Ethics in scholar publishing: The journal editor's role Anna-Maria Olenoglou Phd candidate at the Ionian University olenoglou_a@yahoo.gr

Content Introduction Ethics in scholar publishing: scientific misconduct The role and responsibilities of journal editors Dealing with scientific misconduct Conclusions

Introduction The role of academic publishing Increase in published information Increase of peer-reviewed scholar journals Quantity vs Quality Competitiveness, research underfunding and the pressure to evolve professionally may force scientists to "massively produce" publications The editor’s role: provide quality control for the journals’ content

Ethics in scholar publishing: scientific misconduct “Misconduct in science means fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, or other practices that seriously deviate from those that are commonly accepted within the scientific community for proposing, conducting or reporting research. It does not include honest error or honest differences in interpretation” Public Health Service (1989)

Scientific misconduct Fabrication Falsification Plagiarism or self-plagiarism Duplicate publication (redundant publication) Authorship issues Conflict of interest

An editor selects manuscripts; a publisher selects editors. The editor’s role You ask for the distinction between the terms “Editor” and “Publisher”: An editor selects manuscripts; a publisher selects editors. M. Lincoln Schuster Publisher

International Associations Determine the responsibilities of the editors in order to help them deal with scientific misconduct International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) International Society of Addiction Journal Editors (ISAJE) Council of Science Editors (CSE) Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)

Editors’ responsibilities check whether a submitted manuscript is appropriate for the journal determine the editorial content of a journal choose some expert reviewers they are in direct communication with the author and the review team face scientific misconduct improve the journal’s quality

Dealing with scientific misconduct Guidelines of publishing houses (e.g. Blackwell Best Practice Guidelines on Publication Ethics) Guidelines of Ethics Committee and other international associations COPE database (contains over 400 cases with the given advice) COPE flowcharts Plagiarism softwares (e.g. CrossCheck)

flowchart (1/2)

flowchart (2/2)

CrossCheck iThenticate YouTube Local drive

Conclusion (1/2) Despite the steps taken so far publishing houses are not able to fully address the issue of scientific misconduct A high percentage of journal editors internationally are not aware of the existence of guidelines or do not follow them Only a few researches and empirical studies have been conducted in order to estimate the percentage of unethical publications or investigate the behaviour of editors towards scientific misconduct

Conclusion (2/2) science is a moral phenomenon the academic and research community should maintain high standards in scientific research so as to preserve the integrity of science scientists should be primarily trained in understanding the nature and the meaning of science training editors: scientific, reviewer, editorial misconduct all the existing associations that provide support and advice to editors should also monitor and control their behaviour

Thank you for your attention!!!