COMPASS Publication Policy and Procedures

Original Effective Date: December1, 2015

Last Revised Date: July 28, 2017

Purpose

The purpose of the COMPASS Publication and Presentation Policy and Procedures is to establish guidance for study investigators for publications and presentations affiliated with COMPASS to facilitate the analysis and use of the data to gain insight and improve stroke care.

This policy will ensure that all publications are reviewed and approved by the COMPASS Publications Committee. The Publication Committee will certify that all publications are of high quality in both scientific and ethical terms and that each publication is acknowledged and reviewed properly with regards to COMPASS investigative team and PCORI. A secondary purpose of this policy is to ensure that processes for publication approval is outlined and streamlined to keep to our publication timelines and to avoid overlap and gaps between projects. Finally, this policy will serve as guidance for resolving any disputes that take place around COMPASS publications.

Definitions:

  • Publication - referrers to conference presentations, book chapters, journal articles, publicly printed media
  • Abstracts – Abstracts often have fast turnaround times, and are not subject to the full policy outlined below, they do however, require publication approval

Policy

  1. Approval: All publications involving data collected by the COMPASS study must be approved by the COMPASS Publications Committee before submission. This includes the Primary paper and secondary and tertiary/ancillary papers and abstracts. Publication approval is defined as approval from Drs. Pamela Duncan (PI), Cheryl Bushnell (Co-PI), Wayne Rosamond (Co-PI) and no major dissent from other publication committee members. For approvalplease follow the steps procedures outlined in Appendix 1.
  1. Authorship: The Publications Committee will need to approve the Author List and the order that authors are listed. Study team is encouraged to collaborate with community members and stakeholders to co-author papers and presentations when appropriate. The Publications Committee will resolve any disputes regarding authorship on publications. Some additional guidance on how the committee will determine authorship and authorship order is outlined in the bullets below.
  1. The first right of authorship for a publication will be with the COMPASS Steering Committee.
  2. The lead investigator on a specific project, or the person primarily responsible for a specific sub-project or mode of analysis, should be offered the possibility of being first author on a specific paper.
  3. In the event that the lead investigator is not the first author, the actual first author should be the person who has taken primary responsibility for writing and producing the first draft of the publication.
  4. The order of authors after the first should be determined by overall importance of contribution, in descending order, the lead author helps determine this.
  5. When the lead investigator of a project is not the first author on a specific publication, he or she may choose to be listed last, as “senior author.”
  6. The Publications Committee will follow guidelines developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors ( to determine authorship eligibility and to resolve any authorship disputes.
  1. Acknowledgements: Publications should list the members of the COMPASS Steering team who are not already listed as authors in the acknowledgement section and include the following statement after the approved author list: “For the COMPASS Investigative Team”
  1. COMPASS Publication Tracking: All published publications shouldbe submitted to the COMPASS EngagementTracker or to the Administrative team.
  1. PCORI Acknowledgement: Publications should include an acknowledgement of funding from PCORI: “This research was supported through a Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) Project Program Award (PCS-1403-14532)”
  1. PCORI Disclaimer: PCORI also requires that publications include the following disclaimer: “All statements in this presentation, including its findings and conclusions, are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the views of the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), its Board of Governors, or Methodology Committee”.
  1. PCORI award number and the ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier (NCT Number) should be included at the end of publication abstractsfor manuscripts reporting results:
  2. PCORI Award Number: PCS-1403-14532
  3. NCT Number: NCT02588664
  1. Notifying PCORI: Per our contract with PCORI, the Project Manager on the COMPASS Publications Committee will provide written notice to PCORI of:
  1. Manuscripts submitted to journals for publication
  2. Accepted peer-reviewed presentations and publications and other dissemination within thirty (30) days of acceptance. Includedates when manuscripts are accepted for publication and estimated publication dates.
  3. PCORI template for notification for public acceptance report can be found at:
  1. Copyright: Authors and the Publication Committee must ensure that agreements with publishers are in line with PCORI.
  1. Peer-review: PCORI-funded primary research must undergo peer review and all results must be made available to the public (ClinicalTrials.gov). Submit to PCORI for peer review a draft final research report.
  1. PCORI’s process for conducting peer review and releasing the research findings:
  2. Instructions for developing the draft final research report that will undergo peer review:
  1. Meeting Frequency: Publications Committee will meet at least monthly when there are items for discussion.
  2. The Publication Committee Chair (or designee) will distribute the completed proposal forms to the Publication Committee. Final manuscripts will be sent out to the Committee one week in advance for approvalvoting. It is the expectation that all Publication Committee member review final publications.
  3. Review Criteria: The Publications Committee will reviewplanned publications based on the following criteria:
  1. Importance of the research question
  2. Methods, data analysis and interpretation plan
  3. Quality of written manuscript
  4. Authorship plan

Abstracts: Though not always possible, do try to plan ahead with abstracts. The Project Manager will send out reminders for upcoming abstract submission deadlines. Abstracts will need approval from the Publications committee. Abstracts for conference presentations should be sent to the committee at least 3 business days in advance of submission. For abstracts, suggestions and comments will be made directly to the lead author by committee members.

References:

  1. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors:
  2. PCORI template for notification for public acceptance:
  3. PCORI’s process for conducting peer review:

Instructions for developing the draft final research report:

  1. Publications Page of the COMPASS Study Website:

Appendix 1. Procedures for Publication Approval

  1. For publications without any data
  2. Prior to submission, gain 1 approval from either:
  3. Pamela Duncan
  4. Cheryl Bushnell
  5. Wayne Rosamond
  6. Sabina Gesell
  7. Note, approval from a statistician is not necessary
  8. Once that approval has been received (preferably by email), proceed with submission.
  9. Send Mysha a copy of your submission so it can be added to the Engagement Tracker and our study website.
  1. Regular Procedures (for publications that will have data):
  2. Recommended 1st Step: Schedule a consultation with the data team to help formulate a research question and analytical plan. To set up a consultation please email Sara Jones ()
  3. Complete the Publication Form found on the study website4 and submit that to Mysha Sissine ().
  4. This will be reviewed at the next publications committee meeting. One of the questions in the form is about your timeline.If this timeline is not met, authorship is negotiable. The publication committee will keep a table of all proposed publications including the proposed timeline and authorship plan for each.
  5. The publications committee will review the publications form and provide approval (and/or feedback). The publications committee will also provide comments and guidance including suggestions for additional authors. Once approved by the Publications Committee, you will receive an email from Anna Johnson () notifying you of approval and/or any feedback from the Publications Committee.
  6. In this email you will receive guidance on the next steps. Depending upon your project you may need to submit an analytical request form (see the next step). Anna Johnson will send you the DUA to you if you need to fill that outfollow the instructions on the DUA for submission.
  7. Once approval from the Publication Committee is received, prepare an analytical requestfound on the study website4form. Submit that analytical request form to Sara Jones ().
  8. You will receive your data (and/or timeline for receipt of data) within 2 weeks from Sara Jones ().
  9. Prior to submission, send your final draft to Mysha Sissine () who will send this out for final publication committee approval. Please allow 2 weeks for manuscript approval and a minimum of 3 business days for abstract approval.
  1. Expedited Procedures (for publications that will have data):
  1. Recommended 1st Step: Schedule a consultation with the data team to help formulate a research question and analytical plan. To set up a consultation please email Sara Jones ()
  2. Complete the Publication Form found on the study website4 and submit that to Mysha Sissine ().
  3. This will be sent out via email for review and expedited approval. To gain approval you will need 3 approvals from either (1) Drs. Pamela Duncan, Cheryl Bushnell, Wayne Rosamond and/or Sabina Gesell.
  4. You will also need approval from Dr. Sara Jones (the 4th approval).
  5. Your approved form will be sent to the rest of the publication committee as well.
  6. Once approved by the expedited process, you will receive an email from Anna Johnson () notifying you of approval and/or any feedback from the Publications Committee.
  7. In this email you will receive guidance on the next steps. Depending upon your project you may need to submit an analytical request form (see the next step). Anna Johnson will send you the DUA to you if you need to fill that out follow the instructions on the DUA for submission.
  8. Once approval from the Publication Committee is received, prepare an analytical request found on the study website4 form. Submit that analytical request form to Sara Jones ().
  9. You will receive your data (and/or timeline for receipt of data) from Sara Jones ().
  10. Prior to submission, send your final draft to Mysha Sissine () who will send this out for final publication committee approval. Please allow a minimum of 3 business days for abstract approval. Approval from Pamela Duncan, Wayne Rosamond, and Cheryl Bushnell, and not major dissent from other Publication Committee Members.

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