QSCIENCE’S Christopher Leonard elected to council of the committee on publication ethics

QSCIENCE’S Editorial Director Dr Christopher Leonard has been elected to join the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), an international body that provides guidance on best practice within the academic publishing world.

COPE provides advice to academic editors and publishers regarding all aspects of publication ethics and, in particular, how to handle cases of research and publication misconduct. It also provides a forum for its members to discuss individual cases. The cross-publisher body is widely regarded as setting the gold standards for workflows in peer review, academic integrity, editorial ethics and plagiarism.

Dr Leonard is the first Qatar-based representative to be elected within COPE and hopes to help establish QScience, Qatar Foundation For Education, Science and Community Development and Qatar as centres of excellence in research and publication ethics.

Commenting about his election to full council member, Dr Christopher Leonard, said: “This is a wonderful validation of the efforts that Qatar Foundation has made in ensuring the highest international standards are adhered to with regards to academic research publishing with QScience.”

“We have, in the past, made extensive use of COPE’s guidance and advice. Now, in addition to being a consumer of ethical standards in research publishing, I firmly believe it is also time for Qatar to become a contributor. I am honoured to be elected to the COPE council, and I hope to bring new perspectives and insights from a rapidly-growing country as it transforms into a knowledge-driven economy,” Dr Leonard added.

QScience.com is a peer-reviewed online publishing platform from Bloomsbury Qatar Foundation Journals (BQFJ) that offers a unique and collaborative research environment for scientists in Qatar and the rest of the world.