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COMMITTEE ON PUBLICATION ETHICS (COPE)

Guidelines on Good Publication Practice

Why the Guidelines were Developed

1. The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) was founded in 1997 to address breaches of
research and publication ethics. This is a voluntary body providing a discussion forum and
advice for scientific editors, aimed to find practical ways of dealing with the issues, and to
developing good practice.
2. We thought it essential to attempt to define best practice in the ethics of scientific publishing.
These guidelines should be useful for authors, editors, editorial board members, readers, owners
of journals, and publishers.
3. Intellectual honesty must be actively encouraged in all medical and scientific courses of study
and used to inform publication ethics and prevent misconduct. It is with that in mind that these
guidelines have been produced.
4. Details of other guidelines on the ethics of research and published codes of conduct are listed in
the Appendix.

How the Guidelines were Developed

The guidelines were developed from a preliminary version drafted by individual members of the
committee, which was then submitted to extensive consultation. They address: study design and ethical
approval, data analysis, authorship, conflict of interests, the peer review process, redundant publication,
plagiarism, duties of editors, media relations, advertising, and how to deal with misconduct.

Purpose of the Guidelines

These guidelines are intended to be advisory rather than prescriptive, and to evolve over time. We hope
that they will be disseminated widely, endorsed by editors, and refined by those who use them.

Study Design and Ethical Approval

Definition

Good research should be well justified, well planned, appropriately designed, and ethically approved.
To conduct research to a lower standard may constitute misconduct.

Action

1. Laboratory and clinical research must be driven by protocol; pilot studies need a written
rationale.
2. Research protocols have to seek answers to specific questions, rather than just collect data.
3. All contributors and collaborators, and if appropriate, the participants, must carefully agree on
the protocols.

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