- Case
Author requests for certain experts not to be included in the editorial process
The Editors decided to comply with the author’s request. The manuscript was rejected, based on two peer-review reports and opinions from 11 editors. The author was told that the journal had complied with the request, and that advice had been sought from COPE. The author subsequently appealed the decision; this was not upheld. In light of this, the editorial board were asked to create… - Translated resources
El autor solicita que ciertos expertos no participen en el proceso editorial: caso
…Existe el peligro de que esto envalentone más aún al autor si los revisores que sugirió finalmente están involucrados en el proceso de revisión. Además, los editores tienen el deber de proteger a los revisores. Sejuimiento Los editores decidieron acceder a la solicitud del autor. El manuscrito se rechazó basándose en los informes de dos revisores por pares y en la opinión de 11… - Event
COPE 25th anniversary seminar, 2022
…all Taylor and Francis Group journals on publishing ethics and research integrity matters, as well as providing guidance on editorial policies and processes where needed. Moderator - Case
Misattributed authorship and unauthorized use of data
…expression of concern. Unauthorized use of data came up as a prime issue in a recent study of the re-classification of the COPE cases in the past 10 years. Also, the Montreal statement on research integrity in cross boundary research collaborations came out of this year’s World Conference on Research Integrity ( - Case
Concern about reporting of a trial and also its DSMB
We received a paper reporting a trial. There has only been one previous trial of this intervention in this condition that we know of (which was also done by these investigators). There were substantial issues with the reporting of that trial but the end result, as reported by them, favoured the intervention. The trial we received, presumably approved after that result had come out, had… - News
Case discussion: Low-risk study with no ethics committee approval
…Forum case (11-16), a journal rejected a paper on an online questionnaire study for being unethically conducted despite receiving retrospective ethics approval. Advance ethical approval or official exemption is recommended for survey studies (highlighted in… - Event
COPE webinar: Standards in authorship
…are just some of the questions we intend to cover during the webinar. There will be an open discussion with questions from attendees. You can email your question in advance or ask questions during the webinar. The webinar is free, and open to COPE members only. Register for authorship… - Case
Suspect author
Author A has published approximately 150 original articles since ~1994, with ~100 on one particular topic. Since some of these events were up to 16 years ago, and there are no formal records from then relating to these studies, the only information we have is the memory of the editors of the affected journals in post at the time. According to their accounts, suspicions were aroused over the val… Projects Funded
…guidance about this. Anecdotal evidence suggests that editors may be reluctant to retract articles because of concerns about litigation or uncertainty about the correct procedures. We are therefore examining retractions to understand journals’ current practices and any difficulties faced by editors. We are examining all retractions published on Medline in the last 10 years and categorising them according…- News
Diversity, equity, inclusivity and accessibility: COPE commentary
…sensitively. We welcome further feedback and suggestions on how to achieve this. Alysa Levene, COPE Operations Manager Back to top Further resources COPE’s Diversity policy Diversity and inclusivity COPE discussion document… - Case
Author of rejected letter blames global bias against his message and undisclosed conflicts of interest
The editor in chief received a letter to the editor criticising a paper published earlier in the journal. The editor first told the author of the letter that he would publish the commentary after he had given the authors of the criticised paper a chance to respond. When asked by the author of the letter, he later added that he would also publish the letter if the authors failed to respond.… - Seminars and webinars
Webinar 2020: Understanding text recycling
…allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Pvbn5M0eENA" width="100%"> Summary Cary Moskovitz explains TRRP's current definition of Text Recycling and the differing perspectives on when text recycling is or is not appropriate. Michael Pemberton shares key… - Forum discussion topics
Predatory publishing: next steps and where do we go from here?
…href="https://register.gotowebinar.com/register/5201748139806364687" target="_blank">Register to attend the Forum, Tuesday 15 December, 2-3.30pm (GMT). The Forum takes place by webinar and is available to COPE members only. --> Related resource COPE's Predatory publishing discussion document Your… - Case
Concerns over research by an author in numerous, separate publications
The authenticity of the content of numerous publications by Author K has been questioned by ‘concerned researchers’ in an anonymous email sent to the Editor of Journal A in December 2009. The email noted that author K had been publishing articles in numerous journals that “report remarkable findings that watching humorous films, drinking deep-sea water, exposure to road traffic, cell-pho… - Forum discussion topics
Ethical aspects of conference proceedings
…{ position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; width: 100%; height: 100%; } .embedtool .fluid-vids {position: initial !important} /*-->*/ COPE Forum discussion Many COPE members publish both journals and books, and wonder what are the similarities and… Equal Opportunities Policy
…victimised or treated less favourably as a result. False allegations which are found to have been made in bad faith will, however, be dealt with under our Disciplinary Procedure (being reviewed).- News
Letter from the COPE co-Chairs: December 2018
…librarians and funders in China voiced support. For “E” and our economic forces, let’s take trends in global research spend. OECD countries spent over USD1trillion on research first in 2010, and continued to increase that budget… - Forum discussion topics
Bias in peer review
…class="resource-download-inline__type"> Presentation Bias in peer review presentation PPTX 10 MB - Forum discussion topics
Systematic manipulation of the publishing process via “paper mills”
…helped us considerably and the editor in chief is not overwhelmed by the situation. How can comparisons be done systematically across different articles in different journals? How does it differ from authorship by medical communication company (ie, ghost authorship)? If a submission looks suspicious, it may be worth looking into the metadata. Larger journals might notice 10… COPE Privacy notice
…aria-level="1">Software service providers such as Monday.com, Airtable and Basecamp, that support administrative activities Marketing and engagement service providers, such as Mailchimp and Hootsuite Insights and analytics service providers, such as Google Analytics Form software service providers, such as Jotform and SurveyMonkey