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Writing Your Manuscript: Publication Ethics

Publication Ethics?

Publication ethics are about bringing integrity to the practice of research or scholarly publishing. It's not only important for journal editors and publishers, but also something researchers who wish to publish need to be aware of. Issues that fall under this broad umbrella include conflict of interest, intellectual property, data reproducibility, and plagiarism.

Scientific or Research Misconduct

"...scientific misconduct—or rather, conduct inconsistent with accepted scientific standards—is a continuum ranging from honest errors to outright fraud. To be sure, honest errors are inevitable whereas intentional fraudulent behaviour is obviously unethical and illegal. In real life, there is a long grey zone from white to black, with laxity, negligence, and recklessness all being used to characterise non-intentional, but still egregious, deviations from accepted standards."

- Nylenna & Simonsen (2006)

"Research misconduct: Any research practice that deviates materially from the commonly accepted ethics/integrity standards or practices of the relevant research community and includes, but is not limited to, intentional fabrication, falsification, plagiarism, and material non-compliance with accepted standards and regulations."

- UHN Policy 40.90.001: Responsible Conduct of Research.


Nylenna M, Simonsen S. Scientific misconduct: a new approach to prevention. The Lancet. 2006 Jun 10;367(9526):1882-4.

Fitzpatrick JJ. Scientific Misconduct. Applied Nursing Research. 2018;41:87-.

Fanelli D. How many scientists fabricate and falsify research? A systematic review and meta-analysis of survey data. PloS one. 2009 May 29;4(5):e5738.

Hames I. Peer review and manuscript management in scientific journals: guidelines for good practice. John Wiley & Sons; 2008. (Available at UofT)