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COPE Digest
May 2025
Influences on editorial decision-making
Welcome to the May issue of COPE Digest
It is a privilege to take the reins this month as Chair of COPE from Dan Kulp, who has provided steady and thoughtful leadership over the last four years amid a rapidly changing publishing environment and a pandemic.
One of my responsibilities will be to help implement the COPE Strategic Plan 2025-2028 ([link removed]) . If you have not read it, I hope you will and that you will help us achieve this ambitious plan. There are four strategic priorities: Integrity, Education ([link removed]) , Collaboration, Diversity, Equality, Inclusivity, and Accessibility ([link removed]) . The priority, Integrity, will be achieved through ethical principles, leadership, and accountability - by being proactive and responsive, and by articulating clear ethical principles. Please do read the editorial in this issue of Digest where we explain in more detail how we will meet these objectives
COPE Council and the Trustee Board have recently published a COPE statement addressing ongoing concerns about influences on editorial decision-making ([link removed]) that many of you have raised to us. This statement reinforces our fundamental commitment to editorial independence and academic freedom and builds upon prior COPE positions. The newly implemented website provides a platform for members to react to our guidance and statements such as this one and inform of us of emerging issues you are facing.
We want to hear from you!
I look forward to our future work together.
READ MORE ([link removed]) >
Nancy Chescheir, COPE Chair
INTEGRITY: COPE GOAL
COPE's strategy identifies 'Integrity' as one of our four core goals with a commitment to provide principles, leadership, and accountability to empower stakeholders to uphold the integrity of the publication process and published record.
To do this we will:
* provide clear ethical norms on publication integrity for all those involved in upholding the integrity of the scholarly record and communicate these effectively across the community;
* create greater awareness of COPE and its role, and bring in different groups to help us achieve our goals;
* support our members and prospective members to uphold their commitment to best practice in publication integrity.
In this editorial we explain what actions we will be taking to embed integrity as one of the four goals of COPE's strategy.
COPE EDITORIAL ([link removed]) >
EDITORIAL INDEPENDENCE: NEW COPE POSITION
Editorial independence ensures that editors make decisions on manuscripts free from outside influence.
Read more about balancing the need for editorial independence with collaboration over complex integrity issues.
READ COPE POSITION ([link removed]) >
UPDATE: FLOWCHART
** REVIEWER SUSPECTED OF HAVING APPROPRIATED AN AUTHOR'S IDEAS
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The flowchart guides editors when an author claims that a reviewer has appropriated their ideas or data. Updates to the recommendations include: communicating with other affected journals and institutions, and additional outcomes following an investigation.
VIEW FLOWCHART ([link removed]) >
COPE Forum
** JULY FORUM
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TUESDAY 1 JULY 2025
PLEASE NOTE: the date of the Forum has changed since publication of the last newsletter
(COPE Members Only)
The next COPE Forum will be held on Tuesday 1 July beginning with a discussion on the topic of Artificial Intelligence. This will be followed by discussion and advice by the participants about the cases submitted by COPE Members.
COPE Members: if you have a publication ethics issue you're currently dealing with and need advice from other Members, submit your case for discussion and advice at the Forum.
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In the News
** EXTERNAL INFLUENCE ON EDITORIAL DECISIONS
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COPE wishes to express its strong support for and solidarity with authors in all disciplines, journal editors, and publishers and stress its unwavering belief that undue influence by any political, corporate or social entity is against the core ethical principles of editorial independence and academic freedom. We call upon all those involved in scholarly publishing to be guided by these principles when taking any action in response to external pressure.
READ COPE STATEMENT ([link removed]) >
** PUBLICATION INTEGRITY; EVERYONE'S BUSINESS
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Editors, publishers, authors, reviewers, funders, researchers, university and research institutes, and the public are involved in the production, dissemination, and application of research findings. In this Nursing & Health Sciences editorial Nancy Chescheir describes some current and future issues that are eroding confidence in published research and some of the ways that COPE is providing guidance for best practices in scholarly publishing.
READ EDITORIAL ([link removed]) >
** TOOLKIT FOR DISABILITY EQUITY
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C4DISC has launched a toolkit for disability equity which offers practical guidance, strategies, and tools to create more inclusive environments for individuals with disabilities.
The toolkit covers:
* Inclusive practices - implementing best practices for creating an inclusive workplace.
* Disclosure - considering the details of when and how to disclose a disability at work.
* Accommodations - how to request and handle accommodation requests
As a Bronze level C4DISC Partner COPE values and seeks accessibility, diversity, and equitable and inclusive practices within the scholarly communications ecosystem, and supports the work of C4DISC..
C4DISC TOOLKIT ([link removed]) >
** AUTHORSHIP IN THE ERA OF AI
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LONDON, UK
COPE Trustee Rachel Safer will be on the panel of this discussion at the Open Science and Scholarship Festival, on Friday 6 June 2025.
The panel will look at how we think about authorship for AI-assisted writing. What are these tools used for in different contexts? Where might readers and publishers draw their own lines as to what is still someone’s own work? And how might we see this develop over time?
The Festival is organised by University College London (UCL), the London School of Economics (LSE) and The Francis Crick Institute
FESTIVAL PROGRAMME ([link removed]) >
** EUROPEAN CONFERENCE ON ETHICS AND INTEGRITY IN ACADEMIA (ECEIA)
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UPPSALA, SWEDEN
COPE Council Member Ana Marušić will deliver a keynote presentation at the ECEIA held on 16-19 June 2025.
One of the primary conference themes is publication ethics which Ana will address in her keynote presentation 'Challenges to maintaining the integrity of academic publishing'.
CONFERENCE PROGRAMME ([link removed]) >
** Submitting a guest editorial or opinion piece to COPE
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We welcome guest editorials and opinion articles regarding research and publication ethics from COPE members. Please read the COPE guest editorial policy ([link removed]) before submitting your article.
Managing Editor, Sarah Gillmore, COPE Engagement & Outreach Officer
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