Ethics in Scientific Publication

Published scientific research needs to follow ethical principles in order to set the culture of ethical research and publication. Today, scholarly proficiency is assessed using various methods for evaluation of originality to ensure legitimate publication and demarcate hoax or blemished research content. The flawed data can lead to wastage of resources, create duplication of information and devaluate the authors in the scientific community. The authors, editors, and peer reviewers, in order to be ethical in scientific publication, need to be genuine in conducting, analysing and publishing scientific research. The publishing houses and research institutions need to be diligent in assessing the research/publications, as it effects their reputation too. The ethical dilemmas are commonly observed in authorship as well as editorial arena. Duplicate submission, redundant or duplicate publication, plagiarism, falsification, and fabrication of data are some ethical issues commonly encountered world over. However, poorly managed peer review and financial benefits accomplished if any, signify scientific misconduct and craft corrosion in confidentiality and build up conflict of interest. The gift or ghost authorship is seen commonly and is unethical. Thus the authors and journal editors are expected to be aware of the international guidelines in “publishing ethics”. The present article discusses some of the common ethical issues in scientific publication.