- Case
Ethical approval for retrospective study
A paper reported the clinical outcomes of patients suffering from a neglected disease before and after a change in the national treatment policy which raised the threshold of one laboratory parameter before a more toxic, but more effective drug could be used. The authors did a retrospective cohort study of patients treated under both policies, to see how this change affected outcomes. They did… - Case
Duplicate submission
…would not happen in the future. We are unsure as to how to proceed. If we go ahead with the review of the manuscript, this sends a message to the authors that there are no consequences for their misconduct (whether or not it was an honest mistake). Therefore, we would like to have COPE’s advice on the best course of action. We have put review of the paper on hold.… - Case
Paper B plagiarised paper A: what to do if a journal does not respond?
The author X of a paper published by journal A complained to the editor-in-chief of journal A that his/her paper has been plagiarised by a paper that has been published later by journal B. Moreover, the authors of the paper in journal B allegedly did not respond to letters sent by author X asking for an explanation about the apparent plagiarism. The editor-in-chief of journal A compared… - Event
ALPSP Publication Ethics Course: Fraud and Misconduct.
This course, by ALPSP, will cover how to detect and deal effectively with possible misconduct and show the importance of having sound ethical policies. While the principles and theories covered are applicable across most publication types, some issues covered will be particularly relevant to… - Event
ISTME European virtual event
…citations, this talk will look at who subverts best practice, why they do it, how they can be countered, and what are the consequences. From self-citing authors, to coercive reviewers and editors, and citation rings, citation manipulation undermines research integrity. Can we treat all citations as equal, such as those to articles in predatory journals, retracted or corrected articles, and non-peer… - Case
Deception in submitting manuscript for publication
A manuscript was submitted to my journal. The author, on his own accord, submitted the manuscript for review to several reviewers under the guise that this was sent by me. The author sent the following explanation: “In some of our previous encounters, you have indicated that finding sufficient cooperative reviewers has been a problem for you. In order to provide you with some help in… - News
COPE Forum: 30 April 2018
…'Preprints: continuing the conversation', followed by an update on existing cases. The cases and discussion document are now available with the Forum agenda. You are invited to make comment on the discussion… COPE policies
…understand how we operate across all areas. Overview These policies and procedures have been designed to: ensure compliance with the law and regulation (eg, Companies House, Charities Commission); provide appropriate controls, including a framework for delegation by the Board of Trustees to staff or volunteers that set out how things should be done and what is…- News
Predatory behaviour in publication ethics
…we offer an overview of how this issue intersects with a number of other problems in scholarly publishing. At COPE it is clear that predatory publishing is just one aspect of a wider network of unethical activities. The different elements of this network seek to profit from a system which dilutes the scholarly literature, either dupes authors or actively… What peer review means in the arts, humanities and social sciences: Forum discussion topic June 2020
…href="https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/10/new-sokal-hoax/572212/" target="_blank">hoax article problem with respect to fake articles on diversity, inclusivity and identity politics also challenged the merit, quality and legitimacy of the scope and standards of some types of journals, including those that publish feminist scholarship. Recently, this issue was raised again with respect to a- Case
Retraction of article and accompanying editorial
The authors of a published article have asked to have an article retracted for internal policy reasons. However, we have solicited and published an editorial which accompanies this article and specifically references it within the text. We are unsure how to handle this. Question for COPE Council Does COPE have any policy or protocol for cases like this? … - News
Where next in peer review? Part 1: COPE commentary
…articles almost doubled from 2016 to 2022 and rapid growth is likely to continue with the development of new platforms and types of output. The system was arguably never built to spot misconduct or problems with data, as it is now commonly expected to do. Certainly, in his 2006 assessment of such practices at the BMJ Richard Smith was - Case
Allegation of fraudulent publication
…B in 2001 was almost an exact copy of an article published in Journal C in 1990. The Editor of Journal A examined copies of the articles from Journals B and C and concluded that this appeared to be a case of plagiarism. How should the Editor of Journal A act in this situation, given that Journal A is not the victim of the alleged plagiarism and that Journal C has ceased… Membership application FAQ
…Frequently asked questions on applying for COPE membership and how your application is processed. Applying for membership Which form do I need to complete? Completing the application form What happens to my application once submitted?- Case
A case of scientific misconduct?
…assumption when we see the report of a trial is that, unless it is presented as a secondary, follow up, or other type of ancillary or nested analysis, then the report describes all of the main aspects outlined in the approved protocol. This wasn't the case here, but how serious is this? Is it a form of scientific misconduct and if so who should we report it to? (The ethics committee may not care - are… - Case
Lead author of a research paper disagrees with content of a linked editorial
…whether commissioned editorials should be sent for peer review? If not routinely, then should that have been done in this case?• How should the journal respond to the behaviour of the lead author? Contacting the editorialist directly to obtain a copy of the editorial, and corresponding with that person directly over the holidays, is not typical behaviour and clearly made the editorialist feel… - News
Letter from the COPE Chair: September 2022
Welcome to our annual edition of Digest celebrating Peer Review Week (19-23 September). This year’s theme is “Research Integrity: Creating and supporting trust in research”. As part of Peer Review Week, COPE is hosting a webinar on managing paper… - Case
Reviewer requesting addition of multiple citations of their own work
A handling editor noticed a reviewer report where the reviewer instructed the author to cite multiple publications by the same reviewer in their manuscript. The handling editor noted a similar instance involving this reviewer from the past and requested the editorial office to look into his reviewing history. This uncovered a concerning pattern of behaviour where the reviewer habitually asked… - Case
Undeclared conflict of interest
- The failure to declare conflicts of interests is common. - Journals do have editorial responsibility as to how papers are presented. In this instance the journal’s efforts had been overshadowed by the authors’ press conference. - The paper reported preliminary findings, which had been overlooked by the media. - The journal’s retraction had been appropriate. - No action required at present,… - Case
Balancing anonymisation and open science during peer-review
As an editor of a journal with a double-anonymous peer review system, I often wonder about the right balance between open science practices and anonymisation of the manuscript for the review process. How much anonymisation is enough while being compatible with open science dissemination? In particular, when a manuscript includes information about the protocol registration and raw data,…