Some Resources on Publication Ethics

Greetings again. I hope September has started well for you. Our school year has begun, the AuthorAID site continues to be refined, and I look forward to writing to you more often.

This week I received e-mail from a US scientist who will soon teach writing overseas. Earlier, I had shared with him resources posted on the AuthorAID site. Now he was seeking more material about publication ethics.

As I replied to this scientist, I thought some of you might be interested in the resources I mentioned. So, here they are: 

A favorite resource is On Being a Scientist, published by the US National Academies. This publication discusses scientific ethics in general. But because much of scientific ethics is publication ethics, it contains much about the latter. On Being a Scientist includes cases to discuss. 

All the content of On Being a Scientist can be accessed for free, by clicking on the section titles. Also, PDF copies can be purchased. 

A new edition of On Being a Scientist is being prepared. When it is available, I hope to tell you. Meanwhile, rather than wait, I am mentioning the current version. 

The Council of Science Editors, discussed in my last posting, recently published a “white paper” (report) on publication ethics. The section titled “Authorship” might be of particular interest. 

Two other resources that may be useful, especially if you are involved in journal editing, are the Web sites of the Committee on Publication Ethics and the World Association of Medical Editors.

Wishing everyone a good week—

Barbara