APA Ethics Guidelines for publication

Goals To ensure the accuracy of scientific knowledge To protect intellectual property rights

8.10 Reporting of research results There is a lot of pressure on researchers to produce published papers on their research Tenure decisions, funding for future research Graduate students trying to complete MS & Ph.D. The results of this pressure can cause people to engage in potentially unethical behavior

1.Psychologist do not falsify or fabricate data (Scientific fraud) Two examples: Pilt Down Man- 1912

Sir Cyril Burt ( ) research on factor analysis and the genetics of intelligence Studied identical twins reared apart ( ) measured their “IQ” and looked at correlations between sets of twins After his death (1971) accusations began to surface that his data may have been “falsified”

2.Do not “warp”, exaggerate, or modify results to support a hypothesis e.g. draw a visual like a graph with axes that exaggerate

3.Do not “omit” data that is “troublesome” does not support your hypothesis or looks “messy” Example: rat research/thunderstorm malfunction, equipment malfunction

4.The author is responsible for informing a journal/publication if they have made an unintentional error in the data Journal will then report errors in a “correction notice” which will be permanently appended to the published research

8.14 Sharing data for verification 1.Data must be made available to journal editor while paper is in review & publication process If access is denied, publisher may refuse publication

Once article is published, the author must allow access to original data to other qualified professionals Must retain raw data for a minimum of 5 years after publication should also keep info on methodology & other important details for at least 5 years APA encourages open sharing of data but also protects rights of original researcher as “owner” of the data

Example: Hauser, Harvard University Research on animal and human cognition found evidence that monkeys were capable of many cognitive feats thought to be unique to humans Summer 2010, charged with eight instances of “scientific misconduct”

Three of these instances of misconduct occurred in published articles rest were found and corrected prior to publication He retracted one article and redid the research for two

What did he do in the way of misconduct? Many accusations from various sources including graduate and undergraduate research assistants who saw “over interpretation” of data One main issue: he could not provide the original data for the published articles Did not retain data for five years Sloppy record keeping, poor methodology, or intentional exaggeration of data???

8.13 Duplicate & Piecemeal publication of data Duplicate publication: publication of the same data or ideas Duplicate publication gives a false sense that finding has been “replicated” and therefore is more likely true than it actually is wastes space in journals where other, original research could be published

Piecemeal publication: unnecessary splitting of the findings from one research effort into multiple articles researcher should strive for “parsimony” one publication with several studies enhances effective communication allows more space for other research to be published

8.11 Plagiarism and Self-plagiarism Psychologists do not claim the words and ideas of another as their own If you take words ”verbatim”, you must use quote marks & refer to the original source/author If you paraphrase another author you need to cite that person’s original writing Give credit where credit is due

Self-plagiarism You should not re-use your own words and ideas in a subsequent publication This is a “gray” area the “core” of the new (second) document must constitute an original contribution of knowledge If small phrases or basic ideas are restated, this is generally permissible

8.12 Publication Credit take credit only for work they have actually performed or to which they have substantially contributed authorship & publication credit accurately reflects the scientific and scholarly contribution of the individuals (order of authors) minor contributions to research or writing are acknowledged appropriately (as footnotes for example)

Exception: Usually, a student is listed as first author on any multi-authored article based substantially on the student’s dissertation research The End!!!!