Publication Integrity & Ethics (PIE) was developed over a decade ago to address several areas of concern and promote real editorial freedom.Read more.
Resources
Complaints
Regardless of the professionalism and competence of the editorial staff, things can go wrong in any publication; acts of misconduct and breaches in the code of conduct are more frequent than an outsider may imagine. However, there are several ways of dealing with these issues, whether they are ethical issues, publication errors, concerns raised by conflict of interests or other problems specific to this environment.
This is an extensive section which includes summaries of all the complaints submitted to PIE through its complaint system: including complaints that are finalised and the committee issued a resolution and complaints that are still waiting input from one of the two parties. This database is free to access by members and adherents especially those who are researching publication ethics; such people have the opportunity to browse into a valuable resource of knowledge and information on what are the main breaches in the code and all the possible outcomes of a complaint.
However, all members, adherents and affiliates are encouraged to browse the available database and study the cases published on the website before submitting a complaint to PIE. The on-site selection of cases will help them to better understand the complaint system and the possible outcomes for the Sub-Committee’s investigation. All cases must be submitted via the website separately, through our complaint system available for each type of member. To submit a case, you need to register with the PIE organisation as a member or adherent, login to the PIE website and access the complaint section on the site. If any problems occur during the process, please contact our representatives.
General criteria for submitting complaints:
- The complainant should be a member (affiliate or editor-in-chief) or adherent of the Publication Integrity and Ethics.
- The complaint must be related to the Guidelines and the Code of Conduct published by PIE.
- The complaint must be related to facts that occurred or took place after the date the Guidelines and the Code of Conduct were first published on the PIE website.
- The complainant has already tried to contact the respondent (at least once) and solve the issue internally.
- The complainant is willing to provide the PIE Sub-Committee with all the documents and information relevant to the case as well as a full copy of the correspondence with the respondent.
- The complainant must specify exactly in which aspects the respondent breached the Code of Conduct and PIE Guidelines.
- The complainant agrees that a short summary of the dispute will be published on this website. Confidentiality will be maintained.
- The complainant agrees to submit only the official complaint form available here on the Publication Integrity and Ethics website, providing a concise summary of the specific issue raised.
