Editorial

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CODE OF CONDUCT FOR JOURNAL  PUBLISHERS

Publishers who are Committee on Publication Ethics members and who support COPE membership for journal editors should:

• Follow this code, and encourage the editors they work with to follow the COPE Code of Conduct for Journal Edi- tors (http://publicationethics.org/files/u2/New_Code.pdf)
• Ensure the editors and journals they work with are aware of what their membership of COPE provides and en- tails
• Provide reasonable practical support to editors so that they can follow the COPE Code of Conduct for Journal Editors (http://publicationethics.org/files/u2/New_Code.pdf_)

Publishers should:

• Define the relationship between publisher, editor and other parties in a contract
• Respect privacy (for example, for research participants, for authors, for peer reviewers)
• Protect intellectual property and copyright
• Foster editorial independence

Publishers should work with journal editors to:

• Set journal policies appropriately and aim to meet those policies, particularly with respect to:

–         Editorial  independence

–         Research ethics, including confidentiality, consent, and the special requirements for human and animal research

–         Authorship

–         Transparency and integrity (for example, conflicts of interest, research funding, reporting standards

–         Peer review and the role of the editorial team beyond that of the journal editor

–         Appeals and complaints

• Communicate journal policies (for example, to authors, readers, peer reviewers)
• Review journal policies periodically, particularly with respect to new recommendations from the COPE
• Code of Conduct for Editors and the COPE Best Practice Guidelines
• Maintain the integrity of the academic record
• Assist the parties (for example, institutions, grant funders, governing bodies) responsible for the investigation of suspected research and publication misconduct and, where possible, facilitate in the resolution of these cases
• Publish corrections, clarifications, and retractions
• Publish content on a timely basis