Publishing Ethics Resource Kit (PERK) for editors

The Publishing Ethics Resource Kit (PERK) is an online resource to support journal editors in handling publishing ethics allegations.

Useful links

• Early-career researchers can learn about the responsible conduct of research in Elsevier Publishing Campus
• Elsevier's policies on: article retraction, patient consent and research data
• Guidance for editors on choosing appropriate 'Corrections to the record'
• More resources for editors are available from the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), including an eLearning program on how to handle and prevent different ethics allegations
• Additional organizations or resources
• Legal guide for editors
• Questions and answers

Decision trees

General guidelines for handling allegations

1. Authorship complaints
2. Plagiarism complaints
3. Multiple, duplicate, concurrent publication/Simultaneous submission
4. Research results misappropriation
5. Allegations of research errors and fraud
6. Research standards violations
7. Undisclosed conflicts of interest
8. Reviewer bias or competitive harmful acts by reviewers

Form letters

A. To author

A1. To author regarding a published article

A2. To author regarding suspected plagiarism in a submitted article

A3. To author regarding an article retraction 

B. To complainant re: Author

C. To institution

D. To other journal (double publication)

E. To funding agency

F. To reviewer

G. To complainant re: Reviewer

H. To reviewer's institution