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Welcome to COPE Digest
This month we are pleased to share some reflections on (almost) a year in the life of COPE’s Facilitation and Integrity subcommittee (F&I), one of our most active services. Its approach is firmly one of facilitator between the COPE member and the person who has raised a concern about whether procedural matters have followed COPE’s guidance.
The F&I subcommittee sees a wide range of cases, but there are certain types which have remained high profile over the past few years. These include:
- handling of retractions and expressions of concern
- concerns about integrity of published work, including potential manipulation of data or images
- errors in analyses, reporting or inaccuracies in published articles.
These were the top three types of case seen this year; you can read more about the top ten concerns in the review.
It is interesting to see some new concerns coming through to F&I. Among these, publications in special issues have been notable, also data availability, and concerns about citation rings. As a clear area of concern, COPE released a new discussion document on handling special and guest edited collections this year and we are working on updating our resources on sharing information between editors.
As trends change in scholarly publishing, so too do the concerns that arise and COPE is committed to ensuring that the work of F&I remains relevant and useful.
FACILITATION & INTEGRITY YEAR IN REVIEW >
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MISCONDUCT & FRAUD DAY
COPE's inaugural Publication Integrity Week dedicated a day to the threat presented by misconduct and fraud and how we can work together to combat these issues.
Videos of the sessions are available to watch now:
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KEYNOTE: PUBLICATION ETHICS, RESEARCH INTEGRITY AND CLIMBING MOUNTAINS
Chris Graf (Research Integrity Director, Springer Nature) gives an overview of the present state of publication ethics and research integrity. Those working in scholarly publications face many challenges: growing numbers of submissions (and retractions), fake papers, artificial intelligence, paper mills, and sustainable development goals. However, Chris is optimistic about the possibilities when the community works together, sharing initiatives that are already underway.
POST-PUBLICATION CORRECTIONS
Elizabeth Moylan (Senior Manager, Research Integrity Strategy & Policy at Wiley), Mark Hooper (Manager, Research Ethics and Integrity at the Queensland University of Technology), and Jennifer Byrne (publication integrity ‘sleuth’ and the University of Sydney), talk about dealing with issues that arise after publication has taken place.
The panellists start by identifying the problems with the current systems of handling post-publication concerns. Slowness and a reluctance to act by journals are identified as key issues, especially in the light of increased action by paper mills and the rise of generative AI, both of which produce problems at speed and scale. They raise a number of suggestions to improve the situation.
IMAGE MANIPULATION
Jana Christopher, Image Data Integrity Analyst at FEBS Press, offers an authoritative overview of current issues and tools in detecting image manipulation. Issues range from fraud, to image ‘beautification’ and genuine errors, all of which can distort results, and journals have variable practices for detection. Jana goes on to describe how this issue could be tackled using tools, expert verification, and raw data.
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COPE FORUM CASES
New cases
Five cases were brought to the December COPE Forum for discussion and advice from COPE members:
Updates to cases
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YOUR PUBLICATION ETHICS CASE
COPE Members only
For advice from the COPE Forum (or COPE Council), COPE Members can submit a case to the COPE Forum (or COPE Council) for discussion and advice. The case is then anonymised and added to the COPE website with notes that reflect the discussion around the case.
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CHINESE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
14-15 DECEMBER 2023
The theme of this conference is "Coordinated governance on research integrity". COPE Council Member, Jason Hu, will speak to all stakeholders from the research ecosystem about COPE's work providing guidance, education and leadership through collective efforts and collaborations.
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ISMTE/COPE WORKSHOP
17 JANUARY 2024
A virtual workshop on the topic of retraction, corrections, and expressions of concern with COPE Council Members Heather Tierney and Matt Hodgkinson. This event is organised by the International Society of Managing and Technical Editors (ISMTE).
MORE INFORMATION AND REGISTER >
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SUBMIT A GUEST EDITORIAL OR OPINION PIECE
Launched in 2022, guest editorials have addressed many topics from different perspectives.
We welcome guest editorials and opinion articles regarding research and publication ethics from COPE members.
READ MORE AND SUBMIT A PROPOSAL >
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Contacting COPE over the holiday period
Please note that the COPE office will be operating at reduced capacity over the holiday period from Monday 18 December through to Tuesday 2 January. It may take slightly longer to respond to your query during this time.
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COPE Digest Editors:
Itamar Ashkenazi, COPE Council Member
Trevor Lane, COPE Trustee and Council Member
Managing Editor, Sarah Gillmore, COPE Engagement & Outreach Officer
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