The perils of copy and paste: Plagiarism in scientific publishing

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INTRODUCTION Although research misconduct in all its forms can damage the integrity and prestige of the scientific community, it has often not been taken as seriously as it should be. However, leaders in science and publishing are beginning to regard misconduct as the threat that it really is. In an editorial in Nature, Macilwain explains that scientists' instinctive defensiveness has produced general denial that misconduct constitutes a serious but also that these attitudes are changing and misconduct is being addressed more often and with less leniency [1]. Research misconduct should be a paramount concern in the scientific publishing industry. The goal of any scientific or technical journal is to contribute to the advancement of the literature base of its target subject, and publishing fraudulent, unethical, or incorrect research damages not only the reputations of the journal and the authors but also the research field itself. Research misconduct can range from unethical treatment of research subjects to fabrication and falsification of data to plagiarism [2]. It is therefore the responsibility of every scientific journal to monitor all material to be published for research misconduct of all kinds, a responsibility that JRRD takes seriously. As pointed out by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE), journal editors are accountable for everything published in their journals, such that they should attempt to maintain the integrity of the academic record and uphold ethical standards [3]. Despite the efforts of the publishing community, research misconduct is on the rise. In the past 30 years, retractions in scientific journals have increased 10-fold [4]. Fanelli reports that nearly 34 percent of scientists and doctors admitted to employing questionable research practices [5]. This increase in misconduct is due largely to an unprecedented growth in the number of researchers and scientific publishers worldwide. As research efforts rise in parts of the world that did not previously have as large of a stake in the scientific community, such as China and India, the volume of published literature continues to increase. The number of journal articles published annually jumped from 1.09 million in 2002 to 1.94 million in 2010 [6]. JRRD has seen a drastic increase in our article submissions, leading to both more articles per issue and a higher rejection rate. The growth of the Internet has also led to an increase in the number of publication venues. With this increase in scholarship and publication outlets comes a pressure to publish, which can sometimes lead to misconduct. The widespread use of computers and the Internet has also led to an increase in misconduct, specifically plagiarism. Most published material is now available at the click of a mouse over the Internet, and the Copy and Paste functions allow broad swathes of text to be duplicated with very little effort by the copier. When it is so easy to find and duplicate previously published materials, we must be especially vigilant to root out plagiarism in all its forms. The publishing world has been taking notice of widespread plagiarism lately, and prominent publications and scholars are not immune to the problem. There have been recent plagiarism allegations against figures such as a well-known writer and journalist Jonah Lehrer [7], writer and television host Fareed Zakaria [8], and even a member of the Romanian government [9]. This renewed attention to possible plagiarism has included concerns about self-plagiarism, highlighted by the discovery that a well-known chemist had published multiple papers containing nearly identical text [10]. While plagiarism in scientific and technical writing is indeed a growing problem, we also have new tools and an increasing focus within the publishing industry with which to fight back. DEFINITIONS AND EXPLANATIONS Plagiarism As stated in the JRRD Editorial Policies, plagiarism occurs when authors use material(s) that are not their original work without documentation (accurately citing the source, using quotation marks if necessary, and obtaining appropriate permissions) and extends to text, figures, and other unique materials. …