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Jul-Sep2004-12(3)
DOCUMENT
Publication ethics policies
for medical journals
Summarised by Sanjay
Pai
The World Association of Medical Editors (WAME) has
recently released recommendations on Publication Ethics Policies for medical
journals so that the publication process is thorough, objective and fair. The
detailed guidelines are available athttp://wame.orgpubethicrecom.htm.
The association suggests that these recommendations be the base on which
individual journals make their guidelines. However, these principles should
either be published or maintained on the website so as to be accessible to
readers, authors and reviewers.
Some facts that would interest readers of the
Indian Journal of Medical Ethics are stated below.
Informed consent by participants should always be
sought. If not possible, an institutional review board must decide if this is
ethically acceptable. Journals should have explicit policies as to whether these
review board approvals must be documented by the authors, or simply attested to
in their cover letter, and how they should be described in the
manuscript.
Who will be an author and in what sequence should
be determined by the participants early in the research process to avoid
disputes and misunderstandings which can delay or prevent publication of a
paper.
Journals should discourage 'honorary' authorship. A
conflict of interest results if some fact known to a participant in the
publication process is revealed later and makes a reasonable reader feel misled
or deceived (or an author, reviewer or editor feel defensive). Reviewers as well
as editors of the journal should also be asked to routinely declare any similar
competing interests, financial or non-financial, that might affect their work
for the journal. If peer reviewers suspect misconduct, they should notify the
editor in confidence. There should be an explicit written policy on the
procedure that will be followed if an author appeals a decision.
Re-publication of a paper in another language, or
simultaneously in multiple journals with different audiences may be acceptable,
provided there is full and prominent disclosure of its original source at the
time of submission of the manuscript.
Authors should be discouraged from holding press
conferences to publicise their abstract results, as these results are
preliminary and generally the complete report has not yet undergone peer review.
Journals should address these concerns in their formal policies on originality
of submitted materials.
Self-plagiarism refers to authors' practice of
using portions of their previous writings on the same topic in another
publication, without citing it in quotes. If journals have developed a policy on
this matter, it should be clearly stated to the authors.
Editorial decisions should not be influenced by
advertising revenue or reprint potential. Commercial advertisements should not
be placed adjacent to any editorial matter that discusses the advertised product
nor adjacent to any article reporting research on the advertised product, nor
should they refer to an article in the same issue in which they appear. Journals
must have the right to refuse any advertisement.
Journals should have a clear policy on handling
concerns or allegations about misconduct of authors, reviewers, editors and
others to help protect the integrity of public scientific records. Journals
should have an explicit policy describing the process by which they will respond
to allegations of misconduct. Such allegations should be kept
confidential.
Journals should have a policy describing their
governance and relationship to the sponsoring society. The relationship between
owners and editors-in-chief should be based on mutual respect and trust, and
recognition of each other's authority and responsibilities because conflicts can
damage the intellectual integrity and reputation of the journal, and its
financial success.
SANJAY A PAI,Consultant Pathologist, Manipal Heart Foundation, Bangalore 560017,
India. e-mail:s-pai@vsnl.com