- Flowcharts
What to consider when asked to peer review a manuscript
A peer reviewer has been asked to review a manuscript. The flowchart is a step by step guide to help potential peer reviewers make a decision on whether to accept or decline an invitation to review. What to consider when asked to peer review a manuscript… - News
Letter from the COPE co-Chairs: June 2018
…applied to the individual(s) developing and conducting the research and/or writing the manuscript or grant report, who then submit it for publication or dissemination. The goals of the different and influential groups can be at odds with the concept of ethical oversight where the system is driven by forces other than an approach to ethical reasoning that protects the research subject. In a - Case
Ethics and consent in research
A letter was sent to the chief editor of our journal in response to a recently published article in our journal. The author had serious concerns about the ethics and consent obtained as a result of this study and the follow-up by the researchers. The author explained that he was the physician of two of the “volunteers” who participated in this study and was concerned about informed… - Case
Lead author of a research paper disagrees with content of a linked editorial
…and that this would not be shared with them before publication? It can be alarming for authors if they do not know there is going to be a press release related to their article, especially as the author contact details are often in the press release so that they can be contacted for interview by the media. If it is a third party issuing the press release, there is little the journal can do. For high… - Seminars and webinars
COPE webinar 2018: Creating and implementing data research policies
In July 2018 COPE held a webinar on 'Creating and implementing data research policies' moderated by Trevor Lane of Edanz Group and COPE Council. The guest speakers were: Rebecca Grant (Research Data Manager) & Varsha Khodiyar (Data Curation Manager) from the Open Research Group at Springer Nature; Todd Carpenter (Executive Director) from NISO, National Information… - Case
Authorship issue related to misleading action of one author
Our journal received a manuscript which was a report of an evaluation and enhancement of an online clinical decision support system (CDS) for a specific population at risk of a disease. The online CDS had been developed by a national agency with a mission to support health promotion and disease prevention activities. Evaluation of the CDS was supported through contracts and sub-contracts. The… - Forum discussion topics
Coordinating multi-journal complaints
…author groups whose articles are linked by certain traits. Some journals or publishers may only have one or two papers involved but others may have tens of articles in question. Following best practice for investigating the allegations, the editor would approach the authors for an explanation for each article and review the authors’ responses to the issue in that article. Appropriate editorial action… - News
Peer review focus
…peer review process must be “transparently described and well managed”. Journals must have policies in place for the process, conflicts of interest, appeals by authors and other disputes. Journal leadership must make sure that editors and reviewers are knowledgeable of journal polices regarding the process. One of the key documents that COPE revised in… - News
FORUM DISCUSSION TOPIC: comments please
…Forum discussion topic this month is around Predatory Publishing. Add your comments to the discussion below (non-members also welcome to comment): What are the issues? Predatory publishing is generally defined as for-profit open access journal publication of scholarly articles without the benefit of peer review by experts in the field or the usual… - News
Letter from the COPE co-Chairs: March 2019
Early in my academic career I was sent a publication in which my name appeared as a 5th author. The research was legitimate, conducted by a senior colleague, and I had participated in a small part of the research. I had not been involved in the writing of the paper, its final approval, or in signing the copyright agreement. I went to the faculty member who had written and submitted the… - News
Letter from the COPE Vice-Chair: May 2020
…regions of the world and resurfacing in others, the preparation and submission of manuscripts for publication can be compromised by broken chains of communication and non-responsiveness of coauthors. In light of these challenges, the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals have proposed a modification of the ICMJE - News
Letter from the COPE Chair: November 2021
…accompanied by a thoughtful essay on Diversifying editorial boards by Caroline Porter, a COPE Trustee. Certainly worth a read. We have also published the discussion from our Forum in October, on Bias in peer review. Please take a read and… - Case
Personal remarks within a post-publication literature forum
…evaluation are then allowed to respond with a “follow-up”. Member A submitted an evaluation of an article (all evaluations are positive, by default, although criticisms are encouraged). There were six other such evaluations. Member B wrote a “dissent”. There was one other “dissent”. Member A decided to respond to Member B with a “follow-up”. In the follow-up, he… - Case
Retraction or expression of concern?
…some more experimental detail and data. At this point we approached author A telling him that we did not think the data he provided supported his claims and that he might want to consider retracting the article. Author A responded by sending us several opinions from ‘experts’ he had found arguing that the article should not be retracted. None of these ‘experts’ is an expert in the imaging technique… - Case
Is it unethical to reject unregistered (or late-registered) trials?
…study. However, would other editors have a concern about strict application of the registration rule (ie, that editors have a duty not just to apply policy regardless but to consider their responsibilities to the integrity of the evidence base in a more flexible way, which in some cases may be achieved by overriding their own policies)? However, we are concerned that having some laxity in our policy… - 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
Author refuses to comply with editorial review prior to production and publication
Advice on this case is from a small number of COPE Council Members. Most cases on the COPE website are presented to the COPE Forum where advice is offered by a wider group of COPE Members and COPE Council Members. Advice on individual cases is not formal COPE guidance. The editor has the right to edit, for journal style,… - Case
Author withdraws manuscript upon payment request
We occasionally come across a situation when an author withdraws a manuscript upon receiving a payment request. We consider this irresponsible, when much of the publication process has been completed by editors and reviewers. We request authors to provide payment details after the manuscript has been accepted for publication. The fees policy is published on our website and we require that the… - Case
Data source for study of questionable integrity and provenance
…concluded. Prior to the meeting, the journal decided that given these concerns, they would not proceed with the paper. The obvious thing to do would be to reject the paper, but by holding it, the journal can also prevent it being published elsewhere. Questions for COPE Council Does COPE agree with this course of action and what, if any, additional steps should the journal… - Case
Should we retract a published paper with a high similarity match?
Advice on this case is from a small number of COPE Council Members. Most cases on the COPE website are presented to the COPE Forum where advice is offered by a wider group of COPE Members and COPE Council Members. Advice on individual cases is not formal COPE guidance. While the journal notes that the percent match rate…