Ethics in Research and Publication PDF

○ Informed consent with human participants ○ Trial must be registered in clinical trials registry ○ Data confidentiality (unless institutional permission) 2. Fabrication + falsification ○ Fabrication: making up results...

○ Informed consent with human participants ○ Trial must be registered in clinical trials registry ○ Data confidentiality (unless institutional permission) 2. Fabrication + falsification ○ Fabrication: making up results ○ Falsification: manipulating/omitting results so that research isn’t accurately represented in research record 3. Plagiarism: use of previously published ideas without consent/credit ○ Considered plagiarism even is unintentional ○ Editors should expect allegations of plagiarism to be substantiated and treat it seriously ○ Forms of plagiarism Verbatim quotation without acknowledgement Cutting + pasting without acknowledgement Paraphrasing Inaccurate citation Failure to acknowledge assistance Use of material written by professional agencies/other persons Auto-plagiarism Identical pieces of work submitted concurrently ○ How to avoid plagiarism Don’t copy-paste, write concept in own words Acknowledge original sources Cite references accurately Avoid writing several articles of the same kind Use anti-plagiarism tools 4. Authorship: confers credit and responsibility of published work ○ Journals should remind contributors about authorship guidelines (ICMJE) Substantial contributions to development of idea + data Drafts manuscript/performs revisions Gives final approval for publication Agrees to be accountable for work done ○ Each author should be clear about their responsibility (mandatory) ○ Decide on authorship while writing protocol 5. Submission ethics ○ Simultaneous submission: submitting same manuscript simultaneously to different journals ○ Self-citation: citing own publication out of context ○ Predatory journals: characterized by false/misleading information, deviation from best editorial + publication practices, lack of transparency, aggressive/indiscriminate solicitation Publish for a fee without providing peer review/editing Don’t follow academic standards for publishing List available at UGC-CARE 6. Conflicts of interest: anything that interferes with objective presentation, commissioning, peer review, editorial decision-making, publication of research submitted to journal ○ Disclose interests: financials (patent, stock, consultancies), personal, political, intellectual, religious ○ Editors should seek disclosure statements from all authors + peer reviewers (clearly explained) Peer Review Ethics Peer review: process of subjecting scholarly work to scrutiny of others who are experts in the same field ○ Filter to ensure only high quality research is published by determining validity, significance, originality ○ Intended to improve quality of manuscripts that are suitable for publication ISI only considers peer-reviewed journals to receive impact factors Reviewer selection is at discretion of journal editors ○ Peer reviewer: expert in the field that checks for accuracy, quality, validity of methods, revisions ○ Volunteer basis Peer review process ○ Journals provide guidance to peer reviewers ○ Literature search to confirm if similar articles have been previously published + ensure that all relevant articles are cited ○ Comments to author should be direct, specific, actionable, aimed at increasing quality ○ Comments to editors should be on overall importance + quality of manuscript, provide recommendation regarding manuscript’s acceptance Reviews due within 10-30 days ○ Editor communicates final decision to authors Blinding in peer review Type of Blinding Definition Advantages Disadvantages Single-blind Reviewers know authors More honest feedback May delay completing review to but authors don’t know Independent decisions without publish own data first reviewers influence of author Discrimination against authors Double-blind Reviewers and authors Protects authors from reviewer Can be easy for reviewer to don’t know each other bias + maintain review quality determine identity of author Open Reviewers and authors Encourages reviewers to be open May prevent reviewers from being know each other without being disrespectful honest for fear of developing bad Help prevent plagiarism rapport with authors