Is This a Woke Ploy to Ban Dissenting Academics From Publishing Research?

In my capacity as Editor-in-Chief of Nurse Education in Practice I receive the COPE Newsletter. COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) sets recommended standards for academic publication and most major reputable academic publishers such as Elsevier, who publish my journal, contribute to COPE and adhere to its standards. It provides advice to authors, editors, publishers and reviewers and its activities mainly revolve around core practices related to publication misconduct such as plagiarism, fabrication, falsification and conflicts of interest. The COPE newsletter advertises forthcoming international events such as the COPE Forums and reports on cases that have come to its attention (COPE does not arbitrate but may offer advice to editors and publishers). The newsletter is also a forum for consultation on policies and guidelines.

The COPE Newsletter of October 17th 2022 contained an item headed: “Survey: Author Behavioural Misconduct” with the request to: “Share your experience of issues around author behavioural misconduct and what guidance would be most helpful. We’d be pleased to hear from editors, authors, researchers, publishers, university administrators, and anyone who has encountered this type of issue.” Followed by:

Increasingly, journals and publishers are being asked to act when authors, or others involved in the publication process, are accused or convicted of crimes or various forms of “behavioural misconduct”, such as abuse or harassment. A COPE working group, with industry members and members of COPE, has been formed to identify the publication ethics issues posed by such cases and to recommend steps journals and publishers could take in response. Thank you for helping us understand more about the issues you have encountered and what guidance would be most helpful by sharing your views on author behavioural misconduct.