Publication ethics: An introduction to COPE

By Steven Smith, DPhil

The scholarly landscape has evolved significantly over the past decade, not least through advances in publishing technology, the development of open science, increasing predatory publishing, the globalization of academic activity, increasing use of research assessment exercises, and the so-called replication crisis.

As a result, there has been a significant increase in efforts, discussion, and debate to raise awareness around research integrity while promoting ethical standards, equity, and inclusion in scholarly publishing. Of particular interest have been the roles and responsibilities of authors, editors, publishers, societies, and funders in maintaining trust and increasing transparency.

Some publishers, journals, and societies have been making available ethics guidelines that they apply to their own publishing. Many journal editors and publishers also subscribe to a growing body of guidelines provided by industry organizations such as the International Committee of Medical Journal Editorsopens in new window (ICMJE) and the Committee on Publication Ethicsopens in new window (COPE). Against that backdrop, we are pleased to report that our APA application for COPE membership has recently been approved.

COPE is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting integrity in research and its publication. Crucially, it is a non-statutory body which provides practical publication ethics guidance for editors and publishers working in all research disciplines. Founded by journal editors in 1997 as a response to growing concerns about the integrity of submissions to medical journals, COPE now has over 12,500 members from over 100 countries and all academic fields.

COPE’s mission is to provide thought leadership on publication ethics and practical resources to educate and support editors and publishers. Membership signals to authors, reviewers, and readers that a journal upholds the highest ethical standards in research publishing and that it is in alignment with COPE’s recommended core practices for journals and publishers. APA now supports membership in COPE for all of our core journal editors and any other individual on the journal’s team that the editor nominates.

Forumopens in new window: One of the main benefits of COPE is the quarterly Forum to which members can bring particularly challenging ethics issues for discussion and advice.

Flowchartsopens in new window: Another benefit of COPE are a popular series of helpful step-by-step process or “decision trees” to guide editors in handling a particular publication ethics issue. There are currently 30 flowcharts—available in multiple languages—covering a wide variety of typical situations editors may face. For example, if you are faced with a case of suspected duplication or plagiarism in a published article, you can follow the flowchart on plagiarism and work through the steps.

Casesopens in new window: All of the integrity and ethics cases brought to COPE forums for discussion from 1997 onwards have been entered into a searchable database for members to browse. This database contains over 600 cases along with the advice given by COPE members and information on the outcomes.

eLearningopens in new window: COPE also provides a series of ten eLearning modules designed for editors and publishers who want to improve their understanding on publication ethics (e.g., on issues such as plagiarism, conflicts of interest, and authorship) and provides practical guidance on how to detect, prevent, and handle misconduct.

COPE’s Audit Toolopens in new window: COPE has also provided a journal checklist—their journal audit tool—to assist editors in ensuring your journal meets with current best practice in publication ethics.

Sample lettersopens in new window: Writing to authors or reviewers about potential misconduct can be a difficult task, and COPE has developed a series of sample letters to assist in these cases.

Webinars: COPE also hosts webinars on emerging issues in publishing ethics. For example, recent seminars and panels covered topics on:

• ethical considerations on the use of AI in decision-making in publishing
• how do we deal with the growing problem of paper mills
• creating a diverse editorial board, demographic data collection, and managing allegations of discriminatory behavior

A monthly newsletter, the COPE Digestopens in new window, provides news on COPE’s activities and other current publication ethics issues. We encourage anyone interested in staying on top of these issues to register.

APA supports membership in COPE for all of our core journal editors and any other individual on the journal’s team that the editor nominates. Making use of the many valuable resources COPE provides will help editors promote sound practices in their journals and continue to foster a culture of research integrity and publishing ethics.