";In striving to continue our tradition of excellence in publishing, we are pleased to announce a new editorial enhancement that collectively seek to strengthen the integrity of the topics covered by our journals. The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), supports and encourages editors to report, catalogue and instigate investigations into ethical problems in the publication process. It is described in more detail below";.

COPE

COPE (http://publicationethics.org/) is a forum for editors of peer-reviewed journals to discuss issues related to the integrity of the scientific record; it supports and encourages editors to report, catalogue and instigate investigations into ethical problems in the publication process. Formed in 1997, COPE’s major objective is to provide a sounding board for editors who were struggling with how best to deal with possible breaches in research and publication ethics. The All Results Journals, published by the Society for the Improvement of Science (SACSIS), have been added to the list of COPE members.

COPE provides a unique resource for member journals; an independent, nonbinding review in case of disputes. COPE urges journals to publish a description of their review and appeal processes, as well to publish corrections, retractions, apologies, and critical responses to published material.

Editors from SACSIS are encouraged to initially discuss complex ethical problems which have arisen during any stage of the publication process with their SACSIS publishing editor, in an attempt to resolve the issue amicably.

Please visit COPE’s website which contains a specific members area which allows access to many useful tools, such as: a blog on the latest research, letters and news concerning publication and research ethics; a wiki to look up simple terms, definitions and guidelines associated with publication misconduct; sample letters for editors to use which contain legal advice; presentations from COPE council members used at international conferences on publication misconduct; a searchable archive of all COPE cases and the advice given. Access is also granted to members for two other COPE initiatives. The first is a quarterly newsletter containing news about publication ethics and reported breaches (from outside the COPE Forum), news of and links to articles in journals about publication and research misconduct, information about new techniques for preventing publication misconduct (e.g. software, processes), news about COPE activities, reports of cases discussed at COPE Forum, articles by experts on publication ethics, educational articles (how-tos, QAs, etc), cross references to web pages and services, list of coming events, and book reviews. The second is an online distance-learning course for journal editors to help train new editors or keep present editors up to date with the latest policies in publication ethics.