Transcript APA Ethics Guidelines for publication

APA Ethics
Guidelines for publication
Goals
• To ensure the accuracy of scientific knowledge
• To protect intellectual property rights
8.10 Reporting of research results
• There is a lot of pressure on researchers to
produce published papers on their research
• Tenure decisions, funding for future research
• Graduate students trying to complete MS &
Ph.D.
• The results of this pressure can cause people to
engage in potentially unethical behavior
1. Psychologist do not falsify or fabricate data
(Scientific fraud)
Two examples:
Pilt Down Man- 1912
Sir Cyril Burt (1883-1971)
research on factor analysis and the genetics of
intelligence
Studied identical twins reared apart (19431966)
measured their “IQ” and looked at correlations
between sets of twins
After his death (1971) accusations began to
surface that his data may have been “falsified”
2. Do not “warp”, exaggerate, or modify results
to support a hypothesis
e.g. draw a visual like a graph with axes that
exaggerate
3. Do not “omit” data that is “troublesome”
does not support your hypothesis or looks
“messy”
Example: rat research/thunderstorm
malfunction, equipment malfunction
4. The author is responsible for informing a
journal/publication if they have made an
unintentional error in the data
Journal will then report errors in a “correction
notice” which will be permanently appended
to the published research
8.14 Sharing data for verification
1. Data must be made available to journal editor
while paper is in review & publication
process
If access is denied, publisher may refuse
publication
Once article is published, the author must allow
access to original data to other qualified
professionals
Must retain raw data for a minimum of 5 years
after publication
should also keep info on methodology & other
important details for at least 5 years
APA encourages open sharing of data but also
protects rights of original researcher as “owner” of
the data
Example: Hauser, Harvard University
• Research on animal and human cognition
• found evidence that monkeys were capable of
many cognitive feats thought to be unique to
humans
• Summer 2010, charged with eight instances of
“scientific misconduct”
• Three of these instances of misconduct
occurred in published articles
• rest were found and corrected prior to
publication
• He retracted one article and redid the research
for two
• What did he do in the way of misconduct?
• Many accusations from various sources
including graduate and undergraduate research
assistants who saw “over interpretation” of data
• One main issue: he could not provide the
original data for the published articles
• Did not retain data for five years
• Sloppy record keeping, poor methodology, or
intentional exaggeration of data???
8.13 Duplicate & Piecemeal publication of
data
Duplicate publication: publication of the
same data or ideas
Duplicate publication gives a false sense that
finding has been “replicated” and therefore is
more likely true than it actually is
wastes space in journals where other, original
research could be published
Piecemeal publication: unnecessary splitting
of the findings from one research effort into
multiple articles
researcher should strive for “parsimony”
one publication with several studies
enhances effective communication
allows more space for other research to be
published
8.11 Plagiarism and Self-plagiarism
• Psychologists do not claim the words and
ideas of another as their own
• If you take words ”verbatim”, you must use
quote marks & refer to the original
source/author
• If you paraphrase another author you need to
cite that person’s original writing
• Give credit where credit is due
Self-plagiarism
• You should not re-use your own words and
ideas in a subsequent publication
• This is a “gray” area
• the “core” of the new (second) document must
constitute an original contribution of
knowledge
• If small phrases or basic ideas are restated, this
is generally permissible
8.12 Publication Credit
• take credit only for work they have actually
performed or to which they have substantially
contributed
• authorship & publication credit accurately
reflects the scientific and scholarly
contribution of the individuals (order of
authors)
• minor contributions to research or writing are
acknowledged appropriately (as footnotes for
example)
• Exception:
Usually, a student is listed as first author on
any multi-authored article based substantially
on the student’s dissertation research
• The End!!!!