Committee On Publication Ethics (COPE) Response To The Launch Of The UK Panel For Research Integrity In Health And Biomedical Sciences

Dr Harvey Marcovitch, chair of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), comments:


'COPE welcomes the launch of the new panel and is delighted to be represented on its board. COPE anticipates that it will boost public confidence in the honesty of scientific and medical researchers. Our members are used to fraud and misconduct coming to light only after research has been published. That is far too late, especially if patients' treatment has changed as a result of unreliable evidence.


In the past COPE has found some institutions reluctant to investigate allegations of misconduct that editors bring to their attention. We hope that with Universities UK on board, and the panel's stated policy of trying to change the prevailing culture, this will no longer be the case.'



COPE was founded in 1997 as a self help group for biomedical and scientific journal editors dealing with suspected cases of research misconduct. It now has a constitution and more than 250 journal members.


COPE has published guidelines on good publication practice and, most recently, a code of conduct for editors.
For more information visit publicationethics.uk


Source: British Medical Association