently transparent about their business practices and authors in particular may be unable to judge the legitimacy of these journals. Together with Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA), Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), and World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) we have therefore compiled a minimum set of criteria that journals will be assessed against when they apply for membership at one of our organisations.
The criteria can be viewed on the Principles of Transparency and Scholarly Publishing page and we welcome feedback. We encourage authors and anyone else who is unfamiliar with a journal to use these criteria in assessing a journal.
Benefits of membership
COPE members can:
- receive advice on individual cases via the Forum (bringing cases in person or by phone)
- attend the annual seminar (free for members)
- access the eLearning package
- use the ethical audit tool to see how well their journals match COPE’s guidelines
- use the COPE logo in their journal
- use sample letters to help draft their own where there is potential misconduct
- stand for election to COPE Council
as well as using the other resources available to members and non-members including the:
- flowcharts
- Core Practices
- Best Practice guidelines
- newsletter
- cases database
- podcasts of forum discussions
- retraction guidelines
- other guidelines
Who is eligible?
- Peer-reviewed scholarly journals;
- Companies that publish peer-reviewed scholarly journals; and
- Individuals or companies who are interested in publication ethics and are working in or associated with the publication of peer-reviewed scholarly journals may become an individual or corporate member. Journal editors or publishers are not eligible for individual or corporate membership.
- Universities and research institutes who conduct and publish research (membership opening early 2023).
Membership subscription fees
Membership subscription fees depend on the type of membership. Reduced membership subscription fees, or full reduction (free membership) are available for organisations who meet the criteria.
Before you apply
Please ensure you have read the COPE Membership application FAQ, which summarises the most frequently asked questions we receive in relation to applications for membership.
PLEASE NOTE: We have launched a new journal membership application form. If you experience any difficulties accessing the form, please email [email protected] with details of the issue you are experiencing. Please let us know what country you are in so that we can identify and resolve any country-specific issues.
Join COPE
For 1-4 journals:
For 5 or more journals:
Apply for publisher membership
For universities and research institutes:
Please use our contact form for any other queries about membership, including details of how to apply for Individual or Corporate membership.