Publication Misconduct Research Articles

Research and publication at crossroads

Writing and publishing scientific and rigorous work needs a high level of integrity and adherence to ethical guidelines. Several publications have been rejected by authentic journals as a result of not adhering to a deontological standpoint. This laxity has posed deadly repercussions to the beholder including ruining its institutional image in academic scholarship. Notwithstanding, numerous writers are acquainted with the consequences of not observing ethical standards in research and publication, yet in trying to put up their pieces of work get caught in the same quandary. Anchored on a thematically oriented review of literature, it was imperative to try to explain the key ethical misconduct bases in research and publication. To fulfil this quest many journal articles were analysed. It was found that numerous aspects form the basis for misconduct in research and publication including; the pressure to ‘publish or perish’, the limitation of mentorship and guidance programs, knowledge on research and publication, promotion and academic advancement, competition among colleagues, workload pressure, financial motives, pressure from individual morality, and the challenge of research culture. Consequently, it is imperative to note that to publish a scholarly piece of work, adhering to ethical standards is non-negotiable.

CrossMark Policy

Applying the CrossMark icon is a commitment by Iranian Journal of Orthodontics (IJO) to maintain the content published and alert readers to changes if and when they occur. What is CrossMark? CrossMark, a multi-publisher initiative from CrossRef, provides a standard way for readers to locate the authoritative version of a document. We recognize the importance of the integrity and completeness of the scholarly record to researchers and librarians and attach the highest importance to maintaining trust in the authority of its electronic archive. Clicking on the CrossMark icon will inform the reader of the current status of a document also provide additional publication record information about the document. Permanency of Content All content published in IJO is permanently published, regardless of the outcome of the peer review that follows after publication. IJO participates in the CrossMark scheme, a multi-publisher initiative that has developed a standard way for readers to locate the current version of a piece of content. By applying the CrossMark policies, IJO is committed to maintaining the content it publishes and to alerting readers to changes if and when they occur. Clicking on the CrossMark logo, at the top of each IJO article, will give you the current status of the article and its last updates and direct you to the latest published version. In order to maintain the integrity and completeness of the scholarly record, we will apply the COPE Policies on Retraction Guidelines when published content needs to be corrected or retracted; these policies take into account current best practice in the scholarly publishing. Based on the COPE guideline, IJO editors consider retracting a publication if: There is clear evidence that the findings are unreliable, either as a result of misconduct (e.g. data fabri­cation) or honest error (e.g. miscalculation or experimental error); The findings have previously been published elsewhere without proper cross referencing, permission or justification (i.e. cases of redundant publication); It constitutes plagiarism; It reports unethical research. IJO editors consider issuing an expression of concern if: They receive inconclusive evidence of research or publication misconduct by the authors.

Knowledge, Attitude, and Practices About Research Integrity and Scientific Misconduct Among the Faculty and Medical Postgraduates Working in Medical Colleges in North Karnataka and Central India: A Cross-Sectional Online Survey.

Introduction Research integrity is an active adherence to the ethical principles and professional standards essential for the responsible practice of research. Research or scientific misconduct stands like child abuse today. The survey of National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded scientists calculated an absolute minimum of 2325 incidents of scientific misconduct per year. A report has also shown that Iran (6.60), India (5.68), Turkey (5.38), South Korea (3.59), and China (2.00) had higher ratios of publication misconduct to distrust data or interpretations than other countries. Hence, to determine the knowledge, attitude, and practices (KAPs) of the research integrity/scientific misconduct among the faculty and postgraduates working in the medical colleges in North Karnataka (NK) and Central India (CI), this study has been carried out. Methods It is a web-based, cross-sectional study carried out with the use of Google Forms (Google, Mountain View, California). A pretested, unstructured questionnaire consisting of 25 questions was posted in the way of a link to the faculty and postgraduates working in various disciplines within the colleges of NK and CI either by using an e-mail or other social platforms like WhatsApp. Institutional Ethics Committee approval was obtained in both regions before conducting the survey. Results A total of 146 participants responded to the e-questionnaire posted to them. Participants from CI displayed better awareness in several areas compared to NK. Citing articles and/ or materials that have not been read is the common questionable research practice (QRP) they have come across, as mentioned by participants in both groups. Discussion The study reveals a moderate level of knowledge and variable attitudes toward research integrity. The "publish or perish" culture is a major contributor to misconduct. Training and awareness programs are needed to enhance ethical research practices. Conclusion This study highlights the need for improved education and policy implementation to uphold research integrity in medical colleges, emphasizing the role of academic culture in shaping ethical research practices.

Inaugural Editorial

It is a great pleasure for me to provide an editorial commentary for the first edition of the recently established Journal of Optics and Photonics Research (JOPR). Greetings and salutations to all of you on the inaugural issue of JOPR, a new and exciting portfolio journal from Bon View Publishing, which focuses on cutting-edge research trends in optics and photonics. The journal features international peer-reviewed multidisciplinary papers that provide new and original insights to the field, while maintaining accuracy in theory and technology. We are committed to ensuring that every accepted article meets these standards. Being the Editor-in-Chief of JOPR is an honor and a source of great gratitude for me. The fields of optics and photonics are primarily concerned with the study of light, its creation, and manipulation, as well as its interactions with gases, plasmas, molecules, and solids, including micro- and nanostructures. The optical domain of ultraviolet, visible, and infrared light is much surpassed by the electromagnetic spectrum covered by optics and photonics. Researchers from physics, chemical and biological engineering, electronic and electrical engineering, and other fields are involved in this highly multidisciplinary topic. JOPR draws on both theoretical and practical results in the field of optical science and engineering, without being limited to any one discipline. It is committed to a wide spectrum of fundamental and applied optical research and brings scientists from many domains together. We encourage authors to conduct interdisciplinary research through the application of reasonable modeling or computational methods and experimental analysis. My goal for JOPR is to create a premier, open-access, highly peer-reviewed platform whose goal is to publish the most significant research in photonics and optics. I'm appreciative of the community's tremendous support in assisting us in achieving this objective.

Professional ethics in the field of scientific publications

Nowadays, more and more people want to publish their research, which has led to an increase in incorrect practices related to ethics and are called scientific misconduct. This paper aims to characterize the fundamental manifestations of misconduct in scientific research and the ways to combat them, for this purpose a search of bibliographies in databases such as PubMed, Google Scholar and SciELO was carried out, where the search strategies used were: ethics in scientific publication, plagiarism and scientific misconduct, publications in Spanish and English were considered, using 18 references. Finally, it was determined that the main ethical misconduct in scientific publications include invention, falsification, plagiarism, etc. and that the best way to combat them is to resort to formative evaluation at different levels of undergraduate and graduate studies

Australia’s New National Anti-Corruption Commission: Background and Critique

Australia has been the site of major advances in the creation of public sector anticorruption commissions since 1989. However, commissions with broad jurisdiction have been limited to the six states until 2023. The federal jurisdiction lagged behind, with a series of scandals driving intensified debates from 2013. Performance issues associated with state agencies formed part of the debate. The present paper reviews this history, focusing on the intensification of research and lobbying efforts leading to the establishment of a National Anti-Corruption Commission in 2023. The paper also critiques the legislation behind the new agency, arguing it entails considerable limitations and that agency legitimacy and effectiveness will only be achieved through the inclusion of integrity issues of concern to citizens, a strong focus on prevention, and significant independence in investigations and adjudication. These lessons are of relevance to other jurisdictions facing the issue of effective institutional responses to public sector misconduct risks.

Inaugural Editorial

Writing an editorial note for the first volume of the new journal of Archives of Advanced Engineering Science (AAES) is a great glory and honor for me. The scope of AAES is not limited to a single aspect of engineering and science and covers various subfields in the applied and fundamental engineering sciences. Particularly, articles with interdisciplinary nature are welcomed. A warm welcome to the inaugural issue of AAES, which is a new exciting title and subject for Bon View Press portfolio journals for 2023. AAES is a new beginning for engineering development in the way to advanced engineering science. I am fortunate and honored to be a member of AAES and take the responsibility of Editor-in-Chief. As can be witnessed in journal title, this pioneering journal aims to address and understand Engineering Science. Subject fields include, but are not limited to, Mechanical Engineering, Electrical and Informatics Engineering, Civil Engineering, Chemical Engineering, Material Engineering, Computer Engineering, Environmental Engineering, Renewable Energy and Resources, Technology and Applications, Sustainable Development and Interdisciplinary science. Today, we feel great happiness to publish the first issue of our journal in November 2023. This issue has six articles on different interesting topics in engineering science. I believe that AAES is providing a vigorously open-access, peer-reviewed, leading platform aiming at publishing the most valuable and Influential research works in the main basic areas of engineering science around the world. To enhance the standard of the journal through publishing high quality papers, we followed the main practices of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) and accordingly handled research and publication misconduct. Strict ethical guidelines for editors, authors, and peer reviewers were clearly presented. We introduced desk reject, double-blind peer-review by at least two anonymous reviewers and plagiarism detection to guarantee high standards of AAES.

The role of impartial administration in financial sector performance: A comparative study of Latin America and Sub-Saharan African countries

Abstract Emerging nations are often distressed if their current administration and governance do not align with social and national needs. Among these worries, there is the fear of public funds misconduct and corruption in the nation’s major institutions. Indeed, inadequate administration results in embezzlement of funds, tax evasion, and low bureaucratic quality in all sectors. This study was undertaken to address the role of impartial administration specifically in the financial sector. The research considered a sample size composed of 12 countries from Latin America and Sub-Saharan Africa in the period of 2000 to 2021. The net interest margin was considered a proxy for financial performance measurement. Additionally, an ordinary least squares and quantile regression was performed to record the effect of the variables on financial sector performance. Within this context, the findings exhibited different outcomes for these regions. For instance, in the Latin America region, the results revealed that public sector theft, bureaucratic quality, corruption level, local government index, and inflation have a negative impact on the performance of the financial sector while impartial public administration demonstrated a positive impact on financial performance. On the other hand, the Sub-Saharan African region demonstrated that bureaucratic quality, local government index, and inflation have a significant and positive impact on financial performance, whereas executive embezzlement and theft, corruption level, and government final expenditures were shown to negatively influence financial performance. Finally, the study’s findings provides insights into the policies and strategies to implement in order to support the financial framework.

Authorship Disputes in Scholarly Biomedical Publications and Trust in the Research Institution.

When authorship disputes arise in academic publishing, research institutions may be asked to investigate the circumstances. We evaluated the association between the prevalence of misattributed authorship and trust in the institution involved. We measured trust using a newly validated Opinion on the Institution's Research and Publication Values (OIRPV) scale (range 1-4). Mayer and Davies' Organizational Trust for Management Instrument served as control. Association between publication misconduct, gender, institution type, policies, and OIRPV-derived Trust Scores were evaluated. A total of 197 responses were analyzed. Increased reporting of authorship misconduct, such as gift authorship, author displacement within the authors' order on the byline, and ghost authorship, were associated with low Trust Scores (P<0.001). Respondents from institutions whose administration had made known (declared or published) their policy on authorship in academic publications awarded the highest Trust Scores (median 3.06, interquartile range 2.25 to 3.56). Only 17.8% favored their administration as the best authority to investigate authorship dispute honestly. Of those who did not list the administration as their preferred option for resolving disputes, 58.6% (95/162) provided a Trust Score <2.5, which conveys mistrust in the institution. Increased reporting of publication misconducts such as gift authorship, author displacement within the order of the authors' byline, and ghost authorship was associated with lower Trust Scores in the research institutions. Institutions that made their policies known were awarded the highest Trust Scores. Our results question whether the research institutions' administrations are the appropriate authority for clarifying author disputes in all cases.

Bibliometrics Methods in Detecting Citations to Questionable Journals

In recent times, there has been a proliferation of questionable practices in research publishing, for example, via predatory journals, hijacked journals, plagiarism, tortured phrases and paper mills. This paper intends to analyse whether journals that had been removed from the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) in 2018 due to suspected misconduct were cited within journals indexed in the Scopus database. Our analysis showed that Scopus contained over 15 thousand references to the removed journals identified. The majority of the publications citing these journals came from the area of Engineering. It is important to note that although we cannot assume that all the journals removed followed unethical practices, it is still essential that researchers are aware of the issues around citing journals that have been suspected of misconduct. We suggest that research libraries play a crucial role in training, advising and providing information to researchers about these ethical issues of publication malpractice and misconduct.

Inaugural Editorial

It gives me great pleasure to write an editorial note for the first edition of the new journal of Green and Low-Carbon Economy (GLCE). A warm welcome to the inaugural issue of GLCE, which is a new exciting title for Bon View Press portfolio journals for 2022. GLCE marks a new era for the green and low-carbon development field in approaching carbon neutrality. I am honored and fortunate to be part of GLCE and take responsibility as Editor-in-Chief. As reflected in the journal name, this pioneering journal seeks to understand and address the economic challenges in transitioning to a carbon-neutral world. We encourage authors to conduct multidisciplinary research by applying sound modelling or computational methods and analysis to identify effective and timely solutions for shifting to green and low-carbon economy. Subject areas include, but are not limited to, green and low-carbon economy transition, climate change mitigation and adaption, environmental degradation, renewable energy systems, natural resources management, cost and efficiency, governance, public policy and social behavior, ESG-environmental, social, and corporate governance, green finance, industrial and technological innovations, sustainable production and consumption, and built environment and infrastructure.

The Cultural Context of Plagiarism and Research Misconduct in the Asian Region.

Plagiarism is one of the most frequent forms of research misconduct in South and East Asian countries. This narrative review examines the factors contributing to research misconduct, emphasizing plagiarism, particularly in South, East and Southeast Asian countries. We conducted a PubMed and Scopus search using the terms plagiarism, Asia, South Asia, East Asia, Southeast Asia, research misconduct and retractions in January of 2022. Articles with missing abstracts, incomplete information about plagiarism, publication dates before 2010, and those unrelated to South, East, and Southeast Asian countries were excluded. The retraction watch database was searched for articles retracted between 9th January 2020 to 9th January 2022. A total of 159 articles were identified, of which 21 were included in the study using the database search criteria mentioned above. The review of articles identified a lack of training in scientific writing and research ethics, publication pressure, permissive attitudes, and inadequate regulatory measures as the primary reasons behind research misconduct in scientific publications. Plagiarism remains a common cause of unethical publications and retractions in regions of Asia (namely South, East and Southeast). Researchers lack training in scientific writing, and substantial gaps exist in understanding various forms of plagiarism, which heavily contribute to the problem. There is an urgent need to foster high research ethics standards and adhere to journal policies. Providing appropriate training in scientific writing among researchers may help improve the knowledge of different types of plagiarism and promote the use of antiplagiarism software, leading to a substantial reduction in the problem.

Ethical issues in clinical research and publication

Clinical research including human participants should be based on truth, demonstrate scientific integrity, and follow ethical standards and guidelines to protect study participants. The publication of clinical research should be transparent and adhere to strict criteria for authorship. A thorough understanding and knowledge of ethical issues will limit investigator misconduct in clinical research and publication. In this article, basic ethical issues in clinical research and publication are reviewed and summarized based on recent guidelines.

Exploring the Role of Political Communication in Shaping Public Perceptions of Corruption

This research looks at how messages about politics affect how the public views misconduct. The study uses a mixed-methods strategy, gathering survey data and analyzing the content of news media coverage to draw the conclusion that the public has a negative view of corruption and that it is a serious threat to the country's economic and social progress. The study emphasizes the need for the government to successfully communicate its anti-corruption efforts to the public through the media and other channels, as well as the importance of political communication in shaping public perceptions of corruption. This research adds to the growing body of literature on corruption and political communication and has significant implications for policymakers and stakeholders..

Does Electing Women Reduce Corruption? A Regression Discontinuity Approach

Previous studies uncovered a negative relationship between the proportion of women in public office and corruption. These findings have inspired anti‐corruption programs around the world. It remains unclear, however, whether there is a causal link between the share of women in office and malfeasance. For instance, gender differences in political experience or access to corruption networks might explain this relationship. We leverage the gradual implementation of gender quotas in Spain to isolate the effects of female descriptive representation on public misconduct and adjudicate between alternative explanations. The analyses suggest a causal link between gender and malfeasance in office: the reform generated an exogenous increase in the share of women elected, which led to a decrease in corruption that was sustained over time. This finding enhances our understanding of the effect of public officials' characteristics on policy outcomes, and of the role of parity laws in promoting political change.

Scientific Integrity and Misconduct in Publications: Guidance from the IEEE Publishing Ethics Team [SP Forum

Ethics and scientific integrity are key concepts in scientific research.

Narratives of School Library Education and Research

Researchers will share two papers exploring School Library topics interpreting the 2022 conference theme, Go Back and Get It: From One Narrative to Many. This interactive SIG session includes the presentation of papers, followed by open dialogue regarding issues raised by the papers, potential implications for practice and research, and future areas for research and collaboration. The 2022 session will include the following presentations:&#x0D; iSchool/CPS Cohort: Partnership Model for Increasing Diversity and Cultural Relevance in School Librarianship. Through a dynamic and committed partnership between the Chicago Public Schools’ Department of Curriculum, Instruction and Digital Learning and the School of Information Sciences in the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, the iSchool/CPS cohort of 20 diverse Chicago Public Schools’ content area classroom educators was recruited to complete requirements for adding the Illinois Library Information Specialist endorsement to their teaching licenses. This project is a shared commitment to our roles in advocating for certified school librarians in Illinois schools, focused on developing workforce skills, recruiting diverse representation to school librarianship, and meeting the needs of the students in Illinois.&#x0D; Upending Systems of Injustice: Educating Future School Library Researchers on Ethical Publishing for Scholarly Research. Publicly available publication ethics guidelines and policies are vital in creating a transparent process that prevents unethical research, publication misconduct, manipulation of the communication of research to practitioners, and the erosion of public trust. This study investigated how these unethical practices, specifically those coded as editorial misconduct, bring the authenticity and integrity of the library and information science academic research digital record into question. Employing a multi-layered approach, including key informant interviews, researchers determined the frequency and the content of ethical publishing policies and procedures in library and information science journals; exploring the ways editorial misconduct most severely impacted library and information science researchers of color, and school library researchers. Findings were used to develop recommendations for school library educators and practitioners facing these issues.

Publication tips: How to write scientific articles that master the publication process and communicate your ideas efficiently

AbstractThis article gives insights on how to write, submit, revise, and publish articles in scientific peer‐reviewed journals. I will focus on chemical engineering, but my suggestions apply to other natural sciences and engineering journals as well. I will start by discussing how to write the cover letter and the text of your article, emphasizing the importance of using clear language and highlighting the novelty of your results. I will then suggest how to prepare eye‐catching figures and tables that communicate your ideas effectively. Next, I will discuss the peer‐review process, explaining the roles of editors and reviewers, as well as how to revise your article and craft a rebuttal letter. I will also explain ethical misconduct in scientific publications.

Comprehensive analysis of retracted journal articles in the field of veterinary medicine and animal health

BackgroundRetractions are a key proxy for recognizing errors in research and publication and for reconciling misconduct in the scientific literature. The underlying factors associated with retractions can provide insight and guide policy for journal editors and authors within a discipline. The goal of this study was to systematically review and analyze retracted articles in veterinary medicine and animal health. A database search for retractions of articles with a veterinary/animal health topic, in a veterinary journal, or by veterinary institution-affiliated authors was conducted from first available records through February 2019 in MEDLINE/PubMed, Web of Science, Scopus, Retraction Watch, and Google Scholar. Annual frequency of retractions, journal and article characteristics, author affiliation and country, reasons for retraction, and retraction outcomes were recorded.ResultsTwo-hundred-forty-two articles retracted between 1993 and 2019 were included in the study. Over this period, the estimated rate of retraction increased from 0.03/1000 to 1.07/1000 veterinary articles. Median time from publication to retraction was 478 days (range 0-3653 days). Retracted articles were published in 30 (12.3%) veterinary journals and 132 (81.5%) nonveterinary journals. Veterinary journals had disproportionately more retractions than nonveterinary journals (P = .0155). Authors/groups with ≥2 retractions accounted for 37.2% of retractions. Authors from Iran and China published 19.4 and 18.2% of retracted articles respectively. Authors were affiliated with a faculty of veterinary medicine in 59.1% of retracted articles. Of 242 retractions, 204 (84.3%) were research articles, of which 6.4% were veterinary clinical research. Publication misconduct (plagiarism, duplicate publication, compromised peer review) accounted for 75.6% of retractions, compared with errors (20.6%) and research misconduct (18.2%). Journals published by societies/institutions were less likely than those from commercial publishers to indicate a reason for retraction. Thirty-one percent of HTML articles and 14% of PDFs were available online but not marked as retracted.ConclusionsThe rate of retraction in the field of veterinary and animal health has increased by ~ 10-fold per 1000 articles since 1993, resulting primarily from increased publication misconduct, often by repeat offenders. Veterinary journals and society/institutional journals could benefit from improvement in the quality of retraction notices.

A contextualization of editorial misconduct in the library and information science academic information ecosystem

AbstractIn the last decade, one of the most effective tools applied in combating the erosion of public trust in academic research has been an increased level of transparency in the peer review and editorial process. Publicly available publication ethics guidelines and policies are vital in creating a transparent process that prevents unethical research, publication misconduct, manipulation of the communication of research to practitioners, and the erosion of public trust. This study investigated how these unethical practices, specifically those coded as editorial misconduct, bring the authenticity and integrity of the library and information science academic research digital record into question. Employing a multi‐layered approach, including key informant interviews, researchers determined the frequency and the content of ethical publishing policies and procedures in library and information science journals; exploring the ways the lack of, or nonadherence to these policies and procedures impacted library and information science researchers in instances of editorial misconduct.