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July 2025
Guest edited collections | AI dilemmas
Welcome to the July issue of COPE Digest.
Collections (also known as special issues) have been receiving increased attention in recent years as new forms of misconduct emerge and scrutiny of publication practices intensifies. In response to cases of publication record manipulation and misconduct by guest editors, COPE has released a comprehensive new guideline outlining best practices for the ethical management and oversight of guest edited collections.
This new guideline is the culmination of a thorough engagement process with the community. COPE initially released a discussion document on guest edited collections, which was approved by the Education subcommittee, Council Members and the Trustee board, and invited COPE Member feedback during its 2023 Forum. Consultation continued after the Forum, and the resulting formal guideline builds directly on these earlier discussions, incorporating strong recommendations to help journals identify and prevent fraudulent activity and misconduct within guest edited collections.
Importantly, COPE’s guideline reinforces a crucial principle, that the same rigorous ethical standards must apply across all journal content, regardless of collection type or business model.
The recommendations clarify editorial responsibilities, recommend thorough vetting of guest editors, advocate regular audits, encourage transparency at each stage of the guest editing process, and highlight the collective duty to uphold publication integrity.
By consolidating community insights and establishing clear best practices, COPE’s new guideline empowers editors, publishers, and the wider research community to safeguard guest edited collections as a valuable, and trustworthy, component of scholarly publishing. COPE’s leadership on this issue is both timely and essential as journals and publishers face growing issues of systematic manipulation at scale, and its resources will help ensure guest edited collections continue to enrich scholarship without compromising on ethical standards.
EDITORIAL ([link removed])
Marie Soulière, COPE Council Member
** GUEST EDITED COLLECTIONS
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Explore our carefully chosen collection of resources designed to help editors and publishers manage guest edited collections responsibly, with guidance on maintaining ethical standards, ensuring rigorous peer review, preventing conflicts of interest, and strengthening editorial oversight throughout the publication process.
COPE FOCUS ([link removed]) >
NEW COPE FORUM CASE
A new case was submitted to the July COPE Forum. View the case with a summary of the discussion and advice offered by participants of the Forum:
* Author wishes to withdraw a paper being investigated for plagiarism ([link removed])
A journal detected strong similarities between an accepted article and a previous publication, prompting a plagiarism investigation. The author requested withdrawal and a refund. Should withdrawal be allowed, and is a refund appropriate?
EMERGING AI DILEMMAS IN SCHOLARLY PUBLISHING
We discussed key accountability measures, emerging tools, and guidance to ensure ethical standards in an environment increasingly shaped by AI in 2025 at our recent Forum. Watch the introduction to the topic discussion and and add your comments to the Forum discussion summary.
VIDEO AND DISCUSSION ([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 September 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]) >
** SAVE THE DATE!
17-21 NOVEMBER 2025
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We are excited to announce the dates for Publication Integrity Week. This year’s theme "Exploring the landscape of publication integrity together" invites our community to discuss and share insights for scholarly publishing standards. Mark your calendars to join us!
** ASIA PACIFIC ASSOCIATION OF MEDICAL EDITORS
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8 AUGUST 2025
Jason Hu, COPE Council Member, is speaking at the 2025 Asia Pacific Association of Medical Editors (APAME) conference. Jason will part of a plenary session on the topic of artificial intelligence (AI).
The conference is for editors, peer reviewers and early career journal writers and will take place from 6-8 August 2025.
CONFERENCE PROGRAMME ([link removed]) >
** AUTHORSHIP IN THE ERA OF AI
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DISCUSSION SUMMARY
COPE Trustee Rachel Safer was on the panel of this discussion at the Open Science and Scholarship Festival in London, UK.
The panel looked at how we think about authorship for AI-assisted writing. What are these tools used for in different contexts? Where might readers and publishers draw their own lines as to what is still someone’s own work? And how might we see this develop over time?
A summary of the panel discussion is now available on the UCL Blog
VIEW DISCUSSION SUMMARY ([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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Mark Hooper, COPE Council Member
Managing Editor, Sarah Gillmore, COPE Engagement & Outreach Officer
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