Zubin Master MedicReS World Congress 2014

10/29/2014

Copyright: Zubin Master, 2014 1

Current Issues in Publication Ethics

Zubin Master, PhD

MedicReS Congress on Good Medical Research, NY, NYOctober 16, 2014

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Outline

• Ethics of Scientific & Medical Research

• Retractions & Misconduct

• Undeserving Authorship

• Salami Slicing

• Redundant Publication

• Plagiarism

© Zubin Master, 2014

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Illustration by David Zinn in ORI Intro to RCR (2007)

What is Good Medical

Research?(a.k.a. scientific/research integrity; Responsible Conduct of Research)


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Outlines the scientific norms, responsibilities, and practices for scientists and scientific organizations

INTEGRITY

Authorship

Publication Ethics

Mentoring

DataMgmt

COI


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Autonomy of Science

• Scientists relinquish intellectual property rights for professional recognition

Mertonian Norms of Science (1973)

Robert K. Merton (1910-2003)

• Scientific truths are universal and free from personal criteria i.e., biases associated with race, social status, gender & religion

• Scientists are disinterested in the outcomes of their science and behave unselfishly

But these are Sociological Thoughts of the Past


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Incongruity of Scientific Norms

Norm

Counternorm


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Range of Ethical Violations in ResearchClearlyEthical

ClearlyUnethicalEthically Ambiguous

Adapted from David Resnik, 2010 Lecture

• Selectively reporting data

• Undeserving authorship

• IP disputes

• Minor violations of research requirements

• FFP

• Theft

• Sabotage

• Harassment

• Violation of major research requirements i.e., breaking law

• Full & honest reporting of results

• Respecting colleagues and subordinates

• Compliance with research regulations


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Ethical Principles of Science

Honesty Openness

FreedomCarefulness

Education

CreditSocial

Responsibility

Legality

Opportunity

Mutual Respect

EfficiencyRespect for Subjects

Accountability


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Questionable Publication Practices

• means splitting data sets and publishing as separate articles resulting in a greater number of publication

OR

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Graph 1

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Fig. 5

Fig. 6

Graph 2

Big Time

Journal

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Graph 1

Fig. 1

Fig. 2

Fig. 3

Graph 1

Less Data

Journal

Less Data

Journal+

Salami Slicing or Minimal Publishable Unit:

• Journals encourage such practices by publishing “rapid communication” or “preliminary result” sections

• Fragmented publications make it more difficult to evaluate the significance of the results

• Reviewing multiple publications could impose more stress on the peer review process and uses more resources

Is it ethical to publish less data?


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Duplicate or Redundant Publication• A significant amount of the content or the entire content is republished without acknowledging the original publication

• Deceptive behaviour• Can distort research record because greater weight is put during meta-analysis• Wastes time and resources (i.e., peer review)• May infringe on copyright laws

Ethical Republication:When publishing in another languageWhen publishing to a diverse audienceWhen publishing in an anthology


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Steen RG. J Med Ethics, 2011

Retractions & Misconduct© Zubin Master, 2014

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Fang et al. 2012, PNAS

Reasons for Retracted Articles© Zubin Master, 2014

Plagiarism

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• If someone uses ideas, results, pictures, words, data without giving credit = plagiarism

• Plagiarism is connected with proper citation and publication practices

• Researchers fail to acknowledge, cite, disclose, or obtain permission to use their own previous published work or cite themselves• This could infringe on copyrights

Self-Plagiarism


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Plagiarism

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• Researcher fails to cite important work in the field when reviewing or discussing findings from others

Citation Amnesia

• Citation is just as important as authorship


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Authorship Ethics


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Why is Authorship So Important?

• Authorship credit is a researcher’s currency to rewards in academia

• The quality and quantity of publications and citation are important

graduate degree obtaining a job tenure and promotion grants and contracts

• Publications may be necessary for: awards and prizes speaking opportunities providing expert testimony


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Authorship PracticesWhat is an author?

Authors were originally the persons who wrote the book, article, poem, etc.In research, authors contribute to different parts of the research


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• The number of authors in publications has been rising due to “Big Science”

• Multiple authorship is becoming the norm in many areas


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2004

Karen A Hunt, Deborah J Smyth, Tobias Balschun, Maria Ban, VanishaMistry, Tariq Ahmad, Vidya Anand, Jeffrey C Barrett, Leena Bhaw-Rosun, Nicholas A Bockett, Oliver J Brand, Elisabeth Brouwer, Patrick Concannon, Jason D Cooper, Kerith-Rae M Dias, Cleo C van Diemen, Patrick C Dubois, Sarah Edkins, Regina Fölster-Holst, Karin Fransen, David N Glass, Graham A R Heap, Sylvia Hofmann, Tom W J Huizinga, Sarah Hunt, Cordelia Langford, James Lee, John Mansfield, Maria Giovanna Marrosu, Christopher G Mathew, Charles A Mein, Joachim Müller-Quernheim, Sarah Nutland, Suna Onengut-Gumuscu, Willem Ouwehand, Kerra Pearce, Natalie J Prescott, Marcel D Posthumus, Simon Potter, Giulio Rosati, Jennifer Sambrook, Jack Satsangi, Stefan Schreiber, Corina Shtir, Matthew J Simmonds, Marc Sudman, Susan D Thompson, Rene Toes, Gosia Trynka, Timothy J Vyse, Neil M Walker, Stephan Weidinger, Alexandra Zhernakova, Magdalena Zoledziewska, Type 1 Diabetes Genetics Consortium , UK Inflammatory Bowel Disease (IBD) Genetics Consortium , Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium , Rinse K Weersma, Stephen C L Gough, Stephen Sawcer, Cisca Wijmenga, Miles Parkes, Francesco Cucca, Andre Franke, Panos Deloukas, Stephen S Rich, John A Todd & David A van Heel

2012

Multi-Authored Articles Become the Norm in Certain Fields © Zubin Master, 2014

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Trends in Multi-Authored Papers

Trend due to large, multi-centre clinical trials

• Average number of authors in 1960 = 1.71990 = 3.1

Drenth, 1996 Sci&Eng Ethics

• In 1994, 37 papers in the life sciences had 3 digit authorship compared to none in most of the 1980s (Regalado, 1995 Science)

• Authorship practices vary between disciplinesE.g., papers in physics can have 50-500 authors, genomics ~50 or more authors, biomedical less, philosophy single author

• Multi-authored papers are rising in all disciplines and interdisciplinary fields including social science, political science, economics, bioethics, business


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Unethical Authorship (I)

• Individuals are made authors as a professional courtesy or personal favour• Some individuals have developed arrangements where authorship is reciprocated e.g., one researcher

Gift Authorship

takes first author position and the other takes a secondary recognized position and they switch the next time (aka reciprocal authorship)

• Individual are made authors as a sign of respect e.g., thesis committee advisors or laboratory directors

Honourary Authorship



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Unethical Authorship (II)

• Given to someone with a high degree of prestige so the manuscript can be accepted for publication or go into a higher impact journal

Prestige Authorship

• Pharmaceutical companies recruit and pay researchers who were not involved in the research to write a manuscript to give it authenticity and credibility

• This is deceptive behaviour

Ghost Authorship


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International Guidance© Zubin Master, 2014

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The ICMJE recommends that authorship be based on the following 4 criteria:

1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND

2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND

3. Final approval of the version to be published; AND

4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

ICMJE 2013 Guidelines© Zubin Master, 2014

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ICMJE 2013 Guidelines

ICMJE recommendations may seem onerous, but their goal is to have researchers involved in the entire

process of research – from conception to publication


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Acquisition of funding, collection of data, administrative support, editing, general commentary, or supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship (ICMJE)

Acknowledgement Section© Zubin Master, 2014

• While there are some clear violations in authorship and publication ethics, some practices remain ethically ambiguous

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• Authorship should be given when deserved, and authors are accountable for the research


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Acknowledgements

• Various artists for images found on the web

• Thank you for the invitation

• Dr. David B. Resnik


[email protected]


Zubin Master MedicReS World Congress 2014

Health & Medicine

Transcript of Zubin Master MedicReS World Congress 2014