Ethical Issues in Biomedical Publication

As research funding has become scarcer and competition fiercer, with links between scientific discovery and commercial applications increasingly tighter and more lucrative, allegations of misconduct have also increased. Universities and research institutions, notably the NIH, have created offices of scientific integrity and mandated educational programmes to investigate such allegations and to train researchers in the highest standards of sound, ethical scientific research. Focusing on publication ethics as an essential aspect of responsible scientific conduct, this volume examines a variety of troublesome issues, including authorship, peer review, repetitive publication, conflict of interest and electronic publishing. The contributors include the editors of distinguished journals (among them, past or present editors of "Academic Medicine", "Annals of Internal Medicine", "British Medical Journal", "JAMA" and the "Lancet"), academics, a university administrator and a lawyer. Chapters address specific ethical issues and offer recommendations for preventing or solving problems associated with them. The result is a book that should serve as a standard reference for biomedical researchers, authors, editors and teachers of research ethics.

Table of Contents:
Contents and Contributors: Part One: The Major Ethical Issues * Changing Traditions of Authorship Anne Hudson Jones * The Imagined Author Richard Horton * The Ethics of Peer Review Fiona Godlee * Peer Review and the Ethics of Internet Publishing Craig Bingham * Repetitive and Divided Publication Edward J. Huth * Conflict of Interest Annette Flanagin * Ethics in Cyberspace: The Challenges of Electronic Scientific Publishing Faith McLellan * Part Two: Responses and Remedies: Law, Policy, Education * When Ethics Fails: Legal and Administrative Causes of Action and Remedies Debra M. Parrish * Scientific Misconduct: Policy Issues C. K. Gunsalus * Ethical Scientific Reporting and Publication: Training the Trainees Susan Eastwood * Educating the Leaders: Toward Systemic Change Addeane S. Caelleigh * Part Three: Commentaries and Epilogue * Research Misconduct and the Ethics of Scientific Publication Paul J. Friedman * A View from the Trenches: One Scientist's Perspective Douglas S. DeWitt * The Other Two Cultures: How Research and Publishing Can Move Forward Together Frank Davidoff

About the Author :
Anne Hudson Jones is the former editor of Literature and Medicine and a professor at the Institute for the Medical Humanities, University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston. Faith McLellan is North American Senior Editor of The Lancetin New York City.

Review :
The authors have assembled an outstanding group of scientists with experience in their fields of expertise. The book is highly recommended for those intending to undertake clinical trials or similar research, as well as for those presently engaged in this field, as a refresher course in medical ethics. -- William P. MulloyMD Journal of the American Medical Association This book discusses such ethical issues in publication as authorship, peer review, and repetitive publication; it emphasizes the conflicts of interest that can compromise good authorship and reviewing practices; and it highlights the challenges that electronic publication is presenting to our ideas of ethical publication practices. I only wish that this book had been available when I began my editorial work, if not when I began my research career. -- Robert L. Perlman Perspectives in Biology and Medicine This rich collection provides practical help to those of us who work with scientists and physicians who do research and then write it up for publication. Almost every chapter enlightens with strong, new ideas. Patients, universities, the courts, and the medical profession will certainly be better off if the information in this volume is absorbed and put into practice. Medical Humanities Review While peer review, authorship and conflicts of interest are mainstays of ethical discussion about science, the role of publication has not been fully examined before this provocative book. The Lancet Science does not exist until it is published. Editors of medical journals, trying to ensure fair play as researchers compete for space in their journals, frequently encounter ethical problems, typically with authorship, peer review, and conflicts of interest and, occasionally, they find scientific misconduct. The experience of editors reflects the sometimes awkward relationships between authors, reviewers and editors, and the high stakes attached to publication. Ethical Issues in Biomedical Publication succeeds in being at the same time a rich survey of the field, a valuable source book for editors and researchers, and a useful guide to dealing with these difficult issues. The strength of this book is not merely that it tackles so many difficult issues in such illuminating ways, but it does so by allowing its distinguished authors the space to make their arguments and show us their important insights. -- Drummond Rennie, M.D.Deputy, Editor Journal of the American Medical Association A very thorough discussion of the various legal and administative solutions... The book is well-written, has case material and examples enough to make reading vicariously pleasurable. Bulletin of Medical Ethics