- Case
Randomised controlled trial without ethics committee approval
…about this. They replied that they had not applied for ethics committee approval, having discussed this carefully among themselves, on the basis that the only variable in the study was the position adopted by the patient, and that both positions were part of standard and established practice. The editors felt some sympathy with this argument, but suggested the authors ask the ethics committee whether… - Case
Dual submission, salami slicing, redundant publication, or all three?
…basis. Public interest in preventing fraudulent publication overrides confidentiality with the author. Sometimes authors write up different aspects of one research study and send them to different journals, so dome degree of overlap is inevitable, but as long as the authors openly declare what they have done, this is acceptable practice. They should cross reference or include a copy of… - Case
Victim of article theft wants correction to list their name, not retraction
Author A contacted us claiming that an article published in the journal recently by author B was stolen from an article author A had earlier submitted to two different publishers, publisher A in 2016 and publisher B in 2017. Author A provided the PDFs of the manuscripts they had submitted to those other publishers. The version submitted to us 2018 by author B was very similar to that submitted… - Case
Ethical considerations in publishing conference papers
…full conference papers count as prepublication. Although practices vary across journals, all journals should have clear guidelines on this issue. Some journals do not allow republication of a conference paper, some allow republication if the conference paper was only a short version (abridged or summary) and some allow republication if a certain amount of new data or original material is… - Guidelines
Ethical guidelines for peer reviewers
…disciplines. COPE Guidelines are formal COPE policy and are intended to advise editors and publishers on expected publication ethics practice Ethical guidelines for peer reviewers, COPE guidance - Seminars and webinars
Webinar 2021: Diversity, equity and inclusion
…Diversity, equity and inclusion in scholarly research and publishing This webinar, recorded May 2021, deals with the impact of discriminatory practices in editorial processes and peer review, promoting of social justice and equality in scholarly publishing, best practices around identity and name changes, including examples of implementation, and addresses… - News
In the news: July 2021
…target="_blank">online survey of researchers in the field of psychology accessed data management strategies and practices throughout the research process during data collection, analysis and sharing phases. Few participants reported formal training or use of data-management support services. There responses indicate wide variability and a large potential for improved practices. The Swiss Academies of Arts… - News
Creating and implementing research data policies: COPE webinar report
COPE held its third educational webinar for members on 2 July 2018. Titled ‘Creating and implementing research data policies’, the hour-long webinar was about the practicalities and challenges of choosing data sharing policies for journals and ensuring authors and reviewers adhere to the policies. Trevor Lane (COPE… Publication ethics issues in AHSS: New study
…Marketing & Communications Officer Follow us on Twitter @C0PE About COPE COPE is committed to educate and support editors, publishers and others involved in publication ethics, with the aim of moving the culture of publishing towards one where ethical practices become the norm. Our approach is firmly in the direction of influencing…- Case
Simultaneous submission without aiming at duplicate publication
The Forum noted the policy of dual submission has not been honoured but there is little than journal A can do. In this case, it seems that the dual submission was not deliberate bad practice on the part of the authors. The authors made the mistake of not withdrawing their article from journal A before submitting it to journal B. The authors may have wrongly thought that journal A knew… - Case
Article published at two journals after withdrawal from first journal
The Forum was reminded that COPE is not an enforcer of policies or guidelines. There was a common feeling that both Journal B and the authors had acted correctly and that Journal A had likely engaged in unethical practices by continuing to publish the article after agreeing to its withdrawal. Beyond this, it may up to the authors to work with Journal A to facilitate a retraction and… Presentations
…href="/files/u2/COPE_Health_Forum_London_Oct_07.pdf">Download PDF (504 kb) Presented by Liz Wager At the Healthcare Publishing Forum London, UK October 2007 Publication – the role of editors and journals. Current best practices Download PDF (332 kb) Presented byCOPE Governance
COPE was established to provide advice and guidance on best practice for dealing with ethical issues in journal publishing. Originally aimed primarily at editors and publishers of scholarly journals, membership now includes universities and research institutes, and organisations and individuals involved…- News
Case Discussion: Data fabrication in a rejected manuscript
…dissatisfaction about the lead author, to avoid possible legal issues such as defamation. Case Discussion This archived COPE Forum case is categorised under the COPE Core Practice of Data and Reproducibility, which states: “Journals should include policies on data availability and encourage the use… - Case
Allegation of reviewer malpractice
The Editor provided a signed declaration stating the journal’s practice of asking authors to suggest reviewer(s) who may or may not be used for that purpose. The Editor’s declaration stated that the reviewer in question was nominated by the authors and that no competing interest was declared by either the authors or the reviewer.… - Case
Supervisor publishes PhD students work
The PhD supervisor and a co-supervisor published a paper. The paper contained the work of a PhD student; approximately 90% of the paper was from the thesis. The PhD student found out when the paper was electronically pre-published. He contacted the supervisor. The supervisor’s first reaction was “How did you find out”? The supervisor did not want to include the PhD student as an author since he… - Case
Query regarding a retraction
A journal published a paper. Some months later, the author asked if they could change the contents of the paper. The Editor in Chief had some concerns with respect to some of the results and could not come to an agreement with the author. The author then requested withdrawal of this paper and asked that it be removed from the database. The author also accused the journal of being unethical. - Case
Authorship dispute during the review process
During the review process for a manuscript submitted to our journal, one of the reviewers alerted us that the manuscript appeared to be the work of a collaborator (Dr X) who was not listed as an author on the paper. It became clear that the manuscript’s corresponding author (Dr Y, affiliation A) was a postdoctoral researcher supervised by Dr X (previously at affiliation A, recently moved to aff… - Flowcharts
Legal and regulatory restrictions of unpublished data: dealing with concerns
…framework. International regulations around research practice. International regulations around data handling. Related resources Legal and regulatory restrictions of published data: dealing with concerns COPE flowchart - Case
How to handle offers of promotion of authorship for sale
We have been approached via email by a company promoting authorship for sale. The email describes the service as providing 'co-authorship' of an existing article that has been submitted for publication in an indexed journal. The articles cover a range of disciplines and the company claims a high success rate for publication. Question for COPE Council: What steps sho…