Projects Funded
…reporting guidelines in the peer review process, and will explore how effective the editors have found reporting guidelines in improving manuscript quality. The survey will provide an indication of the degree to which reporting guidelines are currently formally used in the peer review process. The study also hopes to identify examples of good practice which may inform recommendations for…- Case
A surgical series that is scientifically meaningless, has no ethics committee approval, and does not mention informed consent
_ There is insufficient evidence for a scientific procedure and it is clearly an example of poor practice. _ Although editors are not inquisitors, there was sufficient anxiety to report this to the author’s institution.… - Case
Request for removal from author list for reasons of religious belief
…to fulfil the author’s request, we think it would be best for the author to initiate the process of contacting the other authors to obtain their agreement. Would this be the best way to proceed? … - News
In the news: February 2022
…Research Network promotes best practice in research and improving research integrity as well as trying to support institutional researchers, rather than focusing on those who commit research misconduct. FORCE11 hosted a virtual… - Case
Revoked parental consent
…a universal consent form was put forward. However, it was felt that one consent form could not cover all situations and instead, COPE plans to publish various on the COPE website examples of best practice journal consent forms for others to see and perhaps use for their own journal. … - Case
Ethics committee approval
…provided by the authors). The journal receives two such studies, one from country A and one from country B. Neither has ethics committee approval. The authors of both manuscripts claim that their studies do not need approval. Question(s) for the COPE Forum• What should best editorial practice be in this situation? —Accept both papers for review. —Accept the paper from… - News
Mediterranean Editors and Translators Meeting 2018
…peer-review and post-publication corrections. Along the way, we discussed issues such as plagiarism, criteria for authorship and the legal implications of licensing and copyright, giving participants new insights into and confidence with ethical issues in academic publishing. - Case
Dual submission
A referee’s report on a paper informed this editor that the authors had submitted a very similar paper to another journal. Both papers analyse the same 30 cases of an unusual neoplasm, and the tables and five of the photomicrographs are identical. There is also considerable duplication of text in the article. We have written to the authors requesting them to clarify how this has arisen a… - Case
Controversy regarding ownership of a device
A paper was submitted which described the outcomes of a clinical trial evaluating a particular device. The device was claimed to represent a placebo version of an active device intervention. The paper was reviewed fairly critically and one reviewer pointed out that from the reference list it did not seem that the authors had developed this type of placebo device, while the title of their paper… - Case
Duplicate publication
We were made aware of a double publication in our journal dating from 20 years ago. A paper which was originally published in French in another journal the year previously was translated and published in our journal. The editorial paperwork is long lost, however, the principal author is a member of our editorial board. They readily responded and explained that it was not uncommon at that time… - Event
COPE Forum: March 2024
…2024. Forum agenda Wednesday 20 March 2024, 14:00-15:30 (GMT / UTC) 1. Update on COPE activities Update on COPE activities by the Chair. 2. Forum discussion topic: Ethical considerations around watchlists We begin the COPE Forum with a discussion on - Case
Non-compliance of author with request for information
…follows: "We agree that manuscripts should provide all information regarding the technical details to allow repetition of the scientific work. In addition, it is generally accepted scientific practice for investigators to share materials and reagents that are relevant to the experiments and are not publicly available to allow parallel work, once the research has been published. It is generally… - Case
Appropriate scope of review for retractions
…overturned by later works and do not meet current scientific standards (and are potentially harmful or are supportive of a practice that has since been prohibited), is it appropriate for journal editors to initiate their own review of these articles? Should these articles be retracted, or would these cases be more appropriately handled with a “statement of concern” alerting readers to the concerns with the… - Case
Author displays bullying behaviour towards handling editor
A handling editor rejected a paper without review, after consulting with a senior editor. The corresponding author sent an appeal about 2 weeks later where he requested that the paper be given a second chance and be sent for peer review. He added that, in case of a new decision to reject without review, the editor should provide a detailed response to a number of questions and comments raised i… - Case
Request for addition of new authors
A journal received an article submission from two authors. The paper went through several revisions over the course of a year, and was eventually accepted for publication. The authors were informed about acceptance and the paper was sent for copyediting. The editorial office subsequently sent the final version of the paper to the authors for proofreading. On the same day, a request was… - Case
The author not affiliated to an institution
A contribution about training in family medicine training was published in a journal. Subsequently, a letter from the chairman of the department of family medicine at the university with which the author claimed to have been affiliated, said that the author did not work there. The author was asked for an explanation. He replied that he had done it involuntarily and that he would be happy for an… Online learning: Request for proposals
…workshops for university RIOs (or their equivalents) where COPE representatives will use the training manual to deliver practical workshops based on the content in the eLearning modules. The training manual can then be used by RIOs to implement their own training sessions in their university or research institute in a "train the trainer" model. COPE is inviting interest from qualified…- News
Case discussion: gift authorship
…publishing ethics and industry best practices. The shared goal is to help improve the integrity of the research record, and one step on that path is to facilitate greater transparency, accountability, and accurate recognition of authorship. Back to top Is there any way to systematically identify the most prolific authors? At present, to our knowledge, there are no… - Case
Interactive case report of a patient with ongoing health problems
- There is a duty of care to safeguard the patient’s psychological health. - The potential harm is completely unpredictable. - Why is the patient named? This will only increase the possibility of harm. - This is tantamount to “reality medicine,” akin to a Victorian freak show. - The patient should not take part as it is not in their best interests. - It would be difficult to obtain consent in…