Page 173 - Academic and Research Book_WEB

Advertising

Definition

Many scientific journals and meetings derive significant income from advertising. Reprints are also
lucrative.

Action

1. Editorial decisions must not be influenced by advertising revenue or reprint potential: editorial
and advertising administration must be clearly separated.
2. Advertisements that mislead must be refused, and editors must be willing to publish criticisms,
according to the same criteria used for material in the rest of the journal.
3. Reprints should be published as the original paper appears in the journal unless a correction is
to be added.

Dealing with Misconduct

Principles

1. The general principle confirming misconduct is the intention to make others believe or regard
that which is untrue, as true.

2. Examining misconduct must therefore focus, not only on the particular act or omission, but also
on the intention of the researcher, author, editor, reviewer, or publisher involved.
3. Deception may be deliberate, by reckless disregard of possible consequences, or by negligence. It
is implicit, therefore, that “best practice” requires complete honesty, with full disclosure.
4. Codes of practice may raise awareness but can never be exhaustive.

Investigating Misconduct

1. Editors should not simply reject papers that raise questions of misconduct. They are ethically
obliged to pursue the case. However, knowing how to investigate and respond to possible cases of
misconduct is difficult.
2. COPE is always willing to advise, but for legal reasons, can only advise on anonymized cases.
3. It is for the editor to decide what action to take.

Serious Misconduct

1. Editors must take all allegations and suspicions of misconduct seriously, but they must recognize
that they do not usually have either the legal legitimacy or the means to conduct investigations
into serious cases.
2. The editor must decide when to alert the employers of the accused author (s).

3. Some evidence is required, but if employers have a process for investigating accusations — as
they are increasingly required to do — then editors do not need to assemble a complete case.
Indeed, it may be ethically unsound for editors to do so because such action usually means
consulting experts, so spreading abroad serious questions about the author (s).

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