Ethics in Publication

The growth of Medical Sciences is very fast. The core of enrichment of Medical Sciences is dependent on the evidence gathered and published. Performing a well-organized experimental research and final submission of the same as an article is a tedious and painstaking process. Published research article is only the tip of the iceberg. It involves long planning, execution, analysis, and document preparation.1 Ethical principles apply at every stage of research starting from planning till the publication of the document. Ethics is derived from the Greekword “ethikos,”which is derived from the Greek word ethos, meaning custom or character. Ethical issues and principles are important for all the pillars of publication, that is, authors (during execution and reporting of research), reviewer (at the time of reviewing the article), and the editor of the journal. Research misconduct is defined by the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh as “any behavior by a researcher, whether intentional or not, that fails to scrupulously respect high scientific and ethical standards.”2 Various types of research misconduct include fabrication or falsification of data, plagiarism, problematic data presentation or analysis, failure to obtain ethical approval by the Research Ethics Committee or to obtain the subject’s informed consent, inappropriate claims of authorship, duplicate publication, and undisclosed conflict of interest. Recently there has been a decline in the ethical principles guiding scientific research. Serious thought has to be given on commercialization of scientific research, which has its effects on the ethical principles and advancement of scientific knowledge. Ethical misconduct done out of ignorance or intentionally has the same consequences, and seriousness of the event remains the same. Types of Research Misconduct