- Seminars and webinars
Image manipulation
In this session, Jana Christopher, Image Data Integrity Analyst at FEBS Press, offers an authoritative overview of current issues and tools in detecting image manipulation. This discussion was part of 'Publication Misconduct and Fraud Day' hosted by COPE during Publication Integrity… United2Act launches action against paper mills
…statement against paper mills More information about COPE About STM STM is the leading trade association for academic and professional publishers worldwide. At STM we support our members in their mission to advance global research. We have over 140 members based in over 20 countries around the…- Case
Editor adding reference to an author's work
…exceptional). Unfortunately, an apology from Editor B and reversion of the text is all that can be done, but at least that much should be put in place.… - Case
Stolen ownership of a rare case
A case report was published in our journal after being approved by a peer reviewer and subjected to a technical review. The first author was a post-graduate trainee attached to the department of pathology of a prestigious national institute. A month later we received an email from a resident working at a specialist department of another institute claiming that the patient belonged to them and… - Case
Author of rejected letter blames global bias against his message and undisclosed conflicts of interest
…their journal. One of these editors replied to confirm the story, stating that in his view, the letter he had received was not founded on fact, and backed the request not to publish this new commentary. At this stage, the editor of our journal contacted me as managing editor to ask if he could reject the letter outright. I advised that he could, but only based on the scientific merit of the… - Seminars and webinars
Webinar 2020: Understanding text recycling
…points of TRRPs research to date, and David Hansen talks about the legal and ethical standards associated with text recycling. Questions with answers from the Text Recycling Research Project team We had time for questions at the end of the webinar, some of which you can hear on the video, some of which we didn't have time to answer. Cary, David and Michael were kind enough to answer… - News
Facilitation & Integrity 2023, a year in review
…guidance; alternatively they may recommend that the journal makes changes to ensure COPE best practices are followed. In situations where the F&I subcommittee has concerns about practices at the journal or its engagement with COPE, it will refer the matter to the Trustee Board for review per the sanctions process. Cases handled in 2023, some highlights As part of our annual reporting… - News
In the news: December 2020
…of compensation for peer review in "The Scientist". She describes some calls for some sort of compensation - monetary, academic acknowledgement, reduction in Article processing fees for University faculty and others as well as obstacles to developing these systems. At… - News
Peer review resources
…src="/files/u7140/screenshot_2021-09-16_at_21.16.21.png" style="width:100%" /> To narrow your search by the type of guidance you want, filter by ‘resource type’. COPE produces a variety of resource types: Guidelines COPE Guidelines are formal COPE policy and are intended to advise editors and publishers on expected publication ethics practices. Discussion documents… - Case
Undeclared competing interests
…general, what should be done about studies on drugs that are potentially lucrative? Should the authors declare if they “might” make money? - In this case, what does “not-for-profit” really mean? - And what does all this mean for researchers at universities that make money through spin-off companies?… - Case
Falsification of certificates of deposit of new bacterial species in culture collections
The process of naming and describing novel species of bacteria is governed by the Bacteriological Code. As part of this process, authors are required to deposit the type strain of the novel species in at least two culture collections located in different countries, and they are also required to provide documentary evidence that the strains have been so deposited and that the deposited strains… - Case
New claim to authorship of published paper
In October 2011, our journal received a submission from author A with co-authors B, C and D. After review and revision it was published in mid-2012. In April 2013 we received a complaint from author X, saying that the work published in this paper was his work, and that although author A had been his research supervisor at the time the work was done, authors B, C and D had either little or no… - Case
Claim of plagiarism in published article
…the situation correctly. Should the paper in fact have been removed at all? Was there any plagiarism? By removing the paper, without issuing a retraction, the literature has not been corrected, and if the paper was not plagiarized, then what might have been a reasonable paper is no longer available. Was the editor of the open access journal pressurized into removing the paper by author A and/or its… - Case
Misrepresentation of journal decision on social media
…reviewers were biased against the subject matter and private comments from reviewers to the editor indicated that this is not the case. The publisher also subsequently asked the author to correct the misinformation about the editorial decision. The author then made public in an update on their blog that they had requested that the publisher reveal the individual reviewer recommendations. At that point… - Forum discussion topics
Peer review models
…introduction to the COPE Forum discussion on the topic "Peer review models" with COPE Council Member, Patrick Franzen. COPE Forum discussion Peer review sits at the core of scholarly publishing.… Sample Letters
Writing to authors or reviewers about potential misconduct is one of the hardest (but hopefully rarest) tasks of an Editor. It is important that Editors act politely, fairly but firmly at all times. They should not accuse authors or reviewers, but rather should state the facts clearly, giving any evidence, and allowing authors or reviewers a chance to explain their actions before coming to…- News
Peer Review Week 2018: new and revised COPE resources
…width="560"> Listen to our podcast of an interview conducted by Charon Pierson, Secretary of COPE, with Professor Andy Hor, Vice President of Research at Hong Kong University. This podcast explores some of the formal and informal ways that institutions contribute to diversity in the pool of peer reviewers by admitting a global… - News
Research Data: Institutions are key to management and post-publication concerns
…with regard to the collection, use, maintenance and storage of research data. Institutional research data policies have developed based on federal policy, which dictates standards for the administration of grants and agreements with institutions of higher education, hospitals, and other non-profit organizations. These polices clarify the ownership and stewardship of research data generated at… - News
Letter from the COPE Chair: July 2019
…editors’ work, or the honorific citation of leaders in a particular field, was ‘business as usual’. As focus on integrity and the scholarly record intensified, citation manipulation emerged as an issue with a family resemblance to related concerns like gift authorship. These issues create superfluous acknowledgement that is independent of the relevance or contribution to the subject matter at… - News
Case discussion: Editing peer review comments
…incorrect. What is an editor to do in their effort to balance the interests of the authors, reviewers, journals and readers? Can the editor edit the reviews? What if the editor disagrees with the entire review? Should they ever not send a review to the authors? COPE is developing a survey to find out what members think about these and related questions. The topic will also be discussed at the next