- Case
Publication of data without permission
…matter. We have replied saying that we would contact COPE for advice.In 2010, the editor-in-chief of another journal contacted the French group about a paper submitted by person A which included several members of the French laboratory as co-authors without their knowledge and permission. That editor-in-chief was concerned about apparent falsification of data by manipulation of a gel photo, which… - Case
Excessive self-citation in a book chapter
…Plagiarism screening performed at the time of publication did not show any suspicious activities. The review of all chapters published in the book confirmed that the review was performed in line with best practices; citation manipulation was an isolated incident identified only for the introductory chapter. The introductory chapter was sent out for an additional post-publication review which… - Case
How to handle offers of promotion of authorship for sale
…done with essay mills, but this is not a recourse at the present time. In terms of process, two courses of action were proposed. First, that journals follow COPE’s advice on paper mills (and - News
Case Discussion: Editor and reviewers requiring authors to cite their own work
…case, I found no other cases, guidelines or flowcharts related specifically to this case. However, this systematic review of the available resources did result in the identification of a discussion document “ - Case
Using annual reviews to massage the impact factor
The editor in chief of Journal A is also on the editorial board of Journal B. Journal B publishes “annual reviews” that purport to describe recent advances in the field, but only do this by discussing and citing their own content. The editor in chief of Journal A now wants to have “annual reviews” in his journal to help increase the impact factor. In your experience, is… - Seminars and webinars
North American Seminar 2019: Ethical challenges in the arts, humanities, and social sciences
At the North American seminar 2019, Kath Burton (Associate Editorial Director of Arts & Humanities, Routledge, Taylor & Francis) presented the initial research findings and the solution put together on the back of some research conducted by COPE, supported by Routledge. The aim of the research was to better understand the publication ethics needs of arts, humanities and social sc… - News
In the news: February 2022
…="https://researchintegrityjournal.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s41073-021-00119-1">interventions to reduce spin in published articles. Paper mills The International Journal of Electrical Engineering and Education retracted 122 papers and published expressions of concern for >300 more due to concerns for manipulation of the submission and/or peer review process-likely for being - Event
Publication Integrity Week 2023
…discussed dealing with issues that arise after publication has taken place. Image manipulation video An overview of current issues and tools in detecting image manipulation. Publication misconduct… - News
Paper mills in the news
…href="https://publicationethics.org/node/55256">Paper mills research report. Editors, join us for a webinar in September when invited speakers will share their experience on how to manage paper mills. Related resources Practical steps for managing paper mills, COPE Webinar, 20 September 2022 Systematic… - News
Letter from the COPE Chair: December 2020
…controversy, adding stages to their peer review process to incorporate more systematic dataset reviews to increase the reliability of the data. Despite it dominating the news, the year has not been exclusively about COVID, and I’d like to recognise some other achievements. COPE has made progress with a series of new Forum discussions over the year. In March, we tackled - Forum discussion topics
Predatory publishing: next steps and where do we go from here?
…people who work with systematic reviews in medicine. How should articles from predatory journals that are included in systematic reviews published in legitimate journals be handled? These papers might be affecting the final conclusions. Is COPE considering a flowchart on predatory publishing, and if so, would predatory conferences, videos, and other derivatives be included? IAP ( - Flowcharts
Fabricated data in a published article
A reader suspects fabricated data in a published article. COPE flowchart for editors on the steps to take when there is suspected data fabrication in a published article. Fabricated data in a published article - News
Case discussion: gift authorship
…and salami publishing, in addition to gift authorship. Unfeasibly prolific authorship of papers on widely differing topics might indicate the use of paper mills to purchase ready-made or fake papers and/or authorship, or other ways of systematically manipulating the publication process.… - Flowcharts
Scientific rigour of unpublished data: dealing with concerns
…href="https://publicationethics.org/news/cope-collaboration-force11-working-group">FORCE11 and COPE Research Data Publishing Working Group. Key points Concerns may relate to errors or gaps in the dataset as a result of: Unintentional errors Incomplete datasets Data manipulation Related resources Scientific rigour… - News
Case discussion: Consequence for dual submission
…publishers may share information if there is suspected systematic manipulation of the publication process. Journals should thus ensure that their author guidelines state potential situations in which confidential information may be shared. Other situations that would require information sharing… Consensus statement on research misconduct in the UK by COPE and BMJ
…of good ethical and scientific standards (Edinburgh 1999). Research misconduct includes fabrication, falsification, suppression, or inappropriate manipulation of data; inappropriate image manipulation; plagiarism; misleading reporting; redundant publication; authorship malpractice such as guest or ghost authorship; failure to disclose funding sources or competing interests; misreporting of funder…- Research
Authors’ awareness of publication ethics: An international survey 2009
…of interest, access to data, redundant publication, non-publication, dual submission, salami publishing, plagiarism, image manipulation, informed consent, fabrication, and falsification. We will use short vignettes rather than posing direct questions about awareness to avoid leading questions. To reduce respondent burden but at the same time including vignettes to cover all the important issues, we… - Event
Scientific symposium and 4th EQUATOR Annual Lecture
…selective reporting, inconsistencies between protocol and publication, misinterpretation of research findings)Impact and consequences of poor reporting on systematic reviews and clinical guidelines, clinical practice and patients’ careDevelopment of robust reporting guidelinesIncreasing awareness and knowledge of principles of rigorous research reporting and available guidelines - Research
Characterisation of trials published in medical journals to determine whether there are specific characteristics of trials that are designed primarily for the purpose of marketing and, if identified, what the prevalence and distribution of such trials is
…addressing a genuine clinical need. The publication of such trials has the potential to distort the medical literature. However, there has been no systematic attempt to characterise such trials. We will sample trial publications in the medical literature and attempt to define the characteristics of trials that appear to be primarily marketing-driven. If we can define these trials, we will then… - Event
COPE Forum
…unsatisfactorily resolved by institution (JM) 17-12 Potential figure manipulation with corresponding author uncontactable (JM) 17-13 Unhelpful institution report (SS) 17-14 Withdrawal request by an author (LS) 4. Updates 17-09 Lead author Forum agenda and materials