Committee on Publication Ethics: COPE

Promoting integrity in research publication

COPE is a forum for editors and publishers of peer-reviewed journals to discuss all aspects of publication ethics. It also advises editors on how to handle cases of research and publication misconduct. Read more About COPE…

Guidelines

Access COPE's official guidance, including the Retraction Guidelines.

Flowcharts

Our flowcharts are designed to help editors follow COPE’s Code of Conduct and implement its advice when faced with cases of suspected misconduct.

eLearning

COPE's eLearning course is now live. Designed to give editors a deeper understanding about publication ethics and practical guidance about how to detect, prevent and handle misconduct.

Code of Conduct

COPE aims to define best practice in the ethics of scholarly publishing and to assist editors, editorial board members, owners of journals and publishers to achieve this.

News & Opinion

News / Appointment of new COPE Ombudsman

14/5/2012 12.18pm

COPE is very pleased to announce the appointment of the new COPE Ombudsman, Suzanne Morris (http://www.publicationethics.org/about/council/suzanne-morris). Suzanne Morris is the Postgraduate Coordinator at the Sustainable Minerals Institute, University of Queensland, Australia. Suzanne also holds the role of Research Integrity Officer at the University of Queensland.

News / Election of COPE council members May 2012

8/5/2012 8.58pm

Voting for the 5 vacancies on COPE council is now open and will remain open until Wednesday 23 May 2012. All Full and Associate Members are entitled to vote. Please note: there is only one vote per journal title, even for journals with multiple editors. The vote should be cast by the Member editor, who is usually the Editor-in-Chief, or otherwise by the nominated contact for the journal. See here for more details and to cast your vote.

Opinion / Nature Editorial on Publishing Risky Research

7/5/2012 9.28am by Ginny Barbour

There has been much discussion recently on how journals handle risky or "dual use" research - ie research that has the potential to be used for harm. A Nature Editorial (http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v485/n7396/full/485005a.html) now discusses where things stand with regard to a pair of papers submitted to Science and Nature of papers reporting mammalian transmissibility of avian flu as a result of artificial genetic manipulation.