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Documents 05-07 122558-Process of Allegation

The document outlines six fundamental ethical issues that may arise in research publications: data fabrication/falsification, duplicate submission/publication, plagiarism, authorship issues, undeclared conflicts of interest, and ethical problems. For each issue, the document provides definitions and recommended actions for journal editors as advised by COPE.

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12 views

Documents 05-07 122558-Process of Allegation

The document outlines six fundamental ethical issues that may arise in research publications: data fabrication/falsification, duplicate submission/publication, plagiarism, authorship issues, undeclared conflicts of interest, and ethical problems. For each issue, the document provides definitions and recommended actions for journal editors as advised by COPE.

Uploaded by

imma
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Process of Allegation

Ethical issues
Six fundamental ethical issues have been defined, and
procedures for responding to misconduct have been outlined
below.
Please note that these guidelines are not intended to provide
or substitute legal advice. Each ethical issue is followed by
recommended actions as advised by COPE for Journal Editors
and when available additional reading has been added.
Clicking on the link will give you a flowchart with the actions
stipulated. Please note that flowcharts are making a
distinction between ethical issues in a submitted manuscript
and published article.
1.(1) Data fabrication / Data falsification
 Data fabrication: This concerns the making up of research findings.
 Data falsification: Manipulating research data with the intention of
giving a false impression. This includes manipulating images (e.g.
micrographs, gels, radiological images), removing outliers or
“inconvenient” results, changing, adding or omitting data points, etc.
1. With regard to image manipulation it is allowed to technically improve
images for readability. Proper technical manipulation refers to
adjusting the contrast and/or brightness or color balance if it is
applied to the complete digital image (and not parts of the image).
2.Any technical manipulation by the author should be notified in the
cover letter to the Journal Editor upon submission. Improper technical
manipulation refers to obscuring, enhancing, deleting and/or
introducing new elements into an image. Generally, if an author’s
figures are questionable, it is suggested to request the original data
from the authors.
2.(2) Duplicate submission / publication and redundant publication
 Duplicate submission / publication: This refers to the practice of
submitting the same study to two journals or publishing more or less the
same study in two journals. These submissions/publications can be nearly
simultaneous or years later.
 Redundant publication (also described as ‘salami publishing’): this refers
to the situation that one study is split into several parts and submitted to two
or more journals. Or the findings have previously been published elsewhere
without proper cross-referencing, permission or justification.
“Self-plagiarism” is considered a form of redundant publication. It
concerns recycling or borrowing content from previous work without citation.
This practice is widespread and might be unintentional. Transparency by the
author on the use of previously published work usually provides the necessary
information to make an assessment on whether it is deliberate or
unintentional.
Note! Translations of articles without proper permission or notification
and resubmission of previously published Open Access articles are considered
duplications.
3.(3) Duplication of text and/or figures (plagiarism)
Plagiarism occurs when someone presents the work of others
(data, text, or theories) as if it was his/her own without proper
acknowledgment. There are different degrees of plagiarism.
The severity is dependent on various factors: extent of copied material,
originality of copied material, position/context/type of material and
referencing/attribution of the material used.
Every case is different and therefore decisions will vary per case. Ask
yourself the following question: Does it concern an honest mistake or is
there an intentional deviation from the scientific norm? Please note
there are many grey areas between honest, questionable and fraudulent
practices.
4.(4) Authorship issues
• COPE has written an article with advice on how to spot potential authorship
problems. Please visit the below link for more details.
• Most authorship problems have to do with authorship without the author’s
knowledge and unacknowledged authorship.
5.(5) Undeclared conflict of interest (CoI)
• A conflict of interest is a situation in which financial or other personal
considerations from authors or reviewers have the potential to compromise
or bias professional judgment and objectivity.
• Authors and reviewers should declare all conflicts of interest relevant to the
work under consideration (i.e. relationships, both financial and personal,
that might interfere with the interpretation of the work) to avoid the
potential for bias.
6.(6) Ethical problems
• There are ethical issues that relate to patient consent or animal
experimentation and the lack of ethical approval.
• Recommended action by COPE for Journal Editors can be referred via
the below link for each fraud.
• It should be noted there are two distinct situations: serious scientific
fraud or errors. Errors could be due to negligence (for example
statistical errors) or honest errors which are part of the normal course
of doing research. It is therefore important to treat potential cases with
care as academic careers could be at risk.

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