- Case
Duplicate publication in a non-English language journal
…been sent after the case report was published in the non-English language journal. The authors were contacted separately by email, and asked to explain the discrepancy. They were warned that if no satisfactory explanation was provided, the journal would have to retract the case report. At the time of writing, they have both written to say that they will provide an explanation, but have not yet done… - Case
Retract, correct, or both?
…discussion, in order to put it into context Meanwhile, I have written to the corresponding author without response. My intention is to contact the corresponding author's institution(s) if there's still no response by the end of May. I have also written to the research ethics committee at the hospital concerned to check that approval was given as claimed in the paper (so far also without… - Case
Concerns about the reliability of findings following re-analysis of a dataset from a published article
…to look at all of the data and then publish this as a comment on the article itself.… - Case
Inadequate assurance of human research ethics for a questionnaire
The Forum confirmed that consent forms are not necessary if the questionnaires are anonymous. Ideally, the authors should produce an “ethical reviewer waiver” so that the editor knows that an expert has looked over the protocol and deemed that ethics approval is not required. If the study was conducted at a university, then there should be a university ethics committee. If the editor decides… - Case
Change in author’s name after publication
As no valid or convincing reason could be provided by the author for a change in name, we wrote back stating that the case had been discussed at the COPE Forum and the majority of the Forum were of the opinion that, due to lack of a convincing reason, the name should not be changed. The case is now considered closed.… - Case
Editor as author of a paper
The journal added a note to the paper from the editor in chief, stating that due to an unfortunate technical mistake when handling the article, one of the authors was also a subject editor at the same time. The editor in chief also stated that he guaranteed that the scientific standards and honesty had not been violated in any way.… - Case
A case of salami slicing
A reviewer of our journal noticed similarity between a published paper (P1) and a manuscript under review (P2). At the same time, a member of the editorial team noticed similarity between another accepted manuscript for publication (P3) and both paper P1 and manuscript P2. All three papers were submitted by the same authors based on the same trial, reporting three different endpoints measuring… - Case
A case with no independent institution to investigate
…incorrect. He also claims that informed consent was not received from the patient described in one of the articles for publication of their case. On submission and publication of both articles, both authors were based at author A’s own private institution. Author B has since left the institution. All authors submitting to our journals receive an automated email when a manuscript is submitted,… - Case
Revoked parental consent
…the paper has been removed, there is little that can be done regarding copies already in circulation. For consent in children and young adults, some journals use a "minor assent form" along with parental permission, which is tailored to the age of the child. The child can then give their "assent". The issue of consent forms has been raised at COPE in the past and the suggestion of… - Case
Ethics committee approval
We routinely ask for ethics committee approval from every research manuscript submitted to our journal. Sometimes, studies from different countries may not have ethics committee approval and authors may claim that their study does not need approval. In such situations, we consult COPE’s “Guidance for Editors: Research, Audit and Service Evaluations” document and evaluate the study at the… - Research
CrossCheck guidance: an analysis of typical cases of plagiarism in different disciplines 2010
…Xinxin Zhang, Meiqing Jin, Chunjie Zhang). Update The results of part of this research were presented at the CrossRef 2011 Annual Meeting, USA, 15 November 2011 (download the presentation, (PDF 745kb). The purpose of this survey was to investigate journal editors' use of CrossCheck to… - Case
Author impersonating corresponding author without knowledge of coauthors
Following discussion at the Forum, the editor sought legal advice from the publisher and contacted the institution concerned to request an investigation. The editor has now received a formal response from the institution which stated that the institution had directed author B to consult with the co-authors listed to clarify the authorship of the article concerned and provide an updated licence… - Case
Should a journal disclose peer reviewer names?
…advice as things can be very different depending on the jurisdiction in which the journal is published and location of the complainant. Starting actions across national borders is complex and costly. Council would suggest that there is no obligation to disclose the names of the peer reviewer to the lawyer. If the journal's policy is that the information is confidential, at a minimum, we… - Case
Image duplication
…and asked for the opportunity to repeat the experiments. The response was again reviewed by the senior editor and discussed at a meeting of the editorial board, which again confirmed the view that there was a problem with one particular image. It was therefore decided not to accede to the request and the author was notified that a retraction for one paper would be issued (earlier it had also… - Case
Consequence for dual submission
…B?• Both editors agree that something should be done so that the author does not repeat the behaviour at other journals, but are unsure of what to do.… - Case
Previous publication cannot be verified
Publisher A received a concern suggesting that a coauthored paper published in one of their journals had previously been published by the complainant in an industry in-house journal (now disbanded). All three individuals had worked for the company which sponsored the in-house journal. The publisher asked for a contact at the company so that they could request information about their… - Case
Removal of an author
A suggestion was to move the missing author to the acknowledgements section with an explanation of what has happened. A note could also be added that the journal was unable to contact this author. There may be reasons why the university is not forthcoming or helpful, but the editor might try and contact someone else at the university who may be willing to provide a little more… - Case
Behaviour of researcher during peer review
…description of this case does not explain the basis for the institute's investigation of this matter, the editor should take steps to confirm that the reviewer's actions did not involve an intentional (or even negligent) suggestion for this student to reuse another's content or data. If there is cause for question here, the editor may wish to look at the COPE flowchart - Case
Allegations related to multiple papers and journals
…whether there are unlikely patterns in the data. Communication with other editors might be fruitful where there are duplications among different papers in different journals across publications. Otherwise, the editor should try to respect confidentiality. The editor should look at their own journal independently of other journals. It is not appropriate to correct or retract a paper just because… - Case
Duplicate publication in a predatory journal
…sizes are going to be incorrect, which could cause real harm). The editor may wish to suggest that the authors speak to the library and/or legal team at their institution, who may be able to help in having the illegitimate version of the paper removed. If the authors did not transfer copyright or approve the proofs, then this puts them in a stronger position. However, if copyright has been…