- Case
Possible malpractice revealed in a case report
…terminal ileum. They treated the patient with immunosuppression, and she came back four times over the following year with no improvement, and died of small-bowel obstruction due to her leiomyosarcoma. The editor who received this case report telephoned the corresponding author to ask if he wished to resubmit it to the section on medical error, but he did not feel that the case indicated any error on… - Case
Online trial of a new diagnostic tool
A paper was submitted that attempted to evaluate a new tool for diagnosing an acute symptom. This symptom is one that could be linked with various medical conditions—some causing little harm and some life threatening. The researchers recruited (and continue to recruit) patients into the study through a website devoted to this symptom. Patients viewing the website are asked if they would like… - Case
A case report of an experimental therapy, submitted by the patient
…situation, but was concerned if the treatment had not worked. Then the doctors providing the treatment would have been at fault. Other editors shared their experiences of where authors had applied the procedures to themselves and then tried to publish the papers. The committee thought it was doubtful that the editor could take this any further.… - Case
Duplicate publication
The committee felt that the authors’ excuse that the papers were intended for different audiences did not stand up. If the two papers were basically the same, with most of the data in the tables being duplicated (overlapping data) but with an extension of the data in one of the papers, then this was clearly a case of duplicate, or “redundant”, publication. It would have been acceptable for the… - Case
Signing on behalf of other authors
…non-European scripts. Should the editors be worried about this? Should the explanation be accepted? If not, what is the next step?… - Case
Authors bearing gifts …
…instance, all agreed that it would be wrong to accept any gift while a paper is still in the process of being reviewed. One option would be for the editor to say that his company has a policy that he would have to declare a conflict of interest at the bottom of the paper if he accepted the gift so he thinks it is better to return it.… - Flowcharts
Undisclosed conflict of interest in a submitted manuscript
…class="resource-download-inline__meta">PDF 94 KB Key points At the time of submission an author may have declared no potential conflicts of interest or an incomplete list. If authors are unsure of the nature of competing interests the journal should… - Case
Wrong article abstract published: corrigendum or retraction and republication?
…made, and it did not involve misconduct/fraud or affect the validity of the actual findings. This appears to be a simple mix-up, although it shows the need for careful version comparison during production and proofreading. In the case of e-first publication, there is a window of opportunity to make corrections, so if the journal can, they might replace the abstract in the HTML and PDF… - Seminars and webinars
Trends and issues in publication ethics
…for peer reviewers What to do when asked to peer review a manuscript What to do if you suspect peer review manipulation … - Case
Query about errata
…original online pieces. Questions for COPE Council Can you advise COPE's position on whether notes about errata and corrigenda should be included in the original online version of the article to which they apply, particularly if the correction has subsequently been made in the html version and the pdf? Is it acceptable to publish notice of a particular erratum in… - Forum discussion topics
Publishing when English is not your first language
…invite you to add comments here. You must be logged in to leave a comment on the COPE website. If you are not a member of COPE you can create a guest account. Comments will not appear immediately. We review comments on our website before publishing them, to ensure they are respectful and relevant.… - News
In the news: October Digest
…="https://cen.acs.org/research-integrity/misconduct/China-strengthens-campaign-against-scientific/97/i35" target="_blank">https://cen.acs.org/research-integrity/misconduct/China-strengthens-campaign-against-scientific/97/i35 Interviews with 21 journal editors from North America across multiple disciplines about their thoughts about text recycling (AKA "Self-plagiarism") shows a wide-range of tolerance for the practice, from tolerance of it in some circumstances to absolute… - News
Letter from COPE Vice-Chair: February 2020
…more members to participate. The discussion topic is “editing of reviewers comments”. This is a contentious topic and many editors have differing views on how much, if any, editing should be done. Share your thoughts and insights by - Case
Late reinterpretation and a new author
…asked to see a copy of the questionnaire used and evidence for the new interpretation so that the journal could judge the changes for itself. He also emphasised that, if the journal was satisfied with the changes and the answers on authorship, the journal still wanted to publish the article. The easiest thing for the authors would have been to withdraw the paper—but that would also best serve the… - Case
Reviewer misconduct?
…of the paper published in journal B. Questions for COPE • At this point, we feel that our investigation has exonerated the accused reviewer of one allegation (unethically using information obtained during the peer review process in his/her own publication). Does COPE agree? • If the manuscript submitted to journal C (providing independent confirmation of the accused’s defence)… - Case
Plagiarism of reviewer's work
Several Europe-based authors, including well known, respected and much published ones, submitted an essay for the journal's section on research methodology. We rejected it without external review as it wasn't making sufficiently new points. We offered to see it again, however, if it was revised and if it added some worked examples using this methodology within published studies. A year… - Case
Potential fabrication of data in primary studies included in a meta-analysis accepted for publication
…journals to see that an investigation is carried out but journal A should follow the events. Of course, if the other journals refuse to investigate, there is little that the editor can do. In summary, the Forum agreed that the editor should contact the authors and the reviewers of the meta-analysis in the first instance. If the editor has sufficient evidence that some of the papers are fabricated… - Case
Editor found guilty of research misconduct
…the papers should be looked at if practically possible, in particular if any have medical/patient implications. The journal will need to carry out due diligence for these papers. While the acknowledgement issue is relatively minor, it is very unprofessional behaviour. The core issue is whether there is any likelihood of problems with the papers that were written by the editor. This is not dissimilar… - Case
Author alleges discrimination by institutional report
…resigned from the institution. The journal's retraction notice remains on hold. Questions for the Forum The corresponding author has called the validity and motivation of the institutional body’s findings into question. While the journal cannot adjudicate the allegations of racism, how does the journal protect itself from being part of the discrimination (if… - Case
Excessive self-citation in a book chapter
…limit on the number or proportion of references which can be self-citations. One example is a maximum of three instances, or 10 per cent of all references. Others are developing policies to suppress Journal Impact Factors if excessive self-citation is a feature, or stating that citations to the Special Issue articles in Special Issue editorials are not allowed (see examples