PÕ¾ÊÓƵ

Research integrity

PÕ¾ÊÓƵ strives to share outstanding and robust research. We take a positive and proactive approach to preventing and addressing errors and misconduct. We provide robust training and policies for our editors, and we commit to supporting researchers with best practice in their research. 

PÕ¾ÊÓƵ Research Integrity Group

Our Research Integrity group advises our editors, reviewers, and authors on best practices and ethical conduct in research. We provide training for editors on the fundamentals of publication best practice, and on how to resolve research integrity problems when they arise. In complex cases we will also undertake any investigation required to resolve the case.

How our Research Integrity Team works, and the process we follow when an issue has been detected on a manuscript.

Meet the team

Research Integrity shoP_Chris_Graf_280x280uld be synonymous with research best practice. We strive to implement tools, training and processes that support Research Integrity, and ultimately help make research better. That includes training for our internal and external editors; improving transparency and openness with our policies and systems; and using technology to increasingly recognise research misconduct.


Chris Graf, Director of Research Integrity

Chris leads our expert team in developing and implementing our strategy for research integrity. He also volunteers as chair of the governance board for the STM Integrity Hub, and as programme committee member for the World Conference on Research Integrity


Resolutions

We handle reported issues across the whole of PÕ¾ÊÓƵ that require the input of research integrity experts. 

The Resolutions team:

  • Tim Kersjes,
    Head of Research Integrity, Resolutions
  • Maja Choma, Pauline Starley, Laura Whitehead,
    Research Integrity Managers
  • Greta Sharpe, Charlotte Brocklesby,
    Research Integrity Specialist
  • Svetlana Kleiner,
    Senior Research Integrity Adviser
  • Gonçalo Bastos Ventura, Mark Caine, Charlie Crerar, Vidushi Pathak, Manisha Wadhwa,
    Research Integrity Advisers
  • Sujata Sarkar
    Team Lead - Research Integrity Support
  • Santosh Bhagwan, Manasi Kapne, Amruta Raut, Pranali Satam,
    Research Integrity Support Coordinators

COPE

PÕ¾ÊÓƵ and its journals are members of COPE (the).  COPE’s primary mission is educational; it is an advisory body, not a regulator. There are more than 12,500 COPE members from 103 countries. PÕ¾ÊÓƵ’s Research Integrity Director, Chris Graf, was one of the first co-chairs of COPE. Our Research Integrity Group works closely with COPE to help them develop new educational resources

COPE membership helps differentiate legitimate journals from the increasing number of predatory and poor-quality outlets. It is one of the indicators of quality used by important third parties such as  (for Journal Impact Factor) and indexers (e.g. Web of Science, Scopus, Google Scholar, PubMed). 

Core practices

COPE's , set out clear guidance for publishers, including how allegations of misconduct should be handled; policies on authorship and contributorship, data availability, peer review process and ethics; and processes for complaints and appeals, managing conflict of interest/competing interest, journal management and post-publication discussion and corrections.

Guides

COPE publishes a number of for editors to help ensure the integrity of research publishing.

Flowcharts

offer step by step practical support on handling different aspects of publication best practice. 


Reproducibility

Reproducibility is a foundation of robust research that drives research improvement and greater trust in science. PÕ¾ÊÓƵ is committed to advancing reproducibility and open research practices across our journals, for example by introducing standardised data sharing policies, and through support for protocol sharing.  Through our editorial policies, publishing infrastructure and partnerships, we aim to drive positive change across the research community and in scholarly publishing.  

Transparency

PÕ¾ÊÓƵ helps authors share their work early and widely, and is working to open up the ‘black box’ of peer review. We support preprint deposition and citation, and multiple models of peer review.

Ethics

We are committed to providing support and advice on best practice and ethical conduct in research, including initiatives to increase the diversity of our commissioned authors, peer reviewers and editorial boards. Find further information on editorial policies and standards for PÕ¾ÊÓƵ journals on our specific imprint sites.

Please see our DEI Recruitment Frameworks for Editorial Board Members and reviewers.

Supporting the development of best practice with publications on research integrity

PÕ¾ÊÓƵ publishes many books and journals devoted to research ethics and integrity, including:

Publishing ethics for journals

Find further information on editorial policies and standards for PÕ¾ÊÓƵ journals on our specific imprint sites.