Press releases
Revised principles of transparency and best practice released
15 September 2022
The fourth edition of the Principles represents a collective effort between the four organisations to align the principles with today’s scholarly publishing landscape. Guidance is provided on the information that should be made available on websites, peer review, access, author fees and publication ethics. The principles also cover ownership and management, copyright and licensing, and editorial policies. They stress the need for inclusivity in scholarly publishing and emphasise that editorial decisions should be based on merit and not affected by factors such as the origins of the manuscript and the nationality, political beliefs or religion of the author.
Increasing number of fraudulent papers produced by “paper mills”
16 October 2020
Systematic manipulation of the publishing process via "paper mills" is emerging as a growing issue. Paper mills produce and sell fraudulent manuscripts that seem to resemble genuine research. They may be similar in layout, experimental approach and have similar images or figures.
New advice from COPE on how to tackle, avoid, and raise awareness of the problem of predatory journals
6 January 2020
This new guidance gives an overview of the issue with recommendations and resources. COPE welcomes feedback and comments to continue this live and ongoing debate.
- What is predatory publishing?
- What are the commonly occurring features in predatory publications?
- How can we avoid, and raise awareness of, the problem of predatory publications?
Plagiarism and inclusivity highlighted in new study into the arts, humanities and social sciences
2 September 2019
The study results referred to in the press release can be found on our website: Exploring publication ethics in the arts, humanities, and social sciences: A COPE study 2019
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Resources
COPE is primarily a forum for editors and publishers of scholarly journals. The following resources may be of use to journalists.
- COPE news and opinion section for the latest news and guest editorials.
- COPE Digest newsletter
- Archive of Cases which are brought to the COPE Forum for discussion and advice.
- COPE guidance: including guidelines, flowcharts, and discussions
- COPE guidelines on retraction
- Information on how COPE is run
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