Controversies in Publication and the Role of the Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice

• Activity Number: 337
• Type: Invited
• Date/Time: Wednesday, August 14, 2002 : 2:00 PM to 3:50 PM
• Sponsor: Cmte on Professional Ethics
• Author(s): John Gardenier*+
• Affiliation(s): Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• Keywords: publication ; peer review ; deception ; ethics ; authorship ; ethical guidelines for statistical practice

Abstract

Ethical concerns about scientific publication are increasing. The American Statistical Association's Ethical Guidelines for Statistical Practice aims to encourage ethical practice. The most severe ethical concerns are those relating to fabrication or falsification of data or results, plagiarism of writings or ideas, and conformance to the basic scientific ethic of data sharing. These are briefly addressed here but are elaborated on in other papers of this session. This paper focuses on other issues, such as author identification and order. Deceptive multiple publication has been alleged in cases where the same authors publish numerous papers from the same research, apparently to pad their resumes rather than to inform their colleagues suitably. Peer review is considered an essential function in quality control of the scientific literature. There are allegations, however, of peer reviewers abusing the process. These and other concerns need thoughtful attention for future editions of the ethical guidelines. The role of journal managers and editors in promoting ethical publication practices may also need attention.