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March 2025
Citation manipulation | Author fees and waivers
Welcome to the March issue of COPE Digest.
I begin this March issue with a warm welcome to our new Council Members who have recently joined us. We are thrilled to have such knowledgeable professionals bringing their expertise to COPE.
Renee Hoch ([link removed]) joins us from PLOS, where she is the strategic lead for publication ethics. Renee has also been involved in several cross-industry initiatives addressing publication ethics issues.
Ella Flemyng ([link removed]) , Head of Editorial Policy and Research Integrity at the Cochrane Collaboration, brings her expertise in defining standards for research integrity and publication ethics, and handling issues raised.
Christina Kassiteridi ([link removed]) Senior Editor of Clinical Medicine and Future Healthcare Journal at the Royal College of Physicians, has collaborated on publication ethics issues with multiple publishers and journals.
Arley Soto ([link removed]) co-founder of Biteca, and Technical Support Specialist at Crossref, contributes his expertise in open-source adoption and technical aspects of publishing support for small publishers throughout Latin America.
Gráinne McNamara ([link removed]) leads the Research Integrity/Publication Ethics team at Karger Publishers, and has a particular interest in promoting activities that enhance reproducibility of research and transparency.
Loreta Tauginienė ([link removed]) , Associate Professor at Kaunas University of Technology, serves as the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Academic Ethics and as vice-president of the European Network of Research Integrity Offices (ENRIO).
We also welcome COPE Advisor Rachel Hendrick ([link removed]) , Peer Review Team Manager at the Institute of Physics Publishing.
As we welcome our new volunteers, we bid farewell to Kim Eggleton, who has been an active and valued member of our Council since 2021. Kim has made significant contributions, most recently hosting a lightning talk on citation manipulation and co-hosting the workshop on handling suspected cases of paper mills during Publication Integrity Week. Please join me in welcoming our new members and thanking Kim for her service.
As you are aware, COPE recently launched its redeveloped website, offering a refreshed design and enhanced user experience. We continue to gather feedback to improve the site further. As part of our website redevelopment, we've made some key changes to how you access our resources. To better understand how our guidance is used, we initially required users to log in to access certain materials. However, we’re aware some users have encountered difficulties when registering for free access to our guidance. We have temporarily removed the login requirement for guidelines and flowcharts to ensure easy access while we continue to develop our systems.
We’ve also received some questions about linking to our resources. We ask that you link to the webpage for our guidance rather than directly to the PDF to ensure you always access the most current version.
You can find more information ([link removed]) about these changes on our website and how to let us know if you encounter any issues or have feedback.
READ MORE ([link removed]) >
Daniel Kulp, COPE Chair
EDITORS REQUIRING AUTHORS TO CITE PAPERS IN THEIR JOURNAL
What ethical considerations should journal editors keep in mind when suggesting additional citations to authors?
How can they balance improving article quality with avoiding potential conflicts of interest?
READ COPE POSITION ([link removed]) >
** CITATION MANIPULATION: LIGHTNING TALK
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Kim Eggleton (COPE Council) hosted this lightning talk in conversation with Leslie McIntosh (Digital Science). Kim and Leslie discussed what citation manipulation looks like, how it has changed with the growth of paper mills, and what editors can do about it. There were more questions than the speakers had time to answer during the event so we have added some of those outstanding questions, with answers, to the summary.
A summary of the lightning talk and discussion is now available, and you can add to the discussion on our website.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION ([link removed]) >
** NEW!
AUTHOR FEES AND WAIVERS
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We have published a new guideline for journal editors on how to minimise ethical concerns about disclosure, application, and administration of author fees and waivers, discounts, or incentives. The guideline addresses how to establish and maintain the independence of editorial decision making from the journal’s financial decisions.
VIEW GUIDELINE ([link removed]) >
In this editorial we introduce the new guideline and why this is an important piece of guidance for publications that levy fees on authors.
READ EDITORIAL ([link removed]) >
** COPE FORUM
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COPE Members only
COPE Members: if you have a publication ethics issue you are currently dealing with and need advice from other Members, submit your case for discussion and advice at the Forum, or from COPE Council.
The next COPE Forum will be held in June 2025 beginning with a topic discussion, followed by discussion and advice by the participants about the cases submitted by COPE Members.
SUBMIT A CASE ([link removed]) >
** DECLARING FUNDING SOURCES FOR RESEARCH
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Members at the March Forum raised some complex issues around the topic of 'Declaring funding sources for research'. The discussion continues on our website; we welcome your views and experience whether or not you are a member of COPE.
JOIN THE DISCUSSION ([link removed]) >
** PLAGIARISM IN SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING
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In this series of talks held during Publication Integrity Week 2024, four speakers gave their perspectives on current issues in plagiarism, from detection tools, to ‘culture wars’, and what plagiarism means today.
WATCH VIDEO ([link removed])
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** THE FUTURE OF PEER REVIEW
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Polling during this session revealed that the audience see peer review as a developing process but one in need of major overhaul. The three speakers agreed, especially in an era of misinformation and mistrust in experts, but pointed to ways that AI and collaboration can strengthen the system. This session was part of Publication Integrity Week 2024.
WATCH VIDEO ([link removed]) >
** DIGITAL IDENTITY AND TRUST MARKERS
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MONTREAL, CANADA
COPE Vice-Chair Nancy Chescheir is invited to speak at the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) conference. Nancy will be on a panel to discuss issues of digital identity and trust markers in scholarly publishing.
The IEEE conference will take place on 25-26 April 2025.
VIEW IEEE ([link removed]) >
** ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) AND ETHICS
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MINNEAPOLIS, UNITED STATES
COPE Council Member Paul Fisher is representing COPE at the Ethics Clinic on AI and Ethics, held at the Council of Science Editors (CSE) annual meeting.
Paul will present ethics cases and discuss the investigation and the path taken to resolve the cases. The Ethics Clinic will take place on 6 May 2025.
MORE INFORMATION ([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 Editors:
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Itamar Ashkenazi, COPE Council Member
Trevor Lane, COPE Trustee and Council Member
Managing Editor, Sarah Gillmore, COPE Engagement & Outreach Officer
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