COPE Council is divided into subcommittees that have been authorised by the Trustee Board to undertake COPE activities in specific areas. COPE working groups are led by members of Council, with invited experts from the wider scholarly publishing community.
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COPE subcommittees
The subcommittees of the Trustee Board and Council advise the Trustee Board on specific areas of COPE's operations. Each subcommittee consists of a Chair, usually at least four other Council members and, ex-officio, the Executive Officer. Additional individuals may be recruited as needed to complete specific tasks.
The Trustee Board has delegated authority to the subcommittees to implement their objectives. Its decisions are reported to the Trustee Board as recommendations for ratification.
Arts, Humanities & Social Sciences
Objectives
- Conduct research into the needs of members of the arts, humanities & social sciences.
- Identify the gaps in, and subsequently help to develop, COPE support and resources for members of arts, humanities & social sciences disciplines.
Chair
Members
Books
Scope
This subcommittee limits its scope to scholarly publications, and defines a scholarly book as a long-form output of published research that has been peer reviewed and makes an original contribution to the body of knowledge.
Objectives
- Conduct research into the needs of book publishers.
- Identify the gaps in, and subsequently help to develop, COPE support and resources for publishers of books.
- Establish liaisons with organisations involved in other aspects of publication ethics to reach the broadest audience possible through collaboration and licensing of selected educational offerings.
Members
- Anubhav Pradhan
- Jennifer Wright
- Aliaksandr Binikou (representative of Springer)
- Kira Hopkins (representative of Ubiquity Press)
- Mary James (representative of Springer Nature)
Diversity, Equity, Inclusivity, Accessibility (DEIA)
Purpose: (1) to develop COPE as an organisation in terms of our practice, approach and development of diversity, equity, inclusivity and accessibility, particularly in support of individuals and groups who experience systemic discrimination or who have been historically marginalised and; (2) to formulate and recommend policies and procedures relating to accessibility, diversity, equity, and inclusivity in relation to research integrity and publication ethics.
Aims
- To ensure that COPE drives the conversation on this issue within the wider publishing community.
- To ensure that diversity, equity, inclusivity and accessibility (DEIA) principles are fully embedded in all new and existing COPE resources, documentation, policies, events and across the COPE website.
- To support the COPE Trustee Board, Council, subcommittees and working groups in embedding DEIA principles into any activity they develop on behalf of COPE.
- To improve the representation within the Trustee Board and COPE Council so that COPE's leadership reflects a broader diversity of all backgrounds, experiences, and characteristics.
Chair
Members
- Kim Eggleton
- Anubhav Pradhan
- Rachel Safer
- Mabel Chew
- Trevor Lane
- Rania Abdelghani (International Journal of Women’s Dermatology)
Education
Objectives
- Enhance the educational offerings of COPE to address the needs of the members
- Enhance educational options for all levels of members and others involved in publication ethics
- Establish liaisons with organisations involved in other aspects of publication ethics to reach the broadest audience possible through collaboration and licensing of selected educational offerings
Chair
Members
- Itamar Ashkenazi
- Howard Browman
- Nancy Chescheir
- Tara Hoke
- Trevor Lane
- Daniel Kulp
- Ana Marusic
- Jigisha Patel (on sabbatical)
Engagement & Outreach
Purpose
- To increase awareness and understanding of publication ethics issues and ways to address and resolve them.
- To increase members' and non-members' engagement with, and awareness of, COPE and its vision to educate, support, and lead the debate on publication ethics.
Objectives
- Increase engagement with, and awareness of, COPE's activities, resources and events among the COPE membership.
- Undertake outreach activities to increase engagement with, and awareness of, non-member publishers, journals and those working in publication ethics, particularly in underrepresented regions and disciplines.
- Engage with journalists and bloggers to bring publication ethics to a wider audience.
- Devise a content strategy, determining what types of content are created, reused, repackaged and shared. Ensure the content supports COPE’s wider strategic objectives and mission.
- Seek member feedback through surveys or other mediums for consideration of new initiatives or improvements to current offerings.
- Working with the Web Manager and Engagement & Outreach Officer, ensure COPE reaches and supports the needs of its members and outreach activities effectively via its website — including Search Engine Optimisation — newsletters, social media channels and any other media as appropriate.
- Work with the Strategy and Education subcommittees to support the planning of COPE resources and planning and hosting of seminars, webinars and workshops.
Notes
- A sub-group of this subcommittee will meet monthly to create, develop and schedule content across all of COPE’s media channels.
- A sub-group of this subcommittee will provide input into the development of the website.
Chairs
Members
- Itamar Ashkenazi
- Daniel Kulp
- Trevor Lane
- Jigisha Patel (on sabbatial)
- Jiayi Xu
Facilitation & Integrity
Objectives
- Evaluate concerns and issues regarding COPE-member journals raised to the attention of COPE which come within the remit of what COPE can look into.
- Advise on necessary follow up and provide guidance to journals and publishers as necessary.
- Review and recommend updates to the remit and process for consideration of concerns and issues.
- Provide recommendations on general communication and expectations from journals and publishers in relation to concerns raised to their and COPE’s attention
- Refer concerns to the COPE sanctions process if/when deemed appropriate.
Submit a concern or issue to the Facilitation & Integrity Committee
Chair
Members
- Howard Browman,
- Paul Graham Fisher
- Ana Marusic
- Frits Rosendaal
- Marie Soulière
- Daniel Ucko
- Mabel Chew
Finance
Objectives
- It shall confer with and advise the Trustee Board and Council on budget and resource allocation.
- It shall confer with and advise the Trustee Board and Council on financial strategies to protect the long-term health and sustainability of COPE.
- It shall review the financial statements and recommend them for approval to the Trustee Board.
Chair
- Michael Wise (Treasurer)
Members
Governance
Objectives
Chair
- Tara Hoke (Secretary)
Members
Membership
Objectives
- It shall review, and make decisions on, all applicants for membership of COPE against the criteria as outlined on the COPE website here: http://publicationethics.org/join-cope.
- It shall annually review criteria for membership.
- It shall annually review COPE’s membership categories and make recommendations as appropriate.
- It shall ensure all members’ are served and their interests represented where appropriate.
Chairs
Members
Nominations
Objectives
- Identify the need for new Trustees/Council members based on a gap in skills, experience, geography, and/or knowledge.
- Review the process for recruitment; ensuring compliance with any specific requirements set out in the Articles of Association.
- Consider the best methods for attracting a diverse range of candidates with the skills required.
- Produce a shortlist of candidates for interview.
Chair
Members
Strategy
Objectives
- Lead the development, regular review, and reporting of the COPE Strategic Plan.
- Prepare and regularly review and update as needed documentation on strategy.
- In collaboration with other subcommittees, decide who to collaborate with in furtherance of COPE strategy, and develop and maintain those relationships.
Chair
Members
University and Research Institutes
Chair
Members
COPE working groups
COPE’s working groups are formed to discuss and draft guidance on specific topics of current interest or strategic importance. They are led by members of COPE Council but they also include members of the wider community of scholarly publishing, who are invited to share their expertise. If you are interested in joining one of our working groups please contact [email protected].
Author behavioural misconduct
Established in 2021.
Increasingly, publishers and journals are expected to respond when authors (or others involved in the publication process) are accused or convicted of various forms of misconduct (abuse, harassment) or crimes. Historically, a clear line has been drawn between the research and the researcher, and actions of the latter unconnected to the integrity or validity of the former. However, several universities and other academic communities have called for some forms of misconduct, particularly abuse and harassment, to be considered breaches of research integrity.
Additionally, the power dynamics underpinning many such situations may call into question the integrity of the research or publication process itself. Lastly, publishers and journals are increasingly contacted by journalists and other media seeking comment on the rationale for publishing or continuing to publish authors accused or convicted of this sort of “behavioural misconduct”. This working group aims to start a discussion on what the publication ethics issues posed by these “author behavioural misconduct” cases are, and identify what, if any, COPE guidance would be useful.
Council members
- Jennifer Wright (Chair)
- Rachel Safer
Non-Council members
- Helen Hardy (Cambridge University Press)
- Sabina Alam (Taylor & Francis)
- Sarah Bangs (PLOS)
- Simone Ragavooloo (BMJ Publishing)
Best practises around identity and name changes
Established in 2019.
At its core, this group is being driven by high level principles that are detailed in a guest editorial entitled A vision for a more trans-inclusive publishing world. Written by some members of the group, with other colleagues, the editorial powerfully articulates why this guidance is needed and details five guiding principles and best practices. The group is now working on further guidance which will be available in due course.
Council members
- Rachel Safer (Chair)
- Daniel Kulp
- Tara Hoke
Non-Council members
- Blu Tirohl (Honorary Editor Journal of Gender Studies)
- Dr Irving Rettig (Reed College)
- John Pham (Editor-in-Chief, Cell)
- Susan Stryker (University of Arizona)
- Tess Tanenbaum (University of California)
- Walter Bouman (Editor-in-Chief International Journal of Transgender Health, Nottingham National Centre for Transgender Health)
- Robyn Speer (Luminoso)
Conference proceedings
Established in 2022.
Many COPE members publish both journals and books, and wonder what are the similarities and differences with conference proceedings. A number of these members reference COPE guidance on particular topics related to publication ethics.
COPE would like to investigate further the nature of conference proceedings and answer key questions such as the scope and definition of conference proceedings, and how they have developed in recent years against the backdrop of major changes in scholarly publishing. Following COPE's mission, ethical aspects of conference proceedings will be the focus of the discussion.
Council members
Non-Council members
- Aliaksandr Birukou (Springer)
- Luigi Longobardi (IEEE)
- Ronan Nugent (Springer Nature)
Paper mills
This group was formed in 2021 in response to an approach from some of COPE’s publisher members who felt in need of guidance on this issue. Following a Forum discussion topic on paper mills it has produced a research report on paper mills in conjunction with STM. The group is also working to produce documents on responding to mass complaints.
Council members
- Marie Soulière (Chair)
- Daniel Kulp
- Sarah Elaine Eaton
- Deborah Kahn
- Ana Marusic
- Jigisha Patel
- Michael Wise
- Jennifer Wright
Non-Council members
- Anna Pendlebury (Royal Society of Chemistry)
- Elizabeth Moylan (Wiley)
- Gráinne McNamara (Karger Publishers)
- Joris van Rossum (STM)
- Maja Choma (Biomed Central)
- Renee Hoch (PLOS ONE)
- Sabina Alam (Taylor & Francis)
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Last updated 14 March 2023