- Case
Interactive case report of a patient with ongoing health problems
The case of a patient with unresolved upper abdominal pain and weight loss was written up and submitted by her family doctor to a journal that publishes interactive case reports. The intention was to present it as an unfolding story in three parts over five weeks. Responses would be invited on the journal’s website from readers to questions about diagnosis and management, and about what to say… - Seminars and webinars
Webinar 2022: Managing paper mills
…Practical steps for managing paper mills September 2022 During Peer Review Week COPE hosted a webinar for journal editors and publishers on the practical steps to take in managing paper mills. Speakers described their experience of managing paper mills affecting their journals, with practical tips on how to manage systematic… - Case
Increased number of casual submissions
We have experienced a sudden spurt in casual submissions of poor quality articles. We believe this is because authors wish to show that they have submitted articles which are under consideration at reputable journals. While any journal or editor would be happy to see increased numbers of submissions, sadly, most are of very poor quality in all respects. Most are very casually prepared… - Event
5th World Conference on Research Integrity
COPE will be represented at the forthcoming World Conference on Research Integrity. COPE Chair, Ginny Barbour, will be chairing a symposium on behalf of COPE entitled “Publishing and research ethics as wicked problems”. The session will discuss how research and publication ethics issues can be thought of as intertwined wicked problems – that is problems which are "difficult or… - Case
Publication of dead patient’s name at the request of the family
An author requested advice about reporting unusual ocular manifestations of a patient who died from a fatal injury. The author sought the permission of the family to report the case, but they also requested that the patient’s name be added to the report in her memory. The author has proposed to add the following in the acknowledgement section: “The authors are grateful to the family of… - Forum discussion topics
Editorial conflicts of interest
…3 March 2022 Back to top Your comments We welcome comments on this discussion from members and non-members. You must be logged in to leave a comment on the COPE website. If you are not a member of COPE you can register to create a non-member account. - Case
Suspected contact between reviewer and an author led to coauthorship of the reviewer
…of reviewers. The reviews of the original version came with conclusions "Accept after major revision" (rev A) and "Accept after minor revision" (rev B). On that basis, on 12 December 2008 the Associate Editor submitted a decision "Accept after major revision", and requested the author to prepare it within 90 days. The revised version of the paper arrived on 20 December 2008. Without… - Case
Ethical conduct of qualitative research studies
…-evaluations">COPE’s guidance for editors on dealing with research audits and service evaluations may be useful. Related resources BMJ Quality and Safety policy - Seminars and webinars
Good Publication Practice 2022
December 2022 Dr Trevor Lane, COPE Trustee and Council member, was invited to deliver a presentation introducing COPE’s mission and resources at the 2022 Forum on Good Publication Practice, held virtually on 2 December 2022. Hosted by the University of… - Case
Should we allow pseudonymous authorship?
…should pseudonyms not be appropriate. Questions for Council Can coauthors use a pseudonym on a published paper? If yes, do the given circumstances justify this? If yes, should the pseudonymous authors reveal their real identities to the editor? … - Case
Submissions from members of the editorial board
Our journal has decided that members of the editorial board are allowed to submit manuscripts which will undergo peer-review directed by the present or former editor-in-chief. It can be difficult, and I would like to present one example. A group of authors (including one member of the editorial board) submitted five manuscripts during a period of 17 days. The handling of some… - Case
Lack of patient consent for a case report, patient confidentiality
…consent was not sought from the child’s legal guardians as the child was placed with the social services and lost to follow-up. The authors believe the case report should be published to raises awareness among clinicians about potential symptoms of non-accidental injury in children, even though they cannot provide consent from the child or the child’s guardians to publish. The editorial staff… - Case
Potential image integrity flags on 15-year-old published papers
What should a journal do if an old (more than 15 years old) published paper is flagged on PubPeer for image concerns, but the case cannot be resolved due to the time lapsed? For example, if only low quality images are available online that cannot be analysed conclusively; some of the key authors may no longer be contactable; the raw data is no longer available; an institutional investigation… - Forum discussion topics
Peer review models
…introduction to the COPE Forum discussion on the topic "Peer review models" with COPE Council Member, Patrick Franzen. COPE Forum discussion Peer review sits at the core of scholarly publishing.… - Case
Authorship of a commentary
An associate editor invited a commentary to be written by one of the peer reviewers. When the commentary was submitted, the associate editor was a co-author. There could be the appearance of a conflict in the decision to accept the article on which the commentary was based if the associate editor is an author on the commentary. Question for the Forum … - News
COPE Forum agenda and materials: 4 March 2014 meeting
The next COPE Forum meeting is being held on Tuesday 4 March 2014, 3–5pm (GMT). The COPE Forum will be held virtually via webinar. Download the agenda and materials here (PDF, 695kb). The invitation to join the webinar is below. We can accommodate up to 100 attendees, so please register quickly if you wish… - Case
The disgraced author
An editorial was commissioned from a distinguished doctor who was subsequently found guilty of research misconduct overseas. There was a lack of consensus in the journal’s country as to whether this judgment was correct. The author continues to work, but is awaiting a judgment from his regulatory body. - Should the editorial be published? - Should the editorial be published with a footnote…