COPE Digest
April 2022, Vol 10
Issue 2: Detecting misconduct

Welcome to the April COPE Digest


The world has been left reeling following Russia’s unprovoked attack on Ukraine. As a community of publishers, journal editors, and human beings, we are appalled and horrified by the violence we see in Ukraine and we support an immediate end to this conflict. Many publishers and journals have made clear statements and policy changes in reaction to this conflict, especially relating to the broad international commercial sales of products and services. As an organisation focused on integrity in research and its publication, COPE has reiterated our position, first published in 2013 in response to sanctions imposed against Iran, to uphold the understanding that the consideration and communication of research results has no geopolitical boundaries and that editorial decisions should be independent of the origin of the manuscript. Read our position statement in full.

I would like to thank those who have submitted guest editorials and opinion pieces to Digest and Member Insight. They have been informative and interesting. The newest guest article on working together to detect integrity issues is by Joris van Rossum, STM’s Director of Research Integrity. In this editorial, Joris discusses the need for a collaborative approach to respond to the threat of paper mills and the intent of STM to develop and launch a platform to support the detection of integrity issues. COPE is looking for more submissions from our members to foster communications about issues of interest to you.

In May, COPE has several events. COPE will be hosting a virtual Seminar to introduce membership for universities and research institutes. The keynote will be given by Professor John B Thompson, Emeritus Professor of Sociology at the University of Cambridge and author of Book Wars: The Digital Revolution in Publishing. More information will follow shortly. COPE will also be well represented at the World Conference on Research Integrity. I will be moderating a session on “When and how to report to institutions, journals, publishers, or elsewhere.” This session will explore the available resources and the barriers to reporting issues.

Finally, back in January, COPE co-hosted a fact-finding workshop with UKRI...

READ MORE >

COPE Chair, Dan Kulp
DETECTING INTEGRITY ISSUES
Joris van Rossum
STM

Scientific fraud is possibly as old as science itself. An early, notorious example is the Piltdown Man. In 1912, amateur archaeologist Charles Dawson claimed that he had discovered the "missing link" between ape and man in the form of bone fragments discovered near the English village Piltown.
Although there was skepticism of his findings from the beginning, it took more than 40 years to prove that the finding was a hoax. The fragments turned out to be a collection of the remains of three distinct species.

Today, we want to discover fraud and prevent it from entering the scientific record more quickly. And publishers and editors have risen to the challenge. At the same time, efforts by the publishing and editorial community have become more and more challenging.

READ MORE >  
Members brought three new cases to the March COPE Forum for discussion and advice. The first case is the subject of a new case discussion:

CRITIQUES AFTER PUBLICATION

Is there a time limit for submitting a critique of a published article?

A journal receives a letter to the editor raising concerns about a study published a year ago. An independent review finds the study’s conclusion is incorrect. But when queried, the corresponding author says that objections about published articles shouldn’t be allowed after three months, which is this journal’s submission deadline for letters to the editor. What should the editor do? Is there a time limit for critiques on published research? This month’s Case Discussion reviews the issues and solutions.

READ CASE DISCUSSION > 

More new cases

Updates to cases

COPE SEMINAR
TUESDAY 10 MAY 2022: VIRTUAL 

COPE Members: join the COPE Seminar where you will hear from a panel discussing the partnership between journals and universities, and a keynote address by John B Thompson on the digital revolution in book publishing.
#C0PE25


READ MORE AND REGISTER > 
EDITORIAL CONFLICTS OF INTEREST

Itamar Ashkenazi's introduction to the issues around editorial conflicts of interest is available to watch again, with the comments made by members at our recent Forum.

WATCH AGAIN > 
GUÍAS PARA LA RETRACTACIÓN

Para cuándo considerar una retractación, qué incluir en la nota, los plazos para emitir una retractación, quién debería publicar la retractación y cómo proceder cuando haya pruebas poco concluyentes sobre una retractación.

LEA LAS GUÍAS COPE > 
In the News

LATEST PUBLICATION ETHICS NEWS


Each month, COPE Council members share publication ethics news and we post them on social media. We also publish the news items on the COPE website. Here are just a few recent articles:
  • What are the factors authors consider when choosing where to submit their manuscripts?
  • The Global North-South divide in the ethics of scholarly publishing.
  • Making the case for hard retraction in cases of extremely flawed science.
READ THE NEWS >  

Submitting a guest editorial or opinion piece to COPE

We welcome guest editorials and opinion articles regarding research and publication ethics from COPE members. Please read the COPE guest editorial policy before submitting your article.

COPE Digest Editors:

Nancy C Chescheir, MD, Editor-in-Chief, Reproductive, Female and Child Health 
Deborah Kahn, COPE Trustee
facebook.com/publicationethics facebook.com/publicationethics
@C0PE @C0PE
LinkedIn LinkedIn
Publicationethics.org
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