- Case
Unresponsive authors delaying publication
The journal received a submission which proceeded through peer review and was recommended for publication. The authors responded to the revision letter, providing a detailed itemised list of changes and revised their manuscript accordingly. The revised manuscript was subsequently accepted for publication. The normal process for articles in this journal is that when papers are accepted a… - Case
Deceased author and author delaying publication
The Forum advised that the journal should keep the manuscript on hold until the editor hears back from the corresponding author. Perhaps the editor in chief or the handling editor of the journal could reach out to the surviving author directly. Journal practices vary about whether all authors or only the corresponding author needs to sign off the proofs. If both authors need to sign off the… - Case
Authorship dispute involving a commercial institution
A paper was published in a journal. After publication, an associate editor of the journal said that they and other colleagues should have been authors on the paper. They cited a patent they helped write that overlapped with the article as proof that they should be authors on the paper. The authors of the paper refuse to add the associate editor and colleagues as authors. Unfortuna… - Case
Should we retract a published paper with a high similarity match?
…between the two papers is within its standard, the editors may still want to consider whether there is sufficient originality in the 2022 article to merit publication, or whether it constitutes either duplication or salami slicing, both of which are regarded as unethical practices. It may be beneficial to focus on the integrity of the article/s themselves. The percentage match rate should be… - Case
Image manipulation case
…investigation of the data/practices that led to these error(s). However, if the reviews are still favourable, the editors can then decide if they should issue an erratum of an erratum, or they could retract the paper and republish it, along with a comment explaining why. Students frequently make errors, especially when they are not getting good supervision so, unless there is clear evidence of… - Case
Author with recidivist behaviour involving simultaneous submissions
An author submitted manuscript A to Journal 1 and to Journal 2 in consecutive months, both journals published by the same publisher. The author had previously submitted another manuscript to Journal 3 and informed the journal that the paper had been already published by another journal when the proofs were received. Journal 1 and Journal 2 have decided to withdraw the manuscript. Journa… - News
In the news: December Digest
…policies, including the Make Data Count Project provides some practical information as well as arguments for a robust data sharing practice. http://europeanscienceediting.eu/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/ESEAug19_editorial.pdf PLOS is encouraging authors to pre-register their study designs… - News
Case discussion: self-plagiarism and suspected salami publishing
…a published manuscript and asked the authors for an explanation. The editorial board concluded that this case did not represent redundant or salami publication, but did satisfy its criteria for text recycling. A relevant note was added to paper A and journal B was informed. Case Discussion This archived COPE Forum case is categorised under two COPE Core Practices… - News
Letter from the COPE Chair: April 2020
…Ultimately, we are all dealing with unprecedented changes to the way we work but what is important is to maintain professional standards, find ways to support our colleagues—and to stay safe. Best regards, COPE Chair Seminars
…_final%20%281%29.pdf">Download PDF of the seminar programme) "Weighed and Measured: How metrics shape publication (mis)behaviour The 2015 European Seminar and Workshop was held on Friday 17 April 2015 at the Representation of the State of Hessen to the European Union, Rue Montoyer 21, 1000 Brussels, Belgium Altmetrics in practice: where are they being used (and…- News
In the news: January Digest
…determine how their cultural practices, such as emphasizing the importance of novelty, discovery and priority, undermine the value of replication, verification and transparency. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03750-7 This presentation at the Munin Conference in December, described an initiative to… - Seminars and webinars
Seminar 2021: Authorship for sale
…Webinar: Practical steps for managing paper mills It is one year since the seminar and COPE is hosting a webinar for journals and publishers at which speakers will share their experience of how they managed paper mills. There will also be practical tips on how to manage paper mills at scale. Register for… - News
COPE response to Science paper submission of fake paper, by Virginia Barbour, on behalf of COPE council
…that seeks to educate and support its members and this drives what we do day-to-day. Our focus is on practical, pragmatic advice and to that end we produce a number of resources for members, which provide concrete guidance that can also be used by anyone involved in publishing. Our most recent guidelines, which are especially… - News
Letter from the COPE Chair: September 2020
…topics of interest to our membership. In our mission to promote integrity in scholarly research publication and create a future in which ethical practices are the cultural norm, we hope to raise the trustworthiness of publications in tangible ways; from our Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers, to recent survey results on editing reviewer comments, through expanding our resources in response to… - News
Diversifying editorial boards
…href="https://publicationethics.org/resources/guidelines/editorial-board-participation">Editorial board participation guidelines Driving diversity, equity, and inclusion to shape the future of publication ethics, COPE Seminar 2021 … - Case
Duplicate publication
…this duplicity. In addition to this the senior author has already, in the past, been suspended from clinical practice for a period of four months while an untoward clinical incident was investigated and a Royal College of Surgeons inquiry was instituted. Pending further explanation the senior editor in this country has already been in touch with the other British publication covering the same… - Case
Dual submission
Paper 1 was submitted to journal A. The paper dealt with monitoring of a chemical element in various occupations in a range of workplaces. Samples were taken from the workplace air and bodily fluids of the workers, and conclusions were drawn about what metabolite should be measured in order to estimate a worker’s dose of the element. The chosen reviewers were experts in relevant biological moni… - Case
Conflict of interest
…clearly that incomplete disclosures will be amended in a published statement in the Department of Error section, which will also be linked electronically to the publication in electronic databases. Such a correction for this study appears in today’s journal. To realise their full potential to benefit populations, research findings must influence practice. Intelligent debate is part of that… - Case
Possible serial misconduct in relation to coauthors and other activities
I am the editor of an international clinical journal and am facing a very unusual problem that does not fit readily into COPE flowcharts. Through a reviewer, I was informed that an author had submitted a paper without the approval of at least one of the other authors. This appeared to be confirmed by two other authors. In response to my bringing this possibility to the first author’s at… - Case
Was this study unethical?
We reviewed and published a randomised controlled trial in which children’s exposure to parental secondhand smoke (SHS) was either sustained (usual practice control) or parents were asked to avoid smoking around their children (intervention group). The study included more than 400 children averaging 9 years old. Parents provided written informed consent. The study was approved by the ethics…