- Event
COPE Forum: July 2023
…href="https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_nHIFv3ekTLa_Uh9adf0ELg#/registration">REGISTER TODAY Forum agenda On Tuesday 11 July 2023 the COPE Forum… - Case
Publication of private data
An article was submitted for publication. This was a survey of research activity in a specialist area and included, among other things, research funding amounts from each institution. This led to a sort of 'league table'. The information was provided by the responding director of the specialty area or head of school/research group of each institution. The cover letter stated this is for researc… - Event
COPE Forum: December 2023
…Forum is: Tuesday 21 November 2023. --> Forum agenda On Tuesday 5 December 2023 the COPE Forum will be held at 10:00-11:30 (GMT / UTC) 1. Update on COPE activities Update on COPE activities by the Chair. 2. Forum discussion topic: Claiming affiliations We begin the COPE Forum with a discussion on - Discussion documents
Predatory publishing
…href="https://publicationethics.org/news/identifying-fake-journals">Identifying fake journals COPE Officers' statement, April 2023 Avoiding predatory publishers Guest editorial, February 2022 Predatory publishing: next steps and where do we go from here? COPE Forum discussion, December 2020… - Case
Possible conflict of interest
Our journal is attempting to encourage the adoption of a uniform standard for the reporting of population genetics data. As part of this, one of the editors of our journal has submitted a proposal requiring authors to submit their data, including raw data, to his own database. While the intention is laudable, there would appear to be a clear conflict of interest. What can a journal do e… - Case
Seeking retrospective ethics approval
I received a submission that had asked a series of questions of visitors to a website about a mental health issue. It was reviewed by a senior colleague and myself. While the science was fine we were both concerned that no mention had been made of any ethics approval. I raised this issue with the authors, especially given that deception was involved. The authors then appear to have sough… - Case
Unable to contact authors
A manuscript was submitted to a journal and after the review and revision process, the submitted manuscript was accepted for publication. During the manuscript revision process, the corresponding author was in contact with the journal: answered all of the emails, performed revisions of the manuscript, prepared answers to the comments of the reviewers, etc. When the manuscript was accepte… - Case
A(uthor) vs C(omplainant) authorship dispute
…institute X, of which C is a senior faculty member and in whose laboratory A was a research associate. C contacted journal T with several allegations regarding A’s paper in journal T. These were: (1) A submitted the paper after having left institute X (2) A never discussed with C his intention to publish these data from C’s laboratory (3) Material published in journal T is “fully… - News
Case discussion: gift authorship
…authorship came from further study of 81 of the hyperprolific authors. Of the 27 authors who completed a survey, 19 admitted failing to meet one of the four ICMJE authorship criteria in more than a quarter of their papers and 11 admitted failing to meet two or more… - Case
Sanctions for citation cartels?
Multiple journals appear to be affected by a citation cartel between a group of researchers across three universities, via the medium of special issues. All articles within the issues contain a high proportion of citations to the same researchers at the three universities, many as high as 100%. Looking at the pattern of citations to these researchers' work, they have only ever been cited in the… - Case
Guest editors for single articles
A COPE member has noted instances of journals contacting individuals - who are not on their editorial board - to request that they act as guest editor for a single manuscript. The invitation makes it clear that they are being asked to recruit reviewers and to make the editorial decision. This practice includes instances where the invitee has had no prior contact with the journal. C… - Flowcharts
All Flowcharts
…office updated 2022 Systematic manipulation of the publication process, updated 2022 Addressing concerns about systematic manipulation of the publication process new 2023 Peer… - Case
An enquiry about arbitrating reviewers
Under certain circumstances, the editors of journal A use ‘arbitrating’ reviewers. These reviewers advise an editor where, for example, an editor has split reviewer reports or a rebuttal to a decision that was based on split reviewer reports. This reviewer has sight of the other reviewers’ reports as he/she both evaluates the manuscript and assists the editor, through their advice, to arrive at… - Case
Duplicate publication allegation
Our journal (journal A) received a complaint from a 'Clare Francis' alerting us to a case of duplicate publication involving our journal and another (journal B). The article in journal A was published first, but submitted after the article in journal B. Clare Francis requested that the article in journal A should be withdrawn as it is duplicate publication. However, the article in journal B was… - 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 wi… - Case
Withdrawal of paper at proof stage
An original paper was submitted to our journal. After peer review, the authors were requested to revise the paper, and the revision was submitted back to the journal. Our manuscript editor accepted the paper. The paper was scheduled for publication 3 months later after copyediting was completed. We informed the corresponding author about acceptance of the paper and sent them the typeset… - Guidelines
Ethical guidelines for peer reviewers
…source material and the type of review requested. The model of peer review will also influence elements of the process. Related resources Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers (Chinese) Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers… - Seminars and webinars
Webinar 2022: Managing paper mills
…evaluation. An example of this was discussed on Retraction Watch this week. What is the most effective identifier of a paper mill [from the list cited in Renee Hoch’s talk]? I encourage editors evaluating articles for paper mill concerns to take… - News
In the news: September 2020
…target="_blank">review manuscripts constructively and actively promote and foster the power of compassion in peer review. Diversity & Inclusivity C4DISC have created an ‘Antiracism Toolkit for… Editing, reviewing and writing during COVID-19
…in which publishers and industry leaders can continue to support academic peer-reviewed research and the entire academic publishing ecosystem Scholarly Kitchen: changes and challenges to scholarly communications: September 2020 Four…