Council Members

Elizabeth Wager

Council Title:

Chair

Biography:

Elizabeth (Liz) Wager is a freelance medical writer, editor and trainer. After a zoology degree from Oxford she worked for Blackwell Scientific Publications editing medical books. She then worked as a medical writer in the pharmaceutical industry (for Janssen-Cilag then Glaxo-Wellcome). She set up her own company, Sideview, in 2001. She has run training courses for doctors, journal editors and medical writers on five continents (including courses in China, India, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Australia, the USA and all around Europe).

Competing interests statement:

Liz provides writing, editing, training and consultancy services for various pharmaceutical companies (most recently Astra Zeneca, Cephalon, Cordis, GlaxoSmithKline, Eli Lilly, Janssen-Cilag, Merck Serono, Mundipharma, Norgine, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi Pasteur and Vifor), publishers (including the BMJ Group and Wiley–Blackwell) and academic / professional / not-for-profit organisations (such as the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Open University, the Royal College of General Practitioners, the Vienna School of Clinical Research, the World Health Organization and the University of Oxford). She has received a research grant from COPE for a project on retractions, on which she is collaborating with researchers from University College, London. Liz was Visiting Fellow of the UK Cochrane Centre 1996-2010 (this position was unpaid). Liz also does pro bono work for the Cochrane Collaboration and the World Health Organization. Liz is an (unpaid) member of the ethics committees for the BMJ and the World Association of Medical Editors.

Sabine Kleinert

Council Title:

Vice-Chair

Biography:

Sabine Kleinert studied medicine in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and the USA, and trained as a paediatrician in the UK and Belgium. After further specialist training in paediatric cardiology at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London and the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, and research training at the Texas Children’s Hospital, Houston, USA, she joined The Lancet as a full-time Medical Editor in 1998.

Competing interests statement:

Sabine is The Lancet’s Senior Executive Editor and takes part in all decisions about the journal’s policies and processes. She oversees The Lancet’s peer-review processes and often makes the final decision on whether a paper is sent for peer review or not. Sabine also chairs the editorial meeting, in which decisions are made about acceptance or rejection of peer-reviewed papers, and other committee meetings when both the Editor and the Deputy Editor are absent. According to The Lancet's policy, Sabine only occasionally receives travel support from not-for-profit organisations.

Virginia Barbour

Council Title:

Secretary

Biography:

Ginny Barbour's background in publishing comes from The Lancet, which she joined in 1999, becoming molecular medicine editor in 2001. She joined the Public Library of Science in 2004 and was one of the three founding editors of PLoS Medicine.

Competing interests statement:

Ginny is employed by the Public Library of Science, which is a member of COPE. A detailed competing interest statement is available from the PLoS Medicine website http://www.plosmedicine.org/static/editorsInterests.action

Chris Graf

Council Title:

Treasurer

Biography:

Chris Graf is Associate Editorial Director in the medical journal division at Wiley-Blackwell. He is a member of the Wiley-Blackwell Publication Ethics Group, which in late 2006 published Best Practice Guidelines on Publication Ethics: A Publisher’s Perspective.

Competing interests statement:

My employer, Wiley-Blackwell (a company of John Wiley & Sons), publishes journals that enjoy COPE membership.

Riaz Agha

Council Title:

Council Member

Biography:

Dr Agha is a surgical trainee at Queen Victoria Hospital NHS Foundation Trust. In addition, he is an Honorary Specialty Registrar at Cambridge University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, a Clinical Supervisor for Gonville & Caius College, University of Cambridge and was one of the first ever National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) Scholars. He is the founder, Managing and Executive Editor for the International Journal of Surgery and most recently the International Journal of Surgery: Case Reports, Elsevier’s very first open access journal.

Competing interests statement:

Riaz is Managing and Executive Editor of the International Journal of Surgery.

Behrooz Astaneh

Council Title:

Council member

Biography:

Behrooz Astaneh is currently the Acting Editor of the Iranian Journal of Medical Sciences (IJMS). After a medical degree from Shiraz University of Medical Sciences in Iran, he started his career in medical journalism by working as the executive editor of the IJMS. He then studied medical journalism at the University of Westminster in London and graduated with first degree honours in 2006. He has also had some work placements at the BMJ and The Lancet during his study in London.

Competing interests statement:

Behrooz Astaneh works for Shiraz University of Medical Sciences, and as a freelance medical editor and writer he also helps medical researchers in designing research projects and editing manuscripts.

Cynthia Carter

Council Title:

Council member

Biography:

Dr Cynthia Carter is a senior lecturer in the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, Cardiff University. Research interests focus on children, news and citizenship, feminist media studies, and violence and the media. She is Founding Co-Editor of the journal Feminist Media Studies (Routledge) and editorial board member of numerous media, communication and feminist journals.

Competing interests statement:

Cynthia is Co-Editor of Feminist Media Studies, which is a member of COPE.

James Greenstone

Council Title:

Council Member

Biography:

Dr Greenstone is a Psychotherapist and Police Behavioral Health Specialist, and has been in practice for over 40 years. He served as the Director of Psychological Services for the Fort Worth, Texas Police Department and as Adjunct Professor of Law at Texas Wesleyan University School of Law. He was the chief instructor in Hostage and Crisis Negotiations for the North Central Texas Council of Governments and has trained negotiators both nationally and internationally.

Competing interests statement:

Dr Greenstone is not aware of any competing interest that he might have at this time.

Irene Hames

Council Title:

Council member

Biography:

Irene Hames has a PhD in cell biology but has worked in scientific publishing for over 30 years. Following a decade as a freelance copy editor, book editor, project manager and trainer, she spent 20 years as the managing editor of a large, international science journal (The Plant Journal). She now works as an independent editorial consultant, and is a specialist adviser to the UK House of Commons Science and Technology Committee. In December 2011 she was elected a Fellow of the Society of Biology.

Competing interests statement:

Irene holds unpaid advisory roles with Sense About Science (on the Advisory Council) and the International Society of Managing and Technical Editors (on the Industry Advisory Board). She is the author of the book Peer Review and Manuscript Management in Scientific Journals: guidelines for good practice, published by Wiley-Blackwell in association with ALPSP (the Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers).

Charlotte Haug

Council Title:

Council Member

Biography:

Charlotte Haug gained an MD from the University of Oslo 1985, and was awarded a PhD in infectious diseases and immunology from the same university in 1999. From 1985 Charlotte worked for 10 years in clinical medicine and research at the National Hospital in Norway. For the next five years she worked in the organisation, priority setting and supervision of healthcare systems in Norway as well as globally, working for both the National Board of Health and the Department of Health in Norway.

Competing interests statement:

Charlotte is paid a salary by the owner of the journal (the Norwegian Medical Association) and has not received payment in any form from other people, companies or organisations since she became Editor-in-Chief. The Journal of the Norwegian Medical Association is a member of COPE.

Charley Miao

Council Title:

Council member

Biography:

Charley Miao has been a publisher at Oxford University Press, based in the OUP China Office, since March 2009. He acquired his academic title as an Associate Professor in the field of Applied Mathematics in 2001, and soon after he stepped into the publishing world as a copy editor, an English editor, head of the editorial office of CJCP (Chinese Journal of Computational Physics) and deputy secretary general of CSCP (Chinese Society of Computational Physics).

Competing interests statement:

None.

Geraldine Pearson

Council Title:

Council member

Biography:

Geraldine Pearson is an associate professor at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. Her PHD is from the University of Connecticut School of Nursing. She is the editor of Perspectives in Psychiatric Care and directs an outpatient program for juvenile justice youth. She is also the assistant training director for the Child Psychiatry Fellowship Program at UCONN.

Competing interests statement:

A proportion of Geraldine's salary (5%) is funded by Shire Pharmaceutical to participate as an investigator in a drug study at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine.

Margaret Rees

Council Title:

Council Member

Biography:

Margaret Rees is a Reader in reproductive medicine at the Nuffield Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Oxford, Honorary Consultant in medical gynaecology and a Fellow at St Hilda's College, Oxford, a Visiting Professor at the University of Glasgow and the Karolinska Institute and Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of Medicine and Denstistry of New Jersey.

Competing interests statement:

Margaret is the Editor-in-Chief of Maturitas, which is a member of COPE.

Lars Ole Sauerberg

Council Title:

Council member

Biography:

Lars Ole Sauerberg, dr phil, is Professor of Literature in English at University of Southern Denmark, which he has also served in the administrative capacities of pro-vice-chancellor and dean. His research interests lie mainly in the literature and criticism of the period since 1900, and he has published monographs and articles on a wide variety of subjects, from studies of generic fiction over canonicity to intercultural literature.

Competing interests statement:

None.

Lance Small

Council Title:

Council Member

Biography:

Lance Small is the Editor of Communications in Algebra. He is Distinguished Professor, Emeritus at the University of California, San Diego. Small has served in various editorial capacities for the American Mathematical Society and has been a Program Director at the National Science Foundation (US).

Competing interests statement:

Small receives a stipend from Taylor & Francis, the publisher of Communications in Algebra. His only other “competing interest” is the New York Yankees.

Randell Stephenson

Council Title:

Council Member

Biography:

Randell Stephenson has been Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Geodynamics since 2007 and has (co-)edited a number of scientific books, most recently Special Publication 340 of the Geological Society of London on the tectonics of the Black Sea-Caucasus region. He is Reader in Geophysics at the University of Aberdeen (Scotland) and previously was Senior Lecturer at the VU University Amsterdam.

Competing interests statement:

He has no known conflict of interest to declare.

André van Steirteghem

Council Title:

Council Member

Biography:

André Van Steirteghem (Editor-in-Chief, Human Reproduction) is Emeritus Professor of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB; Brussels Free University) and Honorary Consultant of the Centre for Reproductive Medicine of the Universitair Ziekenhuis Brussel. He is a medical graduate of the VUB where he also trained in paediatrics and clinical pathology.

Competing interests statement:

André is Editor-in-Chief of Human Reproduction, a member of COPE.

Financial

Stock ownership: none
Paid employment: full professor and head of university hospital department until 30 September 2005; since 1 October 2005 pension from the Belgian government and honorary consultant (unpaid) Centre for Reproductive Medicine, Universitair Ziekenhuis, Vrije Universiteit Brussel.
Board membership: none
Research grants: promoter or co-promoter or mentor until retired from grants from:
     •   University Research Council (Vrije Universiteit Brussels)
     •   Fund for Scientific Research, Flanders.
     •   European Union
     •   Unrestricted educational grant from Organon International for prospective follow-up study of ART pregnancies and children born
     •   Bertarelli Foundation
     •   Willy Gepts Foundation of the University Hospital of the Vrije Universiteit, Brussels
     •   Transfer of technology agreement with Instituto Valenciana Infertilidad
Travel grants to participate at meetings from pharmaceutical companies (Organon, Ferring, IBSA, Cook); honorarium for speaking at symposia in Thailand (Organon)
Gifts: new year gift from Cook, Organon, Schering

Personal

No personal competing interest regarding membership of lobbying organisations.

Professional

Chairman (2001–06) of the College of Physicians, Reproductive Medicine of the Belgian Federal Ministry of Health
Chairman (2006 to present) Belgian Federal Commission for the Protection of the Human Embryo in Vitro
Editorial Board other journals. Since my appointment as Editor-in-Chief of Human Reproduction, I resigned from all Editorial Boards:
     •   Références en Gynécologie Obstétrique
     •   Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism
     •   Prenatal Diagnosis
     •   Seminars in Reproductive Medicine
     •   Gynaecologic and Obstetric Investigations

From 2002 to present.
Brussels, 2010

Steve Yentis

Council Title:

Council Member

Biography:

Steve Yentis has been a Consultant Obstetric Anaesthetist at the Chelsea & Westminster Hospital, London, since 1995, and an Editor of Anaesthesia since 1999. He also served on the Editorial Board of the International Journal of Obstetric Anesthesia from 1999–2007.

Competing interests statement:

Steve is the Editor-in-Chief of Anaesthesia. He is a Council member of the Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland.

Richard Green

Council Title:

Ombudsman

Biography:

Richard Green holds a medical degree from Johns Hopkins University and a law degree from Yale University. He was Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, Los Angeles and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. He is a Visiting Professor in the Department of Experimental Medicine at Imperial College. Richard Green was Senior Research Fellow, Institute of Criminology, and Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Cambridge. He was a Fulbright Scholar at Kings College and Cambridge University.

Competing interests statement:

Richard believes he has no competing interests.

Cynthia Clerk

Council Title:

Website Manager

Biography:

Cyntha has been working as COPE web manager since March 2010.

She has worked as a web manager for the past 10 years for a number of organisations including the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE), the Victoria and Albert Museum and the Employment Lawyers Association.

Linda Gough

Council Title:

Administrator

Biography:

Linda Gough has been working on a part time basis as the COPE administrator since 2006. She also works as a freelance copyeditor of medical and scientific journals.

Competing interests statement:

No competing interests.

Natalie Ridgeway

Council Title:

COPE Operations Manager

Biography:

Natalie has been working as the Operations Manager for COPE since March 2010. Natalie has previously worked for the BMJ Publishing Group and The Lancet.

Jeannie Wurz

Council Title:

Newsletter Editor

Biography:

Jeannie Wurz is an American writer and editor who lives in the capital of Switzerland. A native of the Chicago area, she earned a degree in English/Writing from the Pennsylvania State University in 1983. Jeannie worked in the USA for a weekly news magazine, hospitals, publishing companies, and an advertising agency before moving to Bern in 1992. Since 1995 she has worked free-lance as a medical editor.

Competing interests statement:

I receive, or have received, payment for editorial services from the Department of Intensive Care Medicine at Bern University Hospital, the journal Anesthesia & Analgesia, and clients at various European hospitals and universities.

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Council Members

Financial

Personal

Professional