- Case
Omitted author
…acquisition of data or analysis and interpretation of data; (2) Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; (3) Final approval of the version to be published. Authors should meet conditions 1, 2 and 3. Additionally, the editor sent an e-mail to Professor X saying that he had contacted the authors for their comments, and in the meantime this paper had been held… - Case
Author contacts editor-in-chief using personal phone number
…journal and to the personal e-mail address of the editor-in-chief. What we find disturbing is how an author managed to find the personal phone number of the editor-in-chief. Update: the editor-in-chief discovered that their personal phone number had been included on a conference program which was on the internet. The conference organiser has now removed the content. Question for the… - Case
Overseas editor dismissed from university for fraud
An international specialist medical journal has editors in the UK and abroad who function independently. An issue of a scientific journal in 1998 reported that the overseas editor had been dismissed from a university professorship because of scientific fraud. This had been documented in three published research papers.The report highlighted a particular paper, in which 27 references cited… - Case
Consent to publication for case details, and potential for journal violation of patient anonymity
…having access to (and our ability to keep confidential) the patients’ names. We also wondered whether under HIPAA law it would even be legal for the authors to give us the patient’s identity. Therefore, the editors proposed that we would ask the author to have the patient (or patient’s parents) sign our consent-to-publication form, and then include in the paper a statement that they had done so,… - Case
Arm twisting an editor
…invited to write a commentary detailing their objections. The lead author agreed, but subsequently, a high ranking official telephoned the editor, pointing out the health department’s concerns. The official assured the editor that s/he had no intention of suppressing research, but asked the editor to consider the possible implications for the public interest. The official did not want the juniors to… - Case
Authors’ contributions and involvement by medical communications company
The Forum suggested there were two separate issues here—dealing with the author and dealing with the medical writer. Is the medical writer a member of any professional organization, such as the American Medical Writers Association (AMWA), the European equivalent (EMWA) or the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP). If so, these organizations usually have a code of… The protection of vulnerable groups and individuals
…COPE position statement The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) supports international ethical standards related to research and publication of research that relate to vulnerable groups and individuals. Examples of standards include WMA…- Case
Consequence for dual submission
…that it had been accepted by a different journal. When the editor of journal B asked the author for an explanation, the author did not provide a satisfactory response. Journal B, in consultation with their editorial board, banned the author from submitting to the journal in the future. Editor B contacted us, alerting us to the situation. After verifying the submission records, we… - Case
Prolific authors
…qualify for authorship under the ICMJE guidelines for each article. It has been shown that some infamous cases of fraud were by prolific authors ("High annual publication rates had characterised many of the international research misconduct cases, which had begun to come to light in the mid-1970s" http://www.bmj.com/ cgi/reprint/331/7511/281.pdf; Lock S,… - Event
Medical Editors, short course
This two-day course for editors of medical journals (running since 1996) covers how to attract and keep good authors, how to improve the quality of your content and ensure you are publishing something people want to read (and cite), and how to make your journal more visible to readers and authors. With only c.25 participants, the course concentrates on group and practical work rather than… - Case
Ethical standards in animal research
An author received a manuscript describing the biological behaviour of an infectious agent in an animal model. The manuscript contained new information, but the experimental procedure involved interventions that would not be permitted by UK Home Office regulations. What should the editor do?… - Case
Author’s name removed from submitted article
…meeting of the committee in the summer of 2003, since when he had heard no more about the study. The Editor could send the paper out for review, and leave it for person X to resolve the dispute with his co-authors; however, having been made aware of person X’s significant role in the study, and the Editor’s previous (albeit minor) involvement in the study’s steering committee, the Editor feels this may… - Case
Author trap/fabrication detection
…use or for use in clinical trials at the time when the paper was submitted. The author also mentioned using tests that were not available in our country at that time. The author was advised that his paper was excellent and therefore he should publish it in a UK journal. The author took the advice. I contacted the editor of the UK journal and warned him about the author. The UK journal… - Case
Retraction notices: Who (if anyone) should be listed as author?
Publisher A has been developing an internal publisher style guide for retraction notices, but has not been able to find any obvious industry best practice when it comes to whether retractions should have an author byline, and if yes, who should be listed. Some retractions have no authors listed; others give 'The Editors of Journal X' as the author byline (in cases of retraction owing to author… - Case
Author refuses to comply with editorial review prior to production and publication
The Editor-in-Chief of a journal received a message from a corresponding author of a brief communication, stating that the proposed editorial edits were beyond typical formatting edits at this stage. They felt said many edits were not appropriate, would need further response and suggested holding this article (which had already been in process with the journal for over a year) for the next… - Case
Parental consent for participants
…Since many journals have international authors, should the onus be on editors if there is lack of clarity to confirm the norms elsewhere. Do we need universal standards for issues like this? … - Case
Submission without knowledge of the corresponding author
The editor was advised to contact all the authors for an explanation.… - Case
Lead author of a research paper disagrees with content of a linked editorial
…They asked to have a lengthy letter rebutting the editorial posted online simultaneously with publication of the editorial. They were directed to follow normal procedures for posting a response to a paper, which includes waiting until it is published and adhering to other standard procedures for commentary on a published paper. The authors were not satisfied with this suggestion. After… - Case
Unable to contact authors
…request. The authors require permission from the journal to formally withdraw the paper if they wish to publish it in another journal. The main reason for not proceeding with publication is that if issues arose with the paper after publication, the authors would need to be contacted, especially if the editor does not have access to the raw data. Authorship implies responsibility for the research… - Case
Non-compliance of author with request for information
In April 2007, an original scientific article was published on line (ahead of print—it is now published in print, September 2007). In July 2007, the editors received the following request from a scientist who read this article: "Since I am interested in this subject and I already work with it, I need to know some technical information from the authors. I have called the group five times and…