Publication ethics cases at the COPE Forum
COPE Members bring specific publication ethics issues to the Forum for discussion and advice. These cases are available to read, with advice given and follow up comments from the Member who submits the case.
Submit a case to COPE Forum
We encourage members to review existing cases before submitting a case to the Forum, or to COPE Council, to see if similar cases have already been discussed. Please note that advice is specific to the particular case under consideration and may not necessarily be applicable to similar cases either past or future.
Anonymous cases are brought by COPE members to the Forum (or to Council) and are discussed between all the participants of the Forum (or members of the Council). The notes in each case reflect the discussion that took place and are anonymised when added to the COPE website. The advice from the Forum participants (or from Council) is provided back to the member who brought the case, but the final decision on handling the case lies with the member editor and/or publisher.
COPE accepts no liability for any loss or damage caused or occasioned as a result of advice given by them or by any COPE member. Advice given by COPE and its members is not given for the purposes of court proceedings within any jurisdiction and may not be cited or relied upon for this purpose.
Forum discussion topic
At each Forum we also bring a topic for discussion. Read past Forum discussions on topics which, most recently, include: editing of reviewer comments; predatory publishing; ethical considerations around book publishing; and coordinating multi-journal complaints.