- News
3rd World Conference on Research Integrity
The 3rd World Conference on Research Integrity is due to take place in Montréal, Canada between 5 - 8 May 2013. The conference will focus international attention on research integrity, responsible conduct of research, and publication of research. Attendees will have opportunities to learn the current state of worldwide progress on research integrity, discuss new challenges and… - Event
Medical Editors, short course
…formal lectures – active participation is encouraged! A folder containing extensive notes and background reading is also provided. This course is ideal for editors-in-chief, editorial board members and senior managing editors.Further information: http://www.pspconsulting.org/ or [email protected]… EASE/ISMTE joint meeting
COPE will be holding an interactive workshop at the joint meeting of the European Association of Science Editors (EASE) and the International Society of Managing and Technical Editors (ISMTE). In this workshop, a number of cases based on real-life examples brought to COPE, and covering some of the most pressing problems currently faced by editors and journals, will be discussed. Co-Secretary…- Event
ALPSP Publication Ethics Course: Fraud and Misconduct.
…journals publishing. A wide range of ethical issues can arise in academic publishing. These can be caused by misbehaving authors (e.g. committing plagiarism or fraud), by abuse of editorial positions and also by conflicts between publishers’ and societies’ commercial interests and principles of editorial freedom and integrity. - News
New: COPE Audit
…that may need to be revised so that they adhere to best practices in scholarly publishing. Use the Audit as a checklist to formulate your journal's own internal guidelines and codes of practice, as well as to ensure you have robust and well-described, publicly documented processes and procedures. COPE Audit - Event
ALPSP Workshop, Publication Ethics: Fraud and misconduct
This is a practical course to help you understand your legal and ethical obligations and implement a successful diversity and inclusion strategy in your workplace. Diversity and inclusion have never been higher on the news and social agenda than at present, and this course will… FORUM DISCUSSION TOPIC: comments please
…have pointed out that there is often no clearly stated reason for retraction and when given these reasons are often lacking in detail. The difficulty with interpretation has never been quantified, however an absence of explanation was cited for 5–12% of retraction notices.[1]Following our study on retraction notices issued in 2008, we recommended the use of a retraction template.[2] This…FORUM DISCUSSION TOPIC: comments please
…Who “owns” peer reviews? Two trends have recently come together within scholarly publication; open review, and the desire to give credit to reviewers (see also [1]). At the convergence are organizations like Publons and Academic Karma who wish to openly acknowledge the work of peer-reviewers by recording, not only the amount, but also, in some circumstances, the content of…- Event
COPE Forum: Tuesday 15 December 2020
…discussion and advice among attendees on members' cases submitted in advance (see cases below). #C0PEForum Forum agenda and minutes 1. Update on COPE activities by the… - News
Welcome new COPE Council Members
…/> (Photo credit Clayton MacGillivray) Sarah Eaton, Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal for Educational Integrity and the book series editor for Ethics and Integrity in Educational Contexts - Event
COPE Forum: Wednesday 22 June 2022
…Forum agenda On 22 June 2022 the COPE Forum will be held at 14:00-15:30pm (BST / UTC+1) 1. Update Update on COPE activities by the Chair. 2. Forum discussion topic We begin the COPE Forum with a discussion on the topic Dealing with… - Case
Author approval for response to mini-reviews
We publish mini-reviews of important articles from the medical literature. In order to give the authors of reviewed articles a chance to respond to the review, we have now started to contact the corresponding author once a review of their article has been published on our website. If an author responds, we wish to publish their comments underneath the review. Do we need to get formal… - Forum discussion topics
COPE Forum 9 September 2015: Who “owns” peer review?
Two trends have recently come together within scholarly publication; open review, and the desire to give credit to reviewers. At the convergence are organizations like Publons and Academic Karma who wish to openly acknowledge the work of peer-reviewers by recording, not only the amount, but also, in some circumstances, the content of individuals’ peer-review activity. Academics may view… - Case
Can two DOIs be assigned to the same manuscript?
The Forum noted that if an article is retracted and then replaced (ie, republished as a corrected version), a journal might wish to retain the DOI of the paper. However, the DOI will only reference the retracted article and not the new version. Hence two DOIs are needed for the two different versions of the article. In this case, because one of the articles is a preprint and the other is a new… - News
New: Spanish resources
…COPE peer review resources: Spanish Spanish translations of COPE resources: flowcharts, ethical guidelines for peer reviewers, How to Spot Manipulation of the Peer Review Process, What to Consider when asked to Peer Review a Manuscript, What Constitutes Authorship? discussion document and our Principles of Transparency and Best Practice in Scholarly Publishing. For Peer Review… - Event
COPE Forum: March 2024
…="https://publicationethics.org/resources/forum-discussion-topics/watchlists-ethical-considerations">Ethical considerations around watchlists. 3. New cases Cases submitted by COPE Members for discussion at the Forum. Author contacts editor-in-chief using personal phone number - Case
Inappropriate authorship on students paper
…was questioned on authorship criteria. If it was the supervisor’s project and the students had helped, then why were there so many students listed (13 in all)? If it was the students’ project, which is a requirement of their curriculum, then why was the supervisor the first author? He/she should be acknowledged only. The authors decided to withdraw the article on the grounds that they wanted… - Case
Potential figure manipulation with corresponding author uncontactable
A reader contacted the journal to raise concerns about a paper containing a potentially manipulated figure. The editor-in-chief agreed with the assessment that the figure had been manipulated and attempted to contact the corresponding author, without response. Following further contact with the co-authors and institution, it was established that the corresponding author had retired after… - Case
Unhelpful institution report
An allegation of data fraud was not satisfactorily resolved by correspondence with the authors. We then went to the lead institution and asked for an investigation. Within 10 days we had a report clearing the authors, but interestingly using some of the exact same phrases the authors used in their responses to us. We felt that the report was too superficial and approached the other institution… - Case
A case of salami slicing
…the same effect. The earlier paper P1 reported the results on the most accepted and validated efficacy measures. The latter manuscripts reiterated the findings of the published paper but did not cite the same. The editor-in-chief decided to hold P2 and P3 and follow the COPE guidelines. The editorial team asked clarifications from the authors, who in reply stated their ignorance about…