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because of geopolitical concerns</h1> </div> <div class="hero__bottom"> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="page-main"> <div class="page-main__row"> <div class="page-main__col"> <main> <section id="content" class="region region-content"> <div id="block-system-main" class="block block-system clearfix"> <div class="content"> <div class="node-case node node-case view-mode-full "> <div class="node-case__left node-case__fields"> <div class="field field--short"> <div class="field-label">Case number:</div> <div class="field-item">23-11</div> </div> </div> <div class="node-case__body"> <div class="sidebar sidebar--offset"> <div class="sidebar__body"> <div class="node-case__fields"> <div class="field field-name-field-anonymised-text-of-the-ca field-type-text-long field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Case text (Anonymised): </div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>A group of authors from country A has asked to retract their article from a conference proceeding because they have discovered that the conference organisers are from a hostile country. The authors are concerned that participation in the conference could bring dismissal from their posts, and also potentially imprisonment. </p> <p>The publisher's first step was to request written permission from all the authors.</p> <p><em>Questions for the Forum</em></p> <ul> <li>What actions should the publisher take in this case?</li> <li>Should the publisher delete the article completely so that no longer appears on the platform?</li> <li>How should the notice of withdrawal be drawn up?</li> <li>How can we protect the authors?</li> </ul> <p><strong>Update</strong><br /> Given the critical situation of this very specific case the publisher had to act prior to the Forum. They decided after collecting the approval of all the authors and the editor in charge of this paper to fully withdraw this article from the publication. They published a note without transparently displaying the real reason for the withdrawal to ensure the safety of the authors.</p> <p> <strong>Additional questions for the Forum</strong></p> <ul> <li>Did the publisher take the right action in this case?</li> <li>Given that other publishers may find themselves in a similar situation in future, are there any general ethical principles that should be considered?</li> </ul> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-advice field-type-text-long field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Advice: </div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p><em>COPE takes no responsibility for the way that geopolitical concerns are represented in cases brought to Forum or Council. All references to specific countries or regions have been removed with the consent of the presenter of the case.</em></p> <p><a href="https://publicationethics.org/news/authorship-and-politics" target="_blank">COPE’s 2017 discussion of authorship and politics</a> is a useful starting point for issues where political situations affect author safety. It recommends that each case be assessed carefully based on as much information as possible, and that full records be kept of the actions taken. Where retraction would not normally be warranted on the basis of an author wishing to disassociate themselves from an article, the safety of humans comes before issues of publication ethics. Editors may therefore choose to issue an editorial note indicating the authors’ removal (if possible without retraction of the paper). The publisher should also consider contacting the authors’ institution(s) as long as that would not pose additional threats to any of the authors.</p> <p>There are other, practical, issues which editors will need to discuss. Ideally, journals should have policies in place for dealing with situations like this so that they have protocols to draw on. Editors will need to think about the wording of any removal notice as the metadata (including the author list) will usually be left intact. It may be necessary to take advice from legal teams to see if this information can be completely removed; this can be difficult but author safety can outweigh usual practices.</p> <p>Editors should also satisfy themselves as far as possible that there are no other reasons for seeking removal of author names which would not warrant the record being changed. </p> <p>There are several support agencies who can provide other assistance for authors in this position and it may be helpful to refer individuals here. For example, the <a href="https://www.cara.ngo/" target="_blank">Council for At-Risk Academics</a>, and <a href="https://www.scholarsatrisk.org/" target="_blank">Scholars at Risk</a>.<br /> </p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-follow-up field-type-text-long field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Follow up: </div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>After collecting the approval of all the authors and the editor in charge of this paper the publisher decided to fully withdraw the article from the publication. They published a note without transparently displaying the real reason for the withdrawal to ensure the safety of the authors. Since then several similar cases have been received and the publisher intends to follow the advice of the COPE Forum.</p> </div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-resolution field-type-list-text field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Resolution: </div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Case Closed</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-taxonomy-vocabulary-9 field-type-taxonomy-term-reference field-label-above"><div class="field-label">Year: </div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="/taxonomy/term/4435">2023</a></div></div></div><div class="field field--classifications field--short"><div class="field-label">Core practices:</div><div class="item-list"><ul><li class="first"><a href="/authorship" title="View all "Authorship and contributorship" content">Authorship and contributorship</a></li> <li><a href="/oversight" title="View all "Ethical oversight" content">Ethical oversight</a></li> <li class="last"><a href="/postpublication" title="View all "Post-publication discussions and corrections" content">Post-publication discussions and corrections</a></li> </ul></div></div> </div> <aside class="sidebar__aside"> <div class="sidebar__aside__col"> <div class="sidebar__aside__inner"> <div class="contextual-links-region"><h3>COPE Forum</h3><div class="entity entity-bean bean-editable"> <div > <div class="field field-name-field-block-text field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>COPE Members:<br /> do you have a publication ethics case and need help with next steps?<br /> <a href="https://publicationethics.org/copeforum">Submit your case</a></p> <p>Registration is now open for the 9 December Forum where new cases are discussed. 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