3. Unethical Practices in Scientific Research
Performing a medical research and documenting
the findings in a research paper are painstaking and
time-consuming process. Nevertheless, the
research authors must conform to the scientific
ethics at each stage of performing a research and
documenting its results.
‘Ethics’, derived from the Greek word ‘ethikos’ are
a set of principles for right conduct in a particular
field.
They carry a greater significance in the field
of medical research and publication as these are
directly related to the suffering humanity.
4. In recent times, there has been a gradual neglect
towards the ethical principles guiding a scientific
research paper writing, and its publication.
The misconduct in behavior may be intentional
or may arise due to ignorance. Whatever be the
cause of misconduct, the consequence is the same.
And it not only affects other authors, reviewers,
and editors, but also the common man.
As a research author, it’s absolutely essential to
abreast yourself with these ethical principles and
avoid any scientific misconduct.
5. Here is a list of 5 common unethical
practices you must avoid while
publishing your research paper
6. 1.Duplicate Submission
Submission of your research paper or its
publication in two or more identical journals with
or without acknowledgement to another is called
duplicate submission/publication.
7. Such a practice is done by authors to increase
their number of publications.
But, bear in mind! It’s unethical as it wastes
the time of journal reviewers, publication
resources, and renders no benefit to humanity
or scientific community.
You can query multiple journals for
submitting your research paper, but finally
submit to one only!
8. 2.Falsification/Fabrication of
Research Data
Falsification is the manipulation of the methods used in
research or its key findings to produce a desired outcome.
Fabrication is the false recording or recording of a
fictitious data when none exists.
9. Such practices are more common in
pharmaceutical industry where results are
fabricated to promote a particular drug in
the market, ignoring its side-effects.
Not only unethical and wastage of limited
research resources, such fabrications have
negative effects on the physician’s clinical
practice and creates mistrust amongst the
consumers or general population.
10. 3.Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the practice of using other’s work or
ideas in your scientific writing without giving them
due credit and passing them off as one’s own in
publication journals to gain recognition. Even using
your own text from other publications in the current
writing without due reference is considered
plagiarism, more specifically called self-plagiarism.
11. If you think you are smart and your plagiarized
content will escape the eyes of the journal editors, you
are highly mistaken. Detection of plagiarism has
become easier with the advent of numerous
plagiarism checking tools.
Sometimes plagiarism is not intentional, but
happens accidentally. However, you can avoid it by
providing references of all the sources you have used
for writing your scientific content.
Always cite the author appropriately whose work
you use in your research paper, even if they are from
your past publications.
12. 4.Authorship Conflict
As per the International Committee of Medical
Journal Editor (ICMJE) guidelines, any person who
contributes to the conception, designing or
acquisition of research data, analysis of data,
drafting or revision of the article, and its final
approval before publication is entitled for the
authorship of that paper.
13. Following unethical practices surmount to an
authorship conflict:
Not including the name of the person who
contributes to the research in any manner.
Failure to obtain consent from a person whose name
is cited in the manuscript.
Adding an extra author or removing the name of an
existing author before or after publication.
Citing a person as an author just on the basis of
seniority, family or professional relationship when none
of them contributed to the research or its writing.
The conflict can be prevented by deciding the
authorship in the beginning of the research. That’s the
reason why journals ask the authors to submit their
checklist for the criteria of authorship.
14. 5.Conflict of Interest
Conflict of interest is a situation in which the author of
the research study may be influenced by personal and/or
financial considerations to affect the quality or the end
result of the research.
If any such conflicts of interest arise, be they personal,
financial or any other, they must be disclosed with
complete honesty to the editorial team.
15. Though our publication support experts
guidelines and principles exist to prevent
any misconduct in research and publication,
ideally you shouldn’t require them.
Self-restraint and welfare of the fellow
members of the community must be the
sole driving force for conducting an honest
research and publication.
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39. • APA 7th Edition (2020) | The 17 Most Notable Changes
(scribbr.com) https://www.scribbr.com/apa-style/apa-seventh-
edition-changes/
• Basics of APA Formatting - APA Style 7th Edition: Citing Your
Sources - Research Guides at University of Southern California
(usc.edu) https://libguides.usc.edu/APA7th
• Cite a Journal Article | APA Style | Scribbr Citation Generator
https://www.scribbr.com/apa-citation-generator/new/article-
journal/
• APA-7.pdf (byu.edu) https://rwc.byu.edu/files/2020/04/APA-7.pdf
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44. Although they are similar, they
are not the same.
Plagiarism
Copyright
Infringement
51. • The main difference between plagiarism and
copyright infringement is that plagiarism is an
ethical issue, whereas copyright infringement
is a legal issue.
• Plagiarism refers to the passing off someone
else’s work or ideas as one’s own, whereas
copyright infringement refers to the use
of copyright-protected material without the
permission of the copyright holder. Both
plagiarism and copyright infringement involve
using someone else’s work without
permission.
52.
53. Plagiarism But Not Copyright Infringement
A student copies a few sentences of a 20-page book illustrating
and describing species of birds to use in article on evolution
submitted for her high school newspaper but fails to provide a
citation or footnote explaining that the information came from the
book.
This student may have committed plagiarism by not properly
attributing the information and making it seem like the
information originated from the student. However, the student
will most likely not be found to have committed copyright
infringement because such an inconsequential amount was used
in an educational setting in a manner that is unlikely to harm the
authors market for the work that the use is likely a fair use.
54. Copyright Infringement but Not Plagiarism
This time, the high school student copies the entire bird species
book that she includes in several article published in the paper,
but she puts a citation at the bottom of each article that includes
the author’s name, the title of the book, and how the entire article
is taken directly from the book.
While the student properly attributed the author and did not try
to pass the article off as her own work, she copied the entire work
without permission, which likely infringes the author’s rights
under copyright law.
55. Both Plagiarism and Copyright Infringement
A young writer, hoping to be published, copies line for line a
popular wizard book series. The young writer sends the work to
her publisher and says she wrote it.
This author has committed plagiarism by submitting someone
else’s work as her own and, in addition, has committed copyright
infringement by copying someone else’s protected work without
permission.
