- CaseCase Closed
Complaint over protocol used in special issue
…reports. Later in the year, we received correspondence from a reader citing serious concerns about the plausibility of the protocol that the SI and articles are centred around, and particularly its apparent effectiveness in treating various disorders. It was also noted in this correspondence that the authors, guest editors and majority of reviewers invited by the most active guest editor are all… - CaseCase Closed
Using industry knowledge to evaluate an ethics case
A journal owned by publisher A recently posted an article critical of publisher B. Both publishers A and B are COPE members. Publisher B has already responded with several claims about the author’s methodology. Publisher A would normally defer to the journal’s editors. However, because the content of the article relates to the publishing industry, publisher A has particular insights into the… - Case
Confidentiality and consent in case reports
…expert that we might interpret the GMC guidance and the NHS Code of Practice on Confidentiality to mean that consent is not needed where the doctor is satisfied that he or she can anonymise the data to be used (bearing in mind that the symptoms might be an identifier). 3) If you feel that we do need to change our practice and require authors to obtain consent from patients whose case histories… - CaseCase Closed
Duplicate publication in multicentre consortia
…acting responsibly in this matter despite the wishes of the authors. Their actions have been in the interests of patients and the scientific community. Related resources Altman, D. G., Moher, D., & Schulz, K. F. (2017). Harms of outcome switching in reports of randomised trials: CONSORT perspective. BMJ (Clinical Research Ed.),… - CaseCase Closed
Comments linked to retracted papers
…commentary mentions the retracted paper among many others, for example, and there is a wider message that is still valid, a correction could be issued, removing the affected lines and reference. The commentary author could be given a deadline to correct it (explaining that an editorial note would be added if the deadline is missed, to alert readers about the retracted reference). The same approach could be… - Forum discussion topics
Dealing with complaints about the integrity of published research
…documents, and update the guidance. COPE has produced a draft discussion document on "Dealing with complaints about the integrity of published research". We would like comments on this document from all interested parties, and encourage journal editors and publishers to comment (whether or not they are COPE members), and also welcome comments from researchers/authors and… - Translated resources
El autor solicita que ciertos expertos no participen en el proceso editorial: caso
…editorial de la revista: «Nos reservamos el derecho de enviar los manuscritos a los revisores de nuestra elección». Basado en el caso 16-08 Author requests for certain experts not to be included in the editorial process Related resources - Seminars and webinars
Good Publication Practice 2022
…Macau, China, and the Macau Pharmacology Association, the forum was attended by authors, editors, reviewers, and publishers, as well as delegates of two concurrent conferences (the 4th Sino-CPLP Symposium on Natural Products and Biodiversity Resources and the International Forum on Development of Traditional Chinese Medicine Industry). The purpose of the 3-hour event was to provide an update of… - Forum discussion topics
COPE Forum 8 July 2014: ethical review
…remit of Research Ethics Committees (RECs) is the consideration of research, and the Health Research Authority (HRA) holds firmly to the view that health research should undergo independent ethical review. Audit, service evaluation and public health surveillance, usually of minimal risk, are excluded under official policy (GAfREC 2.3.12 - Forum discussion topics
Best practices for guest edited collections
…all cases, authors should be clear and transparent on the publication history of a paper and acknowledge and reference any prior publications. The summary of the comments at COPE Forum on Ethical aspects of conference proceedings includes the following: There are no fixed guidelines on… - Case
Personal remarks within a post-publication literature forum
…happy with how it read, and we published it. Member B has now agreed not to resign and is considering whether to respond to Member A’s comments. We are keen to have debate around whether an article truly is of value, which is why we encourage “dissents” (we also invite authors to respond to any criticisms). However, we need to be conscious that our faculty… - CaseOn-going
Editor found guilty of research misconduct
…In particular, decisions he took himself or where he went against a decision of the reviewers, for example, should be looked at carefully. The journal needs to reassure potential authors that they have processes in place to be confident in what they have published in the past—otherwise the journal risks serious reputational damage. The Forum suggested that this may be too difficult… - Seminars and webinars
COPE webinar: Enhancing partnerships of institutions and journals
…shared. How can we request universities to share more information about how they came to decisions because journals are often left to deal with the author who did not get credit. Any recommendations? Is there any way organisations such as COPE can ask the major publishers to implement a standard approach around retractions so that self-reported article retractions are clearly visible? This may… - Seminars and webinars
Seminar 2021: Reducing the inadvertent spread of retracted science: taxonomy considerations
In this webinar, the speakers discussed findings from a Sloan funded project, Reducing the inadvertent spread of retracted science. Panelists shared resources for educating authors, editors, and other stakeholders about the importance of retraction, ideas for emerging cross industry collaborations, and suggestions… - Forum discussion topics
Ethical aspects of conference proceedings
…usual expectations of publication ethics (duplicate-redundant publication) in journals more broadly. Authorship changes are more likely to occur between the author list in the conference proceedings and any subsequent submission to a journal. This requires careful enquiry by the editorial team to determine the legitimacy of the change in authorship. Publishers also need to consider whether… - Translated resources
Proceso de revisión por pares comprometido en artículos publicados: caso
Al percatarse de un alto volumen de envíos del autor A, el editor X mostró su preocupación sobre los revisores sugeridos por el autor y sus comentarios. El autor A había sugerido en la mayoría de los casos los mismos revisores para todos los envíos, los revisores sugeridos tenían direcciones de correo electrónico imposibles de verificar, los comentarios se devolvían muy rápido (en 24 horas) y e… - Seminars and webinars
Seminar 2021: Ethical practice in research data publication - challenges, lessons and opportunities
…institutions to manage datasets, and the consistency, standardisation and quality of workflows, and queried whether institutional policies adequately cover the range of scenarios around dataset management which Daniella mentioned in her comments. Data journal editor - Seminars and webinars
Seminar 2021: Authorship for sale
…journals which authors are aiming to be publish in, and the ‘vicious circle’ which creates a system perpetuating lack of research funding, financial support for journals, restricted reviewer pools, imperfect communication, poor visibility across global communities. The majority of articles determined to come from paper mills are from Iran, Russia, and China (though other countries are present).