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January 2026

Conflicts of interest

Welcome to the January issue of COPE Digest

This month, we’re exploring a new COPE Focus on managing conflicts of interest (COIs). This collection of resources brings together guidance, cases, discussions and other materials on the topic.

We’re also pleased to share new recordings from Publication Integrity Week, including sessions from Day 2: Diversity, equity, inclusivity, and accessibility in practice, now available to watch for both COPE Members and non-members.

Looking ahead, our first event of the year is on Monday 26 January and is a Chinese-language workshop on Publication ethics in the AI era.


** MANAGING CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
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At our recent COPE Forum, Loreta Tauginienė and Mark Hooper examined COIs across both pre-publication and post-publication stages. Attendees joined the discussion to explore real-world examples and challenges of managing COIs in scholarly publishing. Watch the introduction to the topic and share your thoughts in the discussion.

VIDEO AND DISCUSSION ([link removed]) >
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST: COPE FOCUS

Explore our carefully chosen collection of resources to recognise, declare, and manage COIs in publishing. You will find resources which address COIs for researchers, peer reviewers, and editors:
* Topic discussions
* COPE guidance
* eLearning module
* Cases submitted by COPE Members with advice

COPE FOCUS: CONFLICTS OF INTEREST ([link removed]) >
NEW CASES

For our final COPE Forum of 2025, four new cases were submitted for advice. View the cases with a summary of the discussion and advice offered:
* Authorship dispute affecting license to publish ([link removed])
* Mitigating the impact of retractions on policy making ([link removed])
* Handling duplicated content across 20-year-old articles ([link removed])
* Post-publication corrections in books ([link removed])

Twenty two cases were published on the COPE website in 2025 on a range of topics. We invite you to read them and add your thoughts to the discussion.

PUBLICATION ETHICS CASES 2025 ([link removed]) >
NEW VIDEOS AVAILABLE: DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSIVITY, AND ACCESSIBILITY IN PRACTICE

We have published videos, summaries, and transcripts from two of the sessions from day  2 of Publication Integrity Week: Diversity, equity, inclusivity, and accessibility in practice. Friday's session on AI use in scholarly publishing is also now available. If you missed a session on the day, or would like to revisit a discussion in your own time, you can now catch up on demand.
New videos available:
* Indigenous data sovereignty
* Equitable access to scholarly publishing
* AI use in scholarly publishing

And a reminder that videos are also available for day 1 sessions: Evolving landscape of publication ethics.

PUBLICATION INTEGRITY WEEK VIDEOS ([link removed]) >


** AI USE IN SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING
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The contributors to the Publication Integrity Week session AI use: policies and reality ([link removed]) have published a guest post for the Scholarly Kitchen on how AI is really being used across research, authorship, and peer review.

Drawing on community feedback Gráinne McNamara, Lauren Flintoft, Elizabeth Moylan, Jeremy Y Ng, and Coco Nijhoff highlight disclosure challenges, the need for regular policy updates, and the importance of collaboration and clear communication between institutions, publishers, and editors to make sure generative AI is used well and identifying what doesn’t work well.

SCHOLARLY KITCHEN POST ([link removed]) >
PUBLICATION ETHICS IN THE AI ERA: CHINA WORKSHOP
本次线上讲座对所有人免费开放。
1 月 26 日 下午 4:00–5:00（北京时间, UTC+8

The workshop is open to both COPE Members and non-members.
Monday 26 January 2026 at 17:00-18.00 CST / UTC+8 (time zone converter ([link removed]) )

人工智能（AI）近年来迅速发展，已成为学术出版界广泛关注与讨论的核心议题，同时也带来了对清晰伦理指南的迫切需求。本次研讨会中，COPE委员胡昌杰与徐佳忆将共同探讨 AI 在学术出版中的应用所引发的关键伦理考量。 胡昌杰将介绍 AI 如何正在改变学术出版流程，并分析这些发展所带来的伦理影响。他将重点强调当前的重要趋势、潜在风险，以及编辑在 AI 环境下应特别关注的实际问题。徐佳忆将讲解 COPE 的新会员申请流程，包括会员类别、资格标准，以及期刊如何展示其对 COPE 核心伦理原则的遵循。此部分内容将为有意提升期刊伦理实践或考虑申请 COPE 会员的编辑提供实用指导。

Artificial intelligence (AI) has advanced rapidly in recent years, becoming a central topic of discussion within the scholarly publishing community and creating an increasing need for clear ethical guidance. In this workshop, COPE Council Members Jason Hu and Jiayi Xu will jointly explore key ethical considerations arising from the use of AI in academic publishing

立即报名 REGISTER ([link removed]) >


** PUBLICATION ETHICS CASES
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COPE Members Only

Do you have a publication ethics issue you are currently dealing with and need advice from other COPE Members? Submit your case for discussion and advice at the Forum or, in between Forums, advice from COPE Council.

The next COPE Forum will be held in March 2026.

SUBMIT A CASE ([link removed]) >


** UPDATE YOUR DETAILS
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Have your contact details changed? Do you have new editors or staff to add to your account? Update the contact details for you, your journal, or your publisher and ensure you and your colleagues can access all COPE resources.

UPDATE YOUR DETAILS ([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.


** COPE Digest edtiors
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Mark Hooper, COPE Council Member
Managing Editor, Sarah Gillmore, COPE Engagement & Outreach Officer

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