- Case
“Inadvertent” duplicate publication
A paper submitted for consideration in March 1997 was peer reviewed, successfully modified, and accepted for publication in June 1997. In January 1998 the paper was prepared for publication, and a commentary sought from an expert in the same field, scheduled for publication in the same issue. The expert drew the editor’s attention to the fact that a similar paper (albeit in shortened form) had… - Discussion documents
Authorship
…href="https://publicationethics.org/sites/default/files/COPE_DD_A4_Authorship_SEPT19_SCREEN_AW.pdf" target="_blank">COPE Discussion Document: Authorship PDF 688 KB Key points Various disciplines have norms, guidelines, and rules governing authorship, to preserve the… - Seminars and webinars
Seminar 2021: Ethical practice in research data publication - challenges, lessons and opportunities
… Over the past decade, we have seen a marked increase in the publication of research data, driven by journal, funder, and institutional policies. This has brought ethical challenges specific to datasets, which can affect the journal publication related to the… - Case
Attempted dual publication
A study by Japanese authors was submitted to specialist journal A. The manuscript was sent to three reviewers, including expert X. After two weeks, expert X contacted the editorial office to say that an identical manuscript had been sent by the competing specialist journal B to expert Y in the same unit as expert X. Expert X and expert Y had compared and discussed both manuscripts. Expert X sai… - News
Understanding your needs: Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
THIS SURVEY HAS NOW CLOSED. Thanks to all who participated; see the - Case
Unethical research undertaken by a single handed GP
We have received a paper from a GP testing the hypotheses that because 24,25 cholecalciferol has a similar structure to commercially available statins, it may act as an inhibitor of HMA co-reductase. He screened 350 patients in his practice and identified 77 who had a cholesterol concentration above 6.5 mmol per litre. Thirty-three of them agreed to return for a second test 2 weeks later. They… - Discussion documents
Citation manipulation
…href="https://publicationethics.org/sites/default/files/COPE_DD_A4_Citation_Manipulation_Jul19_SCREEN_AW2.pdf" target="_blank">citation-manipulation.pdf PDF 384 KB Key points … - Case
Redundant publication by an editorial board member
A specialist journal received a paper for review. An editorial board member was one of the authors. The paper was sent out for review and one reviewer replied quite favourably. A few days later the reviewer sent the editor a copy of a paper seen in another journal that was very similar to the one under consideration, and by the same authors. It was the same population and the same study, just a… - News
Data and reproducibility focus
…standardized reporting guidelines to ensure that studies can be replicated. Data sharing policies are one area of - News
Allegations of misconduct focus
…alt="" src="/files/u7141/COPE_Core_Practice_MISCONDUCT_450x100_AW.png" style="width: 349px; height: 100px; margin-left: 3px; margin-right: 3px; float: left;" />The resources cover an array of issues falling under the general category of allegations of misconduct. Some issues, such as problems with image manipulation, are more applicable to journals in the science and biomedical arenas (e.g. case - Guidelines
A short guide to ethical editing for new editors
…class="resource-download-inline__container"> Document A short guide to ethical editing for new editors PDF 577 KB … - Case
A falling out
A research letter was submitted from a team of investigators,A, B, C, and D. In their covering letter they reported that: A was involved in planning the study, collecting patient samples, and in writing the manuscript; B measured IL-10 polymorphisms and analysed the results; C was involved in supervising the measurement of polymorphisms and in writing the manuscript; D was involved in planning… - Case
Disputed authorship
Last year, a paper was published with four named authors. The journal concerned then received a letter from another person claiming that they should also have been credited with authorship. That person (Dr M) had been the second author on an abstract with a similar title presented at a conference, on which the authors of the published paper were also named authors. The journal wrote to the firs… - News
Core Practices
Background A Code of Conduct for Editors has been in place at COPE since 2004, its purpose to provide guidance on current thinking in the practice of publication ethics. Subsequent editions and versions have evolved… - Case
Allegations of scientific fraud and unethical conduct of experiments with attempts to silence the whistleblower
…The allegations of fraud A paper reported a radioisotope test for diagnosis of a speci?c,acute,neurological disease with 100% accuracy. Replication studies failed to con?rm the ?ndings and suggested that the test is positive in a… - News
Facilitation & Integrity 2023, a year in review
…Handling competing interests COPE discussion document Authorship COPE discussion document - News
Reflections on the COPE North American Seminar 2019
…src="/files/u7140/Michael_Kath_Rebecca_NASeminar_2019.jpg" style="float:right; height:326px; margin:3px; width:600px" /> Kath Burton, Associate Editorial Director at Routledge, Taylor & Francis Group, presented preliminary findings from the survey of editors of AHSS editors, jointly sponsored with COPE. The top 5 concerns of the 650… - News
Case discussion: Low-risk study with no ethics committee approval
…carefully, and some ethics review boards and journals do not consider retrospective applications for ethics review. COPE has previously reported a Forum case (98-31) where a journal rejected and did not allow retrospective ethics review of a questionnaire study. In another COPE… - News
Case Discussion: Possible plagiarism
…href="https://publicationethics.org/files/COPE_G_A4_SG_Ethical_Editing_May19_SCREEN_AW-website.pdf" style="color:#0563c1; text-decoration:underline">Short Guide to Ethical Editing for New Editors and Cooperation between Research Institutions and Journals on Research Integrity Cases: Guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).… - News
Citations: Link, Locate, Discover, Connect
…/Forum%20discussion%20topic_final.pdf [8] Wilhite AW and Fong EA (2012). “Coercive Citation in Academic Publishing.” Science, 335(6068), pp. 542-543. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1212540 Related resources