- News
Letter from the COPE Chair: May 2021
…but their name is added for reasons of perceived duty, respect, or friendship. The cases illustrate situations you might come across as an editor, with guidance and suggestions for both editors and authors in dealing with this type of unethical behaviour. COPE’s authorship discussion document, last reviewed… - Guidelines
Retraction guidelines
…manipulated peer review process The author(s) failed to disclose a major competing interest (a.k.a. conflict of interest) that, in the view of the editor, would have unduly affected interpretations of the work or recommendations by editors and peer reviewers. Notices of retraction should: Be linked to the retracted article wherever possible (ie, in all online… - Case
Is ethics committee approval necessary for retrospective clinical studies?
A journal received a manuscript on risk factors for a disease, which had no ethics committee approval or dispensation. The clinical data were collected from the electronic and physical histories of the patients during hospitalization. The authors stated that the study was not submitted to an ethics review board because these data are "secondary." In some countries, this type of research will… - Case
Same cohort - same blood samples - multiple tests
This is a hypothetical situation based on a real-life experience. A set of authors recruited the same patient cohort, collected data with two questionnaires, took one blood sample, but tests were done by two research students for two pathogens, and the results were presented separately in two theses. Subsequently, they sent different papers to two journals. No plagiarism has been… - News
COPE authorship workshop February 2021
…cases for discussion are based on real cases: Unable to contact an author to obtain permission to publish The role of the lead author Dispute over authorship order Claim to Publication and research ethics related to geopolitical issues
…race, or religion of the authors. COPE position statements COPE advice to editors on geopolitical intrusions on editorial decisions (2022) The protection of vulnerable groups…- News
Case discussion: repeated complaints about a review
…Case summary Case 11-07 A reader, whose identity was unclear, alerted a journal about an author who had recently been found guilty of publication misconduct and had had a dozen papers retracted. Subsequently, the reader repeatedly… - News
Editor to Editor support for Journal Management
…Practices...). This paper is published in Nurse Author & Editor and is freely available online. It generated 67 editorials (and counting) which are listed on the INANE website. Supporting editorial best… - News
In the news: October 2020
…This is a problem for scholarly loss and protecting continued access. The OAPEN Foundation launched a toolkit for researchers and academic book authors to help authors understand OA for books, to increase trust in OA book publishing. President Xi Jinping of China has… - Event
Sixth Regional Conference on Medical Journals in the Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMMJ6)
…http://www.emro.who.int/entity/emame/">Eastern Mediterranean Association of Medical Editors, the World Health Organization Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, and the Academy for Scientific Research and Technology (ASRT), Egypt. Editors and staff of health science journals in the Region and beyond, as well as interested health and biomedical researchers, peer reviewers, authors, and publishers are invited to participate in… - News
COPE Forum discussion: Preprints: continuing the conversation
…preprint platforms, journals, authors, funders and institutions. COPE has facilitated this discussion previously via an earlier forum discussion and with respect to - Event
ISMTE European Conference 2019
…peer review processes and how journals need to adapt to face these. Aspiring to better practice in publication ethics and research integrity means promoting respect for and between researchers, authors, peer reviewers, journal editors, and research administrators. It means supporting their best efforts to respect research participants, subjects, animals, and the environment. It means… - Case
Dual publication may be necessary in some situations
…published from the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta. The authors had taken the same cohort but looked at it from two entirely different angles with two entirely different readerships in mind. What are COPE’s views on this?… - Case
A paper describing a case of possible medical negligence
The authors of the paper talked to the doctor who had given the injection and to the patient who had received it. The patient was disappointed at her family doctor’s performance, but decided not to take any further action.… - Case
Ethics approval for audit 1
A group in a developing country decided to do a survey of maternal mortality in relation to the available local facilities in the various regions of their country. They set up a small committee to look at the incidence and causes. They obtained the permission of the local authorities, including the local elders, community leaders, and local health care providers, to scrutinise records and… - Case
Confidentiality and privacy issue
A manuscript was submitted from UK authors. The study was a case series of infants with a particular condition. A table in the manuscript contains descriptive data which are critically important for the readers with respect to understanding the risk of this condition in young infants and the likelihood of abuse. The question is whether this table violates the law with respect to… - Seminars and webinars
ISMTE webinar 2020: Citation games
…Citation games: mocking research Matt Hodgkinson, COPE Council member, was invited to speak at the ISMTE European Virtual Event 2020. Matt explored the ethics of citations, looking 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… - News
In the news: June 2021
…Ethics cases and discuss how they are represented in the literature. The authors found that the majority of cases discussed are prominent cases, predominantly in biomedical fields, and they appear mainly within the news sections of journals. Cases mainly involve fabrication, falsification, and patient safety issues, which could divert attention from other less visible or recently emerging forms of… - News
Case Discussion: Ethics of non-active management of a control group
…treatment/control group did not have their systemic condition managed in what would today be regarded as 'standard of care'. Question(s) for the COPE Forum • Despite apparent local ethics board approval, and a statement from the authors declaring adherence to the Declaration of Helsinki, is it ethical to include a non-active intervention group for a disease which is known to have negative…