Tools of the trade
Protecting the integrity of the scientific literature

Elsevier, together with editors, reviewers and the research community, is committed to protecting the integrity of the scientific literature. We use a variety of resources to help achieve this in all aspects of publishing ethics, including cases of suspected plagiarism and duplicate submissions. The following are some of the tools and programs that support journal editors.

CrossCheck

With plagiarism a growing problem for journal editors, Elsevier offers CrossCheck*, a plagiarism detection service, for use within the editorial workflow as part of its efforts to support the peer review process and assist the scientific community. Although only an estimated 0.1% of submitted articles are ever suspect--with considerable variation of occurrence between different academic areas--a workable software solution for plagiarism detection can lower the burden on editors and ensure misconduct is caught.

Offered by CrossRef, a non-profit collaboration of over 3,000 commercial and society publishers, CrossCheck uses the iThenticate plagiarism software produced by iParadigms. It allows editors to verify the originality of submitted and published work with its detection software that compares manuscripts against a unique database of more than 30 million articles from more than 200 publishers including Elsevier, IOP, Nature, Springer and Oxford University Press amongst others. Elsevier's contribution consists of 9 million articles and 7,000 books and is continually increasing.

For a searchable list of all participating publishers, please visit:
http://www.crossref.org/crosscheck_members.html
For a searchable list of all journals in the CrossCheck database, please visit:
http://www.ithenticate.com/search/

*Elsevier has no commercial or financial interest in CrossCheck

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The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)

The Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) is a non-profit organization that provides a forum for editors of peer-reviewed journals to seek guidance on ethical issues. It supports and encourages editors to report, catalogue, and instigate investigations into misconduct in the publication process. COPE fosters a deep understanding of publication ethics by offering practical guidance and resources including eLearning training modules, a database of case studies, podcasts of forum discussions, newsletters, and guidelines on retraction, best practices and other critical topics.

To support journal editors in handling actual or suspected infringements of publication ethics, all Elsevier-published journals are members of COPE. Enlisting journals in COPE ensures that editors have an independent source to refer to when dealing with ethics issues. It also ensures the highest standards of publication ethics are met and that all stakeholders, including editors and publishers, follow the Code of Conduct essential to publishing integrity.

For more information about COPE, go to: http://publicationethics.org/

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The Publishing Ethics Resource Kit (PERK)

The Publishing Ethics Resource Kit (PERK) is a single point of access for step-by-step guidelines on publishing ethics that helps editors navigate the often complex processes involved in handling different types of misconduct. It was designed by Elsevier in response to the increasing the number of publishing ethics cases editors have had to deal with, and the growing need for tools to manage these challenging situations.

PERK reinforces and complements COPE's mission and practices and includes:

  • Decision trees –flow charts for a step-by-step approach to effectively deal with breach of ethics including: multiple submission, research results appropriation, allegations of research fraud, conflicts of interest, reviewer bias
  • Form letters - for filing complaints about a variety of situations and with different recipients including reviewers, authors, other journals, institutions, and funding agencies
  • Case studies-illustrating real-life examples of misconduct and how they were handled
  • Q & A - addressing the gamut of potential ethics issues and situations, and the "grey areas" of what constitutes misconduct
  • Other helpful links including industry organizations, such as COPE

For more information about PERK, go to: www.elsevier.com/publishingethicskit

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Mandatory Ethics Statement for all Submissions

As part of its ongoing efforts to ensure all authors understand and abide by ethical standards in publishing, Elsevier has a mandatory ethics statement for all submissions. All authors are required to read and to confirm that they have read and accept the statement. The fundamental principles with respect to the authors' paper include:

  • the paper be the authors' original work, not previously published elsewhere
  • reflect the authors' own research and analysis
  • properly credit the contributions of co-authors and co-researchers
  • not be submitted to more than one journal

To access Elsevier's Mandatory Ethics Statement for all Submissions, click here:
Mandatory Ethics Statement for all Submissions

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