Post on 07-Apr-2017
transcript
Eri Kinoshita
Ayli Chong
Being an Ethical Researcher and Author
Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University
18 November 2015
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Be an ethical researcher and author
Your goal is not only to publish but also to contribute to society
Importance of research and publication ethics
Ethics at publication planning
Ethics of reporting
Ethics at submission
Ethics of peer review and publication
Research & publication ethics
Publication success = Academic success
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Publication Metrics and Success on the Academic Job Market van Dijk et al. Current Biology. 2014; 24: R516-R517.
• >25,000 researchers in PubMed • Determined which factors are linked to
academic success
• Number of publications • Impact factor of the journal • Number of citations • University ranking • Male vs. Female
Research & publication ethics
• Not addressing relevant questions • Incomplete literature review to justify study • Inappropriate methodology (low validity/reliability) • Incomplete reporting to allow replication • Clinical trials unpublished
Avoid research waste
~85% of biomedical research is waste
Lancet 2009; 374: 86–89
Research & publication ethics
Fabrication, Falsification & Plagiarism
Sun S, Zhang G, Wu Z, Shi W, Yang B, Li Y (2014) MicroRNA-302a Functions as a Putative Tumor Suppressor in Colon Cancer by Targeting Akt. PLoS ONE 9(12): e115980. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0115980 Published: December 26, 2014
Zhang G-M, Bao C-Y, Wan F-N, Cao D-L, Qin X-J, Zhang H-L, et al. (2015) MicroRNA-302a Suppresses Tumor Cell Proliferation by Inhibiting AKT in Prostate Cancer. PLoS ONE 10(4): e0124410. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0124410 Published: April 29, 2015
Research & publication ethics
Singapore Statement on Research Integrity 2nd World Conference on Research Integrity, 21-24 July 2010
Principles of research integrity
• Honesty in all aspects of research • Accountability in the conduct of research • Professional courtesy and fairness in working with
others • Good stewardship of research on behalf of others
http://www.singaporestatement.org/downloads/singpore%20statement_A4size.pdf
Research & publication ethics
Singapore Statement on Research Integrity
Principles of research integrity
• Integrity; Adherence to regulations • Research methods; Research records; Research Findings • Authorship; Publication acknowledgement • Peer review • Conflicts of interest • Public communication • Reporting and responding to irresponsible research practices • Research environments • Societal considerations
http://www.singaporestatement.org/downloads/singpore%20statement_A4size.pdf
Research & publication ethics Studies with participants
Human studies need:
• Approval from ethics board (institutional review board, IRB)
• For studies with prospective assignment: trial registration before enrollment
• Informed consent for enrollment • Informed consent for publication
Transparency & publishing conflicting data
Research & publication ethics Studies with participants
Participants need to be informed of:
• Study objectives (and freedom to leave) • Potential benefits or risks involved • Confidentiality
This is usually written informed consent
Human safety/benefit, not exploitation Nuremberg Code 1947, Declaration of Helsinki 1964
Templates: http://www.who.int/rpc/research_ethics/informed_consent/en/
Research & publication ethics
Science is “self-correcting”…
Responsible conduct of research
• Helps society/humanity • Objective search for Truth • Tests hypotheses; adjusts theories • Relies on transparency & reproducibility • Responsible use of resources • Based on trust and honor code • Based on publishing in peer-reviewed journals:
Correction notices made public and linked
Flawed/fraudulent articles are retracted, with permanently linked public Retraction notices
Research & publication ethics
State conflicts of interest
No plagiarism or redundancy
Clear author contributions
No fabrication or falsification
Always follow ethics guidelines
Guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics, COPE Responsible Research Publication: International Standards for Authors*
Good publication ethics
Consequences of unethical behavior
• Unable to publish • Loss of employment
*http://publicationethics.org/files/International%20standards_authors_for%20website_11_Nov_2011.pdf
Research & publication ethics
CS Lewis:
Responsible conduct of research
“Integrity is doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.”
Also relies on education/training and monitoring by supervisors, collaborators, units, institutions, funders,
publishers, academic community, governments, netizens (e.g., “Retraction Watch” website)…
Ethics at publication
planning Keep all research records
Allow others to verify & replicate your findings Collaborators, Funder, Institution, Peer-reviewed journals,
Other researchers
• Keep raw data files; make back-ups
Protect personal information
• Keep patient data anonymized • Keep patient data secure (password protect
files/disks; avoid USB sticks)
Ethics at publication
planning
Declare conflicts of interest (COIs)
Financial or personal relationships that may bias your research
• Your readers trust that you analyzed your results in an objective and fair manner
• Being biased in your analysis deceives your readers and violates their trust
Ethics at publication
planning Examples of COIs
Your spouse works for the drug company (personal COI)
You are researching a new drug…
• You consult for the drug company • The company funded your study • You own stock in the company
(financial COIs)
Ethics at publication
planning
An author works at the company
What should you do?
• Ensure study design is not unfairly manipulated
• Ensure author is blinded during data analysis
• Restrict role of the author in manuscript writing
• Should be addressed BEFORE study begins!
Avoiding COIs
Ethics at publication
planning
The company is funding your research
Avoiding COIs
What should you do?
• State the company’s role in the study design • State the company’s role in data analysis • State the company’s role in manuscript writing • Should be disclosed in the cover letter
Some journals will ask you to include a statement such as: “I had full access to all of the data in this study and I take complete responsibility
for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis”*
*http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/ author-responsibilities--conflicts-of-interest.html
Ethics at publication
planning Disclosing COIs
Should be disclosed to university ethics committee before obtaining approval
Should be disclosed to journal editors and funding bodies
Journal editors may or may not publish COIs with your article
Not declaring a COI may lead to the rejection/retraction of your paper or
suspension/termination of a grant
Ethics at publication
planning
Four criteria for authorship
1. Significantly involved in study design, data collection/analysis
2. Writing and revising the manuscript
3. Approval of final version
4. Responsible for the content (accuracy and integrity)
http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authors-and-contributors.html
Ethics at publication
planning Who can be an author?
During the study, I had help from 4 people:
Supervisor
Collaborator
Technician
Post-doc
Study design, data analysis, writing paper
Provided materials, reviewed paper
Data collection, reviewed paper
Study design, data collection/analysis, writing paper
Ethics at publication
planning Who can be an author?
During the study, I had help from 4 people:
Supervisor
Collaborator
Technician
Post-doc
Study design, data analysis, writing paper
Provided materials, reviewed paper
Data collection, reviewed paper
Study design, data collection/analysis, writing paper
Ethics at publication
planning Gift/ghost authorship
Making someone an author when they do not deserve it (friends, colleagues, etc.)
Gift authorship
• Try to make paper more prestigious by adding a “big name” • Adding the department head to every paper from their department • Thanking someone for a contributed material
Not making someone an author when they do deserve it
Ghost authorship • Hide conflict of interest by excluding an author (e.g., company
employee); hide contribution by junior members (e.g., students) [People who helped write the paper should be included in the Acknowledgements or else they are “ghost writers”]
Ethics at publication
planning Acknowledgements
Nugraha et al. Biomaterials. 2011; 32: 6982–6994.
Thank those who have made positive contributions
Funding agencies (some journals have a
separate Funding section)
Ethics of reporting Need for reproducibility
Transparency for verification:
It needs to be clear how your study was done
Ethics of reporting
How does your study contribute to your field?
What did you find?
What did you do?
Why did you do the study?
Introduction
Methods
Results
Discussion
Complete reporting
Participants/materials, appropriate techniques, appropriate analyses
Including unexpected/negative results; data records & accessibility!
Including similarities and differences, limitations
After doing a thorough literature review
Ethics of reporting
PRISMA Systematic reviews &
Meta-analyses
STROBE Observational studies
CARE Case reports
CONSORT Randomized controlled
clinical trials
ARRIVE Animal studies
http://www.equator-network.org/
International biomedical reporting guidelines
Ethics of reporting Data manipulation
Never
Fabricate data Move data on
a graph
Manipulate data/images
Hide bad results
Ethics of reporting Altering images
What kind of changes can be made to images?
Overall brightness and contrast, as long as it does not obscure or remove information from the original image
Rossner and Yamada. J Cell Biol. 2004; 166: 11–15.
You cannot:
• Enhance brightness/contrast of only part of an image • Crop out or remove “unwanted” parts
Ethics of reporting Share negative results
Negative results are useful?
Yes!
• Allows complete evaluation of your study
• Prevents others from repeating those experiments
• Allows others to modify those experiments
• Prevents funding agencies from wasting money
Supplementary info; Data repositories / Data journals
Ethics of reporting
Makes readers think others’ words or ideas are your own
Copying published text even with a citation
Stating ideas of someone else without citing the source
Text plagiarism
Ethics of reporting
Copying text that you have published before into your manuscript
Self-plagiarism
May violate copyright
Makes readers think you are presenting something new
Ethics of reporting
What if you want to directly quote someone?
Direct quotes
Humanities • Often acceptable • Include text in “quotation marks” or separate
paragraph • Use bibliographic footnote and page number
Sciences • Usually not acceptable
Ethics of reporting
Expressing published ideas using different words
Paraphrasing
Tips on paraphrasing:
• Write the text first in Japanese, and then later translate back into English
• Verbally explain ideas to a colleague • Always cite the source in your notes • Name and cite published methods
Ethics of reporting Good paraphrasing
24. Li et al. PLoS ONE. 2013; 8: e68372.
“The magnitude of the change in carbon storage depends on how physical, chemical, or biological processes are altered over time under different land uses.”
The size of the carbon storage change depends on how physical, chemical, or biological processes are changed over time under different land uses.24
Temporal changes in biological, chemical, or physical processes under different land uses can influence the size of the carbon storage change.24
Coverage and Staffing Plan
Ethics at manuscript submission
Ethics declarations
Declare in your cover letter…
Not submitted to other journals
Funding, donations
All authors agree and contributed
Original and unpublished
State potential conflicts of interest
Research ethics
Clinical journals: authorship, COI, IRB & consent, CONSORT, © form
Coverage and Staffing Plan
Ethics at manuscript submission Sequential submission
Author Editor Reviewer 1 wk
4 wks 2 wks
Total ~2 months
3 journals = over 6 months!
Do not submit to multiple journals to save time!
Coverage and Staffing Plan
Ethics at manuscript submission
Multiple submission is not allowed
Author Editor2 Reviewer2
3 journals = ~2 months!
Editor1 Reviewer1
Editor3 Reviewer3
Coverage and Staffing Plan
Ethics at manuscript submission Why is it unethical?
Wastes editors’ time & resources
• After first acceptance, have to withdraw submission from the others
• Damages your reputation with publishers
Duplicate publication • It will be noticed in the field; copyright problems • One or both articles may be retracted • Wastes time and damages your reputation with both
the publisher and your peers
Coverage and Staffing Plan
Ethics at manuscript submission
You can submit to another journal only if:
You have been rejected by the first journal You have formally withdrawn the submission
When can you submit to another journal?
Coverage and Staffing Plan
Ethics at manuscript submission
Can you publish a paper translated into English?
What do you need to do?
1. Obtain permission from the first publisher
2. Tell journal editor of English journal: – You already obtained permission to re-publish – Why necessary to publish in English
3. Cite the original publication
Note: many journal editors will not be interested in publishing non-original articles
Coverage and Staffing Plan
Ethics at manuscript submission Salami publishing
One study
4 publications
Same sample population Same controls Experiments concurrent Dependent results
Distinct populations Different controls Experiments sequential Independent results
One larger paper will have more impact in the field and more citations!
Coverage and Staffing Plan
Ethics at manuscript submission Salami publishing
One study
4 publications
Same sample population Same controls Experiments concurrent Dependent results
Distinct populations Different controls Experiments sequential Independent results
One larger paper will have more impact in the field and more citations!
By André Karwath [CC BY-SA 2.5], via Wikimedia Commons
Why unethical? Readers will not have access
to all the relevant information to critically
evaluate the study
Coverage and Staffing Plan
Ethics at manuscript submission
Predatory journals
Some Open Access journals are not good
Easy way to get money from authors
• Promise quick and easy publication • Often ask for a “submission/handling” fee • May copy name of real journal; false IF • May not exist, or may be of low quality • Beware of spam e-mails asking for authors/editors
If you are ever unsure, please check Beall’s List of Predatory Publishers
http://scholarlyoa.com/2015/01/02/bealls-list-of-predatory-publishers-2015/
Coverage and Staffing Plan
Ethics at manuscript submission
THINK Trusted and appropriate?
SUBMIT Only if OK
thinkchecksubmit.org
CHECK Do you know the journal?
Trustworthy journals
Reputable publisher? Suitable aims/scope?
Familiar editorial board? Indexed? Fees only after acceptance?
Coverage and Staffing Plan
Ethics of peer review
Recommending reviewers
Where to find them?
From your reading/references, networking at conferences
How senior? Aim for mid-level researchers
Who to avoid? Collaborators (past 5 years),
researchers from your university
International list: 1 or 2 from Asia, 1 or 2 from Europe, and 1 or 2 from North America
Coverage and Staffing Plan
Ethics of peer review
Reviewers’ responsibilities
If you are a reviewer
1. Declare conflicts of interest
2. Decline if no time or wrong area of expertise; or keep to deadline
3. Do not delay review/publication on purpose 4. Keep courteous in the review 5. Keep the grant/manuscript confidential;
destroy/delete after review 6. Do not use any of the information
Based on: http://exchanges.wiley.com/ethicsguidelines
Coverage and Staffing Plan
Ethics of peer review Public responsibility
For public material/interviews:
1. Limit professional comments to your recognized expertise
2. Clearly distinguish professional comments from opinions
3. Be accurate and clear 4. Do not overgeneralize or sensationalize 5. Do not discuss unpublished research or work still
being peer reviewed 6. Even after journal publication, respect embargoes
Based on: http://www.singaporestatement.org/downloads/singpore%20statement_A4size.pdf
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Be an ethical researcher and author
Your goal is not only to publish but also to contribute to society
Importance of research and publication ethics
Ethics at publication planning
Ethics of reporting
Ethics at submission
Ethics of peer review and publication