- Case
The incomplete retraction
_ The problem was clearly between the author and the university and the editor was being asked to intercede on his behalf. _ It was unclear what more the editor could do; he is certainly not in a position to conduct an internal enquiry. _ How much information needs to be obtained before a paper is retracted? _ If an author had been struck off by the General Medical Council (GMC) then a notice… - Case
A problematic obituary
…in the obituary, nor had the deceased’s brother, who had written and submitted the obituary, advised the editors of this. The proceedings had, however, received extensive media coverage. The deceased had had a 40 year, otherwise distinguished, career as a consultant psychiatrist. Members of the editorial committee had differing opinions about what should be done. - Publish the obituary unchanged:… - Case
Lack of ethics committee approval?
An editor received a paper and requested details of ethical approval from the authors. The authors replied that they had approached the ethics committee about carrying out a more extensive study than the one submitted, for which ethical approval was denied or possibly thought unnecessary - the authors’ English isn’t clear in their responses. Before the start of the more extensive study, the… - Case
Consideration of publishing raw data
…situation. Does anyone already publish anonymised raw data in their journal and, if so, how does one handle the ethics of such a publication: · Do you assume that the original ethics approval covers this new publication? · Do you require… - Case
Controversy regarding ownership of a device
…suggested that they had. We invited the authors to respond, asking them to address this and other criticisms. The revised paper was then evaluated inhouse and by the academic editor, who commented that the authors still claimed development of the device in the revised paper, citing their US patent. However, the academic editor had previously published work suggesting that his team had developed a similar… - Case
Developing a procedure to deal with retractions
The advised policies which members of the Forum suggested have not yet been implemented due to a massive ongoing redesign project for our website which has put many things on hold. It is unlikely this will be resolved until the new year; however, we have taken the Forum’s comments on board and intend, when the time comes, to implement the suggestions in the most thorough and transparent way… - 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… - Seminars and webinars
Publication misconduct tools
In this panel the audience heard from five representatives from organisations which produce tools to detect publication misconduct. Together they showed that while technology is creating new challenges for academic publishing, it can also be part of the solution. This discussion is one of eleven sessions hosted by COPE during - Flowcharts
What to consider when asked to peer review a manuscript
…of AI in reviewing Consider the review model and evaluation criteria If the reviewer has a good idea of who the authors are they should consider potential conflicts of interest Consider whether you have the necessary time and expertise to complete the review Sharing reviews is a possible mentoring opportunity but must be done with the permission of the… Membership subscription fees
…a discrete journal product published in intervals will be charged according to the number of articles that they publish a year. If a company wishes to register fewer than five journals then cumulative journal by frequency of publication rates apply. Number of articles Fees per…- News
Welcome new COPE members April-June 2019
Welcome to our new members who have joined COPE between April and June 2019. The new members have been assessed against criteria outlined in the Principles of Transparency and signing up to COPE shows that they intend to follow the highest standards of publication ethics and to apply COPE principles of publication ethics outlined in the - Case
Dual submission
…Journal B, which happens to share an office with Journal A. The next month essentially the same paper originally submitted to Journal A was resubmitted. It was unchanged from the previous submission, but with a slightly different title. The editorial assistants of Journals A and B noted that, apart from some differences in the introduction, the two papers were identical. Journals A and B wrote to the… - Flowcharts
Concurrent submissions of a manuscript to multiple journals
…href="https://publicationethics.org/resources/flowcharts/multi-article-paper-mill">Addressing concerns about systematic manipulation of the publication process Sharing of information among editors-in-chief regarding possible misconduct … - Case
Anonymous peer review – author requesting manuscript file
…they have seen similar requests and, if so, how were those requests handled? Furthermore, do Forum members have explicit policies documenting what they allow authors to see with regard to manuscript files, and are these policies made public in their information for authors?… - Event
COPE Forum: December 2023
…href="https://publicationethics.org/case/complaint-protocol-special-issue">Complaint over protocol used in special issue … - Guidelines
Editorial board participation
…preclude an editor from joining the board or result in an editor’s removal if not resolved. Journals should ask potential editorial board members to provide a list of their potential conflicts of interest When journals recruit editors at any level, they might need to decide whether it is appropriate for any individual to be a member of more than one editorial board at the same time… - Case
Author cannot be located
…/> The editor could also ask the other authors to find the missing author, or to contact the author’s institution. A similar case can be found in the cases database:… - Discussion documents
Predatory publishing
…/resources/guidelines-new/principles-transparency-and-best-practice-scholarly-publishing">Principles of transparency and best practice in scholarly publishing. Negative effects of predatory publishing include deceiving authors into paying for non-existent services, wasting funding, and diluting the research with unreliable papers. Solutions to the problem of fake… List of delegates
…Baldwin International Journal of Psychiatry in Clinical Practice Aubrey Blumsohn Northern General Hospital, Sheffield Jane Borthwick Lancet Janet Boullin Oxford University Press Julie Brice Medical Education Margaret Corbett British Journal of…- Discussion documents
Citation manipulation
…journal publishing the citing article, and excessive citation between journals in a coordinated manner. Examples of legitimate self-citation are given where it is included or requested to address valid needs. COPE recommends that journals develop policies about appropriate levels of self-citation, provide education for editors and have clear procedures to respond to potential citation manipulation.