MESU Commission on Publication Ethics Becomes a Member of COPE

The Commission on Publication Ethics and the Formation of the List of Scientific Professional Journals of Ukraine under the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine (MESU) has become a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) — an international organisation that develops standards and practical guidance in the field of publication ethics.

The Commission’s profile has already been published in COPE’s official membership register.

COPE brings together editors, publishers, researchers and other professionals working in scholarly communication. The organisation develops guidelines and practical flowcharts for journals on peer review, authorship, conflicts of interest, plagiarism, corrections and retractions, as well as other issues related to publication ethics.

For Ukrainian scholarly journals, this is an important step towards closer integration into the international publishing environment. The use of COPE’s international recommendations helps editorial teams make publishing processes more transparent, improve editorial policies and establish clear procedures for responding to potential ethical violations.

The topic is particularly relevant in the context of the updated approaches to the formation of the List of Scientific Professional Journals of Ukraine introduced in 2026. The new requirements place greater emphasis on the quality of peer review, transparency of editorial policies, research integrity and the accuracy of information about scholarly journals.

For research libraries, the development of such standards is also of practical importance. Modern libraries work not only with collections and access to scholarly literature, but also support research and publishing infrastructure. They help editors and researchers work with DOI, ORCID, repositories, open access, scholarly metadata and international information systems.

The State Scientific and Technical Library of Ukraine (SSTL) also contributes to the development of information infrastructure for Ukrainian scholarly journals and researchers. In particular, SSTL administers information resources related to Ukrainian scholarly publications, supports the development of open science and promotes the adoption of international practices in scholarly communication.

The Commission’s membership in COPE creates additional opportunities for professional exchange and the use of international expertise in Ukraine. For Ukrainian scholarly journal editors, this provides access to recommendations and practices developed by the international community, helping to improve the quality of publishing processes and strengthen trust in scholarly publications.

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