Addressing concerns about systematic manipulation of the publication process

Practical guidance

COPE addresses four areas of concern where editors and publishers need further guidance: how to deal with the practical and administrative burden of collecting the evidence; how to provide timely due process that considers the batch assessment, while also considering the resource impacts and constraints for journals/publishers; the scope of and mechanisms for information sharing among publishers; and how to manage the conflicting demands of editorial freedom, publisher responsibility, and legal risks.

This guidance is supplementary to the COPE guidance Systematic manipulation of the publication process and should be used alongside it.

Key points

The guidance covers the general principles:

• The need for journal policies that specify what actions will be taken if there are suspicions of manipulation of the publication process (paper mills).
• The need for confidential sharing of information among publishers (eg, via the COPE Publisher’s forum or STM Integrity Hub).
• The management of cases collectively rather than on a case-by-case basis.
• Transparency in retraction notices related to manipulation of the publication process.
• Editorial decision making based on all evidence (including circumstantial) relevant to the batch-level concerns, and empowering editors to use judgement on whether primary data or other documentation should be requested.
• Publisher role in supporting editors to make decisions based on the trustworthiness of the content, and ensuring that there are systems in place to support editors in responding to legal threats.

Related resources

• Systematic manipulation of the publication process flowcharts
• Managing paper mills COPE seminar, September 2022
• How do we deal with the growing problem of paper mills COPE webinar, 2021
• Systematic manipulation of the publishing process via “paper mills” COPE Forum discussion topic, 2020