Daniel Feerst is a respected consultant with Thirty-five years of experience involving alcohol and drug education, addiction treatment and employee assistance professional work.

1. WHAT IS ETHICAL PUBLISHING AND
UNETHICAL PUBLISHING?
Daniel Feerst

2. WHERE TO BEGIN : WHY IS WRITING FOR PUBLICATION IMPORTANT ?
 Dissemination of research and findings : sharing evidence to
underpin practice
 Dissemination of systematic / literature reviews : very
important to develop body of evidence in a specialist field
 Dissemination of new and innovative ideas
 Dissemination for sharing with others in same field

3. WHY DO WE WRITE FOR PUBLICATION ?
1. Writing for Publication is undertaken for specific
reasons: Examples :
• A requirement of a course of study such as Doctorate
(PhD)
• Dissemination of personal research – including various
aspects such as Methodology and methods , systematic
reviews , main findings
• Dissemination of funded project outcomes
• Development of career and professional development

4. FIRST STEPS : IN BRIEF - WRITING AN ARTICLE (1)
 Decide on what you want to write about
 Choose a journal that matches the kind of article you want to
write
 Read the contributor guidelines
 Read some papers in that journal

5. FIRST STEPS : IN BRIEF (2)
 Write the article (on your own or with others)
 Have the article peer reviewed: pre-submission review
(by experienced author/reviewer and a novice /reader of
articles)
 Final preparation and submit to journal: the submission
process of different journals

6. WHAT IS ETHICS?
 At its simplest, ethics is a system of moral principles. They affect how people
make decisions and lead their lives.
 Ethics is concerned with what is good for individuals and society and is also
described as moral philosophy.
 The term is derived from the Greek word ethos which can mean custom, habit,
character or disposition.
 Ethics covers the following dilemmas:
• how to live a good life
• our rights and responsibilities
• the language of right and wrong
• moral decisions - what is good and bad?
 Our concepts of ethics have been derived from religions, philosophies and
cultures. They infuse debates on topics like abortion, human rights and
professional conduct. http://www.bbc.co.uk/ethics/introduction/intro_1.shtml

7. HOW DO ETHICS AND WRITING FOR PUBLICATION LINK TOGETHER ?
 If we focus on the writing of an article for a journal that is based
on research then we have to consider Ethics at 2 levels :
 The level of the actual research itself (Research Ethics) :
 http://www.bps.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/code_of_hum
an_research_ethics.pdf
 The level of the actual written article (Publication Ethics):
• https://www.elsevier.com/journals/nurse-education-in-
practice/1471-5953/guide-for-authors

8. ETHICAL PUBLISHING :
PREDATORY OR UNETHICAL PUBLISHERS
 https://www.library.unsw.edu.au/research/publishing-and-
sharing-your-research/predatory-publishing
 http://thinkchecksubmit.org/check/
 http://thinkchecksubmit.org/2016/01/28/help-your-colleagues-
grin-the-right-journal-with-our-new-video/

9. ETHICAL PUBLISHING : (UN)ETHICAL WRITING PRACTICE
 There are 6 key areas that we need to consider in ethical writing:
1. Authorship
2. Conflict of Interest
3. Plagiarism
4. Simultaneous Submission
5. Research Fraud
6. Salami Slicing (See :
https://www.publishingcampus.elsevier.com/websites/elsevier_pu
blishingcampus/files/Guides/Brochure_Ethics_2_web.pdf

10. AUTHORSHIP
• Misrepresenting a scientist’s relationship to their work :
 Listing names of people who took little or no part in the
 research, omitting names of people who did take part, or
 the 'ordering of a byline that indicates a greater level or
 participation in the research than is warranted'.
 This includes submitting a manuscript without the
 permission of an author/contributor.
• Ghost authorship :
 This usually refers to professional writers (often paid
 by commercial sponsors) whose role is not acknowledged.
 Unattributed contributions to data analyses may also
 constitute ghost authorship.

11. AUTHORSHIP
• Gift and Guest Authorship :
 Authorship based on a tenuous affiliation with the study or
 solely on an expectation that inclusion of a particular name
 will improve the chances that the study will be published.

12. CONFLICT OF INTEREST
• An undisclosed relationship that may pose a conflict of interest.
• An undisclosed funding source that may pose a conflict of
• interest.
• Journals have conflict of Interest forms that authors are expected to
complete on submission of an article
• (Example: Guidance and template
https://www.elsevier.com/__data/promis_misc/JBMTauthor_declaration.p
df
• https://www.elsevier.com/__data/promis_misc/JEGH_dec.pdf

13. PLAGIARISM
 Literal Copying :
 Reproducing a work word for word, in whole or in part , without permission and
acknowledgment of the original source.
 Substantial Copying:
 This can include research materials , processes, tables, or equipment
 Paraphrasing :( and not referencing authors ideas/work )
 Reproducing someone else's ideas while not copying word for
 word, without permission and acknowledgment of the original source.
 Text- recycling
 Reproducing portions of an author's own work in a paper, and
 resubmitting it for publication as an entirely new paper.

14. SIMULTANEOUS SUBMISSION
 Simultaneous Submission :
 Submitting a paper to two or more journals at the same time.
 Duplicate Publication :
 When an author submits a paper or portions of his or her own paper that
 has been previously published to another journal, without disclosing prior submission(s).
 Duplication by Paraphrasing or "Text-recycling”:
 When an author writes about his or her own research in two or more articles from different
angles or on different aspects of the research without acknowledgment of the original
paper.
 Translations of a paper published in another language:
 Submitting a paper to journals in different languages without
 acknowledgment of the original paper.

15. RESEARCH FRAUD
 Manipulating data:
 Intentionally modifying, changing, or omitting data.
 Manipulating data images :
 This can include research materials, processes, tables or
equipment

16. SALAMI SLICING
 Definition:
 The “slicing” of research that would form one meaningful paper into several different
papers is called "salami publication" or "salami slicing” or
 Breaking up or segmenting data from a single study and creating different manuscripts
for publication
 Outcome:
 Salami slicing can result in a distortion of the literature by leading unsuspecting readers
to believe that data presented in each 'slice' is derived from a different subject sample.
 Action : Avoid inappropriately breaking up data from a single study into two or more
papers. When submitting a paper, be transparent. Send copies of any manuscripts
closely related to the manuscript under consideration. This includes any manuscripts
published, recently submitted, or already accepted.

17. SUMMARY OF SESSION
 When choosing a journal for publication : check the web sites such as
:https://www.library.unsw.edu.au/research/publishing-and-sharing-your-research/predatory-publishing
 Have someone peer review your paper for you using guidelines that can check if they have understood the
paper , can see the research has been carried out properly and ethically –critically review according to
author guidelines from the chosen journal
• Submit the article for publication to a journal and ensure that the Declaration of Interest form or your letter
includes any area of potential conflict of interest
• Check authorship information and ensure that if more authors than you have written the paper , that they are
in agreement with the paper and most importantly with the author placement ( i.e. first , second and third
author )
• Sit back and wait for a reply from the editor’s office ! You should get an acknowledgement followed by a
decision in due course.
• Please do not keep contacting the journal office – average review time varies but in most journals this can
be about 12 weeks – but often longer depending on the amount of papers they get as well as ensuring
enough reviewers available to review –difficult at some times of the year
• Good luck with writing your first article !

18. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
 Other ways of writing for publication include :
 Books and book chapters
 Book Reviews
 Letters to the Editor
 Editorials
 Discussion papers
 Commentaries on published articles
 A useful site for new resarchers :
https://www.publishingcampus.elsevier.com/pages/3/Colleges/College-
of-Skills-Training.html
 https://www.mendeley.com

19. THANK YOU !