Common ethical and editorial dilemmas of author misconduct: how should we respond?
…publication/submission is often revealed by reviewers, who happen to have seen it elsewhere or reviewed it for another journal. Can it be incidental? It's very rare. When it is uncovered by the reviewer or the editor, and only then does the author respond, that is suspicious in and of itself. It should be the author openly declaring it if there has been a genuine mistake. What…- News
In the news: April Digest
…/02/27/self-plagiarism-when-is-re-purposing-text-ethically-justifiable/">https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2019/02/27/self-plagiarism-when-is-re-purposing-text-ethically-justifiable/ A tongue-in-cheek powerpoint by Nicolas Rougier entitled: Ten Simple Rules for Scientific Fraud & Misconduct. - News
Standards in Authorship webinar summary
…(Director of Strategic Initiatives, F1000 and Co-Chair of Project CRediT [Contributor Roles Taxonomy]) highlighted the fact that the use of authorship position on a paper to imply the role played in the research is now recognised as outdated (and frankly bizarre). Many journals are facilitating transparency by requiring authors to specify authorship contributions in the article. CRediT is a CASRAI… - Case
Who ensures the integrity of the editor?
…that it was at odds with the definition of authorship by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).The editor-in-chief ignored these concerns. Shortly thereafter, the association’s CEO announced that no letters should be published in the association’s journal that criticised association policy. The editor-in-chief initially stated to the journal staff that he disagreed with this… - Case
Misattributed authorship and unauthorized use of data
The director of a research laboratory contacted our journal regarding an article published earlier this year. The director claimed that the documents and data used in the article were collected at his research laboratory and used by author A without his knowledge and permission. At the time, author A was a visiting scholar at the director's laboratory. The director also claimed that… - Case
Scientific misconduct claim from a whistleblower where the institution will not investigate
…and additional experiments were required. The editors followed-up with the whistleblower requesting more information and their identity. The whistleblower emailed back, concealing their identity, but provided additional information, highlighting a specific component of the research as unreliable. Institution-2 (the one that was not claimed by the whistleblower) was informed of the… - Case
Withdrawal of acceptance based on potentially unconsented data
Two papers were retracted (without dispute from the authors) after a lengthy investigation. It was discovered that some of the data used in these articles were gathered without participant consent for the study or for publication (no participants are identifiable). The investigation was conducted by a public body in the country of the authors, and the journal has been told that they will not… - Seminars and webinars
Seminar 2021: Authorship for sale
…How do we deal with the growing problem of paper mills? The webinar panelists discussed the prevalence of paper mills, the systematic manipulation of the publication process by individuals or organised groups to guarantee publication, often through sale of authorship or manipulating article acceptance. This session is one of - News
1st COPE South American Seminar – Brazil, Monday 12 November 2012
…Health, will provide an alternative perspective, highlighting the difficulties faced by small journals, particularly in developing countries where there may be political issues. A panel of Brazilian editors will relate their experiences of correcting the published research record. In addition, there will be: Session on the COPE retraction guidelines. Breakout… - News
Complaints and Appeals focus
…will be followed and keeping them updated. The use of neutral and professional language in all such communication is essential, as is avoiding all forms of conflict of interest in the investigation process, both real and, even more importantly, perceived. In some cases, this may require that the complaint is overseen by an independent oversight committee or other objective third party. - News
Website refresh
…looking for more quickly. Feedback We hope you'll find these changes helpful and would like you to give us your feedback by using the purple Feedback button over there on the right --> - News
Letter from the COPE Chair: August 2019
…members. While this a small sample we hope you will be interested in the findings. Currently, we are underrepresented by members in AHSS disciplines. COPE will grow our membership within these disciplines as we strive to meet the specific issues in publication ethics in these fields. We would like to remind you of the upcoming - News
Peer Review Resources: Peer Review Week 2019
…and responses from AHSS editors on peer review issues they face. New and updated cases from the August COPE Forum are now available and you can read the monthly update on news, collated by COPE Council members, and events that you may be interested in.… - News
Revised Good Publication Practice guidelines published
…enhanced content such as plain-language summaries, preprinting, and use of social media. GPP 2022 was supported administratively by the International Society for Medical Publication Professionals (ISMPP). Questions about GPP 2022 for the steering committee or ISMPP can be directed to: [email protected]. Information about GPP 2022 is also available on the - Case
Misconduct on a massive scale?
There has to be an investigation and it needs to be by a national body as the author is head of the institution.… - Case
Possible malpractice revealed in a case report
We received a case report describing the diagnosis and treatment of a middle-aged woman who presented to a gastroenterology service in England with weight loss and a right iliac fossa mass. The authors did a barium swallow, duodenal and gastric biopsies, and diagnosed Crohn’s disease by the radiological appearances on follow-through. They did not do a colonoscopy, or biopsy the mass in the… - Case
Online trial of a new diagnostic tool
…website, and its associated websites, is provided as “a service to the Internet community, and does not constitute medical diagnosis or advice.“ It also states: “You grant us a non-exclusive worldwide royalty-free license to use or exploit in any manner, sell or transfer all data and information provided by you to us so long as such data and information is not identifiable to you.” - Does such… - Case
Is ethics approval required?
…dated recently (that is, since the issue was raised). However, it has also been explained that the subject was in fact the head of department. The editor is of the view that the study should have had ethics approval but many studies have been performed by investigators upon themselves and the editor intended not to take this further. Is this the right course of action?… - Case
An investigation into results that were “almost too good to be true”
…institution’s ethics committee, and then the director of the institution, who undertook an investigation. The internal investigation reported that the author looked after many patients with the condition, some of whom were contacted and affirmed that the intervention was beneficial. The statistical analysis was confirmed by a university in the USA. The investigators believed that the… - Case
Sponsorship, ethical approval and consent for study done as part of an expanded access program
…sister journal but without any response to the reviewer’s points. The authors eventually explained that the patients in this study had been enrolled in an expanded access program for the investigational drug, which was underwritten by governmental sources. This was not regarded as a trial, and the authors explained that gene sequencing was carried out as part of routine clinical care, following…