- CaseOn-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… - CaseCase 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?•… - CaseCase 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… - CaseOn-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… - CaseCase 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… - Seminars and webinars
North American Seminar 2019: Ethical challenges in the arts, humanities, and social sciences
At the North American seminar 2019, Kath Burton (Associate Editorial Director of Arts & Humanities, Routledge, Taylor & Francis) presented the initial research findings and the solution put together on the back of some research conducted by COPE, supported by Routledge. The aim of the research was to better understand the publication ethics needs of arts, humanities and social sc… - CaseCase 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)? … - CaseCase 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… - Seminars and webinars
Publication ethics in an open world
…4th World STM Journal Forum: Publication ethics Dan Kulp, COPE Chair, was invited to speak at the 4th World STM Journal Forum organised by the Chinese Association of Science & Technology (CAST), July 2021. Dan spoke about the some of the current issues around publication ethics in the industry such as: authorship issues; fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism; image… - Guidelines
Text recycling guidelines for editors
…class="resource-download-inline__shadow"> Key points A common issue encountered by editors is overlap of text with an author’s own previously published work, particularly with the increasing use of plagiarism detection software. This practice is known as ‘text recycling’ (also sometimes referred to as ‘self-plagiarism… - Guidelines
Cooperation between research institutions and journals on research integrity and publication misconduct cases
…institutions and journals/publishers prioritise their shared interests and cooperate with each other where necessary. Institutions and journals should promote best practice among researchers, authors, reviewers, and editors (eg, through policies and training). Journals should make efforts to detect misconduct before publication (eg, by screening for plagiarism, paper mill manuscripts, and peer review fraud).… - Flowcharts
All Flowcharts
…href="https://publicationethics.org/resources/flowcharts/plagiarism-submitted-manuscript">Plagiarism in a submitted manuscript Plagiarism in a published article Journal management General approach to publication ethics for the editorial… - Forum discussion topics
COPE Forum 4 December 2013: persistent complainers
…(plagiarism) allegations against papers published by an editor-in-chief apparently because the complainant was not content with the outcome of an earlier unrelated investigation conducted by the editor-in-chief. Other complaints are about publications. We have seen one complaint that alleges plagiarism, but evidence presented consisted only of common English phrases like “…has been proven to”, “In… - CaseCase 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… - CaseCase 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… - Forum discussion topics
COPE Forum 12 March 2013: Text recycling
The topic for discussion at this Forum was ‘Text recycling’. Self-plagiarism, also referred to as ‘text recycling’, is a topical issue and is currently generating much discussion among editors. Opinions are divided as to how much text overlap with an author’s own previous publications is acceptable, and editors often find it hard to judge when action is required. In an attempt to get some…