Ethics in scientific publication: spectrum of misconducts

Abstract

Every aspect of the peer review and publication process involves important ethical principles and decisions. The integrity of the research enterprise is of the utmost importance for the advancement of safe and effective medical practice for patients and for maintaining the public trust in health care. Publication ethics become particular serious in cases of identified fabrification and falsification of data and it is extremely important that there are suitable tools for the retraction of those publications and that they are clearly labelled as such. Knowledge, truth and avoidance of error are the core pillars of scientific research. Efforts to reduce and prevent misconduct, therefore, might be most effective if focused on promoting research integrity policies, improving mentoring and training, and encouraging transparent communication amongst researchers. Reducing and preventing all forms of scientific misconduct requires interventions involving different elements within the academic system: of those, scientific journals are the “gatekeepers” of the publication process and play an essential role in publication ethics. This narrative review aims to illustrate the wide spectrum of research misconducts.

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