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Search results for 'Plagiarism'

Showing 61–80 of 106 results
  • Case
    On-going

    Habitual plagiarist

    …informed my editorial board members about the case. One of the associate editors recognised author F’s name from another case report which had been accepted for publication at the journal. This second case report (CR2) had been reviewed and recommended by reviewers and no one suspected plagiarism. Following some research into this matter, the associate editor found that CR2 was an exact copy of another…
  • Case
    Case Closed

    Duplicate submission or self plagiarism. Is the author to blame?

    An article was submitted to Journal A for publication. According to the journal’s policy, the article was scanned using anti-plagiarism detection software, which gave a 17% similarity result. As the journal allows up to 20% similarity, the article was sent for peer review to two reviewers. One of the reviewers noted that the article had been published in a similar form in a conference…
  • Case
    On-going

    Plagiarism by a possible predatory journal

    An article published in a journal in 2023 appears to have been plagiarised in a possible predatory journal but the publishers are unable to get a response from the predatory journal or affiliated Institute.  The article (Article A) was submitted to Journal X in 2022 and published early in 2023. The authors reached out to the Journal after finding that another article dated from 2021 (Art…
  • Case
    On-going

    Paper B plagiarised paper A: what to do if a journal does not respond?

    The author X of a paper published by journal A complained to the editor-in-chief of journal A that his/her paper has been plagiarised by a paper that has been published later by journal B. Moreover, the authors of the paper in journal B allegedly did not respond to letters sent by author X asking for an explanation about the apparent plagiarism. The editor-in-chief of journal A compared…
  • Case
    On-going

    Author requesting removal of verbatim text from published paper

    The Forum advised that it is important where the overlap or plagiarism occurred in the article. If the verbatim text is in the results section or directly affects the findings of the paper, then retraction might be necessary. However, if the copied text is in the introduction or methods sections, for example, then a corrigendum might be more appropriate. The journal should decide if…
  • Case
    On-going

    Profusion of copied text passages

    Recently, our journal has introduced systematic analysis of all submitted manuscripts for plagiarised text, using anti-plagiarism software. We had noticed increased incidences of recycling of existing text which is why we introduced the systematic check. It turns out that a large proportion of the submitted manuscripts (an estimated 30–50%) yield positive results, with copy values of somewhere…
  • Case

    Failure to ask permission

    …several other specific concepts from my work (eg, storyboarding, 2-7-7-6) that appear in the chapter to be theirs, not mine. At one stage they write ‘We recommend’ giving a clear implication that it is theirs to recommend. The authors did not seek permission from me or the publisher of my book. Their publisher has been contacted, and says that the work is not a piece of plagiarism but a homage,…
  • Case

    Allegation of fraudulent publication

    …B in 2001 was almost an exact copy of an article published in Journal C in 1990. The Editor of Journal A examined copies of the articles from Journals B and C and concluded that this appeared to be a case of plagiarism. How should the Editor of Journal A act in this situation, given that Journal A is not the victim of the alleged plagiarism and that Journal C has ceased…
  • Case
    Case Closed

    Suspected unattributed text in a published article

    …and journal initiated the procedure outlined in the COPE flowchart 'Suspected plagiarism in a published manuscript'. The editor-in-chief has requested feedback from the published author on the reason for the large overlap in text. Question(s) for the COPE Forum • Should the publisher and journal publish an 'expression of concern' while continuing with the investigation?•…
  • Case
    Case Closed

    Multiple redundant submissions from the same author

    An author submitted a redundant publication to one of our journals. After reviewing the report from the anti-plagiarism software, we followed the COPE flowchart up to and including contacting the author's institution. We have not received a response from the author or the author's institution. Shortly afterwards, the same author submitted a (different) redundant publication to one of our other…
  • Case
    Case Closed

    Self-plagiarism and suspected salami publishing

    …Had the editors of journal A known that the authors had submitted or planned to submit paper B to another journal, they would have rejected paper A. The claim now is that the authors have self-plagiarised the manuscripts, with potential salami publication. Question(s) for the COPE Forum• When self-plagiarism and suspected salami publishing is found in a published article, what…
  • Case
    On-going

    Submission of article by ghost author

    plagiarism rather than ghost authorship. It seems clear that the named authors of the article are not the original authors and that the true author did not give permission for publication. In this case, the journal is correct to follow a decision to retract the article following the COPE guidelines, having given the named…
  • Case
    Case Closed

    Use of secondary data without proper attribution

    …were the primary researchers.  Questions for COPE Council Is this a form of plagiarism? Is it appropriate to claim authorship of research by not disclosing the source of secondary data (presumably data owned by the institution)?    …
  • Case
    Case Closed

    Journal refuses to correct the record

    …to retract the article and publish the letter, as we had agreed. He replied that the article was no longer available. I sent him the link where I was able to retrieve it and he did not reply back. The original author of the paper contacted the author group's institution in September 2011, but he never received a response. In the COPE flowchart for suspected plagiarism, the journal…
  • Case

    Duplicate publication

    The Forum was unclear about whether the same authors were involved—was this a case of plagiarism or duplicate publication? The Forum also noted that any action depends on the journal guidelines. Does the journal document in its guidelines how much overlap is allowed? If the authors are the same, the advice was to follow the steps in the COPE flowchart “Suspected redundant publication in…
  • Case

    Paper published that is a verbatim copy of another published one by another author

    …Forum wondered how the reviewer did not spot the plagiarism and suggested looking into the reviewer’s conduct. Another suggestion was to see if the author belongs to a society or association that the editor could lodge a complaint with. Other advice was to write an editorial in the journal highlighting the issue. This could be done anonymously and would demonstrate to the reader that the journal’s…
  • Case
    Case Closed

    Authorship dispute

    …submitted, and that it has no element of plagiarism. He further assured our journal that he and the co-authors listed in the published version had written the manuscript and made all the corrections proposed by the reviewers. He stated, “We have never indulged or indulge in such silly misdoings and in order to keep the personal relationship amicable, we would like to withdraw the case report despite it…
  • Case
    Case Closed

    Plagiarism and copyright of material without permission

    The presenters found an e-book where all of the 'chapters' comprised articles from different issues and volumes of their journal. These were used without the journal’s permission or any form of approval. The journal’s co-publisher neither gave permission nor was contacted. Also, no one contacted the authors of the articles involved for permission.    The journal is open access with…
  • Case

    Suspicion of breach of proper peer reviewer behaviour

    The Forum suggested that the editor should follow the flowchart on “What to do if you suspect a reviewer has appropriated an author’s idea or data” in such cases. Even if the other journal has published the paper first, the editor can consult the submission dates for confirmation. The first journal would then have to retract the paper on the grounds of plagiarism, if indeed this had been…
  • Case

    Parallels between unpublished manuscript and a published article from other authors

    I am seeking advice on a confidential ‘letter of concern’ from an author (X) of a manuscript submitted before I was appointed editor of the journal but rejected by me on the advice of the associate editor. Author X is concerned with similarities or parallels between his manuscript, rejected in 2008, and a recently published article. I have looked over our file and contacted the associate…

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