New guidance 'Editing peer reviews' and add your experience of diversity in peer review in our survey
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COPE Digest
September 2021, Vol 9
Issue 6: editing peer reviews | diversity survey
Welcome everyone. Happy September
This is a very busy month with lots of activities going on, so without further ado I will jump right in. COPE is launching the new Editing Peer Reviews Guidelines ([link removed]) with this issue. This new guidance is focused on the issue of whether and under what circumstances it is legitimate for an editor to modify a reviewer’s comments. It will also give guidance on the level of editing and editing procedure which will support consistent, fair, and transparent editing practices.
Peer Review Week ([link removed]) 20–24 September, is upon us once again. This year’s theme is on the “multifaceted role of identity in peer review”. Though I’m sure many of you are already have activities and events planned for the week, you can follow all the activities on Twitter, #IdentityInPeerReview #PeerReviewWeek21. To support Peer Review Week, COPE will be reproducing the 2018 survey on diversity and inclusion in peer review ([link removed]) . This will give a chance to see if attitudes, policies, or practices have evolved over the last three years.
In the week following Peer Review Week, we will be having our annual COPE Seminar ([link removed]) 27 September–1 October. Registration for this virtual seminar closes on 20 September is now open, so please sign up now if you are interested.
The Seminar session on research data is especially timely, since FORCE11 Research Data Publishing Ethics Working group, in collaboration with COPE, have released Recommendations for the handling of ethical concerns relating to the publication of research data ([link removed]) as the initial resource in ongoing guidance to be developed for standards for datasets and data publication.
STM Recommendations for handling image integrity issues have recently been released by the STM Working Group on Image Alteration and Duplication Detection...
READ MORE ([link removed]) >
COPE Chair, Dan Kulp
[link removed]
NEW: EDITING PEER REVIEWS
Concerns about varying approaches to editing a submitted peer review were discussed in the COPE Education Committee in 2019 and we decided to address this issue. The Committee members were most concerned about the ethical implications of an editor choosing to completely withhold a submitted review if it didn’t conform to her or his own opinion.
We undertook two steps to get more information about what the membership of COPE thought about this issue. Firstly, a lively discussion at a COPE Forum ([link removed]) revealed the disparity in practice and concerns on this issue. Secondly, we surveyed our membership ([link removed]) , which enhanced our understanding of the range of practices and opinions.
The guidelines examine the issue of whether and under what circumstances it is legitimate for an editor to modify a peer review document. Key take aways are that reviewers should be aware of what is expected from their review and that editors should not amend a reviewer’s intention or meaning, even if it may be appropriate in some circumstances to amend the language.
READ GUIDELINES ([link removed]) >
** PEER REVIEW RESOURCES
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COPE has lots of resources to help you develop good peer review practices for your journal; to recognise when the peer review process may be going awry; and guidance for reviewers on good review practices.
READ MORE ([link removed]) >
PEER REVIEW DIVERSITY SURVEY
The theme of this year’s Peer Review Week is ‘Exploring the multifaceted role of identity in peer review’. To support this, COPE is reproducing its survey of 2018 on diversity and inclusion in peer review to compare whether attitudes, policies or practices have altered over the past three years.
TAKE THE SURVEY ([link removed]) >
In the News
** LATEST PUBLICATION ETHICS NEWS
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This month the news includes articles on reproducibility, paper mills, artificial intelligence, and more.
* STM have drafted recommendations for handling image integrity issues
* Solutions to the overlap between author and reviewer pools
* How being a peer reviewer helps you
READ MORE NEWS ([link removed]) >
COPE SEMINAR 2021
27 September - 1 October 2021
(COPE members only)
Registration closes Monday 20 September for COPE Seminar 2021. Register today for sessions on authorship, artificial intelligence, data, diversity equity & inclusion, books publishing, paper mills, retractions, the relationship between universities and publishers, and an introduction to publication ethics.
READ MORE & REGISTER ([link removed]) >
SUBMIT A CASE
COPE members: if you have a publication ethics issue you're currently dealing with and need advice from other COPE members, you can submit your case for discussion and advice at the next COPE Forum on 14 October 2021.
SUBMIT YOUR CASE ([link removed]) >
Dr Trevor Lane, COPE Council member, was invited by the Japan Science and Technology Agency to speak at the First J-STAGE Seminar held online on 28 July 2021 for local editors, academic societies, researchers, and administrators. Titled “Fundamental Principles of Peer Review and Peer Review Ethics”, the presentation introduced COPE to the 200+ attendees and covered topics including peer review models, criticisms and ethical issues, and some current innovations and developments.
READ MORE ([link removed]) >
** COPE Digest Editors:
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Nancy C Chescheir, MD, Emeritus Editor, Obstetrics and Gynecology
Deborah Kahn, COPE Trustee
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